Odds and Ends

This past week has been extremely busy and involved lots of travel, interesting activities, and emotional moments.  This week is shaping up to be another busy challenging week.  I'm not one to dwell for long on the bad, so here are a few good things that have happened in my travels.

 

I finally found a decent well priced pedestal sink!  This is a Standard brand sink and is from the 1930s.  I found it in a Habitat for Humanities Restore and it's in really good condition and priced to sell, so I had no choice but to snag it up and store it till I get to the bathroom renovation project.

 

Sgt and I are now without roosters.  Yes, we slaughtered and processed them ourselves. Just some FYI about me that you probably don't know, I have not eaten chicken or red meat in 22 years.  I do however eat seafood.  I will not be eating the chickens, but I did help process the chickens so that Sgt can eat them.

 

Bad Dog!  Hmmm Sgt, could this be karma??  I love this site (it's so funny) and Chester fits right in on there.....Dogshaming 

 

Last but not least,  many of you know, I like mailboxes that make a statement!  This is Aunt Dot's cool ass mailbox.  I love, love this mailbox design.   How old is this mailbox and where the heck did she find it?? It reminds me of the old aluminum screen doors (with the scroll designs and large letter) that people use to have on their front doors.  Perhaps she had it custom made?  Don't ya all wish you had a mailbox as cool as this??!!  I need to find some body to make me one!

Here's to another long week!

~MaryDeluxe

Aunt Dot 1911-2012

I just wanted to let you all know...

Our dear, sweet Aunt Dot passed away this morning.  

She was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of August. 

It just seemed to happen so fast.

Her suffering was short.

She passed away in her own home while being cared for by my wonderful Aunt.

 

(Celebrating her 101 birthday on August 9th.)

I will miss her

We will all miss her

She was so loved 

Our most prized family possession

Our dear, sweet Aunt Dot

Thank you dear readers for all your wonderful Aunt Dot comments over the years and for allowing me to share her with you.  She was something special.

Aunt Dot's Obituary

Dorothy M. DeVine, 101, died peacefully at her home on August 22, 2012. She was born August 9, 1911, in Dayton Ohio, The daughter of the late Daniel C. and Helen (Hochwalt) DeVine. When she was 3, her family moved to York, where she graduated from St. Rose of Lima grade School. She also graduated from St. Joseph Academy in McSherrystown, and Thompson's school of business. While working as a legal secretary, she and her sister purchased a 65 acre farm. They were later joined by their brothers Edward and George, and started a poultry, egg and feed business during the depression. Upon retiring from farming in the 1960's, she worked as a bookkeeper for Lerew Ford in East Berlin. Dorothy, her sister Catherine, and Edward retired to New Oxford where she pursued her love of gardening, designing and crafting hooked rugs, baking, and walking to daily mass at church. Dorothy will be greatly missed by her family, along with those who were touched by her loving and giving spirit. She is survived by two brothers, John DeVine of State College and James DeVine of Lansdale; five nieces; one nephew; nine great-nieces; three great-nephews; six great-great-nieces; and three great-great-nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister, Catherine DeVine; two brothers, Edward DeVine, George DeVine; and a nephew, James DeVine. A Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, August 27, 2012, at 10 a.m.

~MaryDeluxe

Running Amuck....

at the Muck Ruckus for MS!  That's where I spent my day.  No, this gal wasn't running amuck (I was a bit to intimidated) but she sure did enjoy watching everyone else running through the mud and over obstacles.  I was there as a cheerleader and official photographer for Sgt and his two cousins, Kristin and Ashley, as they ran the 5 mile event!  Both Sgt's and Kristin's and Ashley's Moms have MS, so this is a cause that really hits home with them. I was really impressed at how well they did on the course since neither Ashley, who had a baby not to long ago, or Sgt trained for this event.  The little dynamo Kristin on the other hand has been working out like a fiend for the last 6 months and was totally prepared for the crazy course!  She has been writing a blog about her new healthy lifestyle called...My Fit Decision....she's lost over 30 lbs so far and apparently discovered a love for playing in the mud! :)  I think it's a great way to spend some quality time with your family.

 

 

  


Way to go Ashley, Sgt, and Kristin!

I have never seen so many people enjoying themselves so much running through mud and over tough obstacles.  Perhaps this will be a new family tradition??!!

Keepin' it dirty for ya!

~MaryDeluxe

Good Things Come in Suitcases

Here's the only thing I picked up from that Farm auction I mentioned the other weekend.  It all came in a tiny suitcase.  The vintage clothing at this auction, as I stated before, was nothing outstanding.  Dusty everyday items from a working class farm family.  Nothing mind blowing that was worth the oodles of money people were spending on them.  I know that vintage clothes are getting harder to find, but still in my opinion, a ratty old black 40's basic crepe dress is not worth over $40 if that.  This post is not meant to be a rant about vintage clothing prices, or about people whom have no idea about vintage clothing condition and prices.  I won't bore you with my thoughts on that subject!  This is a post about what I found in the suitcase!

1940's Suit, jacket/skirt
1950's Suit, jacket/skirt
1950's skirt
4 pair of 1950's shorts
2 pair of 1950's cigarette pants
2 funky dresses from 1960's
2 1950's cashmere sweaters
1 Petticoat slip
4 1950's Summer blouses
1 pair of PJ's from 1940's
Miscellaneous belts and stockings
Plus I got the suitcase but it's missing the handle.

Conditions of clothing range from poor to excellent condition.  Most are in good condition. 

So, here's my question to all the vintage clothing lovers out there, how much would you have paid for this tiny suitcase full of vintage clothing???? 

A Girl, A Dress, and Her Chicken

The Girl: It's just me, MaryDeluxe!  I know, it's been so long since you've seen my face so, here's my face!  As you can see, I have returned to my favorite hair color....red....after a year or so of being my natural brownish color. Oh how I do love gingers! I also am happy to say that I have finally found a new awesome hair stylist to go to after having some disappointments.  I have to be vain and admit that one of the worst things about moving was losing my stylist.

 

The Chicken: This is my pet chicken, Quasi.  She is named after Quasimodo from the novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.  As you might guess, Quasi has a hunched back and is quite the twisted little chicken.  She walks funny, stands funny, and runs funny.  She is lowest in the pecking order and gets pecked at often.  She is the only chicken that is allowed out to free range.  When she sees me walking to the chicken run, she jumps off her chicken roost (where she spends all her time) and comes running to the door so that I can leave her out.  She follows me around the garden as I go about my tasks.  She is one very spoiled chicken! 

 
 

 

The Dress: It's the cute little HeyDay Fleur wrap dress I won way back months ago!   I finally located a seamstress to hem up the bottom for me so I could wear it!  I love it! I just might have to save my pennies and go get myself a few more!  They are great Summer dresses and even the old school seamstress I took it to remarked on how well made it was and asked if it was vintage. It even looks great with muck boots!

The End: Till next time!

~MaryDeluxe

101!!!!!

It's that time of the year again!!

 Happy 101 Birthday 
Aunt Dot!!! 

  

 

 

Here's hoping you ate a big piece of cake today!!!
~Love me.

Where Did July Go??

No excuses for my absence other than the simple fact that I have been extremely busy.  Here's a brief recap.......I will go into further detail at a later date I'm sure!

My gal-pal SusieQT from Practice in Time blog and I opened up a joint booth at an antique shop in Quakertown PA!  Here's just a few pictures of our space....more to come later!

 

 

 Not only did I open up a space in PA but being the wacky gal that I am, I opened up a second booth space in an antique shop in NJ too!  This one I'm sharing with Sgt.  So, he and I have been having lots of fun having auction adventures to find cool interesting inventory! 

We went to an absolutely INSANE farm auction a few weeks ago that grew a HUGE crowd and people were in attendance from surrounding states!  It took me a good 45 min of waiting in line till I could register and get a bidding number.  It was the most crowded auction I have ever been to.  They had stated that there would be a nice selection of vintage clothes, so of course I attended with hopes of snagging a few nice things.  I'll just say this, the clothes were not that nice and went much higher than what they should have gone money wise for their condition and type.  There was a first time auction gal there who just had to have everything that was vintage clothing and had no idea when to stop bidding.  I just stood and watched and laughed to myself....but $200 for a 1940's hand made boring black dress with moth holes in it seems a bit ridiculous to me.  She obviously wasn't there to get a good deal.  

 

I did manage to snag a suitcase full of a variety of vintage clothing before the bidding got to high.  I think I just got lucky and it was overlooked by the vintage clothing feeding frenzy. :)

Here's the new project Sgt and I will be busy with for the next few months or so.  We have decided to become a foster family for a local pet rescue and have taken in our first foster dog on Monday.  His name is Chester and he ain't nothing but a hound dog, who just happens to like to lounge on my hey-wake furniture.  He's got good taste!

 

Our dog Raven is loving having a dog to pal around with versus all the cats.  She's actually starting to act like a dog again.  Chester was found a few months ago as a stray dog who they think was hit by a car?  He had bad road rash which leaves Sgt to think he was maybe dumped out of a moving car by someone? We'll never know for sure, but it's obvious that he was a very neglected dog.  He's been living for the last few months in a kennel waiting for a foster family.  Chester has now entered intensive doggie boot camp, learning important manners like, sit, stay, come, off, and no!  I am happy to report however, he is already create trained and house broken.  Yippy!!!

 

He is a very sweet guy and we have high hopes that with some new manners and a bit of stability to build his confidence, he will be one sought after doggie!

I'm running out of energy, so I will have to save my chicken update for another post!

~MaryDeluxe