feels like summer

This holiday weekend was a flurry of activity—most of it taking place outside. I'll tell you about Saturday in a minute but Sunday and Monday were all about the garden. We planted fruit trees (another peach, a new pear), vegetable seeds (corn, beets, carrots, cucumbers, and green beans), vegetable plants (the baby cantaloupes and Greek tomatoes I started in February and some heirloom tomatoes, poblano peppers, and bell peppers from the garden center), and annual flowers in pots for the porch off the kitchen. We put netting over the strawberry plants, which are loaded with blossoms and teeny tiny future strawberries. I planted hostas in the shade garden and weeded flower beds. I even mowed the lawn. And yes, I collapsed into bed each night. But it felt good to get so much of the heavy work out of the way.

Saturday was equally exhausting but for different reasons. I got up early and drove to Stormville, NY for the Stormville Airport Antique Show & Flea Market. This was my first time attending the show and you'll find a full review (the good and the bad) over at Vintage Indie. I'll use this space to show some more of my purchases.

I thought most of the vintage linen/textile dealer's wares were very overpriced but I always manage to find a few bargains wherever I go. I got this embroidered pillowcase for $3 because of the weird stain running above the embroidery. An oxyclean soak got rid of 90% of it and I'll try a few tricks to get rid of the rest. The bluebird is super cute and I love the flowers (rhododendrons, I think).



I passed up the $4 hankies at one dealer's booth only to find a basket full of $1 ones at another's. This one with embroidered roses and daisies is very sweet.



I found some cool vintage 1920s needlework catalogs for $5 each. Catalogs are great for dating linens—they show what styles were in fashion during certain time periods. I think I'll show some of them in a blog post of their very own.

I talked the seller of this rose-print apron into a lower price ($3) because it was really dirty. It cleaned up just fine! I love the fabric this is made from and it has a stiff red netting (also used for the triangle pocket) underneath to give it shape.



This is the white beaded purse for $5 that I mention in the VI review. As it turns out it's not just a clutch—it has a chain handle that tucks inside, too.



I wish I could have gotten more than scraps of this fabric. It's a vintage DuBarry screen printed cotton with roses and bows and the colors are amazing.



I have a few more trips planned for later in the summer - shows that I go to every year. Other than that I'm not sure. With gas so expensive ($48 last time I filled the tank of my VW bug!) I think I may be sticking closer to home this year.

Road Trip: Shupp's Grove Flea Market

Each weekend, the Shupp's Grove Flea Market in Adamstown, PA has a theme weekend. Sellers have the option of bringing things to fit that theme knowing that there will be buyers looking specifiically for those things. For the three years I've been going to this, I've always gone on the Textiles-Linens-Buttons weekend. No surprise there, right?

That's next weekend. This year we decided to try one of their 3 day extravanganza weekends and I'm happy to report that from my perspective it wasn't much different. The same booths I like to shop at were there and the same things I like to buy were there. So I had a good day.

I always look for buttons and I found some great ones (look for them on my web site soon). I got lots of aprons (one with an unusual use of rickrack that I'll show you in a future post) and a couple with chicken scratch embroidery (still another post). The handkerchief lady was there and I bought a bunch with pretty crocheted edgings in bright colors. I'll layer these under all those print hankies I got this spring.



For myself (as opposed to for-the-business purchases) I got a white painted vintage step stool ($25) and two vintage painted folding chairs ($8 each). And my husband surprised me with a vintage painted shelf that he'd found while browsing ahead of me. I think he's starting to "get" what I like :)

The best find of the day? This quilt top (for $25) with what I think may be 1930s fabrics.



I love the brightly colored prints that were used on the edges and inner borders—they're actually three colorways of the same fabric.



I'll have another road trip post in a few days. We're heading to Lambertville, NJ tomorrow and who knows what treasures we'll find there!