Dreaming of Endless Summer

That bittersweet sense of loss that comes with summer's end has been tugging at my heart.

Why does the change of seasons bring this touch of melancholy?

Life is busy here at Frippery Farmhouse, son back home today after we moved furniture and boxes for two days. My house is filled with stacks of things to organize and find places for.

 I am working on the new art room and the swiftly approaching craft show season. My Ohio Valley Antiques booth is doing well and the Rural Society Show will be upon us before I can blink.

The new deck will be complete before Labor Day and I can begin my landscaping plans for the yard.

Life is full. 

Yet this time of years still brings a touch of melancholy.

Do you get that hint of sadness this time of year? 

Is it that endings are always fraught with a sense of loss?

Let's enjoy the beautiful September weather and all of the abundance summer's end brings. 

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend with friends and family.

I will be bringing some semblance of order to this house for the next week.

Not giving in to the blues.

We still have loads of warm sunny days ahead.

See you after Labor Day!

"When summer gathers up her robes of glory and like a dream, glides away."

Sarah Helen Whitman

Yours in summertime dreams, P.

Friends Along the Vintage Trail

Many new friends have been made in the shared passion for all things vintage. 

Few as adorable as these lovelies we met in New Richmond at our Sunday show a few weeks ago.

Look at those eyes. Are you melting?

Oh and a milk mustache to complete the look!

You never know who you will meet while junking.

I did have the pleasure of shopping with a blog pal this past weekend and she was delightful to spend time with.

Angie of Hopemore Studio met up with hubs and I at Burlington Antique show this past Sunday. I will share more about this fun and talented artist in a future post.

For the moment I am caught up in these furry little faces.

Oh and that hairdo!

Speaking of furry little faces (kidding) and lovely hair, beautiful soulful eyes and friends I have met through blogging. Ms. Talking Trash herself has put a letter out that I simply must share.

Girlfriend should totally have her own pickin' show. I say we get behind her and Cat Daddy and tell the producers what we really want to see!

Are you with me? 

Check out Debbie's post, you will not be able to resist. Just look into these eyes and try.....

Yes'm, old friends is always best, 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of.  ~Sarah Orne Jewett

Yours in friendship old and new, P.

Sharing Vintage Tips

Need a little advice. 

I love sharing tips and hopefully so do you.

Let me preface by saying I have been gathering and shopping madly for all the fall shows coming up, my Ohio Valley Antiques booth and specifically The Rural Society Fall Show.

I plan on a offbeat theme incorporating holidays.

Today at the Springfield Antique Show I may have made an impulse purchase that could be one I will rethink later.

No, you are not seeing ghosts. I purchased not one, but two, talking Casper the Friendly Ghost dolls. I should say, one talking, one screeching unintelligibly.

I may have overpaid a bit as well.

Why, you may ask?

I adored Casper cartoons as a child. Many, many, many, years ago.

I could not resist.

Halloween being the favorite holiday of all in my mind, I figured what the hey, I will love them myself if no one else chooses to take them home.

Now for my question to you.

Any tips on how to clean their grubby little terry cloth bodies?

If so please do share.

Now for my tip to you...

Have you ever been in desperate remodel mode, wanting to hang or rearrange a painting or wall accessory and cannot find the gosh darn hammer anywhere?

Cannot wait to pound that nail and get your newest vintage acquisition placed just so?

Today I was in just that position.

When in need, improvise!

An empty wine bottle will serve nicely as a hammer as long as you are just tapping a small nail into drywall. I happened to have one conveniently at hand. Problem solved.

A warning though, do not leave your dead wine bottle where little ghosts could get hold of it.

Who knew wine really had spirits?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Let me know what magic cleaning solutions you have for your vintage finds.

I have to put the Casper's to bed now.

"I'll never be nuthin" but a scary old ghost without any friends..."

Casper the Friendly Ghost

Yours in shared passions, P.

Frippery Farmhouse Porch Transformation

Once upon a time many years ago, when Frippery Farmhouse was being built, a very naughty builder filed bankruptcy and left the families he was building homes for high and dry.

These people had already released their money to this bad man and now had to finish their homes without the help of the subs who also had not been paid. 

We had to settle for some things that were not our original choice when we began envisioning our American Farmhouse style home.

At that point we just had to get the house finished so we had someplace to live.

Stuff happens. We got over it and moved on.

We have slowly been upgrading over the years as money and time permit.

Which leads us here.

We hated the fact that instead of nice chunky wood porch posts we had aluminum wrapped 4 by 4's.

Time to change that.

Meanwhile why not paint the railings while we have them dismantled?

What? Some are rotted?

Hey, look, the porch seems so much bigger and airier without those railings.

I had recently been reading Tara Dillard's landscape blog. She often removes the railings from "jailed in" porches for a more open view of the garden.

Love it!

Next job is washing the siding.
(Another compromise, but I will live with that one for a while.)

We had to leave the left side railing because of height concerns, but I am conjuring a remedy for that too.

Work in progress but I can see an organized kitchen garden with a step down for next year.

Or maybe a courtyard with a pergola.

Oh, it would be wonderful to cover that concrete with wood...maybe stone just around the entry...

Getting way ahead of myself as usual.

First I need to concentrate on the project at hand.

Which of course has to be put on the  back burner for still other things that need doing.

Does all the "tending to" ever end?

Hope not...

What would occupy us then?

For now this is a nice place to sit and dream of what is to come.

Dream?
Who has time to dream?
We gotta get to the lumber yard and

the garden is calling.
Not to mention the indoor projects.

So this will suffice for the present.

How do people live without a project or two churning in their brains and a few in progress?

I know you know what I'm sayin'.

So what's on your plate at the moment?

Please share.

"Happiness is a matter of one's most ordinary and everyday mode of consciousness being busy and lively and unconcerned with self."
Iris Murdoch

Yours in the business of being happy, P.

Stop and Smell the Flowers???

Absolute chaos seems to be reigning at Frippery Farmhouse lately. Maybe Frippery madhouse would be a better word.

Lot's of craziness, mostly sweet with a bit of sour thrown in for balance.

Spare time is being devoured.

Actually right now it doesn't exist.

So just a quick post to say hey.

A peek at marigolds and zinnias flourishing in a garden in New Richmond, Ohio.

Candy Apple Red and Cotton Floss Pink.

Luscious Lemon.

I will share more when things calm down at the end of the week.

Until then my friends.

"Know how to live the time that is given you."

Dario Fo

Yours in a rush, P.

Winner!!!

Can I get a fanfare?

How about a woot woot?

Three cheers for Sissie's Shabby Cottage.

Winner of my giveaway and lucky number seven!

I adore visiting Sissie and her feminine coastal style. Her soothing and chic home is just gorgeous.

I will put together a soldered charm necklace and package full of goodies just for her. Photos to come.

I am frantically setting the finishing touches on a few more pieces for my monthly New Richmond, Ohio show tomorrow. If you are in the area and fancy a day along the river, come and visit! The vendors are set up all along Front St.

Plus my SIL will be visiting next week and the vintage mess has spread across every surface.

Super crazy clean up time!

Gotta go tend to business.

"Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday."

Unknown

Yours in no worries, P.

Blogversary Give Away

Yesterday was my 3 year Blogversary.

We celebrated quietly ay home with a few good friends. 

Hahahaha, heeheehee.

Actually I was too busy clearing out my craft studio so my son can move in when he comes back home in a few weeks. Sadie and I are moving to the second floor and starting over.

No sorrow, the room is bigger, plus we can spill over into the guest room too.

And college boy will have his own entry to come and go without mom laying awake and wondering about the time. 

He will be 24 in a few months for gosh sakes.

I have also been trying to keep up with my space at Ohio Valley Antique Mall.

I have been keeping a summer, vacation, travel kind of vibe for now but I am itching to start throwing in a little fall.

I have also signed up for a space at The Rural Society Fall Show in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and I am beyond excited to start gathering and upcycling and creating for October!
Carrie, of Junque Magnet shared this with me and I took the plunge.

Of course we had to hit the 127 longest yard sale this week as well.

I picked up a few goodies, but most are just for me me me.

I know, selfish.

I will call them blogversary gifts, haha.

Most notable was an Adirondack style white porch swing for $15!

Needs a bit of work but I couldn't buy the lumber to make it for that price.

I have also been playing with Chalk Paint.

Love the different looks you can create.

There is nothing like the glow of a wax finish on furniture.

I would be remiss not to mention the world that has opened to me since I began blogging. I have gotten to know so many lovely people who share the same interests and passions.

I have had the privilege of meeting a few in person and have made some lifelong friendships as a result.

The courage to start my own business was also an offshoot of blogging.

For all of this I will be forever grateful

Thank you.

OK, yeah yeah, blah blah blah, what about that give away you may ask?

Well, I have not chosen everything that will go into your package, but one of my microscope slide soldered necklaces will be a part of the package, as well as some carefully chosen bits of vintage goodness.

How may you win?

Simply "like" Frippery on facebook then leave a comment that you have done so.

The give away closes at midnight on Friday the 12th of August. Good luck!

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
William A. Ward

Your's in gratitude, P.

Heaven on Earth

Sunshine in the garden.

Bring on the heat, you can't stop Marigolds from blooming.

Maybe I will stick to the Mari's and Zinnias next summer.

They seem to be scorch proof.

Oh, and did I mention beautiful?

Of course, sunflowers are the true summer beacon.

A taste of sunshine come down to earth.

Hope you haven't wilted yet!

"I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer."

Violette Leduc

Yours unflinchingly, P.