Mark your calendars for October 25 and 26 so you can attend Gypsy Junk Fest at the Mason City fairgrounds! We’re going to be there with antiques, pincushions, small quilts (old and new), succulents, fabric packs, patterns and I’ll be demonstrating rug twining.
One of the best things is that this show is 2-1/2 months away and we have time to prepare. No home based businesses or crafts are allowed as vendors – we think that’s a great idea and welcome it. You’re not going to find the same old vendors here – and here’s another exciting point – you’ll find us next to the Bloody Mary bar! Ha! Won’t this be fun? Make your plans now to come and shop not only with us but all the other vendors who will have similar fun “junk”! More on this as we prepare!
I’m feeling better today about all the problems – I may be on the road to success – I know I’ve said this before but today I’m encouraged. Another reason I’m feeling better is that I visited the vet clinic this morning and got a new treatment for Hazel and Telly who are still scratching and we still find fleas on both of them. I can not recommend the Seresto collars after all the trouble we’ve had this season. Last year they worked great! Today we took the collars off and started both dogs on K-9 Advantix. Last night Hazel couldn’t even get to sleep because of the itching which means I also didn’t get to sleep. Ugh. Cats are still on Frontline.
The pampas grass is beginning to shoot plumes – and in a week or so the plumes will open to a silvery sea atop the green stalks. Here’s our start.
I’ve been almost too depressed to take many pictures but here’s one of some newly potted succulents. I have decided that I’m too old to keep saving things. When I die most of the things I’ve loved will be dumped in a garbage pile including all those wonderful vintage white pots and vanilla pots that I’ve searched for and collected for years. So they’re going to be put to use and I can enjoy them on the concrete window sills next winter.
I think they’re just beautiful with the clay pots included. (I’ll be taking some small cacti and succulent plants to Gypsy Junk Fest in October.) I have way too many and if I have to end up having knee surgery next winter, who will take care of them all?
I’m feeling so much better today that I’m going to finish the rug and get another one started. I so wish I could post a video of removing the rug from the frame but I’m afraid to try it!
Here’s another #8.
If this post goes well I will take pictures of what I’ve been working on – yes, quilting not just these blog problems!
Here we go – again! Keep your fingers crossed!
That junk fest sounds so very fun and wish I could be there for it.
Yes keep giving things away so they do not end in the trash someday.
Amazing how the stuff grows overnight isn’t it???
I am glad that you feel better today. Keep your chin up you are quite wonderful you know you give so many so much joy. enjoy life each day. Kathy in Missouri.
Arrived without a hitch. Enjoy your day.
Yup!! Got it!! Good pictures, too!! Gypsy Junk Fest sounds like fun!!
Happy to see your blog is back to working, for you & of course all of us followers!! Sure enjoy reading every day!!
The post looks great! I am glad you are feeling encouraged!!
I won’t be getting too much done in the next few days – we are going to stay with 3 of the grands while their parents take a trip to Florida and the next week we will be taking care of 3 of the other grands while their teacher parents go to their respective schools to prepare for the new school year. Al and I have grand plans to go to the MN state fair the next week…..um, we shall see. Sherry
Sherry Whalen – comments are coming in are looking good! I’m so hoping this is the end of my issues but we’ll see. Yes, you’re going to be rather busy! What do young parents do without family near by to help?
We lived 12 and 8 hours from the two sets of grandparents. Luckily, we made good friends who would trade weekends or trade off taking care of kids. I was also in a babysitting co-op. We used tickets. When we ran out of tickets, we babysat someone’s kids😃😃
The post is looking great, Mary.
Sherry Whalen – comments are coming in
Sherry Whalen – have tried to send you a comment twice now and they won’t send/post unless you got them and I don’t know it.
Mary – I can see 3 comments, did they ever show up so you could see them? I haven’t been on my computer since then because I figured I needed to get the garden picked and all the little chores done before our ‘grand’ duties. I gotta water plants tonight….
And perfect positioning – right next to the Bloody Mary bar! I might try to get to MC for that sale, on the Sunday I think several of the friends I sew with at Ironwood are planning a trip to Missouri Star right before we start our November Ironwood retreat! When I get back from Ironwood, Al thinks we should drive to Phoenix for the Nascar race and stay for a couple of weeks….that is a long time for this girl to be away from home!!! Whew!
post and pictures were perfect!! so glad you are having a wonderful day 🙂
loved the picture of the grass with the barn behind it 🙂
Received your post just fine.
Looks good Mary!!!
So happy to receive such an uplifting post from you today. Happy face 🙃!
Still fooling around with all my ufos and have had another project dumped on me, figuring out how to best dispose of needlework fibers/inventory donated to our stitching club by an out of business donor. Need to dig out patterns for teaching and maybe donate some to the quilt group for their art and stitch groups. Why me?
Your gypsy trash sale sounds like a lot of fun, especially next to the Bloody Mary booth. And, what a great way to get rid of some of your collections.
Have a great day.
Junk Fest sounds wonderful! I like that there are no Pampered Chef, etc there. Sometimes I go to a craft show or boutique and over half is people selling those types of things. Please don’t get discouraged with the blog troubles, so many people count on you!!
HURRAY FOR YOU MARY…all the photos came thru AND not sideways…like old times…
I think the info about the bloody mary bar sounds like it is doable coming down to Iowa in Oct. Hope I can make it…
Also had knee replacement about 5 yrs ago, took a bit of time to recover but I lived in a recliner for awhile, me and my cat…husband served !!
So enjoy this week, do something for yourself one day….a getaway day or as I call them “A ME DAY”…
they help, get in the car and head in a direction with no destination just lovely scenery, silence and maybe a DQ along the way…
mjg- that sounds good! I’m spending my afternoon on the porch watching all the orioles and sewing which is also a fun day! A Bloody Mary bar – yay!!!!!
Mary, Consider Activyl for fleas & tics. I’ve been using it successfully on my dachshunds for years.
Great photos. It can be really hard to part with items you have years of care invested in. We are getting ready to move for the first time in 42 years and while we have tried to be careful about acquiring a lot of things, we still are unsure what to do with most of what we do have. All of my quilts have so many memories connected to them that I find it hard to give them away.
How I wish I could go to The Gypsy Junk Fest. Sounds like my kind of fun.
So, that’s called Pampas grass? I think I have a bit of it in my flower beds. I think it came from birdseed.
The goose #8 quilt is precious.
Wonderful succulent display, Mary.
Have a great relaxing day.
We love Mason City, wish it isn’t so far away for us. The Junk Fest sounds like so much fun.. I can just imagine all the goodies to be found there. Someone had a super idea at the right time of year. All your pictures and notes came thru great plus 8 ads.
The post looks great, Mary. I saw three comments you posted back to Sherry.
I’m at the stage of getting rid of things, too, but it can be quite a wrench. My kids don’t want most of my kind of thing. I was thinking of this while I was in the kitchen making pasta salad this morning. Some of my favorite tools in the kitchen are from auctions: old colanders and measuring cups and bowls. I think of another woman in an apron, like me, in the forties, working in her kitchen with these things and it’s such a nice thought to have in my mind as I work. When I”m gone, I don’t think anyone will value all my bits and pieces as much as I do, but in the meantime, I treasure them.
I’m sure you and Connie will have an amazing booth at the Gypsy Junk Fest and I’m also sure it would be a such a temptation to me if I was there!
Good luck with that flea problem. Aren’t they the worst? I had such trouble with my cats reacting badly to Frontline that now just have them inside with a catio on our deck and a screened porch for them in our tuck-under for our basement door so they can get some fresh air and sunshine.
Holly in Two Harbors – we’ll, that’s goofy that all 3 replies actually went because I kept getting a message that there was something wrong.. oh, dear!
I know I need to downsize all my stuff but I still love it all. Whoever is the unlucky person who is named as my executor will probably just pitch it all in a dumpster. I hope by that time antiques will once again be popular – because they’re not now with the millennials!
You post us coming through fine now. Glad to have you back
Great news Mary! Post and pics were PERFECT! You’re the best.
Chris in NW PA
Your pictures and posts are coming through perfectly! It’s good to
have you back. Gypsy Junk Fest sounds like fun. Hope you and
Connie get rid of everything.
You got it girl! I think I am coming in October and just hang out at the bloody mary bar! 🙂
Robin Rauk – I’m going to demonstrate the rug twining right on the corner between our booth and the Bloody Mary bar – I’ll join you! Haha! Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
What are the times for the Junk Feast? Looks interesting!
Linda from MN – Friday nite is 4-8 pm and Saturday is 9-4
Your post and pics came thru in great shape. Can’t wait to show hubby the poster from Mason Vity shows. His birth mother was from west of there and he wants to see area. I have an uncle & wife who lived in Mason City and hubby grew up east of there in Melbourne so look at all the things I can use to get him going! Haha
Know what you mean about our precious “things”. My mom passed in 2016 just shy of her 100 Birthday and she had a lot of things I couldn’t part with along with her plants. I have 2 Crown of Thorns that are huge but no one wants to go near them. She had them in her bedroom!
Wonderful blog today! Loved it!
I’m excited for Junk Fest! I’ll definitely stop by and “Hello”!
I have collected a lot of things over the years and one of those is white/cream stoneware vases and cream pitchers. I love all of your pots, now I’ll have to look for some 😊
The Gypsy Junk Fest sounds like tons of fun! But it’s so far from here. There is one in June in Walla Walla, WA called Love of Junk that’s fun. Held in a huge red barn and the grassy area outside. I didn’t attend this year as I’m trying to pare down and get rid of stuff! A friend always says, “giving while you’re living is knowin’ where it’s goin’! It’s time for me to let go and let someone else enjoy the item(s).
Sure wish I lived close enough to visit the Junk Fest! That sounds like so much fun. Your post came through with great pictures. Thanks for hanging in there to solve the problems.
The Gypsy Fest sounds like a good reason to visit northwest Iowa. As I was reading your post, my hubby walked in with a box of family mementos from the garage. It is full of mostly unidentified photos, but there are a few gems like our senior pictures. I picked out a few to show to my grandsons so they can see what we looked like before we were gray. I know our daughter won’t want them, but I may take the whole box and let her dump it! The pottery and stainless generations do not get too sentimental over our sterling and china either, and they care now painting walnut with chalk paint.
The Junk Fest sounds like fun! The post came through just fine. I hope your problems are over.
Is there a story about the white pots? Are they very old, etc. I have some that I purchased in junk stores years ago. I got mine out this year too. Paula in KY
Junk Fair sounds like so much fun. My fingers and toes are all crossed that your problems with pictures posting is a thing of the past. Love your little pots!
What a GREAT blog! SO good to read “normal” chatting!!!
Texas is sweltering!
Inside is where you can find me!
Hugs to All,
Judy in Texas
Mary, this comment has to do with dying and our stashes of fabric, patterns, books, plants, yard art, everything.
Here is what I have been doing with mine, since I turned 82 this July and KNOW that I won’t want to do anything with certain of each genre. And, since I live in Assisted Living, (AND know that my kids don’t want any of my stuff, although some of the grandkids may) I have been listening to the people who work here. What they like, etc. I just yesterday asked one of my caregivers if she would like me to leave her my quilting books in my will. YES!! she said. And so on and so forth. Something to think about.
People that are about half our age have only grown up with SOME of the things that were new to us. Our kids have seen it all. So it makes sense to encourage friendship with those people in-betweens.
Hope this helps somebody!!
Mary Evans – I ask lots of young people from church and when they visit my home I ask them what they like. Then I put their name on it. in the meantime if I want to be rid of it I give it to them – maybe Christmas, birthday, etc. it’s fun to give them something and see them receive it rather than after I’m gone.
What a loving thing to do!
Mary Evans, this is great and I love that you do this!
Junk Fest sounds so fun ! Your post and pictures came through just fine, and a few ads to close too 🙂 Fingers crossed it continues!
Hurrah, Mary! Things are looking good. I hope I can post this message, sometimes I can’t. I love your white pots, remember that our EXPO begins on Friday this week end, all day Saturday and closes on Sunday at four. We give our dogs a very expensive pill every month against fleas. Take care.
I think that Gypsy Junk Fest sounds like a fantastic time. I am going to put it on my calendar and hope that it will work out!! What fun! So glad to see that the blog is coming through so well, I am sure you are relieved!
Ugg, fleas, I sure hope that this new treatment works well for Hazel and Telly, such a bad problem for them. Hopefully you are now done with negative things and can have some fun again!!
Did I miss the rug a long? I got my frame all warped but lost track after that with all the issues you had on the blog?
Paula- it fell by the wayside but I’ll get it up again now that I think we might be in good shape again. Keep watching
Your blog post came in very clear today. I’m so glad, I love reading it. I understand the frustration you have been feeling. It’s kind of like my lawnmower, i’ve had trouble with it all summer, it goes & then it doesn’t go, the guy that services it can’t figure it out, so frustrating. I’ve had to hire someone to mow it couple times, costly. I would love to go to your junk fest, too far away!
So happy to see the blog – looks great. Ads and all. What fun to have a Gypsy Junk Fest! I’ll have to see if there are any near us. I too love your white and cream pots. I love planters. I have been collecting scotty dog planters and cream colored ones too. My mother in law had a really pretty yellow pottery planter much like yours – hers had the saucer attached. Recently it was broken though! So sad. I’m going to see if I can repair it once it dries out. Jan in MA
Blog looks great! Lots of ads to close, too! Glad to hear that you are getting rid of the fleas…what a downer! And, the Junk Gypsies sounds like you will have fun and move out some lesser treasures…only wish I lived closer…what fun Christmas presents people will get!
I’m not a techie, I just want the thing to work! Blog looking good again. Thank you for persevering! Six ads but only one with an X to close it.
Things are looking good on this end Mary. Happy for you sticking with it. Cut up Veggies for the Hot Dog Relish. Double batch. Will also try a small batch of Dill relish.
So nice to see your blog up and going…back to normal!
So fun to see all the pictures today, Mary. So many of your followers are thrilled you never gave up working to get things corrected! Wish I could attend the .Gypsy Junk Fest , but we’ll probably be full of snow by then.
A cousin I was very close to passed away in June and she had her daughter send me a beautiful heavy depression glass pitcher that was our grandmother’s. Since I lived with our grandparents she and I used to make lemonade in it when she would visit. It means so much to me and brought back good memories of our times together.
Yea you, Mary, hanging in there until you got a handle on your issues there, and boo to the hacker who messed you up for so long. All the pictures came through, your responses to people are there, and I closed ads. A successful post.
I could have my own junk fest, just sayin’…
Everything looks back to normal..Yea!!! no side ways pictures. The junk fest looks interesting, wish I lived closer.
Junk Fest sounds great!!! Here in Texas would never find Bloody Mary Bar…( middle of what is referred to as Bible Belt) at such an event..y’all in Midwest know how to do things right!
I’ve used Adventist for small dogs on Ms Maci since I got her. Am very pleased with results.
Think have a can of spicy V8 in pantry and think will just make a Bloody Mary…sounds so refreshing…yes I use Spicy V8 or if out like Snappy Tom over plain tomato juice.
Just reread post…damn autocorrect..
K9 Advantix II small dog
Yay! Today’s photos were right side up on all my devices.
Mary, I’ not sure if you will see this, but I guess I don’t understand “No home based businesses or crafts are allowed as vendors”. Who will be there if not home based crafters. Not sure what home based businesses are. Is that like people selling products like tupperware? I will put the date on my calendar it is only an hour north to Mason City. judy
Judith Ann Jacques – yes, like Tupperware, Scentsy, Lularoe, Watkins, Shaklee – that sort of pyramid based business. And crafts are not allowed – such as cut out wooden pieces, crocheted items, you get the idea. More antiques and vintage things.
Glad you are up and going again. Love the white pots. I have about 200 terra cotta pots around during the summer. I recently bought an old grocery cart at a Flea Market. I filled it with the pots–looks really cool. I save them even if they are cracked. So many people just throw them out. The number #8 is very nice. The junk fest sounds like great fun. I’m going to mark my calendar.
Kathy Schwartz – when my pots do break I save them for shards in the bottom of future pots. I hope you come to the junk fest in MasonCity – I’d love to meet you;in person. How are your cows?
Hi Mary. I’m always here lurking and finally decided to comment because of your beautiful white pots. I too collect them and had so many perfect beauties sitting empty. For what? Last weekend I asked my husband to drill holes in the bottoms and I repotted my succulents into them. It was liberating! Good to have you back online. Me and Hubby enjoy the critter updates. 🙂
Andria R in CA – all of my vintage pots had drain holes – I was lucky and I’ll love seeing them on my windowsills this winter. What kind of succulents do you grow?
Yay for the Advantix! I predict you will see a HUGE difference with it. Kills all of the current fleas within 24 hours and if any jump on, they are dead within 2 hours.
Noel – last night Hazel and I both relaxed for sleeping – no digging, itching or biting!
Mary, I love ’em all. It’s starting to look like the garden department at Lowe’s around here. My favorites are the tricky little lithops, a.k.a mimicry plants. They only need water twice a year at specific times. Get the timing wrong and…death. But when everything goes right, it’s magical to see them bloom in late summer. Give them a try!
Andria R – they’re hard to find around here but I did one time and you’re right – death! Do you have pencil trees? I think they’re one of my favorites!
No pencil tree yet. Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
Anonymous Andria – wish I could send you a branch to start!