Old Stuff - New to Me!

When I went to Traverse City, I had lots of fun digging through old stuff and found a few treasures:

At the Granary Antiques in Beulah, I got this wonderful children's table with chicks painted on it. This table combines so many of my favorite things -- it's red, it's for children and it has chicks on it. If anything I find is red, has polka dots or chicks on it, I'm drawn like a moth to a flame! It's just the right size, too, to go with the old Sunday School chairs I already have. It's just waiting for that visiting child (Lily or Gus) or grandchild-yet-to-be to have the perfect coloring project or tea party!

Also at the Granary, I got the Ladybug book about England's churches & cathedrals (I know, no one would like that book but me...but I think it's great!)

At Black Horse Antiques in Beulah, I got the 'Garden Adventures in Winter' and an' H' (for Hen) child's block. In Traverse City, I got the 'More Rupert Adventures' book and the TOTALLY cool postcard of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Anne & the corgis came from the Elk Rapids Antique Warehouse. I find that I just can't have too much QE2!

In the picture below, the swanky swig with an elephant on one side and a chicken & duck on the other is just like one we had when I as little. I remember getting jelly or jam or spread cheese in those little glasses and then getting to keep them as juice glasses.

The Mackinac Bridge glass is one of the souvenir glasses that I've begun collecting. There was an article about them in Country Living, so they must be the new new thing -- I just like to get ones from places I've been to. I added another tea towel (this one with red morning glories) to the many tea towels I have -- though I use them all! The Fiesta mixing bowl is more in keeping with what my friend Bargain Hunter looks for, but it was in such nice condition I couldn't resist it. It may end up on eBay yet...

When we got back into town, I went to the Royal Oak parking garage flea market and got the find of the week! This wonderful retro lamp was just waiting to go into my living room! It's aqua (to match my sofa) and has a green-flecked rice paper shade and great gold atomic trim on it. Isn't it fantastic?

While I was there, 2 other people tried to buy it, but it was already MINE! Now I need to find another retro lamp, because this one puts my other regular lamp to shame...

Fun in Traverse City, Part 2

I had such a good time exploring around the Traverse City area! Though I went in search of antique stores, it gave me an opportunity to see some of the nicest little towns. My friend, the Bargain Hunter & Treasure Seeker, blogs about all her (our) antiquing adventures and always takes pictures. So when I was going to TC, she made me promise to take my camera!

Each day started with an iced tea and a scone at one of the little tables outside of the Good Harbor Coffee & Bakery.

On the first day, I drove northeast to Elk Rapids. I went to the Elk Rapids Antique Warehouse, which is one of the nicest antique malls I've been to in a long time. The booths were arranged with lots of attention to display -- not the 'tossed in' look we see from time to time. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera inside, so no inside pictures. I really recommend a stop there, though, if you're up north.
Next I drove into the harbor area of town. It was a beautiful day -- just perfect for exploring! It was sunny & in the low 80s and there were lots of people swimming and boating.

Hmmm. . . I need to check with our pastors -- is this what it means to be on sabbatical?

I don't know what little river of creek this is, but it was really pretty.Next stop was Harbor Antiques, in town. . .
The outside was great with lots of interesting stuff, as you can see. The inside was really cluttered, though, and I thought most of the prices were a little high.

The other antique shop was also downtown, but I never caught the name of it. It was a small shop and had nice items, but I had to hurry through and move my car, as they were getting ready to close the street for an 'Evening on the River' festival.
The next day I went to the southwest, down to Beulah & Benzonia, on Crystal Lake. It began as another beautiful day, but rain quickly moved in. Beulah has several nice shops -- the first one I stopped was my favorite, Black Horse Antiques. The owner had lots of vintage metal chairs which had been powder coated (I don't know why I never thought of having that done to all of mine -- they looked as good as new). The shop was jam-packed with great stuff and the prices were good, too. I'm already looking forward to going back next time I'm up there.
The other big place in town is the Granary Antique Mall, in an old (what else) granary, complete with the machines still in it. You can see how long it is with all the booths arranged on either side.
In Benzonia, I visited the Gwen Frostic Studio, which is a wonderful place! Gwen passed away several years ago, but her block prints are still sold on notecards, calendars and prints, etc. She loved the wildlife & outdoors in Michigan and that's reflected in the studio itself, as you can see from these pics:The printshop where it all happens . . .
On my way back to Traverse, I stopped at the Cherry Hut in Beulah. The food there was so good -- it was even featured by Jane & Michael Stern on Roadfood! I had the special of the day -- a ham salad sandwich and cup of clam chowder, and had to skip the cherry pie because I was too full -- too bad, so sad. I took a picture of the sign, but drew the line at taking a picture of my lunch, as the Bargain Hunter would have!

On the last morning we were there, I stayed in Traverse City and visited the local shops. The first one was Wilson Antiques, which has a basement and 3 floors of antiques. There is a lot to see there, but I didn't find anything I couldn't live without. My favorite booth was in the front window, pictured below -- one side was all red & white kitchenware & the other was all red, white & blue boating & nautical stuff.

I stopped at Union Antiques, also very nice, and filled with great booths that had a lot of variety & good prices.

My last stop was right next door to Union Antiques -- the Bookie Joint. I can NEVER resist a used book store! This one was charming, as you can see by the pics.
Then it was time to go home, and we said goodbye to Traverse City!

Tomorrow: cool stuff I picked up on my trip north!

Fun in Traverse City!

Last week, Jim had classes for 3 days in Traverse City and I tagged along. While he spent 8:30-4:30 snoozing his way through interesting seminars such as 'Lease Agreements & Additional Insureds', I was out playing! I had so much fun that I'm going to divide my adventures into 2 posts -- one of all the great antique shops and towns that I visited and one about the places Jim and I visited together in the evenings.

Jim thinks it's funny that I've lived here in Michigan 16 years and have just now fallen in love with the northern part of the lower peninsula (I've loved the UP -- Cedarville & the Les Cheneaux Islands -- since I was little)! I just kept saying over and over, 'Who knew that all this great stuff and beautiful country was up here?', to which he replied, 'Most of the people in Michigan and lots of people from other states!' Now I want to get a cottage up there (like we can afford that)...

We took a small trip up the Old Mission Peninsula and visited the wineries that were open. It's so pretty there -- these photos don't do it justice!

Hop Bines - learn more about them
A mechanical cherry harvester - watch one work!

We had dinner at the restaurant at the top of the Grand Traverse Resort and had a great view of the surrounding area and the Grand Traverse golf courses.
and watched the sunset over the bay...

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Cherry Street Market in Kalkaska and bought lots of homegrown cherries, apricots, plums & corn. Yum Yum!

Home grown produce?

While we were up north, Turner the Crazy Dog was at the kennel. When the dog's away. . .

. . .the cat sleeps in his nest!

Hmm. . .Do you think Leo misses Turner?

Tomorrow...my days exploring!

Nobody here but us girls!

There's peace in the hen house again! My roosters (2 Araucanas and 1 Red Star) were lovely to look at, but getting to be too much for my girls. On Wednesday I took all 3 roosters to a lady in met at the feed store who finds home with 4H kids for unwanted fowl. She assured me that the kids would continue to raise them until next year's fair, where they'll show them as 1-year-olds.

One of the Araucanas -- the baddest man in the coop!

I won't miss the Araucanas at all -- they were both already mean, aggressive and loud and making everyone's lives miserable. The Red Star, though, was a real sweetie and I was very sad to give him up. He was so gentle -- when I went out and sat by the chickens he jumped right up into my lap! I know, though, that sooner or later his rooster nature will come through, so keeping him would just be putting off the inevitable. What's disappointing, though is that Red Stars are 'sex-linked', which means that the male chicks are a different color than the female chicks -- there shouldn't have been a mistake made at the feed store! I'll just be more careful double checking that the lady there picks the right chicks next time.

Mr. Nice Guy and his girls

Now it's time to wait for the eggs to come & the girls to earn their feed -- maybe in September!