A road trip for our anniversary

 It's our anniversary today!  Galen and I have been married for 43 years!  Yep, 43 years!  Hard to believe!    
We thought a road trip might be nice and we could take Otis with us.  Our destination:  Black Mountain

We started out early Tuesday morning and headed west driving toward the mountains on route 64.  

We passed through some wonderful little towns~ Asheboro, Lexington, Mocksville, Taylorsville, Lenoir, Statesville, and Morganton.  Tree lined streets and great little shops.  

We ate a picnic lunch under a pavilion in a church yard.  

Otis almost had my sandwich!  

Silly dog.  

 The second day we travelled through Forest City, Rutherfordton, Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave, and finally to Black Mountain.

 

Unique flower bed!  

Winding roads.  

At the end of each day Otis was exhausted!

 This mountain range above is called Seven Sisters (at Black Mountain). 

 The town of Black Mountain ~  

Great shops, and restaurants that are "dog friendly"!  

We enjoyed sight seeing, nice walks, shopping, museums, and good food.  It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary!  

'till next time, 

Flea market shopping, antiquing and vintage consignments

In the heart of North Carolina is the town of Asheboro.  A town worth spending the day in... browsing antique shops, looking for treasures in the vintage and consignment shops and enjoying a bit of lunch and a cup of coffee.  

The town murals are interesting and fun, painted by one of the local artists.  

Up and down main street you can find all kinds of shops.  

And all kinds of treasures!  

I found a few of my own treasures, one being, the old bankers lamp, or desk lamp with the green shade.  I have been looking for one of these for quite some time.  A real bargain at $15.  

I am always on the look-out for shops like these!  I love finding small towns filled with lots of wonderful old treasures.  

Are you a flea market and antique shopper?  

Hope all of you enjoy your day.

Antiques and junk and my finished painting

One of my favorite things to do is shop at antique shops, flea markets, junk stores, and consignment shops.  Not far from our house is a small country town that is filled with all of these kinds of shops.  Talk about a fun day....!

This is an old Homer Laughlin china plate I found for $6.00.  The color is a creamy, almost sepia tone color, which I love.  I am planning on hanging plates like this above the buffet mirror in the dining room.     

 As you can see I don't have any hanging yet.  

I also found a galvanized watering can.  You can always use one of these in the garden, right?  Only $12.00.  

It amazes me how much stuff you can find and how many ideas you can get from exploring shops like this.  

On the way home Galen and I saw a rainbow!  We were heading straight for it.  Can you see it?  What a beautiful sight.  

  

Oh, and I finished my garden potting table painting, finally.  It's already hanging on the wall.

Enjoy your day!

Shopping

I got up early this morning.  I'm ready to do some last minute Christmas shopping.  

Otis is still snuggled in his warm blanket by the fire.  

The sweetest thing of all is.....hubby made me a sandwich to take along.  

gotta love him.  

French table linen

I'm back! It was nice to have a bit of time off.

I spent a few days at the beach with my sister and even though the weather was cold, that didn't stop us from antiquing and thrifting. I found this lovely French tablecloth for only $8.00,

and napkins $2.00 each,

at this wonderful little thrift shop (below),

and it was packed with all kinds of goodies. I brought quite a few things home with me. This shop was in Carolina Beach, but we stayed at Shell Island in Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Aside from the shopping we also enjoyed

the ocean, the sunrise and sunsets,

and just hanging out and having fun.

And one of my most favorite things was watching the pelicans fly past our balcony early in the morning.

I'll be around to visit all of you soon.

I missed you!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.....

in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Still doing some last minute decorating. Ha! Not a surprise.....I'll be decorating right up until Christmas day.

This afternoon Galen and I will brave the bitter cold and do some shopping. We still have to get a few packages in the mail.

Remember ~ only 11 more days until Christmas!

Enjoy your day!

Donna