Hunting in an "Urban Market"...

 October is a wonderful month in Houston, TX and the surrounding areas for outdoor markets.  The weather is finally getting bearable and there is sometimes a nip in the air.  Beautiful azure skies are the norm and just in general it's a great time for being outside shopping with friends.

 Even just "window" shopping is fun.  I love taking pictures and bringing home memories that way....and it's easy on the old budget. Plus collecting ideas is free and who doesn't like THAT word?!?!?!?

 Over the last few years new varieties of pumpkins have been cropping up.  I don't know all the  names of them but they sure are interesting.

 Recently I'v had a thing for bird cages and mannequins!  Which one do you think I came home with?

 More of those  cool gourds AND gigantic pumpkins

 Aren't these old library drawers cool?

 I also LOVE letters like these.  Super Cool that it spelled TEXAS

Fall Fever in Warrenton, TX

This year at Warrenton I decided to take mostly pictures of fall decorations, Halloween themes, skeletons, ghosts, witches, goblins, etc.  This pretty little Dia de los Muertos Skeleton kicks off the fall theme....even though it was about 90 degrees outside.  Sunny and 

Warm....that's a Texas Fall for you!

Chippy, rusted fire hydrant.....It fits just right in with the fall colors, doesn't it?

 We saw field after field of flying  metal witches and pumpkins.

 A kid-friendly metal pumpkin that would last for years and years.....budget minded---don't you think?

 Ever seen an ORANGE Flamingo?  With a witch hat, no less.....

 I'm always a sucker for a rusted bike.....this gives me a good idea for MY bike basket.

 I don't know German....but I know this is CUTE!

 LOVE this idea of masks for pumpkins. They were also selling hats and faux hands for them too.  

 Cute Scarecrow backdrop in a field of ruffled, metal pumpkins!

 SPOOKY!

 Pensive and Sweet Witch

 Corseted, Big-Eyed Witch!

 Wood Pumpkins and Cats

So.......did you get some good decorating ideas?  I love to see all the new ideas and the old, tried and true decorations.  Check back....I took some other pictures at Grand Ole Warrenton and I'll post those next.  

Happy Haunting!

My Silly Scarecrow!!!

This year I updated my Scarecrow just a tad.......can you see what went wrong?  

 Hmmm....Yes Indeed......Last year he wore overalls, but this year he got a NEW pair of worn out jeans.  However, I failed to take into account he doesn't have a waistline and no matter how tight I pulled the belt...his pants fell down!

 Even Carson was watching out the front door and noticed that Mr. Scarecrow's pants had fallen down.

So a quick trip to Value Village (our local Goodwill type store) was in order.  I found Mr. Scarecrow a great pair of Purple, Green and Yellow Suspenders.  Most likely they were from a Mardi Gras outfit, but they fit just perfectly and now his pants are staying up!  YEAH!  Happy Halloween Ya'll!

Check back soon......I'm in the mood to blog again and I have lots to show and tell you. I recently went on My FIRST trip to New York City; had a quick visit to Baltimore and then on to Frederick County, Delaware to antique shop!  AND a local trip to Warrenton to get into the Fall Spirit!

Round Top Summer Adventure

Off on Another Road Trip.....this time we celebrated my late June birthday and got away from the big city for a bit!  This time we stayed right outside of Round Top.....very near Warrenton!  That's on f my all time favorite destinations in the Spring and Fall---for shopping at the Antique Shows!

We rent this quaint little house....it was on 10 acres and very secluded.
There was a horse-apple tree on the property and we picked up the ones that had fallen to decorate the porch. I took some home and will try and plant them. Plus we had a few beers watching the sun set.  :)

We found some cool old buildings.  

This cute little house needed some TLC but I loved the aqua color, don't you?

These were interesting concessions stands by the ball park.

I LOVE wrap around porches!

Now I've got to get busy and upload some pictures of the Glorious Shopping Trips!

East Texas Road Trip!

Well sweeties...it's been a busy summer and I haven't sat down and been still long enough to let ya'll know what I've been up to, have I?  

On Memorial Day Weekend (Geez time flies, doesn't it?) my friend Tyra and I took to the Texas roadways and headed to East Texas.  And a Texas Road Trip (in my mind) would not be complete without a stop at Buc-ees!  They advertise the cleanest bathrooms and serve the best Iced Tea!  After all, we needed some caffeine for the trip, didn't we?  I also picked up the cute turquoise cap I have on at Buc-ees!  Weeeeeeee!

We stopped along with way a met up with an interesting fella that made picnic tables and sold them on the side of the road.

How's this for a guard cat?

We sure wanted to buy some of his furniture but they didn't fit in our truck...and we had only begun our weekend shopping trip.....but we promised him we'd be back with another truck sometime soon.

When we are road-tripping we ALWAYS look for Dairy Queens.  I don't know about YOU, but me and my friends consider ourselves ICE connoisseurs.  WE prefer, what we call, RT (Rabbit Turd--pardon me...LOL).  I've recently heard it called Nugget ice (which is a WHOLE lot nicer)...you know, the kind from Sonic that SO delicious!  But habits are hard to break and RT Ice is what we still call it!

Old, rusty trucks always catch my interest.  So here was one that caught my eye and seemed to be begging for a makeover.  I could see it in a beautiful aqua....with white leather interior!

We stumbled on a festival in Athens (Texas---Not Greece) and enjoyed one of the biggest Sno-Cones' we've ever seen!  TEXAS-SIZED for SURE!

And of course, what would a trip to Athens be without visiting the SUPER famous Winnie & Tululas's!

We shopped and visited with the nice ladies at Winnie & Tulula's  and then asked them to take our picture outside of the store.

And, oh my....this is just the first DAY of our road trip....more to follow soon!  So come on back and see what else we got into!

From Asphalt to a Community Garden

This past weekend my co-workers and I meet up with a group of people in our industry (Commercial Real Estate) and worked on Phase II of a community garden.  That's me on the right.

Last summer a group of workers began the HARD work of picking and scraping and digging into a hard-baked Urban Parking Lot.  Someone had a LOT of vision  because out of that hard work, a garden was created and is thriving today for the neighbors.

Several neighbors have signed agreements with Volunteers of America and have their own little plot/pod to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers.  There are even picnic tables to sit down and have a cool drink or just admire all the pretty plants.

Power tools were brought to the work day and boards were cut to make vertical trellis, planter boxes and benches.

Bales of hales had holes dug out of them, for plants to grow straight out of the hay!

Above are some of the "pods" that have already been planted.  We saw okra, tomatoes, purple hull peas, wax beans, squash, and herbs already growing and ready for harvest.

As you can see from this picture, we are in the heart of a very urban area. For those of you that are familiar with Houston...it's on North Shepherd......near Yale in a neighborhood called Independence Heights.

A group of "Corporate Suits" showed up for a day of playing in the dirt!

Here is the beginning of the Mural.  A very interesting artist, David Flores, created this on paper and then put it on the wall facing the garden.  David outlined the colors and then we got to fill in the color.

I knew when I signed up for this workday and the flyer said there was going to be a mural painted....I wanted on THAT team.  :)  And lucky me....I got to paint!  I'd MUCH rather paint than do yard work...LOL!

David starting the detailing finishing touches to the mural.  I will drive by in a couple of days and take a picture of the finished project.  To check out more of his work, his website is:  Skeez 181

And for all our hard work.....a hamburger/hotdog lunch was donated...and it sure tasted good!

If you don't already, I highly recommend doing volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, Volunteers of America, or just helping out people in need. It's a really rewarding experience!