Around Town in April

On our way to Home Depot today I pulled over half a dozen times to snap pictures of old barns, hay fields, and general scenery along the way. Yesterday everything was covered in snow, but temps reached 50 today for the second time in a few weeks we could see bare ground and grass. I can't tell you how happy I will be when that grass turns green and we see leaves on the trees again!

Our neighbors have a beautiful covered bridge that crosses a brook at the bottom of our road and leads to a barn housing a donkey and a zebra. Yep, you heard right. They have a zebra.

Huge red barn down the street. 

A stream with minty green water (I couldn't capture the color accurately on camera) runs through the center of our town.

Beautiful valley on the south side of town.

Dilapidated barns are a dime a dozen around here.

Hay bales.

You can never have too much cord wood.

Weekly Etsy Wish List: Our Wedding

I realize that in saying this I sound like the grinch of all grinches, but I'm not a big one for weddings. I don't know why, but I just never got swept away in it. I never dreamed about my wedding day, never planned what colors I would have or looked at bridal magazines. The only thing I really knew is that I don't want a big production.

After Josh & I got engaged last spring the inevitable questions started to come. Have you set a date? Did you buy a dress? Are you registered somewhere? For the past year my my answer has always been, "Nope!" Eventually, though, we had to get down to brass tacks, and a few of the details are starting to come together. Here's what we've planned so far: Our wedding is going to be incredibly small, with immediate family and one close friend each. We'll stand under the old apple tree in our yard and Josh's grandmother will marry us right there. I'll wear a plain white dress made by my friend Marie. Josh will build some picnic tables and a pergola next to our fire pit in the yard for the reception/dinner. We'll decorate with flowers from the yard. I am hoping for roasted marshmallows around the fire pit after dinner. We don't have a registry, but will set up a charity donation with Heifer International in lieu of gifts. I don't want fancy pots and pans or new dishes, I'd rather buy them myself at the thrift store for $2 and save trash from going in the landfill.

Now that we've got some details narrowed down I've made a Pinterest board for inspiration and today I've gathered together a group of items on Etsy that I think capture the spirit of what we are trying to achieve. I was worried that the wedding might take on a life of its own and eventually I'd throw my hands up and ask Josh if we could just elope, but I am actually starting to get excited about a few of the things we've planned. Maybe it won't be so bad after all ;-)

White Evelyn Dress, $160	Apple Tree Photo, $30	String Lights, $224
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Barn Photograph, $25	Wine Barrel, $65	Blue Ball Jar, $8
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Pergola, $3,000	Wedding Sign, $76	Reclaimed Wood Tables, $850

Weaving a Sampler

At weaving class today we worked on a sampler, a small woven piece meant to serve as a tester for different color combinations and weaving techniques. By alternating the loom peddles, called treadles, different affects can be achieved, and we tried a number of different colors and treadle combinations today. My first two classes were spent measuring, cutting, and warping the loom with the warp thread, which is the blue and white thread stretched front to back across the loom in the photos below. Today we added the weft (crosswise) thread using a shuttle, the wooden canoe like holder for the weft thread. As the weft thread fills in, the textile must be manually rolled over the front bars of the loom with a crank to expose more warp for weaving. By the end of the class I completed roughly 25 inches of weaving. The piece won't be used for anything -- it's just a tester and I made a number of mistakes -- but it was really satisfying to see how it all starts to come together. Hooray for my first day of actual weaving!

New Vintage Stock Preview

A quick sneak peek of items to be listed in the vintage shop this week!

I fell in love with this 1930s portrait painting

Vintage bamboo bird cage

There's something wonderful about faded old flags

Todd Farm Flea Market Opening Day

Today was the "season opener" of my all time favorite flea market, Todd Farm, and as usual the show was packed with amazing finds and I made out like a bandit. Todd Farm is a real deal flea market 45 minutes north of Boston that runs every Sunday spring through fall. You won't find any knockoff designer bags, cheap leather belts, or crafts at Todd Farm, just the real deal, dusty, chippy, old stuff. Sure, there's some occasional junk nobody would want, but the show is overwhelmingly great and I have never left anywhere close to empty handed. The market is large enough that you can spend a solid three hours shopping without passing the same booth twice, and yet it is not overwhelming. Brimfield is great and I look forward to it all year, but to be honest I prefer Todd Farm. I can get in and out in a few hours without dealing with parking hassles and lines, and the deals are better. Add in the fact that the show is completely dog friendly and has the best homemade donuts I've ever tasted, and it just can't be beat.

If you are a flea market lover on the east coast and have yet to check out Todd Farm, I highly suggest giving it a shot.

Quarry Road Trip

Today we took a road trip to Poultney, a small town on the border of Vermont and New York, to pick up slate tile for our bathroom that was mined at a quarry there. I had never been to a quarry site, and while we really only saw the processing area and storage yard, I have to say it was pretty cool.

Rows and rows of slate slabs and tile in every size and shape imaginable were stacked over acres of land, and a mound of "castaway" cuts tossed at one end of the property looked to be almost a story high.

We got to see a large, industrial wet saw in action, in addition to several workers splitting slabs by hand using what looked like a sharp, thin wedge and a hammer. The wedge was placed at the edge of the slab, and pounded with a hammer to create the split. The slate separated straight as an arrow down the middle, creating two smooth slabs where before there had only been one.

The day was actually very nice, with temps around 50 and sunny, blue skies, so it was really nice to get out and take a drive. We get such tunnel vision with our work on the house that it becomes necessary to break up the routine and go somewhere new once in a while.

In other news, the demo in the bathroom was finished yesterday and the shower kit we ordered online arrived today, so we have everything we need to get started putting this bathroom back together. Being complete amateurs, I'm guessing it will take through the end of April to complete it. After the bathroom is done, we will tackle a custom murphy bed for the bedroom before turning our attention to the three season room off the downstairs bedroom. Needless to say, there will be lots more house remodeling and DIY posts over the next few months, so stay tuned if you like that kind of thing!

Weekly Etsy Wish List: Spring!

I'm choosing to ignore the sad fact that spring is nowhere to be found in our part of the state (it is snowing as I type this), and forging ahead with my spring themed Etsy favorites list. I hope at least some of you are sipping lemonade, enjoying the warm breeze blowing through your window as you read this! Happy spring!

Fine Art Photo, $30	Enameled Pendant Light, $127.83	Solid Perfume, $30
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Peony Art Photo, $34	Goest Perfume Set, $50	Succulent Centerpiece, $110
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Vintage Desk Fan, $104.99	Air Plant, $4	Handwoven Hammock $249