Sunday Fun Day

A couple of weeks ago I had a message on my Etsy shop that a man
named Kevin wanted to purchase a piece of furniture from me for his
wife. They are moving from Texas to South Carolina and he would be
coming through town on his way down and would purchase the server if
I would hold it for him. Well of course I would hold it, it is in my dining
room. Well, this never happened, he did not purchase the piece on Etsy
so I took the piece down from the site thinking they may have changed
their mind. So Thursday I got a call from Kevin saying that he was in
Vermont and would pick the server up Friday afternoon. Okay Kevin,
that's great news but there is one problem, you haven't paid for it. I haven't
paid for it, says Kevin, are you sure? Men! So I asked him to bring me cash
and to call me when he gets closer. Apparently his wife is a designaholic,
his truck was loaded down with fabric, wallpaper, antiques and his seven
year old daughter, Gigi, who happens to be very cute.

 So this antique English server went out on Friday afternoon and is on its way to South
Carolina. This left a big hole in my dining room and I wanted a piece to take the servers
place. I would like to find something smaller, maybe a demi lune. Because Saturday was
the 4th of July, I was afraid that most businesses would be closed, so I set my site on Sunday.
There were three places I had my site set on visiting, Rockfish Gap Country Store (right down
the mountain from Afton), Tuckahoe Antiques ( just up the hill from Rockfish Gap Country
Store on the way to Wintergreen) and Covesville Antiques up 29 towards 64. At the first store
I saw a nice little French piece but it had sold, so up the road I went to my next stop. This is
what I found at Tuckahoe Antiques.

This is a Bigg's light colored Lowboy for $195.00, it is about 30" high and 23" deep
with lots of storage with 5 drawers. It is not an antique, it was probably made in the 1970's.
The salesperson was very helpful and gave me this information. I also found this in another
booth.

This lowboy was originally $350.00 and marked down to $250.00. It was way more
ornate with more carvings, shinny brass and a darker stain. My salesperson said this
was definitely an antique, the owner of this booth used to have a famous auction house
in Charlottesville. I took pictures and decided to head over to Covesville Antiques, which
is also owned by the folks at Tuckahoe Antiques. Here I found two more pieces of interest.
The first piece looked just like the one above, but were the carved shell was an opening.
I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture. The price tag was $250.00 then around the
corner I spotted this beauty.

 It was priced at $225.00, beautiful carvings, pretty brasses and I liked the bottom details
under the shell. Definitely an antique and the wood had a pretty patina. SOLD, because I
was paying cash, I got it for $180.00. Here it is in my dining room all dressed up.

It is the perfect size, not as hunky as the other piece, I love it. You have got to check
out these stores. I could have spent a fortune in these places.

Come To Work With Me

In case you missed the memo, I have been working in Charlottesville since last summer.
The company is called Ann Arden and I am on Emmett Street near Barracks Road Shopping
Center. This store specializes in selling Bassett Furniture along with a few other lines.

This is the Bella bedroom group, I did the fabric version in a king bed for my daughter
Ellie's house.

You can customize your dining room chairs in any fabric you want and the table is Bassett's
Live Edge Table made in Martinsville, Va. in Appalachian Maple. You have several stains to
choose from.

Above is the Bridgewater Designer Comfort Sofa.

Bassett has a great design center with tons of fabrics to choose from, along with wood stains
and trims to choose from.

One side of the building is a wall of windows with great views from the second floor.

More views of the furniture on the second floor showing more of the lines that we carry.

Above is Bassett's  CU. 2 section and chair and custom ottomans.

More sofas with options and sizes, you choose it and it is made for you in Virginia and
North Carolina. And speaking of custom made, below is some trims I ordered from Stout
for my client in Staunton.

And here we have a Schumacher fabric, Citrus Garden, pillows I ordered on Etsy for my
daughters bridal shower this weekend.

Last but not least, since I am spending a lot of time at home, i decorated with Spring flowers.

Stay safe and healthy,
Margaret

Welcome to November

Now that October is gone, I have one last post for last month.
We had an open house at the new store in Charlottesville with
little participation. I had made some mini honey butter rolls with
brie and prosciutto  and had a lot left over. last Sunday on my dog walk
I was thinking about what to do with the left overs. Well I was watching
Food Networks Thanksgiving left over show and was inspired to create
a strata. I have eggs but no milk and I cannot  soak this overnight. Anyway
I got home and diced up the left overs, whisked 6 eggs and added all to a
greased pirex and baked for a great breakfast.

Yum, I never eat like this. Food coma!
As I was cleaning up the dishes, this is what I saw out of the corner of my yard.

 We had a terrible storm on Halloween night and the rain and wind was crazy, I had the
privilege of driving over the mountain in it. This happened sometime that night, you can
see where it split from the tree and hit my back garden and thank god not the house. I welcome
November, cozy nights snuggling with Mandy under blankets in our warm little farm house.

Hot As Hades Tomatoes

Today it is just mid July and it is hot as hades here. I had to
go over to Charlottesville today for a couple of hours and practically
melted over there from the heat. More on that later. When i got home
and walked Mandy, I saw that I have a ton of tomatoes that are ready to
pick. So once it got a little cooler outside, I walked out ad picked tomatoes,
grabbed some basil leaves and thawed out a sheet of Pepperidge Farm puff
pastry.
 

I had a container of crumbled goat cheese, so I drizzled olive oil on the center of

the dough, sprinkled with goat cheese and added my variety of tomatoes. I laced if

with ribbons of my basil, added pink salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary and topped with

more olive oil and Parmesan cheese and baked for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. And

there you have a dinner from my garden.

That's one way to beat the heat!

What I Did On My Day Off

Last week I worked on Monday, Memorial Day, for our big Bassett sale.
So, Wednesday was my day off. I went and got a pedi and a mani.

It was so relaxing, and long. The guy that did my manicure even put my shoes on me.
I went to TJ Maxx to return a pair of pants and came out with sandals for my pretty toes
and Skinnygirl undies. The undies are very comfortable, they hold you in and they are
breathable.

Then I headed over to Charlottesville to pick up outdoor pillow forms for a client and spent
a little time shopping. I found a Nina Cambell boudoir pillow at Stien Mart and her latest
book on sale.

Got caught in the rain at Home Goods and World Market, but still found some birthday
gifts.

Fun way to spend my day off, now back to work.

Birthday Celebration at Pippin Hill Winery

Last Sunday my family celebrated my birthday and my daughters
birthday at Pippin Hill Winery down 29 near Charlottesville Virginia.
the views are stunning.

A real Passion Flower Vine.

Mom waiting on the porch as they set the table and everyone arrives.

Endless views.

Everyone enjoying lunch and good conversation, the food is amazing.

Above you see my son Edmund, my sisters Beth and Helen, my Mom and my daughter
Ellie. Below, this is what 55 looks like, I have taken better pictures.

And her is what 24 looks like.

Pictures of everyone outside on the steps.

New Year, New Beginings

I always love a New Year, last year I had a lot of changes,
all for good reasons. I closed my shop down after six years
of trying to do it on my own, I moved to Queen City Market
place with a couple of good spaces for my business and took
a space out at the Factory Antique Mall in Verona. I work a
couple of days at QCM and in the fall took a part time job at
with a high end mattress company. And I have a few days off to
spend some time finding new things to sell. I moved to a smaller
space, less expensive and in August my car died. I spent a small
fortune to fix it with the hopes of keeping it a little longer.

  So after a quiet New Year, I worked, and we are now into the second
week of January, things are already looking up. I sole my Duncan Phyfe
sofa, my before and after story here on the blog,  and the buyer saw it here
on the blog and drove over from Charlottesville to get it. Yes people do read
my blog. I received a nice inheritance check and I have been asked to come back
and do some decorating for the Campus View Apartments with Matchbox Realty.
This will be my third time or job with them.

  All this means that I am spending more time in my car, driving to Verona, driving
to Harrisonburg, driving my son back to VMI, driving to the mall to the mattress store.
Even though I had my 2001 Volvo fixed, I did not feel safe driving it. I had trouble
getting it started, it was stalling on me and it was like driving a rattling tin can. I threw
caution into the wind and after a lot of thought I took a trip over to Valley Subaru.

I traded in my beloved Volvo in for a Subaru Crosstreck. I wanted the same size
car but to be up a little higher, four wheel drive, and a really cool looking car.
They didn't much for my car, but I got a great deal on this car. So far 2016 looks
promising. Happy New Year.