Bringing Back the Goods!

 

I am back, back from my favorite adventure...........hitching up my trailer and heading south.

Meeting up with old friends, returning to favorite haunts, seeking new ones. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky........with a sense of freedom and excitement.

What will I find? The unknown is part of this grown-up treasure hunt!

Not a fan of chain restaurants except for this one.............my southern heritage; grits, a honkey-tonk jukebox blaring and a cast of characters. The sighting of the first Waffle House signals my arrival in the South. There is an intersection in Georgia with one on each side!

First stop, the Atlanta gift show and my perpetual favorite is Mark Sage's showroom. The muted color palette, organic materials and over-the-top creativity. Don't you just love the three chandeliers over the table?

My dear friend Richard is an artist in concrete and my craving for anything "faux bois" is more than satisfied. In the center is a console in the shape of tree trunks with a removable top. The "wood" surround was gathered from my woods at home by Richard. He has also created a garden bench in the same mode by shortening the legs.

More faux bois; a free standing planter on the right and an incredible planter on the left.

The details are impressive, crazy for this owl of his.

Nearby is a sweet heart of a man, Dave, another artisan of great merit. How about this table with a zinc top?

This bench is a study in old fashioned craftsmenship. Notice the thickness of the top. I cannot conceive of the geometry involved in perfectly balancing the angled legs on the massive top.

Some pieces are a study, in sepia tones or black and white, allowing your eye no distractions but the beauty of the lines.

Here is Dave's table/island back at the shop. (note to self; take a photography course)

Love this buffet.........circa 1850's, limed oak, Provence........with lovely details.

In the shop.

SCORE!
Leather settee, England, circa 1880's, perfectly aged, mint condition

The perfect tobacco patina.

Then, a magical evening............hosted by Steve McKenzie, President and CEO of the renowned Larson-Juhl in conjunction with Eddie Ross and Jaithan Kochar who were in town for a framing event at the Larson-Juhl campus.
An event I would not have missed but an important 85th birthday party brought me home early.  I had the very good fortune to be included in the dinner at JCT Kitchen along with bloggers attending the event.

JCT Kitchen is a sophisticated four star restaurant featuring "Southern Farmstead Cooking". Think grits, again, and shrimp........the best, ever! If in Atlanta, highly recommended.

Our engaging and gracious host, Steve McKenzie. I was shocked to discover that Steve had once lived in Geneva, Illinois.......we had many stories to share......

The darling Eddie Ross with Jennifer of Peak of Chic.

"My Crush" Jaithan Kochar (he already knows that). On the left is Rhoda of Southern Hospitality and to the right is Jen of Fiddle Dee Dee

Hiding is Marian of Haute Travels, a fun blog!

Group Photo. As we said good-bye Steve and staff presented everyone with a lovely gift, beautifully packaged. This man is a gem of whom I hope to know further. THANK YOU STEVE!

  Back on the road..............the adventure continues..............one never knows what you will see or find.
Case in point........wait, it gets worse

Yes, that is what you think.....some of you still stumped?  Look closer, see the hooves, see the decal.....bottom right?

Yep, 'THE MOO MOBILE!' Available for proms, weddings and yes, it also claimed.....funerals!

The newly freshened shop.........what? still reeling from the funeral thought?

  I get on obsessions, for unknown reasons. This trip was string;  hemp, cotton, twill.........love the organic nature of these spools.

The other frequent find was nudes, always classic, always timeless. This is an original.

The same multi-talented artist works in many mediums and styles. Here are his bee-skeps on burlap. Take note of the top "hanger" crafted from chain.

 

Know what these are? Actually there is a pair............one for each side of the window. Am mad for "shutters" indoors. Did you guess?
Chicken ramps! yes, (sterilized) chicken ramps turned shutters. But I took it one step further.

With the addition of these sconces, vintage elegance and major texture!

  One of my favorite discoveries was this already framed vintage German chart (Mary, you are a genius!). Something I learned from Steve of Larson-Juhl is the popularity of framing objects. His website features "recipes" of inspiration.

     

Details of a limed chest from France, circa mid 1800's.

 

Partial to this leather chair as it is handcrafted by two girlfriends (there is a pair).........I realize my good fortune to know so many talented people. Their artistic talent brings a flavor of individuality to my business.

Mushrooms by Richard

FUN!

Oooops! I will be in trouble again.......posting this photo......Sister could not make this trip, ........but everyone asked for her!
      

Next stop........NASHVILLE!
There is still room............hope to see y'all!
And yes............Sister will be there
xxo
Debra

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YARD SALE

Do you remember that pile of items I had on my dining room table???
Well I finally went through it all, put SOME things back out in the house, packed up SOME and took pictures of the rest to SELL ….

I put pictures on my PICTURETRAIL this morning and have sold a few items already…here’s my link:  http://www.picturetrail.com/kmprimitives  so go on over and see if there’s something you might like….now remember it’s like a garage sale….lots of the items have been in my possession for for quite some time, some newer.

If you see anything you like just e-mail me with your choice(s) and I will send a PAYPAL invoice for the amount plus shipping – I don’t have a set-up to have a BUY NOW on here for this so the e-mail will have to work.
 
Thanks for looking.

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So how has your day gone??? Mine has been a mish-mash of stuff and besides getting the pictures on picturetrail I put a load of laundry in and then every now and then I sit down to read or watch the horrible disaster on Haiti…I don’t really know why I’m so drawn to it – but I’ve come to the conclusion that I watch in hopes of seeing something good happen to just ONE PERSON! But that won’t be for some time to come. Pray is all we can do.

I am sooooo not happy with my decorating right now. It’s like I’m in limbo – between seasons it seems. I don’t want Spring flowers out yet – so I don’t put any out….I don’t like all those tiny little decorative things on my shelves/tables anymore but I don’t have anything I want to replace it all with.
And in this conclusion….I’M BORED WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE! Sounds like I have Cabin Fever or just plain not easy to please these days…lol

I think I need a couple different table or cabinets instead of what I do have – maybe that would help me…or get some new lamps, yeah, that’s it…we are so in need of lamps in our family room. I want the black iron Colonial floor lamps but haven’t found the ones I want yet. I want to get the lamps off the side tables so the floor lamps would work great. We have two of them in the den and they work great.

You know what….I think we need a ‘BLOG PARTY’…..we all need to log on at the same time, have our goodies near us, pick something fun to do and talk about….how in the world would we do something like that????? Any suggestions?  Like a CHAT.

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Today is my husbands birthday (WOW, 68!!!) and he’s on a day delivery and won’t even be here for dinner tonight – he just called and said the group is going to stop to eat on the way home…so it’s just little(little ??) ole me. Anyone want to come on over and keep me company can…the door is always open.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG….your family!

Guess I’ve rattled enough….go on a check out my PICTURETRAIL.

Karen

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LITTLE ONE’S WITH BARE LEGS???

If you have little ones running around or grand children you might like this website!

My cousins daughter has been in the process of getting this business going and it is finally off the ground. TOTALLY AMERICAN MADE…!!!!!
Do you ever see your sweet little ones or grandchildren walking out of their tiny little sockies or have the knee highs slip down or even struggle with the little leggin’s? Please have a look see here and you’ll be impressed with this soooo simple solution….imagined, designed and marketed by a MOMMY WHO CARES!

Here’s her e-mail to introduce her new business

Hi All!
I hope this note finds you well and looking forward to a brand new year. (I know I sure am!) After two years in the works, my business Rock-a-Thigh Baby is finally open. I design fashionable, functional eco-friendly thigh-high socks for infants and children; I outsource the manufacturing here in the USA. Feel free to check out the website at: http://www.rockathighbaby.com
(We're also on Facebook.)
I sure would appreciate your help in spreading the word about my business by sharing this email with your friends. I'm hoping that the networking power of the internet will help get the word out about my business and help it to succeed!
Wishing you all a very blessed New Year!

Jen
http://www.rockathighbaby.com/

Here’s a little bit of what Jen is offering
 
 






So I’m asking you as a fellow blogger…please just go check it out…you just might like it for your own children or pass it along to your married children/with children or even friends with children.

I also thank you for taking the time to read this!

Hugs, Karen

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I’M KIND OF BACK TO NORMAL

I got through another day without my computer and just got it back around 4:45 p.m.  - whew! Those were three long days! Tech said that’s the second one today with the same problem.

It’s not a typical virus which are basically ‘old stuff’ these days…now it’s the spyware/add ware that attaches itself and won’t let you get into any of your files saying you are infected and want you to buy their product…he said the group is like CYBER GYPSYS! They don’t ruin your files and the like but they lock up your ‘anti virus, spyware and malware’ – puts a block on your desktop so you can’t get to it and you can’t download NEW programs.

But now I’m okay – a good $60 fix!  This kid is so good at what he does – he removed the hard drive this time to make sure he got it all.

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Tonight’s dinner is going to be very late – midnight to be exact! Hopefully a bit earlier but that’s unlikely. Doug’s plane doesn’t even land till 10:35 at O’hare and then he has to catch the 11:00 bus which will be almost an hours ride then where it stops is 35 minutes away…HMMMMM…my addition is off….Guess it will be AFTER MIDNIGHT!  lol

Here’s what I fixed – now I’m re-thinking eating it at that hour – TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE AND ITALIAN BREAD…doesn’t that bread look good? Look at the score lines on it….I love slicing a thick slice, putting butter on it, put it under the broiler and then peanut butter…omgosh it’s delicious!

A couple of Sundays ago Darren and MaryAnn finally got over here for our Christmas…it was nice with the 5 of us because we could concentrate on Aidan – I wish they had been there for Christmas but with Aidan sick it wasn’t in the picture.

Well, Aidan was a normal 1-1/2 year old…tore a couple gifts open and then started to act silly. He actually got bored and decided enough was enough and layed down for a bit.

And then it was time to leave – here he’s giving grampa a big kiss!

Today was a GOOD DAY! Good things happened so I can go on to another day! The past three were crappy so say the least but hopefully it’s over – for awhile anyway…nothing stays balanced forever but we go on don’t we and make the best of what it is.

Maybe now this week with Doug back from his delivery we can sort through the mountain on our table in the dining room and pack up things we don’t want anymore and hopefully there will be lots.

Like I said the other day…I’m purging the clutter in my life and the best place to start is the decorative items. I know some of you who saw the pictures are probably saying “gads I hope that isn’t out all at once”…. NO it’s not…it’s just a lot of things I have accumulated in boxes from packing things away over the past seasons. Bringing out less and less each time the seasons and holidays change.

Actually Christmas and a weeee little bit at Halloween is the only holiday I decorate for – I like all my everyday decorations and don’t care to add other things to it.

This post got longer than I expected…for some reason I feel chatty – possibly cuz my mind is back where it should be.
THANKS TO WHO OR WHATEVER DID IT!

Stay warm and safe,

Karen

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MY WEEKEND

Good evening everyone. This has been a long weekend for sure.

First off my computer got a virus of some kind...my desktop is blank - a virus warning comes up that I have to run my security - aniti virus but I can't it won't open - and when I click on the one that comes up it wants me to purchase it...IT HAS EVERYTHING BLOCKED and it says there's a DESKTOP BLOCKER VIRUS....I'm so darned angry right now because I need to get into my files for my business.

I did backup everything onto a jump drive like normal but it still frustrates me! So I'm on Doug's laptop and it doesn't have half of what I need so I keep working from the jump drive.

OH....I am doing this post in Blogger which I DETEST, especially after using Windows Live Writer...trying to put picture in...WHAT A PAIN.

I had so many things I wanted to complete this weekend but didn't finish a single thing - mainly I guess because of the computer thing. I went to the fix-it guy but he was closed and not sure when he'll be open.

I guess  we all have  times like that but I sure don't like it when it happens to me.

Doug left Friday on a delivery and I had plans to put my house back together and that didn't happen.

I unpacked all the containers and laid everything out on my table and then proceeded to go through it all in hopes of getting motivated....that didn't happen either.

So I went through it all and got a large container of things I just don't want anymore - I'm going to have an on-line yard sale very soon to get some of it sold....some of it is new and some is older and there are a couple vintage items as well.

I just don't have room anymore to keep rotating things like I have been.

Packing up what I don't want is the right thing and then LET IT GO! I guess you can say I'm purging. Some will say 'cleaning'. My husband will say YEAHHHH!

So be watching soon for a sale of WHATEVER I come up with....

Here's a sneak peek at all the goodies I unpacked...and there's more where that came from. I do think I have wayyyy too much stuff. NOOOO, all this isn't for sale. I just got it all laid out here to pick through.

It snowed quite heavy on Thursday (whew, just in time for Doug to get it shoveled and snowblowed) and I took a couple pictures that I like to look at after a fresh snow.

This one is right across the street in front of our house - our dining room with all the windows faces this - and I just love looking at this scene when we eat - we're in the city but it has a feel of being in the country. 

Outside our kitchen door I can see the birdhouses that in the summer are full of sweet birds - every now and then we see one trying to get in them through all the snow and possibly they do - never have seen them actually do it though. 

I previewed this post and it looked okay but I know from past experience that it never looks like you think after it is published so what you see is what you get this time till I get MY computer fixed.

Not a fun post today but I have had a couple of frustrating days! I need something and I don't know what!

I'm watching the Packers vs AZ and what a game.....GO PACK!

Have a great one,

Karen

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LAZY, LAZY JANUARY 1st!

Do you do what I do all year long….gear your time from one happening/gathering/event to the next?

Seems I say to myself that (whatever it is) will never get here and then all of a sudden it’s here and over….that’s how this year went.

My goal all year long is to get my orders out and prepare for the once a year home show and I say to myself “I still have --- months or weeks”.

Oh yeah???? All of a sudden it’s here and I wonder where the time went and then I’m rushing to get it all done. The older I get the faster the weeks and months go and a year is a very short time!

When I was little time just sat still – summer vacation was loooooog and we couldn’t wait to get back in school (yes, I said it!). My birthday and Christmas would never get here! Now they are blending into each other year after year.

I don’t make resolutions because I never follow them – oh I start out good but something always gets in the way to ‘stop it’….Me, that’s what gets in the way.  So I never make them because I’ll break them. I just always tell myself to do the best I can with who I am and what I have to work with.

Our New Years celebration was different this year. We always stay home and have a quiet steak/crab leg dinner and watch DVD’s or TV but this year my brother and sister in-law were visiting their children so we drove the hour west to have dinner with them at one of our favorite supper clubs….which are few and far between these days.
This place is called the Buckhorn and it has been run the same for the past 45 years….nothing has changed except the owners but they still operate it the same and serve the same menu. A true old fashioned supper clubs – oh and it overlooks the lake!

So we had a leisurely dinner and afterwards my brother said he had something for me….well, it was the best surprise ever. He had made me a beautiful ladder for my Family Heirloom Weaver linens!!!! He’s just the best brother a girl could have.
The one shown is theirs – they brought it so I could use it for my show but it’s exactly like it!

Not a very fun post today but just wanted to check in with all of you and share my New Years with you.

Doug is going on a full days delivery tomorrow (Saturday) so it’s just me and the two kitties so I’m going to do some much needed cleaning and putting the everyday decorative things back in place – maybe they just might find new homes….only time will tell when I get going on it.

An addition after I had this posted most of the afternoon but I forgot to put this on.
I have a huge sale on my website….some left over Christmas and decorative items from my Home Show and also some New items….check out the categories by clicking on the link pictures below.
  

Happy New Year Everyone!

Karen

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