I'm Still Buzzing Around

 Yep!  Here I am.....lounging in bed.  

NOT! 

 School started about 2 1/2 weeks ago and it's been the busiest start to a school year ever!

 Ahhh.....the espresso maker is where you can usually find me these days.  Espresso in the morning, espresso in the afternoon.....espresso is my very good friend right now.

 Oh, you can find me here a lot too.  Usually I have a table sitting in front of this comfy chair with my laptop, grading and lessons.  It's not a pretty table by any stretch of the imagination so you don't get to see it.  (Okay, it's a 4 foot plastic folding table Worker Bee gave to me a couple of years ago for working in my little craft room.  I didn't want to be too mysterious.)

 I've been practicing here a bit.  I'm excited because one of our new teachers this year is a great singer and I think we're going to start a glee club at my school!  Doesn't that sound fun?  I will be the accompanist.  

I wish I could say I'd been reading this, but I still haven't tackled Pride and Prejudice.  Please tell me you you'll still be my friend even though I haven't read Jane Austen yet.

So, if you can forgive me for not reading Jane Austen, I hope you buzz back in soon because I'm going to be having a fun giveaway!

P.S.  If you like my bee, I got it at Kohl's from the oh so delightful Skippyjon Jones books.  Isn't she a cutie?

When Disparate Things Come Together in a Lovely Way

First off, I have to say I love words.  Did you read the title up there?  Yes, I really meant disparate, not desperate.  Worker Bee and I love to play with words and impress each other with our $20 words we use.  (What's a $20 word you say?  Why it's one that's obscure enough, yet not unheard of, that perfectly describes the situation or event or whatnot.  Like disparate.  So now you know.  We're word nerds.  It could be worse.)

So, anyway, lately I have been wearing an amalgamation (oh yes, there's $20 for me) of sweet charms that I happened to combine the other day and I just love them!

I thought you might enjoy seeing them and hearing the stories behind each one.

Charm #1 is a heart shaped piece of Nicholas Mosse Irish pottery - a strawberry.  (cue the violins 'cause this is the romantic part)  My dear sweet Worker Bee blew me out of the water one Valentine's Day.  I had found these beautiful heart shaped charms from broken china through a mention in Country Home magazine.  (yes, all of us sigh at the demise of that treasured magazine).  Well that sweet husband of mine drove all the way to the store where they had them - about 2 hours away - and bought a few of them for me.  I had no idea he'd driven that far and never thought he would actually remember me telling him how much I loved those charms.  Every time I wear one of them, my heart gets a little squishy over my Worker Bee.

Charm #2 is one I bought from the oh so sweet Mica over at The Child's Paper.  Have you seen her artwork?  She is quite talented and I love her sense of whimsy.  I love whimsy almost as much as I love words.  Wait, I might love whimsy even more.

And finally, Charm #3 is one I bought for myself (oh yes, I bought Mica's for myself too) from this charming ebay shop called - you're going to love this - Charmedware! It's a lovely bit of lace sandwiched between glass.  It came with a little silver heart charm and a small pearl charm, but I'm misplaced them.  I won't say lost because lost sounds so permanent and I'm sure one day they will come home.

Oh and this cute little thing I took the pictures on?  Why this little A-Z pillow cover is from Deb at Loyalist Cottage (you know - the famous HGTV magazine pillow maker) and her sweet little etsy shop.  She screen prints these herself!

So...now you see how three (actually four if you think about it) disparate things can come together in a lovely manner!

And while we're at it, let me thank you for your visit!  Your kind comments are always a day brightener! Especially since I'm heading back to school next week.  It's awfully hot here too.  109º tomorrow!  So you bet I'll be spending my last Friday of Freedom sipping a nice cool iced tea and I would love for you to join me.  And if you're really sweet, I'll even make it a sweet tea!

A Bee Family Wedding

This weekend our little bee family took a 4 1/2 hour road trip to attend a wonderful family wedding.

Worker Bee's niece got married at a beautiful winery in Santa Rosa and I just have to share a few of the delightful details with you.

We took shuttle buses from the hotel to the winery.  

(You might have noticed how cloudy it is - it was a bit chilly - Baby Bee and I had to run out and buy some wraps to help keep us warm - more on that later.)

We were at the St. Francis Winery and this lovely statue and garden welcomed us to the grounds.

Before the wedding started we were able to walk around and enjoy a glass of wine.  In the background you can see the beautiful tables.

As we rode in the shuttle bus over to the wedding, Baby Bee asked her uncle (father of the bride) if this was going to be a luxurious wedding and I think you can judge for yourself.  The tables were so elegant.

 There were menu cards tucked in the gorgeous damask napkins.

Simple centerpieces of white roses and white hydrangeas were on each table.

And would you look at the view?

 It was stunning!

I loved the floral initials of the bride and groom.  Their colors were white and lavender with touches of silver.

This is where we danced away the evening.

These gorgeous bouquets and flower petals just added a focal point to the wedding party.

 The aisle was lined with lovely white rose petals.

 Such a beautiful bride and handsome groom!

 I love wedding cakes, don't you?  I think they give you such a sense of the bride and groom's style.  

 Oh yes, this was quite a luxurious cake!

 And along with this gorgeous cake I had some of the best coffee I have EVER had!  It was a medium roast French press and it was divine!  So smooth and delicious. (Leave it to me to go on and on about the coffee I had at a wedding reception. But now I have to go buy a French press.)

 Couldn't resist adding this picture of a little bouquet next to the wedding cake.  Believe me, no detail was forgotten at this wedding.

Unfortunately those clouds I mentioned in earlier turned into a downpour and those gorgeous tables you saw on the lawn had to be moved into the same room of those gorgeous floral initials.  

The Wedding Coordinator and her team quickly got everything moved and it was still beautiful.  Luckily the rain ended after about 20 minutes and we were able to be outside the rest of the evening.

(Don't you think being a wedding coordinator might be a fun job?  But then you hear about those Bridezillas so maybe not.)

Thank you for coming along with us to this luxurious wedding.  I think Baby Bee chose the perfect adjective to describe this wonderful family event.

And the good news?  Why Worker Bee's nephew (the bride's brother) is getting married next June!  I bet another fabulous wedding is in the making!  I'll be sure to take you along to that one too!

Yep, Here I Am Again, Excited Over the Darndest Thing

I mentioned the other day that Fabulous Phyllis and I hit some estate sales, well I neglected to mention we also stopped by a thrift store and I found something I've been looking for for a very long time.  

A.....

very.....

long......

time......

(picture my hair getting grayer and my beard growing longer - no don't picture that because I don't have a lot of gray AND I don't have a beard - just picture many months going by - like in the movies when January gets torn off the calendar and then February and then March - okay, I'll give you mercy and stop there and besides I know you get the idea)

Well I have collected quite the etsy shop inventory and yet, I haven't had a good place to put all that wonderful hoard inventory.  I had really pictured buying one of those metal office storage cabinets ( I have three in my classroom) but do you know how much those puppies cost?  At least $300 smackeroos!  Not really what I want to spend my hard earned etsy money on, I want to use that money to buy more stuff for my hoard inventory.

So I found a ginormous behemoth freestanding cupboard at this thrift store for......

$69.  

(Now, what that doesn't take into consideration is the doctor and chiropractor bills I might have to pay for Worker Bee hurting his back helping me move this monster.  I'll keep you posted on that.)

This huge cupboard is almost 8 feet tall and over 2 feet deep!

Thank you Counting Bee for letting us borrow your pick up.

 I think it was the pantry section of someone's kitchen cupboards. It has 5 shelves.  

And did I mention it's very heavy?  

 We didn't have time to rearrange the garage where I keep my etsy hoard inventory in tubs, covered with plastic so my cats don't sit on my hoard inventory 

So I'm pretty excited and guess what?

My birthday is in September and you know what I'm asking for?

Same thing I got two years ago - 

I want that garage cleaned out and straightened up!

I bet I'll find some of my hoard inventory I've forgotten about!

Thanks for buzzing in!  It's always so nice to see you stopped by for a little visit.

I'll be sure to have an iced latte ready for you the next time you come by.

I Get Excited About the Darndest Things

Special delivery came yesterday.

No, not something from etsy.

Not ebay either.

No pretty shoes or jewelry or clothes.

What did I so gleefully tear open yesterday?

A toaster oven!

Yup!  

(digression alert:  Do you watch Storage Wars?  I like their discoveries, but do they have to be so mean to each other?  I mean really, is that just for the show?  Why am I asking?  YUUUP!)

But honeys, it's not just a simple little toaster oven.  No siree!

This one's convection and it can toast 6 slices of bread!!!

It will hold a 12" pizza!  (Yes, don't make me get defensive - I like an occasional frozen pizza, especially California Pizza Kitchen ones - yummmm. Should've had a digression alert here too.)

This one's my favorite - wish they still made it!

Isn't a pretty white too?

And I have to share with you one of my favorite kitchen tools - voila - the toaster tongs.  

I got my first set Cost Plus World Market when I worked there in college and this is my second set there too a few years ago.  Why do I love my toaster tongs?  Well, you can use these to grab hot things out of your toaster without having to unplug it and now I can use them to grab hot things out of my new toaster oven.

Just in case that wasn't pretty enough for you I threw in some little kitchen pretties....

I've had them for several years, but I am about 98% sure they were made by the amazing Amy from Into Vintage.  

Oh and one more thing!  I can make little batches of cookies in it.  C'mon over and I'll have some nice warm fresh from the (toaster) oven chocolate chip cookies and a nice big glass of milk for you!  Wouldn't that be nice?

P.S.  Please don't tell Worker Bee I like kitchen appliances.  I don't want to get a vacuum cleaner or an egg cooker under the Christmas tree this year.

More Things I Plan to Sell and More Things I Plan to Keep

If you read my last post than you might have noticed I confessed to being a Lazy Bee.  

I should confess to you now.  

I've also turned into a Vintage Hoarding Bee!  

(Technically, I'm not quite a hoarder yet because I really do plan to sell many of these treasures, but the Lazy Bee part has taken over and hasn't allowed me to photograph, research, and list these on etsy yet.  You understand, right?)

So....I'm selling these:

•  a stack of vintage bed linens, including a chenille and blue bedspread (twin I think) - be sure to note the adorable pillow made my Amy from Into Vintage - I miss her sewing creations, maybe if we all wish really, really, really hard she'll sew more things for me to hoard buy!  

• most of these are pillowcases, what is it about those old sheets that make them so soft and smooth compared to today's linens 

•  what I think is a vintage locker basket - that's what Worker Bee thinks it is at least

•  here's a close-up of that basket (and everybody say a hallelujah that there are no dust bunnies in this picture - I think it might be a minor miracle)

• now this old wicker bottle is one I'm tempted to keep, but it's not really my style, although I DO love that style, all those cottagey whites are so pretty.....sigh...... 

•  a charming aqua small bauer mixing bowl - this one is about the size of a candy dish - uh true confession - I HAVE been using it as a candy dish for the few months I've owned it, but it's time to send it off to someone else

•  now aren't these just the cutest salt and pepper shakers?  I think they are someone's craft project because I think they painted those lids gold and then put the decals on there - I think they would make such charming display pieces

•  now this one is really a charmer - it's a set of napkins - I haven't counted them yet, but there were originally 48 napkins - can't you see them used for an afternoon tea, a ladies lunch, or some wonderful craft projects?

•  this is a metal plate - it looks old to me, but I don't know for sure - any thoughts?  I can rarely resist green and flowers, especially roses

•  a set of three white ironstone plates with wonderful scallops - Johnson Brothers of course - uh oh here I go again, but did you know I have a thing for scallops?  I'm sure I've mentioned it before.  I might rethink these......

•  can you believe all these vintage cards?  I only photographed a few of them - they all belonged to a teacher so you know I couldn't just leave them at the estate sale  - makes me all sentimental - oh no - I might make these a keeper too

• and two vintage Nancy Drew books 

And I'm not selling these:

•  I just fell in love with this little cornflower plate (or bachelor buttons) especially since they grow so well for me in my cutting garden

•  and my new favorite this bright turquoise hobnail vase - it's blue glass on the outside and white on the inside - honestly these pictures just don't do this vibrant little piece justice - I'll have to keep trying to get better pictures of it (don't worry little vasey - mama will get a gorgeous picture of you - oh no - did I say that out loud?)

Well now you know what I've been hoarding collecting all summer to share with you!

Now Lazy Bee just needs to turn in Industrious Bee and I'll get these listed.  

I haven't been having an afternoon iced latte lately, could that be why my buzz has gone phhtt?

I'll definitely make one tomorrow and see if that gets me buzzing around our cottage.  I'll make one for you too!  Sound good?  Oh my favorite is a dark chocolate iced latte!  Oh yes, I'll have it waiting for you.

Thanks so much for buzzing by!