Inside the Treasure Box!

Time to reveal the contents of the "Treasure Box"!  Sorry it took so long for this post but I needed a few days of rest after our long journey before I started taking pictures - and I had lots of pictures to take!

Just a reminder of what the box looked like inside before the trip.


We managed to fill it up just fine!  The contents were a bit jumbled when I opened the door but I only had a few minor breakages!!

 This vintage brass tea cart caught me eye while I was at Mimi's in Laramie, Wyoming.  Mid Century furniture is making a comeback and I just moved this into my space for display!

Also at Mimi's I couldn't resist these dishes!  These Royal Worcester Plates were made in England and they are back stamped "The Cowell & Hubbards - Cleveland"

As you all know, I am a dish-o-holic, tiffany blue or turquoise blue is one of my favorites and with the pink flowers - these were just to die for so I purchase the set of 9 plates - one of them has a hairline crack from the edge to the inside of the rim - but it will still be nice to have an extra just in case!  They will look great when I mix and match them with some of my other dishes!

Also from Mimi's  - this simple white birdcage - our customers love these - one of the most creative uses is at weddings - guests insert their cards for the couple right through the sides of the cage!

Mike actually found this gate leg table!  We are going to use it as a sofa table behind the couch in our 'lodge room' to to hold our Dragonfly lamp.  I am giving our old sofa table to our niece - but not until I un-countrify it!  Look for the post "Country-fied to City-fied!"

It will serve double duty when we have Thanksgiving or other large family gatherings since it opens up to seat 6!

These 3 inch wooden spools for 50 cents a piece were just laying in a bowl waiting for me to discover them!  I think I will wind some vintage burgundy and green velvet ribbons around them to sell at Christmas time.

To actually find a Catalina Potteries Vase was like hitting the jackpot for me!  My whole family loves hunting for Catalina as well as Malibu pieces and I had never found any on all my hunts!  And this one was a combination of my favorite shabby colors!

A customer had written "Vintage Medicine Cabinet with glass shelves" in our wish book so when I saw this one at a Goodwill Store in Nebraska I had to get it!  The Victorian frame fits the shabby chic style perfectly -

And the manager had wrapped all the glass shelves and hardware nicely for traveling
had them and stored inside!

Another client is collecting vintage oars for her sister's cabin in Oregon so I call her whenever I find some unusual ones.  I found these two oars in Amarillo, Texas at Whispering Pines Antiques store  - I can't wait to call my client and let her know they will be in the store for her to check out!  I may just decide to keep one or both if she decides she doesn't want them - they would look great in our lodge room!

I also picked this up at Whispering Pines Antiques store.  Pottery Barn markets these 'found' bottles and sells these large 24" tall bottles for $125 in their catalog!  I picked mine up for about a quarter of that price!

I saw a display in a store done with vintage player piano rolls that was striking so when I came across these for a few dollars each, I gathered up a pile!

Small glass bottles are really hard to find - I know a few people who make jewelry out of them so when I find some that look old or are unique, I buy them for them.

Vintage vanity trays sell well at Melange and I found lots but only but only purchased two!  The first was this classic gold filigree one - these are pretty easy to find but in California they are sometimes pricey!  This soft-edged rectangular one was only $6 and it was a large size one so I had to get it!  The turquoise grape motif candy jar and the light green pitcher with roses on it were finds in a 'sale' section at an antique store.  I just had to get the Avon Collectible Scarlett O'Hara figurine - a memory of the South!

Here is the second tray I bought. It has Lucite handles and the mirror silvering is all crinkled and shows lots of aging on the bottom, which only added to its appeal!  It was priced at only $8 because it was 'worn out'! On this mirror some smaller treasures: a vintage cut crystal honey jar and a french compote are joined by the little Japanese ladle - The compote and ladle would be lovely to use for bath salts in lavish boudoir!!

Anything with roses says shabby chic!  This 'dummy board' was used to hide the fireplace during summer months in a Victorian home somewhere!  The hand painted floral motif will sell this piece in no time! 

Hats and more hats!  I found six different pill box style and other hats.  Our customers love vintage hats and with Mad Men on TV these days, the themed parties have customers requesting these pill box style hats frequently!

My son, Sam, is stationed in Oahu and works at Tripler Medical Center - he is in the Army Nursing Corp so when I saw this vintage "American Red Cross Home Nursing" book I thought of him!  The vintage creamers with the Army medical corp logo on them will make a nice addition to this gift for him to add to his collection!

Another customer collects vintage glass egg dishes - this one was just gorgeous - the light green glass still was crystal clear and not a chip on it!

These vintage 'Shiny Brite" Christmas Ornaments were the ones I found in that barn in Tucumcari, New Mexico when we stopped after seeing the 'Trade Days' sign!  The whole box set me back $9!

And who would have thought that in that old barn, along with the ornaments, I would find this 7 inch ceramic shoe - my color!  The lady explained that her husband's great aunt had made it years ago when she was in high school - the hand formed flowers and the gilting around the edges were just too special to pass up for $5.
I'm a sucker for things with great stories behind them!

Mike was able to sift through a whole box of hardware and decided on these pieces - he is working on building his own bar and thought he would add these for character!  My oldest, Max, does a lot of training at the American Airlines facility in Dallas, Texas, and when Mike went back to visit, they frequented the World's largest Honky Tonk - Billy Bob's - I think the cowboy boot hooks will add a bit of Billy Bob's to his bar!

And of course, as posted already, we got this mirror/shelf combo made personally by Shirley Evans - she told me that Buck 'had nothing to do with it" when I took the picture of both of them!!


And because we were one of their best customers all day - they threw in this piece of raw turquoise they had found in   Arizona!  

And now for some of my best buys!

I told you about the gorgeous dress I found for my friend's daughter for $19!  I went straight down to her house to have her try it on and as you can see it fit beautifully!

I can just see Rebecca going to her sorority 'cotillion' with this dress on!

This Victorian Birdcage and stand was one of my best buys of the whole trip!  Sets like these retail at antique fairs for about $125.00

The original stand had all the original hooks and the original birdcage as well!  Rarely do you find a complete set - and I got it for a steal - only $13.50!

The biggest purchase of all on our trip was made by Mike!  He tells everyone he built the "Treasure Box" for all of my shabby stuff, but he was able to take advantage of having it when he found this unusual wine cabinet!  He had been looking for something to store his wine in and when he saw this in an antique shop in Missouri.  He counted 36 cubbies to store 36 bottles and it was just about the right height at 4 feet to put underneath our hexagonal window in our lodge room! The other side has three shelves - perfect for storing other wine bar accessories!

And we can't wait to fix this find up!  This was one of our favorite 'finds' at $22.00! This vintage double laundry tub will look beautiful once restored! We are planning on taking it to an automotive painter who can dip the legs in a de-rusting medium and then professionally paint it!  We just need to agree on a color!  Hosting our first party with this being the "Beverage Tub" will certainly spark conversations!

Last, but not least - a few souvenirs!

In addition to our 'finds' I did purchase a few souvenirs on the road.  My niece Amanda was right in style at the Taylor Swift concert this past weekend wearing the pink cowboy hat I got at The Big Texan restaurant.


Also from The Big Texan Restaurant - I can't wait to give my 21 year old son, Alex, 'the boot' in about 5 days when he returns to Cal Poly for fall quarter! No doubt this will hold a brew or two in the coming year!

I found this tee shirt at Bella in Lake Havasu City - it will be perfect for my early morning hunts!  And it pretty much sums up my addiction!  So you can see our trip was very rewarding!   Thanks for reading along as we journeyed across our great country - Mike and I both agreed we love road trips - but next time - we won't be hauling 8 tons on a 28 foot trailer - we'll leave that at home!

Road Trip: The Home Stretch!

We made it home today!  The Holiday Inn Express Breakfast bar did not look too appealing to us after eating there for about 7 days straight!  So we opted to get on the road- we both were anxious to get home and we thought we'd get stopped at the Agricultural Inspection Station coming back into California.  We had breezed through the last two states Port of Entries so the Ag Inspection was one last worry to get through.  But first we had to get to California!

It was nice to see the familiarity of the Sierras!

The pine scent in the air told us home was not too far away!

We crossed over the California State line about 9 am and were at the Ag Inspection Station about 15 minutes later.  The attendant asked, "Is that your equipment?"  We replied, "Yes"  Then he asked, "Where did you get it from?"  Mike replied, "Illinois".  Then he said "OK - go ahead!"  Whew!

Mike had worried all along the way that we may be stopped because there was dirt on the tracks we picked up and we would have to pay for the tracks to be cleaned before entering the state.  He had the Dowson's pressure wash them before we picked them up and at each stop, I would catch him brushing any dirt or rocks that loosened up from our load, so that worry was gone!

 Starbucks was just off the road in Colfax. We hadn't had much good coffee on the whole trip and we were really hungry by this time, so the familiar green and white logo was a welcome site! 

 Starbuck's Sausage Muffin Sandwich tasted superb and was a treat compared to our other breakfasts!  Mike swooned when he took that first sip of the dark roast he ordered.

It wasn't long before we were passing by our rice fields!  The heads have come out on the rice and are starting to get heavy and tip - soon we we'll be turning off the water and then harvest not too long after that!

About 11 am we pulled into our farm shop yard to unhook the trailer with the tracks on it, before heading home!  It was a great feeling to have that trailer unhitched!! We had driven 4,300 miles with that load attached and it felt as if we were free!  We then got the fork lift to get my "treasure box" off the trailer, and into the bed of the pickup to go home.

And that's when our last adventure of the trip started!  When moving the 'box' Mike got his left pinky finger stuck between the bottom of the box and one of the tines of the fork lift!  He yanked it out but not before he sliced the tip of his finger in two!  I said, "Let me see it!"  and he said, "You don't want to see it!"  But I did - here is what it looked like when I wiped away the blood!

Yes - we were back on the road to the urgent care!  I thought the urgent care doctor was going to faint when he saw it!  He ordered xrays which came back confirming that Mike had fractured the tip of the finger and it was obvious the nail had been severed!  The Urgent Care doctor then sent us over to the next building to the Orthopedic Surgeon to stitch him up.

(Maybe a fracture pinky caused this guy to be Dr. Evil!!)

The Orthopedic Doc first injected his whole hand with Novocaine.
We both thought - What a way to end our trip!

 We waited a few minutes for his hand to numb and then he went to work. My camera battery died at this point so you were saved from seeing the procedure! He cleaned the wound and then put the iodine around the perimeter of the wound.  He pulled the top half of the nail off and then took some surgical scissors and cut the remaining nail so there was a clean break.  He then quickly stitched up the nail bed with five sutures.  The medical assistant then wrapped his finger up using a whole roll of gauze.  His pinky now looked like a light bulb!  We thanked the doc and left . . .

to get to the pharmacy to pick up his antibiotic prescription and a pain killer so he could sleep at night.  The doctor said he would feel some constant throbbing when that Novocaine wore off!

So about 3:30 pm we finally made it home!

Both of us are exhausted and Mike's nerves were shot after driving with a 24,000 pound load behind him for so many miles.  He decided he did NOT want to be a Big Rig Hauler when he retires!  We had a great time on the trip, met many fun people, and didn't have too many disagreements along the way! But one of the goals was for us to see parts of our country we had never seen and that was a mission accomplished!  

 We are so lucky to live in an country like ours -

the amber waves of grain, the purple mountains and their majesty, were all sites we will cherish and never forget!  Thanks for sharing our journey with me! 

Look for my post "Opening the Treasure Box" soon!!