You bless me...

You bless me.

Totally.

Deeply.

Incredibly.

How can I thank you for sending so much love and so many prayers my way this past week after I said goodbye to my sweet little Toby?

I hope you know how much each and every comment meant to me.

I hope you know how much I wanted to give each of you a hug of sisterly gratitude.

Do you know how brightly you shone the love of Jesus Christ into my tearful world

with your words, your hugs, your stories, and your prayers?

You did.

And it was a complete comfort.

I sank into it,

wrapped myself up in it ~

and felt so very grateful for you.

Thank you
from the bottom of my heart...

♥

I was so thankful that preparing for my first time vendor experience at the Allegan Antique Market kept me and my mind busy last week.

It was a crazy busy week.

Tagging treasures, finishing up painting some items,

gathering up survival supplies to take with us,

cleaning and floofing the house before Debbie arrived ~

and then hauling all of the merchandise up from the basement to the garage.

Debbie and I were ready to go at 11am on Saturday.

Pam was working at a horse show that day, 

and Mr. Lakehouse couldn't get the day off from work.

So, Hubby and Pam's hubby {we'll call him Mr. Pam} 

helped us load up the horse trailer

and off we went.

For a few miles, anyway.....

until this happened.

{Mr. Pam lug-wrenching and Hubby jacking.}

One hour and one new tire later...

 we were on our way again. 

After finding our assigned spot and after a lot of miscalculating, 

recalculating,

grunting and groaning,

sweaty armpits,

dusty feet,

and a few grumbled "I hope this is going to be worth it...."
 ~

the canopy was up,

tables placed,

and the merchandise unloaded,

Debbie and I found ourselves

staring at...

this.

Oh, good gravy.

Where to begin....???

But we dug in and the "Floofing Fairy" just took over

in both of us.

As we worked, I saw some beautiful vignettes starting to take shape

and other vendors wandered in just to look at what we were doing.

(Debbie worked some real magic, I tell you.)

So, sit back and take a stroll through our booth...

{A last minute yard sale find made pretty for the market - that I wish I would have kept!}

{Our booth smelled absolutely heavenly from Debbie's lavender bundles.}

{My apothecary bottles and pots.}

{Debbie's beautiful pillows.}

{Pam's violin made even more beautiful with a little tulle.}

{This table was dedicated to all things by the sea...}

{Our farmhouse table.}

{An old desk reborn with Annie Sloan chalk paint, distressed with my new palm sander, and texture spray painted vintage pulls made for a beautiful vignette with Pam's old typewriter.}

{Nothing better than ironstone and lavender sachets.}

{I sanded the blue and gold eagle off that old crock and added a little French love to it.}

{Debbie relaxing with a friendly buyer....on my new settee which will replace the chaise on our deck - after a new coat of white paint and drop cloth pillowslips, of course.}

{Me, Pam & Debbie}

It was an exhausting weekend,

[realllly exhausting]

but it was so much fun greeting our customers,

sharing stories and laughs,

and connecting with some new blog friends, as well!

We want to thank you, fellow bloggers,

for stopping by and introducing yourselves to us.

We were so thrilled to meet you!

[A special 'hello!' to Tracey at Great Flower Lady!]

We only wish that we could have spent more time getting to know you ~

but Heaven's Walk booth was so busy,

we were just hopping!

We did get a chance to shop a little Saturday night after setting up

which was a ball! 

There was a block-party type atmosphere at the market while vendors were unloading and floofing their booths.

Deb and I nabbed a few really special treasures.

I'll share mine with you soon!

{ Tired but happy hugs }

[Linking with the wonderful parties at the lower right of my sidebar.

Click on the buttons and meet some new friends!]

Farewell, sweet boy...

Our hearts are broken in tiny pieces and laying at our feet.

Our tears are many 

and the void is deeply and achingly painful.

We lost our little Lion King, Toby, today.

I held my sweet boy in my arms

and spoke soothingly to him as he gazed up at me with his sea green eyes.

His little body was weary,

weak,

and becoming emaciated.

He lay there and tried to purr.

My tears dropped onto his silky, orange tummy.

I was alone in the vet's office

when I had to make the difficult decision.

A decision that many of us have had to make in our lives.

A decision that never, ever gets any easier.

A decision that I had prayed I would not have to make today.

A decision that totally undid me and broke me.

I realized there would be no more shared ice cream with Daddy...

no more playing "socky" for hours on end...

 and no more snuggling with Mommy.

I am deeply comforted knowing that he is now spending his nights

laying by Tessa's side, like he so loved to do,

at The Rainbow Bridge.

We love you so, little man.

We miss you

and

we will never forget you...

♥

Thank you, dear Lord, 

for loaning us the most perfect little marmalade cat 

for 12 years.

We give him back to you now...

 

{ tearful hugs }

Sand, Signs, Screens, and Selling

I've got many things to share with you today,

so grab your cuppa 'jo, put your feet up,
and let's visit for a while!

1.  I recently won this adorable little mini-bottle carrier from

Marie's giveaway at Marie's Maison.
{Thanks, Marie!}

She lives in a sweet little Tiffany-blue house in sunny California 

and loves all things beachy, vintagey, and French.

She has the most awesome outdoor patio area - 

and a great Etsy shop, too!

So, be sure to stop by and say 'Bonjour'!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

2.  Well, the sign has been made to hang at my booth at the upcoming Allegan Antique Market on August 28.
I used an old piece of wood from our barn and hand painted the words.

Be sure to look for this as you're wandering through all of the incredible vendors' booths
at the flea market ~ and then stop in and introduce yourself.
We'd love to meet you!

Debbie from Lakehouse will be there selling some of her handmade
pillows made from gorgeous vintage linens.
Michelle from Emerald Cove and Heather from Simple Daisy will be there visiting with us and of course, shopping.
We'll be partying, girls!!!

(Please send up a prayer that it doesn't rain that day! 
A nice sunny day about 70 degrees would be a true blessing....)

I've also been busy dressing up some cute little apothecary bottles for the market.
They started out looking like this.

{Nest pillowslip from Ticking & Toile, Etsy.}

And with a little help from The Graphics Fairy, Mod Podge, and some hemp twine.....

they're ready to sell.

And here are a couple more of my signs that will be for sale.

I think there's just something so beautiful about the word "grace"....

This one was created from part of an old outhouse seat, believe it or not.
(thus the quote...)

This piece of wood just whispered something farmhouse-y to me.
It's nice and BIG.

I also just completed painting this French-inspired writing desk which will also be for sale at my booth.
It was a garage sale find and was horrible looking dark, stained wood.

I used Annie Sloan 'Paris Gray' and then distressed it......
with my NEW palm sander.

(Watch out, baby!  Woman with a power tool..!!!
Can I say that I was really getting my groove on using that sweet new toy...?)

The pulls were sprayed with my favorite Multi-Color Texture paint in 'Autumn Brown'
to give them a rusty look.
It's the same paint I used on the chicken wire on my tri-fold doors.


~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
 
3.  My hubby and I celebrated our 27th anniversary last week

with our annual trip to the lake shore.

We did our usual "Let's Eat Our Way Along the Coast" thing ~

snarfing down buffalo wings and artichoke/crab dip for lunch
in South Haven on The Idler paddle boat,

nibbling on fresh, juicy, locally grown peaches for a snack,

and indulging in huge ice cream cones  
(with REAL ice cream!)

for dinner.
Dinner doesn't get any better than that, I tell ya.

It was a perfect day, though a little breezy.

But it made for some amazingly beautiful whitecaps on the water.

We stopped at various antique shops

and I nabbed this little cutie at one of them...

and this black and white striped treasure at another.

Put'em together and.....

Voila!

That hassock cover fit like it was made for that little stool.
It was the best buy of the day!

Now I have something to rest my feet on when I visit with you. ♥

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

[Yes....you're still on the same post.
Go grab another cuppa and meet me back here.
I'm almost done gabbing...]

4. Hubby (the devoted dumpster diver that he is) is constantly on the look out for goodies along the road to claim for me.
Some are good.....
some are....
ummmm......
not so good.

But this one....
THIS one was very good!

He actually climbed IN a dumpster to retrieve this sweet little aqua screen for his bride.
(That would be me.)

After a good scrubbing and a little dry brushing with pale gray,
I casually leaned it up against the kennel to dry in the sun.
It was supposed to go to Allegan market with me.

("Supposed to" being the operative words here.)


I turned around to look at it as I walked away.

Whoa......wait a minute, girl.
That looks pretty cute there.

Really cute.

I think...

I think....

I think I need to keep this little treasure.

Uh-oh....
another item NOT going to the Flea with me.....

I screwed in four eye-hooks in the back
and wired it to the gate of the kennel.

Maizie was thrilled to have her own little screen door.
At least SHE has a cute one.

Mine?
You want to know about mine...?

Mine is STILL leaning up against the front of the house waiting to be retro-fitted.

(sigh.....)

(BIG sigh......)

[That 1970 metal screen door will be kicked to the curb...at some point.]

I brought it home from Allegan Antique Market last month

doing the happy dance all the way.

Look at the vintage goodness on her....

[I keep wondering how many times that sweet rusty old hook has swung back and forth on that door creating that delicious groove....]

Sure, she's a little worse for wear,
but nothing that a little wood filler and glue won't fix.

[There's already a wonderfully rusty hook in the center for a Christmas wreath.]

Before she gets fitted so that I can hear that good ol'
summertime-slammin'-screen-door sound that I so long for,
I think I'll just give her a light dry brush of black
and keep all of that original beautiful distressing.

In the meantime...
I know (and love) a great dumpster diver.

But, does anyone know a good carpenter...?

Thanks for hanging in there with me today!

{Hugs & blessings } 

* SEE YOU AT THE ALLEGAN ANTIQUE MARKET!! *

[Linking with the great parties at the lower right of my sidebar.
Just click on the buttons and be inspired!}