A Much-Needed Day Out...

On Saturday, my BFF (that would be my husband, for those of you who have not figured this out by now) and I headed out into town to do some antique/thrift/etc-store shopping. I've been on some pretty nasty medicines the past week, and have been horrifically sick (ironically, that's been more the result of the medicine than the illness! - Go figure. I hate taking medicine. Side effects are a vile, vile, thing). To take my mind off of things, and because we were both in need of some fun date time, we decided to go out and about. At the first thrift store, Ryan found a gorgeous, hand-carved, solid cocobolo wood box. It was broken on one side, but most of the wood was still useable. What had him so excited was that he paid 50 cents for what amounted to roughly $18 worth of wood! We went to a few more antique stores, where I found a gorgeous pair of long rhinestone earrings with the old-fashioned screwbacks (this dates them to the 1940s-50s or so). I also found the cutest 1940's hat for $3.95! That's cheaper than I normally pay at the THRIFT STORE!! It's a Henry Pollack, and consists of a black felt skullcap with a front of felt and sequin spirals. There is also a veil of black netting, but it's so torn up that I think I may just remove it and wear the hat minus the veil.

I love that I am wearing my farm clothes in this picture - *laughing*

Ryan found several tools he initially wanted at some of the antique stores, but upon closer inspection, each one had some sort of major flaw that would be too much work to fix. It always makes him sad to see tools that have been so abused (the same way I feel about vintage hats who have not been well taken care of!). That afternoon, I begged to stop by one final thrift store, since it was on the way to the Grange Co-Op (where we were headed before returning home for the day). There, I struck gold!: a $7 1940's house dress in EXCELLENT condition! There are only a few stains around the shoulders that I was unable to soak out. Structurally, the dress is completely sound (odd for something that old that I found in a thrift store), and though the matching belt has definitely seen better days, it too is still entirely useable. The dress is composed of this gorgeous rose/flower pattern on a white background, and with pink piping for accent. There are two buttons (one each) on the shoulders, and then the front contains buttons about halfway down the dress. The buttons are these adorable carved pink confections! I love them! The dress also has DEEP pockets, perfect for gardening! In short, I have found my newest (old) gardening smock!

I also found an adorable vintage wiggle dress in a fun, colorful print, with what I like to call a "Joan" collar and matching belt. The dress has a metal side zipper, but someone in later years added an additional nylon zipper in the back. Having sewn a dress before that had a metal side zipper (and then realizing that a back zipper made life SO much easier in regard to getting the garment on and off), I COMPLETELY understand why this person put it on there! The dress is in great condition as well! I can't wait til the weather warms up a bit more so that I can wear all of my lovely vintage finds!

Finally, we stopped at the Grange to buy the remaining poultry supplies for the baby chicks and ducklings that are headed our way next week (I'm so excited!). We actually gave our flock of mature hens to a pet-only home (they had stopped laying, and we didn't have room for 20 old hens and 25 new ones), so currently we have to buy our eggs from other farms. This is rather annoying, but I am excited for chicken/duck eggs in the future!

More heirloom bean seeds have been arriving every day. I received my (very generous) packet of Lenape Cutshort/Indian Hannah beans, as well as my Coco Sophie and Dinkelbuhne bean seeds. The coriander and quinoa are just beginning to sprout up in the garden, and I noticed tiny purslane sprouts amongst my spinach/salad bed seedlings yesterday! Though the weather has been just barely above freezing at night and wet/rainy lately, things are still germinating (better late than never, I suppose). Hurray!

P.S. - I let (ok, ok, I begged/pleaded/threatened) Ryan cut about 6 inches off of my hair. It was so long that it was driving me crazy, and I didn't feel like trying to book myself a salon appointment. So I handed him a pair of scissors and let him hack away. It still tries to 'fro a bit (my hair is very thick and wavy, especially when the length is shorter), but it feels and looks SOOO much better now! I'm quite happy!