There and Back Again

Wow, this weekend was a treat for sure.  I don't get to see my brother and sisters much since they all live out of state and any time you can combine family and thrifting into one location IT IS GREAT.  My husband hates my SUV, so just the trip alone for him is almost agonizing (he says my seats are uncomfortable and it is a 7 hour drive) and the worst part for me is listening to him complain about HIS agony and MY driving for 7 hours and having to pass so many thrift and antique stores and NOT being able to go in them because he will not let me stop.  Henceforth....we should take seperate vacations, but sometimes that just isn't possible.  So Friday evening, we headed north from Georgia to my home state of Tennessee, yep, Music City here we come.  Friday night while we are on the road driving, my sister is looking up the yard sales for the next day.....can you say GPS!   We are so high tech these days!    So with game plan almost in hand, we keep driving and inching our way toward Mom and Dad's house (or as in days gone by we called it HOME), now it is our family's gathering spot for us kids since Mom and Dad are both gone now, but I feel like it will always be HOME to me. Maybe that is because I am the youngest...aka: the baby, the pain, the one who got away with murder, the catastrophe.......but heck they love me, Mom said they have to!

So seven LONG, LONG hours later, 2 hissy fits about WHY can't I just stop for a second and a couple of road rage episodes...he still has road rage even when he isn't driving, we are HOME......it is now approximately 2am (1am TN time and believe you me this one hour makes a difference....especially when you show up at your sisters house at the agreed time of 6:30am and find NO ONE UP, and as you are knocking on the door thinking "why are they not up and ready, come on people we are burning daylight here".......they come to the door with eyes half open and say "I thought you said we were leaving at 6:30 am" and I said "we are, it is 6:30am" and as I look down at my phone, I realize that my phone didn't update time zones and I am still on Georgia time....."oops".  Oh and for future reference, there is a flea market in Bowling Green Kentucky that says they open at 9am (being from Georgia where time is evidentally gauged by yard sale importance not the actual clock, because if they say they open at 8am, then at first light you are fair game!).................but not this flea market, Holy hamhocks batman, when they say 9am, they mean 9am!  Anyway, we are up and at 'em on Saturday morning and off to our first yard sale......the discussion we are having is about how I am going to hide my purchases because when I left, my husband gave me strict orders that "we DO NOT NEED anything else in our house"  First of all, I know I don't need anything, but when it comes to vintage and pyrex......my brain takes a back seat to my pocket book....and I knew that I would be coming home with some sort of pyrex one way or another that is why I packed a couple extra covered picnic baskets and bubble wrap.....what he can't see, I won't have to explain and it is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.  First place we stop was the local elementary school's yard sale and I picked up a few odds and ends like a Victor Mug, a couple Avon Sachet bottles and a couple pieces of Prescut glass.  Nothing big, but every penny helped the school.  Same goes on at the next couple places....then we go to a yard sale at a local day care and that is where my pyrex fix was met.....I got these beauties all for one lump sum of $10. 

  My sister also pointed out a case of old Kodak picture slides.  I also have a huge weakness for vintage cameras and photos.  These things were the bomb!!  Slides from 1942-1957 of all sorts of landscapes and tourist attractions that no longer exsist. 

Have no idea what kind of car this is, but it is old.

This one is dated 9-13-42

Slides of Rock City, Silver Springs, Cyprus Gardens, Bok Tower, Ross Allen's Reptile Institute.

 At this point, even if I didn't find anything else, I could go home a happy camper.   But we still had lots of sales to go to on our list and that is exactly what we did.  So a few sales later, we come across this small Pyrex teapot with the paper insert and stove top wire still inside of it and it has never been used.  I already had one of these (not mint condition) but I let my sister have this one because this was her very FIRST pyrex purchase!  I told her that "Resistence is futile" and she might as well join the collective....LOL!        So for future reference we recorded this awesome moment in time. 

I on the other hand opted to buy these cool glasses.....turns out they are 1920's Wellsworth Cyclist glasses....way cool!   All in all, it was a good day....family, pyrex and a new convert!

Adventures Make One Late For Supper...

"We hobbits are plain, quiet creatures. Adventures make one late for dinner." This is a quote from Bilbo Baggins, a character in the book "The Hobbit".  I watched all the Lord of the Rings Movies thus far (and plan to see the new one "The Hobbit" when it comes out)......and wow, what a grand adventure one can find themselves taking, sometimes willingly and sometimes most unexpectedly.  I think that is why I love thrifting so much because of the "grand adventures" it can take you on.  Over the years I have met so many fellow thrifters with such interesting tales and stories of their most unique treasure finds.  There is just something about finding that ONE special piece (for you LOTR fans, it would be called "The Precious") that brings you happiness or a memory from days gone by. My husband thinks that Facebook, texting and blogging is such a waste of time, and on many levels I am sure he is right seeing as it is hard to do dishes and laundry with a computer in your lap, but where else can you talk about your undying love for a piece of colored glass and have 100 other people know exactly the heartpounding excitement that you are expressing in nothing more than a typed message? Where else can you type one word (Pyrex) and have the undivided attention of so many people? or where else can you express the utter heartbreak of breaking that said piece of colored glass and have people all over the United States clutching their hearts and saying "NOOOOO, say it aint so"  or "I feel your pain!" If you want someone to give you REAL.... from the depths of their heart sympathy.... just tell a fellow pyrexer that you just broke your prize #404 Green Dot mixing bowl that took you 2 years to find at a reasonable price and they will soothe your broken heart!!   (R.I.Pieces...........I couldn't bear to take the after picture! It was too painful.)

 Tell your husband the same thing and he will say "Good Lord, you have 27 other bowls, what does it matter?"   Did you hear that???......................that eerie silence just before the storm?........you know the one in the movies where right before the woman snaps and chops her husband into 1200 tiny unrecognizable pieces (just like the green dot bowl)..........Has anyone noticed there are ALOT of those type of shows now a days......I will have to remember that analogy in the future when he comes in after cutting his finger 1/2 off and wanting me to take him to the local hospital for stitches and I can tell him......."what is the big deal, after all you have 9 more just like it." I have tried to raise my boys, ages 20,19 & 17 to respect a woman and her dishes!  Bless their hearts I have dragged them to flea markets since before they could walk....now I have to almost beg them to go with me, but that is because they have girlfriends....God help us all.....and they know that instead of carrying the stuff around I will be sending them back and forth to the car with it, but they always get paid in the end.....after all, a happy mother is worth a whole lot at our house. Don't believe me, just ask Hank our dog, (he was brought back from a trip to the flea market about 8 years ago).......he sees it all, plus he would side with me considering I feed him all the scraps that come out of the stuff I cook in all those pyrex bowls.

 I think thrifters can just tell another thrifter when they see one......sort of like a 6th sense, you can just see pyrex in their soul from a mile away.....Just this week at work, there was a lady buying tractor parts and I just happened to be up front to try to get the demon out of the printer and make it work for the parts guys and she looks at me and says "You may think this is strange, but do you know any good thrift stores around here?"   I just laughed and said "Honey, you have come to the right person! What are you looking for? I know where every one is located on a 50 mile radius from here."  We continued to talk and NO thrifter conversation would be complete without mentioning some sort of Pyrex dishes that we are currently looking for or the ones that slipped away or the DREADED ones with the ungodly price tags!   No matter our different locations, occupations and determinations, we thrifters all have the same Vintage heart and live for the thrill of the hunt.

Maybe this piece is why I think of Bilbo Baggins every time I go to the flea market for my newest adventure, and it never hurts to be late for Supper every now and again. 

A cup of Joe and some pyrex...

I have to admit that there are few things (other than my family) that has made me feel truly happy in life. I do not know what draws me to vintage items and pyrex, but it is a strong pull. I love all the colorful pyrex bowls that I have collected over the years but I also like the more unique pieces as well.  I will never forget when I laid hold of these coffee pots at the flea market and for less than the gas I put in my car that day to get there.

I just love the wooden handle! 

I also found this pyrex measuring cup with the beater lid and it has been a nice addition to my kitchen as well.

Since we are all among pyrex addicts friends here, I will be the first to come clean and admit that sometimes I only cook just so I can play with my pyrex dishes.  Maybe that is what draws me to them, it brings out the inner child!  My husband says that for him my pyrex brings out the Middle Age spread. Either way, we are both happy and fulfilled in the end.

Here's to many more years of collecting and playing :)))