How I Spent My Birthday.....

You guys will understand, right?

Sometimes just getting something done can be a special treat, right?

Okay.........

this might sound kind of pathetic.............

but for my birthday...........

(drum roll here)...............

we cleaned out the garage.  

Hallelujah!

You won't believe some of the treasures I found.

Great garden tool caddy.....

Once upon a time it lived in our bathroom and it had jars filled with cotton balls, q-tips, toothpaste, etc.   But when Baby Bee came along it was moved out in favor of putting all the things she could get into in a secure place.  And it has languished in the garage now for several years.

Two - yes two - wooden Pepsi crates.  When my grandparents passed 20 years ago these were some of the things I snagged.  My mom was surprised these were Pepsi because I guess she had an uncle who worked for Ne-Hi and they always drank Ne-Hi.  Can you see how one of this is a lot taller than the other?  Too bad I didn't find these when Pottery Barn was selling them for quite a bit of $.  

Love these lawn chairs.  They bring back such memories.  My grandparents had four of these.  One of my cousins wanted them and so did I.  So we split them in half!  She has two (I hope she still has them.) and I have the other two.  

Had to take a close up.  I have no idea how old these are, but I would guess from sometime in the 1960s.  I can remember them from at least 1970 and I would guess anything from the 70s would have been plastic.  

Edited to add:  My mom remembers these lawn chairs from when Grandma and Grandpa still lived in the country.  They didn't move to town until 1956 or '57 so they are at least 50 years old.  And Grateful Gramma is right - they sure did pinch your legs!

One of my favorite things at Grandma and Grandpa F's were these kid sized lawn rakes.  There were four of us grandkids and we each had one in a different color.  I don't know what happened to them, but I wish we'd each gotten to take ours home with us.

This vase is from the White Pottery Co.  From what research I've done, it doesn't seem to be very well known so I guess this will not be financing Baby Bee's college fund.  I cleaned it up and brought it back inside.  I've had it for about 20 years too.  It belonged to my aunt's (by marriage) mom, Mrs. C.  Her home was filled with beautiful vintage things and my aunt was kind of enough to offer us a few.  She's all cleaned up now and living in the living room.

Now this little cherry canister is not vintage, but isn't it cute?  

I also got this from my grandparents.  It was unframed and very fragile so I had a custom mat cut for it.  Have you ever seen anything like it?  I would love to find out more about the artist but I can't see a signature anywhere.  

We started as soon as I got home from school - around 4:00 and worked until 11:00.

(There's everything on the driveway.  What a mess!)

The back of my car was filled with donations and I found quite a few things I hope to sell on ebay.

Also long forgotten treasures are now back with the family, never to be banished again.

There it is!  We can actually walk in it!  I'm so proud of us!

Our shipping station for all those things I found to sell on ebay!

Paint can central!

Worker Bee worked his stinger off!  


Thank you Worker Bee!


This was a wonderful birthday gift!

And speaking of birthday gifts.....

I'm celebrating my first blogthday and my birthday with a giveaway for you!

Here's a sneak peek.....

I know!  I know!  I am SUCH a tease.  

I'll be linking up today with 

Between Naps on the Porch

for

in honor of the Great Garage Clean-Up!

Thank you so much for all the sweet birthday wishes!  You made my day!

Thanks for buzzin' by!  It's always a treat to visit with you.  C'mon, let's go have a nice iced latte together!  Do you want it sweetened?  I can add a little homemade simple syrup for you.  We could even sit in the cleaned up garage and enjoy our beverages!