Coffee Morning

I was up extra early, more  than usually early, one morning this past week. The Big Ben Westclox by my bed said it was 7:15 when I got up which is nearer my usual time, but it was very dim in the room, as there was no sun shining.  I peeked through the shade and saw a heavy fog outdoors.  That didn't cheer me in the least, let me tell you.  We've had a lot of gray heavy days this summer, more than I recall ever seeing outside of February.  I hurried through my shower and then, since John hadn't yet come in from work, I settled in the rocker next to the windows in the breakfast area and sipped coffee while I read my Bible.  It was peaceful there, rocking gently with natural light to read by.  I realized as I rocked that I was very contented.  I vowed to spend more mornings in that chair with coffee and my morning study...And as I rocked I looked at the clock on the microwave and realized I'd gotten up a great deal earlier than 7:15!



I'm not in the least sorry.  I wouldn't have known how pleasant a spot that is to sit in the mornings  if I hadn't risen so early.  I've made it a point to sit there at least four times since and I must have convinced John it was rather nice because he came and sat there as I cleared up dinner dishes yesterday afternoon.

That silly clock next to my bed is a vintage piece I bought for $5 and it runs fast.  I reset it every night when I wind it up and by morning it's running fast once more. I guess I forgot to set it back a couple of nights running for me to have been up so very much earlier than usual. I don't mind.  I just love that clock.  Granny had one like it by her bed that she wound each night and I find it very soothing to hear the tick tock in the dark.  I also like the slightly clang-y alarm ring but I don't usually employ that feature.

It's a funny thing about knowing the alarm is on.  I'll wake every 15 minutes to see how much longer I can sleep.  Very unproductive.  And you know when I sleep the very deepest and the very best?  When I've just noted that it's 20 minutes more before the alarm goes off.  Then when it does go off, it shakes me to my core.  I much prefer to just sleep without it.

Well that was last week.  This week I've truly slept in a good bit later nearly every single morning.  I think it's the onset of the second cooler spell we've had this month. I have an adjustment period the first night or two that John is home, wherein I miss a good deal of sleep and then by the time his week off is winding up, I've begun to get into my more usual rhythm...but not this week. Nope, this week I've slipped right over to the other side and I struggle to wake up around 8:15 or 8:30.

The past two or three mornings it's been just lovely outdoors.  In fact, it's so very nice that I feel no inclination to hurry indoors and begin housework when I go out to feed the pets!  I just want to sit on the porch and admire the sun and enjoy the breeze and gaze upon that Turkey Foot Oak that has decided, regardless of calendar, autumn has arrived.  Just look at the thing!

I personally don't mind an early fall.  It's perfect to have an early autumn as far as I'm concerned because to me that is a sort of  'New Year' when things start fresh...Like John's annual leave that he's saved all year long.  Three weeks worth!  Well he's pieced it out on the calendar here at home.  So far we've a few extra days in September that he's actually requested off.

And then there's my venture I hinted at.  It's fact now, so I'll share.  The local flea/antique market called and finally, after three years waiting, had a booth space for ME!  I didn't jump right in but did go see the proposed space and taking into account that it's been three years and I'd donated a load of stuff just before Katie packed my shed full of her things, and I had nowhere to store any further treasures,  I asked if they'd consider halving the space for me.  The owner agreed immediately and I asked for time to pray about it.  I had a small list of pros and cons and before the time frame was up every single con had worked out, so there was nothing left but pros on my list.  I took that as a positive thing and agreed to rent the space.

I have the most glorious ideas...and not a thing to work with at the moment.  Those ideas will just have to be put on hold.  I have to start at the beginning, can't work my way from the middle out, now can I? But oh the ideas I've had!  I've jotted them all down to save for the future when I DO have more and perhaps I can work my way into a bigger space.  In the meanwhile,  I gathered a few things, looked up on eBay about what they might go for, washed and dried and priced and let myself go out to the thrift store once this past week to see if I could find any additional treasure.  That was a bust of a day, one of those that just didn't work out  but I did find an item or two that I thought I could use. Here's one, which I'm showing altered.  These candle wall sconces were originally a brown color.  I think this works better:

 I'd have loved to paint them a lovely turquoise, but I am using what I have at the moment.  I also bought a grapevine wreath.  I stripped it down and washed it well and redecorated it, very similar to my own backdoor wreath here below:

The price for space at this antiques and flea market is beyond reasonable but I have to provide my own shelving and display.  Well I was going to use what I have on hand, which wasn't terrific, but better than nothing.  John insisted I order shelving to use.  It's nothing fancy but it matches and until I can improve it's better than I'd have had to start out with otherwise.

I'm excited about it, in case you can't tell.  I just love going out to thrift stores and bringing home treasure but I've had a storage issue so couldn't switch things about as much as I used to do.  And then there were all the lovely things I had to leave behind because much as I may like art deco style martini glasses, I don't drink martinis, nor do I need yet another lovely old fashioned plate.   I've been told by many flea market owners where I ramble about that I have a good eye.  They are usually surprised with what I'll drag up to the counter to purchase.  "Where was that?" they'll ask in surprise, if it's a particularly nice piece that was ill displayed.  Or "What will you do with that?" if it's something that looks 'interesting'.  I'll tell them and go back later with a photo of what I used it for...So I feel confident I can do this.

I just have to keep reminding myself that this is strictly a pay as you go proposition for me.  My investment money is low.  In fact, it's this month's allowance.  And not a penny more.  So next month, I hope to earn that back to reinvest.  But you know what excites me most of all?  Now I actually have a perfectly valid excuse to get out and go plunder about! lol  I've already told John that I plan to spend at least one day a week roaming around looking for items to go into the booth.

I've been looking at a few blogs where the owners have booths.  I got a bit nervous at first because my style isn't the same as theirs.  But then I'm not buying the sort of stuff they sell for my own home and there are as many or more like me as there are of the other sorts.  I've also gained an added boost of confidence because I see that, even though I've never sold before, my instincts truly are good.  As I read their advice I put a check-mark by similar statements on my idea list I'd made out. 

I believe I come by this desire to barter, trade and sell honestly.  You see my paternal grandfather dearly loved to go ramble about in old barns and junky sort of Junque Shoppes and attend auctions and such.  He brought home some really lovely things for his and Grandmama's home.  And he had a barn and a shed just full of things he was forever lugging home or lugging off to trade for something else to lug home.   One of his brothers refinished salvaged furniture and another ran an antiques shop of his own, so it's in my blood.

Grandaddy had a love of history as well, which I also get from him.  Not just family history, but community histories were important to him and he often told me how this old abandoned building was a thriving country store or that place was an old livery stable or the house on the hill was a well known boarding house in ages gone by.  And he would tell me all about the communities that had become not much more than just a house or three and a dirt track or two.

Sort of like my fascination with little old neighborhoods that were true thriving towns at one time.  I was looking over some genealogy pages the other day.  At one point my 4times great grandfather's home was numbered in the 400s of perhaps 500 in his district.  By the next census it was listed in the 2400s  of nearly 5000.  That was twenty years before the heyday of the town!  Now I doubt there are a total of 100 houses in the same area.  It looks like nothing much, but I confess I see beyond the present day and look at what yesteryear must have been like.


Let's skip back a bit to my statement that my first 'shopping' day was a bust.  I thought I'd combine a few hours thrifting with the usual Harvest Day errands...Well, that was not the way things worked out.  I had a shorter time to do what I'd planned than I'd thought I'd have, but was determined to cram it in anyway.  Then I made my second stop, CVS.  I like our nearest CVS.  I'm very familiar with the store, the staff are unusually pleasant and friendly.  Not this day.  The clerk snipped at me and I pointed out that I'd not been rude to her, which made her snip again.  And then the register ran out of tape and refused to print my ECBs. Now I found no fault with the clerk over that, and by this point we were both being very gracious to each other.  But the manager...lol  Well it wasn't his day and he didn't quite trust that my ECBs didn't print out even if the clerk assured him it was so and handed him my partial register tape to prove it.  There was an error that had to be corrected and a growing crowd in line that got restless and snarky...I thanked the clerk very nicely for all her trouble and told the snarky ones behind me it wasn't her fault for all the trouble and then I hurried out the door before mutiny hit.

I went to the bank in that town and I've mentioned before that I do NOT like this particular branch.  Never fails that I wait endlessly in the drive thru and this day was no different.  But then the clerk told me she needed my ID.  I've done business easily 25 years at that branch and they ask me for my ID all the time.  It's not like I have lost or gained a load of weight or change my hair color radically between visits.  I'm sort of the most stable looking person you'll see over the past 25 years I promise you.  But no, show my ID I must and then it took her another 15 minutes to process my items.  At this point it was nearly noon and I'd really meant to be home by 12:30.

I decided to head on to the one new thrift store I'd been meaning to visit.  That's where I found those sconces I showed you above, and the grapevine wreath I've made over.  But then I felt really pressured to hurry home and there was dinner to think of.  John's used to my bringing home something special on Harvest Day by way of treating ourselves, you see.  So I stopped off to pick up dinner and then rushed home. I discovered when I came in that John had already eaten!  I was surprised because he never eats prior to my return but that was just the way this day went. I was frustrated and decided then and there that I'd rather take another day to make it a thrift day than to try to hurry through errands and meeting deadlines.

So the days pass along rather quickly, full of nothings and somethings all at once.  September will be here this weekend...Doesn't that just blow your mind a bit?  Mama and I noted on our way home that the goldenrod is fully in bloom now, no catching the rare glimpse.  She told me that the almanac this year says we shall have a long hard cold winter.  I have to say I put more stock by the Farmer's Almanac than I do by these weather men that my husband has dubbed False Prophets, lol.  Granny used to read the natural signs and she was accurate about 90% of the time.  Katie has that natural instinct, too, for reading weather.  I am able to tell you patterns but can't read weather the way that she does.  That just isn't my gift.

I hope to get some Garden Peas planted this next week and perhaps some lettuce seed as well.  In fact, if I can round up a few more big pots I mean to plant myself a regular little potted garden.  I don't know if I'll actually have time to harvest anything, but I'm going to try.

Well, time for me to get busy with housework and such and stop my chatting.  I'm planning to make Challah this morning and we need cookies in the cookie jar.  See you next week!