Mud....

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum,

um I mean the Barn House.

It was the season finale at Barn House today

and the girls and I decided to do some shopping.

My girlfriend Kristen showed up at my house this morning at 7am 

behind the wheel of a U-haul.

That's right a U-haul. 

This girl means business.

Meeghn showed up nursing her coffee after a very, 

and I do mean very rough week.

She was in desperate need of some fun and deserved it as well.

We had a goal, well, several goals.

1. A farm table for Kristen's new dining room

2. Possibly chairs and benches for this new table.

3. Goodies for the shop

4. Inspiration and a darn good time.

We were off.

First stop Vintage Gatherings where we scored some

very fun stuff a long with two chairs for the table we hadn't found yet.

Next stop Barn House.

Now I told the girls this could be a little muddy and wet sense 

both markets were on farms so be sure to wear appropriate footwear.

They did,  we all did.

This ended up not being the problem.

When we got to Barn House we pulled into the field

and low and behold it was muddy.

This was no problem for our boots but let me tell you 

that U-haul did not like it one bit.

Don't laugh we got stuck. That's right stuck.

This is when Kristen put that bad boy in park and 

asked for the boys.

Luckily the King of Tarte came to the rescue.

He wasn't having much luck either and we realized

we were all going to have to push.

We are started pushing and nothing was happening.

"oops," said the King, he was in neutral.

Push!

It came unstuck.

Yeah!

He then spent the next 15 minutes trying to get it up the hill 

and out of the wet field and parked.

Much thanks to the King of Tarte.

We couldn't have done it without you.

We did find a bench, a phenomenal table,

much inspiration and had a darn good time.

The U-haul

The muddy hole we were stuck in.

Yeah!

The King of Tarte

The Girls

One for all and all for one!

Thanks girls for a great fall morning.

Love ya!

Ciao,

F

Tables...

Since we started this endeavor I have been obsessed with tables.

It doesn't matter the size it just has to look and feel right.

See, the problem began when we first set up our space

at Found on Fremont and had no table.

It is really hard to make an impactful presentation 

without a flat service. 

A mason jar doesn't look so good sitting on the floor.

You know what I am talking about.

Anyway, every sale I go to I look for tables.

Well today was going to be my table day. 

I decided this once I spied a stack of tables in a picture for an estate sale.

This was it. I just knew.

I was #10 on the list.

This is a good number. 

Nice and round, divisible by 2 and the first birthday

with a double digit number.

We were all lined up and they opened the doors.
I was off.
There she was in all her glory just waiting for me.
I slapped a sold sticker on her and well everything else I  found
this morning was icing on my table cake.

Here are the pics of my new sweetheart and all her little friends
that came home with me.

Farm Kitchen table/120

Children's wooden blocks/2 ea.

Blue metal sewing container/28

Christmas houses/3-8

Alpenrose Dairy Milk box/30

I love days where everything you find you just want to keep.
My house just isn't big enough.
Oh well.
I know someone out there needs a darling farm kitchen table
and I will be again on the hunt.

Ciao,
F

P.S. See you at Barn House and Vintage Gathering tomorrow. I'll be shopping with the girls.

Things....

 

10 Common Household Items and their  Uncommon Uses:

1. Mason jar as a vase (my favorite)
2. Clothes pin as a chip bag clip
3. Wine bottles to keep your boots up right
4. Coaster to sit your pepper grinder on
5. Wooden crate to hold fire kindeling
6. Metal colander as a luminary
7. Vintage tins to hold lipsticks
8. Butter pat dish to hold little earrings
9. Clothes drying rack to dry homemade pasta
10. Vintage tray to sit  muddy boots on.

Ciao,

F

Letters....

We were doing a little estate sale shopping on Saturday

on our last estate sale of the day we found an envelope filled with letters.

They were a little more than we normally would have wanted to spend

but something told us we needed to take these home with us.

When I got home I showed them to my husband who couldn't wait to read them.

He read a couple out loud to me as I puttered around the house.

I couldn't believe what we stumbled across. 

These were love letters from a Dr. in the military stationed in France in the early 50's

to his wife and new born son back here in Portland.

As I read them I felt almost guilty for doing so.

 It feels a little like voyeurism or eaves dropping.

They are so intimate, tender

and full of love.

Some of them are even a little racy and so honest.

They all start with "My Darling Faye"

and end with either "All My Love, Ralph"

or "xoxoxo, Ralph".

Here is a little snippet of one so you can see what I mean.

"Received another of your wonderful letters this morning. 

Gee, they make me feel so darned good.

You are wonderful honey. 

So thoughtful and such a perfect girl for a guy like me.

I know you will be the best mother always to our "heir"".

(They just had their first child, Marky.)

Almost all the envelopes are numbered and he dated each one 

with the day, month, date and year.

The language is so of the times.

It is truly a time machine into a marriage during post war

in a time so different from today.

Here's to love and romance.

Ciao,

F

Harvest....

Tonight it was vendor night at Found on Fremont

which means the store is open late for vendors

to come in enjoy beverages, a little snack and re-merchandise their spaces.

I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting.

Mmmm!

We took out everything white in the space, 

added in new pieces and rearranged some existing.

I think it turned out quite nice. We even got some very nice complements

from one of the other vendors who plans on coming by to shop 

our space after we were done.

Some how we ended up with a Victorian cowgirl on the prairie

theme. Not intentional but we liked it.

And we hope you do to.

Not to keep you in any more suspense here are some pictures.

CanCan meets cowboy

Boxes to store secret treasures

Children's  costumes

Meeghn's favorite, trays

Books to read on a cold, wet day

Farmstand signs

A night in the kitchen

Ciao,

F

Cake....

I generally try to keep my posts about vintage, treasures we find,

the shop and all things possibly related to all of the above which made

my decision to write about food today a personal one, but then

I remembered that cake well a very specific type of cake is, well

vintage per se. 

It is an old family recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation.

It is a traditional cake for birthdays in our family.

My sister and I have practically gotten one for every one of our birthdays.

That's a lot of cake.

Now my mom makes them for my nephew and the tradition continues.

It isn't your typical cake made with eggs, flour, baking powder etc. but one that contains

white wine in it.

It is made of a thousand layers (not literally but close), boiled condensed milk(which tastes and looks like caramel) and white meringue.

It has to sit for a couple of days before eating so that it ages just right.

I know that sounds odd but really it doesn't taste right if you don't. 

It is called a Mil Hojas cake.

It is a traditional cake from Chile which is where my mommy is from. 

I took pictures of the process so you could see it for yourself. 

It is really quite a wonderful cake and always, always puts a smile on my families faces.

My mommy

15 layers

Adding caramel

Before you squish it down.

After you squish it down.

Finished

Two more days and we can dig in.

I wish you all could taste it . It really is so yummy.

Can't wait.

Thanks for letting me share one of my favorite family traditions.

Ciao,

F

September....

Well it is not only time for our personal wardrobes,

homes and kitchens to start adopting the concept of fall 

but our shops as well.

We are a little hesitant to go all out as of yet because

we Oregonians really try to hold on to summer as long as we can

even if we do sometimes complain it's to "hot" and can't wait for fall.

(Personally I am not in this camp. I prefer "hot").

Anyway, we decided to introduce our back to school finds at the store

for Second Friday which is a monthly event the neighborhood

business' do. It's a lot of fun. Much of the neighborhood comes out

to have dinner, drink wine and shop. 

Our local Humane Society even comes out to encourage adoptions of the 

cutest puppies and dogs.

Here is how it all turned out.

A little back to school old style.

Vintage quilt ($125) to keep you warm on the cool nights.

Squirrel Feeder for their fattening up for hibernation.

Globe to plan next summers vacations.

This coming weekend we will be taking the plunge 

and going all out in the space for fall.

Stay tune for those pictures as well.

Remember if there is ever anything you see in our blog posts

you can't live with out, drop us a note and let us know.

We are more than happy to accommodate the need to add 

something new and fun to your life.

Ciao,

F

Fall....

I know it is not officially fall yet

but the weather has been saying otherwise of late.

We have had rain, cold, clouds and sun this week.

I believe we have entered Indian Summer early this year.

I'm ok with this as long as it is sunny  during the day.

I am not ready for the grey , cloudy, cold, wet days.

Not yet!

But I have decided that in order to make the transition a little easier

I needed to embrace the weather change and

the best way for me to do this is to add some fall touches to

our home.

Now I do mean a few I am not about to go all out yet. 

I'm still eating peaches and nectarines from the local farmers market for goodness sake.

I went for colors of orange, blue and brown with the elements of pewter and wood.

Here are the vintage kimono silk pillows I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

My Hydrangeas are still blooming

Kindling ready for a cool night with a fire 

Fall and I are going to be ok.

As long as the sun keeps shining  for a little longer it will all be good.

Ciao,

F

Labor....

Labor day Meeghn and I took the holiday literally.

We decided to take the opportunity of having an extra day on our weekend 

to do some cleaning, repairing and organizing 

of some of our treasures.

We labored.

The day was beautiful, our husbands sat on the side line

and talked shop (they are both teachers)

and we sweated, up to our elbows in soap suds.

Yes, those are glasses of wine. Girls get thirsty when they work this hard.

All in all we got a ton done and are feeling ready for the next

re- set of our little space. 

Ciao,

F

Voyages....

Where have they been?

Who did they accompany?

What was packed in them?

How did they get to where they are?

When did they arrive?

Questions I ask every time I wander across one of these beauty's.

Hope your weekend travels were safe and filled with wonder.

Ciao,

F

Sharing....

When I got home today I found two large boxes on my front porch.

Now, I knew these were coming but didn't realize how big they would be

and how many treasures would be found in them.

They came from my best friend and long time junker, Marcia.

She lives in Minnesota and has always loved good junk.

Many a summer we have walked a flea market or two.

We have supported each others junk habits for many years.

When I told her that we were starting Bee and Mason she decided 

it was a good excuse to clean out her basement.

I thought this was a good idea to.

Marcia has an eye for beautiful junk and at good prices.

I have seen her basement.

There are many a treasure down there.

I couldn't wait to share these so thought I would post a few pictures

of the goodies she sent.

A small selection of flower pics she sent

We found this for her daughter many moons ago

There seems to be a floral theme

We have gotten so much support and love from family and friends for 

Bee and Mason.

I can't say thank you enough.

Love you all!

xoxoxo

F