The Kindness of Fellow Bloggers

This arrived in my email box earlier this week from a fellow blogger:

"Hi, Cheryl... Just wanted to check in to see if all is okay.  Haven't heard from you for a while and was a bit worried."

Receiving that message reminded me of two things:
1. I can't let my blog go when things get busy around here, and
2. The friends I've made through this blog over the years are the BEST!

Somehow, time seems to have sped up since we returned from our road trip last month. First there was Easter.

I have no idea why I felt compelled to make 23 Easter baskets, but I did. So no blogging that week! While going through the Easter stuff, I came upon this old photo of my sisters and I all dressed up for Easter 1954. Do you remember that we all wore "Spring coats", hats and gloves on Easter? And corsages, of course.

Andi, Nancy & Cheryl, Newington, CT,  Easter 1954
"The Stunning Smith Sisters"

The week after Easter, was spent with our grandchildren. They live in Brooklyn, NY and love to come to Maine. Our granddaughter wanted to "do crafts" so here's what we did together.

Do you remember weaving potholders as a kid? My sisters and I would weave them by the hour and then either give them as gifts or try to sell them to the neighbors for 25 cents each.  Happy memories. Our granddaughter picked it up quickly and made lots of potholders to take home!

After a week with kids (fun but exhausting!), we decided to take a quiet ride up the coast of Maine for a couple of days. just to get away.

We love the mid-Coast so that's where we headed, stopping to visit friends along the way.  Our Searsport friends have goats. The baby (above) is only 12 weeks old and so cute. When she cries for her mother, she sounds just like a human baby.

Our friends also own a campground. I've offered to help out the past few years ordering and organizing the campground store. The floor is freshly painted and it looks beautiful now - just very empty. So, I've been busy getting ideas from places like Pinterest and Etsy for things we need to order asap.

I love to make things, decorate, shop, and hit the flea markets so thinking of ideas for things to sell and unique ways to display them is actually fun for me. But it has been another distraction that's kept me from blogging.

While we were on out getaway, we stopped for our first fried clams of the season. So good! And, just for old time's sake, we shared a root beer float to go with them. Delicious! Sadly, my Weight Watchers meeting was the day after we got back. Those clams cost me two pounds that I have to get off this week but they were so worth it!

On the way home, we stopped at an antique shop we like. Being downsized I try not to buy much these days but I couldn't resist these four M.A. Hadley Berry plates. I've collected M.A. Hadley since I worked part-time at the Yankee Peddler Country Store in Connecticut when my kids were little. They sold her hand painted pottery and I coveted it. I couldn't afford even one piece then so now I can't help treating myself to it once in awhile.

When we got home, I found yet another reason to put off catching up on my blog: I decided to start digitizing the thousands of slides we had stored away from our college graduation through our children's early childhoods. Remember the boxes of Carousels that seemed so high-tech back in the day? Again, I have no idea what possessed me to do this now.

But I did find this neat little Kodak Scanza on Amazon. It converts Old 35mm, 126, 110, Super 8 & 8mm Negatives & Slides to JPEG Digital Files that are saved on an SD card. Since it costs 40-50 cents a slide to have this done professionally, I figured the purchase would be well worth it. When I finish (if ever!), I'll put all of the photos on thumb drives for my children and sisters. 

And in my spare time, I purchased three trees at the local nursery (that's another story) and set up the deck (finally - we've had NO Spring in New England this year!),

Having shared all that, I still feel bad that I've let this blog go for so long. But I also feel grateful to have such good blog friends, who, although we've never met in person, share their lives with me as I share mine with them. 

And who take the time to ask if I'm OK when I haven't posted in awhile. We may live across the country from one another and differ in more ways than we know, but we are friends. 

And that means the world to me!

This post is linked to:

Grandma's House Link Party # 138 at Chas' Crazy Creations

Road Trip: Unpacking the Antiques

We arrived back home in Maine Sunday afternoon after an amazing month-long road trip through the Southern U.S.  We unpacked the things that had to be unpacked and then fell into bed at 7:00 p.m, exhausted from the long drive from Tennessee.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up to this.  On April 8th! This should NOT still be happening - even here in Maine. After a month of green grass and palm trees, this is a difficult adjustment!

It was fun to unpack the few antiques that I purchased "down South" though. This vintage pillow is my favorite. It was a bargain at the original price of $10.99 but was marked down to $8.00. Needless to say, I grabbed it. You can't see it in the photo. but there is vintage rick rack around the edges.

I've written quite a few blog posts about my long distance love affair with South Carolina and I have the perfect spot for this pillow. It will remind me of happy times in the low country every time I walk through the living room.

I also was lucky enough to find three Shawnee Pottery miniatures to add to my collection.

These tiny (<3")vases and pitchers were produced from 1937 through the 1940's and given away as premiums at stores and movie theaters. (Back in 2011, I wrote a post about my collection, with lots of photos, which you're welcome to revisit here.)

I can't resist these little replicas of the full size pottery pieces so popular in the 1930' and 40's.  Years ago I found the perfect wall case for them and love the touch of whimsy thy add to our kitchen.

Since we've downsized, I'm very careful not to give in to my love of old things too often these days. But, I did have to have this little oval serving dish.

When my Mom passed away in 2014, I inherited her large California Ivy platter. I love to use it because, when I do, it brings back happy memories of Mom serving meals on it when I was a child in the 1950's . The little oval platter I found on this trip will be a good compliment for the larger platter.

The Poppy Trail California Ivy pattern was introduced in 1946, the year my parents were married, and remained in production until 1984. I was excited to find another piece and at $4.50, it was a good
buy.

There were gorgeous old tobacco baskets at so many of the antique shops we visited down South. These were on the porch of an antique shop in Wears Valley Tennessee.  I love them and wished I could have thought of an excuse to buy them all!

But I bought a HUGE one when we were in South Carolina last year. You can read the story of how I finally got my tobacco basket to Maine here.

As you can see, I really don't have the wall space for two of them. It still killed me to leave such gorgeously aged ones back on that old porch in Tennessee though.

Here are a few of the antique shops we stopped at on our road trip. Especially in Tennessee, they were everywhere.

Here in Maine, many of our antique shops have closed so I was in my glory with so many to stop at.

I loved all of the 1930's green kitchen appliances and cookware displayed in this "kitchen".

And I especially loved antiquing in sunny 70 degree weather!

All of the flowering bushes were in bloom in the states we visited.

And now it's back to this . . . UGH!

It's way past time for winter to go away for good.

Until it does, I'll just have to close my eyes and pretend I'm back down South!

This post is linked to:

Homestyle Gathering #13 at Serving Up Southern

Flaunt It Friday #443 at Chic on a Shoestring

Farmhouse Friday 101 at The Painted Hinge

Road Trip: Townsend, TN

Late Monday afternoon, we arrived in Townsend, Tennessee, "the quiet side of the Smokies".

On our way in from Rt. 40 , we passed the Bush;'s Baked Bean factory (and Bean Museum!) in Dandridge, Tennessee.

Since we live right near the OTHER baked bean company, B & M, we just had to stop to check out the competition.

The Bush's beans weren't bad, but, being from New England, our loyalty will have to remain with B & M, the ones we grew up counting on n Saturday nights. The general store and cafe at the Bush complex were well worth the stop though. 

We finally arrived at our campground, which is right on the Little River (tubing headquarters) in the Smoky Mountains town of Townsend. The Internet is a bit "iffy" here because of the mountains so I may keep my "Tennessee" posts a little shorter than usual. Hopefully, the pictures will tell most of the story.

Yesterday we took a ride. It's been 14 years since we last stayed in Townsend so we wanted to get our bearings again.  We hit the brakes when we passed this old gas station.

Since DH's name is Henry Lawson, he decided to get out and introduce himself to the "other" Henry Lawson. 

Sadly, the other Henry Lawson, who owned the place for years, passed away in 2004. But the new owner was thrilled to meet DH and tell us the story. 

She even shared with "my" Henry Lawson a pgoto of "her" Henry Lawson. I guess he was a fixture in the area. That's him on the left. We only wish we could have met him!

There are antique shops around every corner here in the Smokies so I'm in my glory. We stopped at a few yesterday and will visit more tomorrow. (I'm seeing lots of gorgeous old tobacco baskets here!)

As well other favorites like  linens . . .

And vintage kitchen items. (Since I still use my original 1970 Betty Crocker Cookbook, like the one in the photo, I think I might now be considered "vintage" as well).

Everywhere you drive here is beautiful. Here are some scenes we passed on our way back to our campsite.

The Little River in Townsend is popular for tubing in the summer. We did it when we were here fourteen years ago - so much fun. You can tube downriver for miles. Just before the falls a bus picks you up and takes you back upstream for another river run. It's still a little cold for that this trip but I hope we can do it again someday!

Little white churches dot the valleys.

 I don't know why, but I love dilapidated old buildings!

                                     All of the flowering trees are in bloom here.

And roads lead to "hollows".
(Guess we know what we'll find in this hollow!)

We got back just in time for a campfire.

And a few quiet moments with our books before bed.

Tomorrow we;ll explore the Smoky Mountain National Forest and Cades Cove.

Hope you'll follow along with us!

This post is linked to:

Thursday Favorite Things at The Eclectic Red Barn
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage