worth the drive

a few weeks ago my friend lu, (who loves to sew and makes wonderful quilts)

and i went for a country drive and ended up in jordan village

to visit a store called "stitch"

(above a birds nest sitting outside the store i altered it a bit in ps )

this store was amazing and had the best displays

i was really inspired

and i will definitely go back

now i have to dust off my machine and start playing with a few ideas

fleamarket faces

as i wondered the fleamarket this weekend

i couldn't help but notice lots of faces

great finds

as always i'm on the lookout for metal

and on our road trip we manage to hit at least 7 antique store on a 35 mile stretch of hwy

above i spent under $15

i have a kodak brownie collection (21 different ones so far)

so when i notice the timer and notebook i was thrilled and

they match perfectly to the new color on my living room wall

another wonderful find a kodak abc photo-lab outfit

everything you need to develop your photos

the kit includes everything from darkroom lamp, metal trays, thermometer,

 glass beaker, tongs, hanging clips, mask charts, universal developer

all packed in a metal printing box $20

a steal at $5 for all of these car name plates

and the perfect paper "judy" for only $25

down at the five and dime

first stop on our road trip was east aurora, just 20 minutes south of buffalo!!

this quaint little town is host to lots of artizans and antique shops

but i think the best spot we visited was vidler's 5 & 10

this store had everything!! i mean everything

from the old grey rollers your mum wore grocery shopping saturday morning under her kerchief

sock monkeys, the whole cast from rudolph the red nose reindeer, lip balm is ever flavor under the sun

including lucky charms and betty crockers chocolate frosting!!!

 the garden gnomes doing the hear, see and speak no evil

raggedy and and andy and even hair nets!!

there was a card department, candy. clothing, toys , kitchen gadgets

and so much more!! it was a blast!!

i love this!

there was a wonderful hat department!! 

lu modeling the "loyal order of water buffalo's lodge hat""

my favorite charater from my favorite christmas story

day tripping

this is so close to home and yet the best kept secret

i've always heard about the badlands but i usually head east for a country drive

since my friend carmi moved further west i've been travelling that way more often

the cheltenham badlands is part of the bruce trail

and is just north of  bramptom, south of orangeville off of hwy 10

barn quest

someone asked if i had any photos of barns

which sent me on a quest to rifle through thousands of photos

to find some of my favorites

above, a beautiful red barn near claremont

i must get a shot in the fall

below, barns from the back roads of

ontario and upstate new york

abandoned

on one of my country road trips i found this abandoned house

since no one was around and i was feeling brave

i decided to take a closer look

the kitchen had the best grunge and texture

from the floor to the ceiling

the upstairs bedrooms had the best wallpaper

i wish i had gotten a sample

strange tree

on the weekend i got a chance to wonder though home smith park on the humber river

my friend marianella wanted to show me her favorite tree

i can honestly say i have never seen anything like it

not sure what was going on but it was fun looking for faces

and as always it was relaxing being near the water

fleamarket finds

a gift from carmi and paul

i have a starflash, starluxe and starflex and now a starmiteIIII

it will be a challlenge to find any other starmites

my collection is growning 19 different brownies so far

and of course i found some metal and jewelry to add to my already huge pile

the pearls where a great find, occupied japan, 12 stands for $5

i love this little olive jar, when you lift the lid there is a spoon attached

and gifts for a friend

a nite at the distillery district

the toronto christmas market

on now until december 18th
if you get a chance stop by

early morning country drive

at 7:30 am i was up and out on the road

driving north out of the city

as the sun was rising so was the fog

creating some wonderful photo opps

above, just a few of my favorites

scenes from the road

as we winded our way down the back road past buffalo,ny

we discovered a great garden center, lots of little antique shops

in varysbury, warsaw. perry, and mt. morris

and a great barn sale in leicester

(i'll post my finds tomorrow)