Save the Date!!

Remember when I sold the old greyhound bus station in downtown Mckinney? Well, mark your calendar and plan to come on SATURDAY to the GRAND (AND I DO MEAN GRAND) OPENING OF  DIGGIN IT... 
Saturday, July 31st at 10 am, 507 Tennessee St.  The day of events include a henna tattoo artist, a chair massage person, t-shirt giveaways and lots of music. Be there or be square!!!! Stop by and introduce yourself to Tracey! You will love her!  see you there! 

White Wednesday!

I am linking up with White Wednesday today!  Sharing my chippy angel and a vignette displayed in our white bead board master bath. Happy Wednesday to you! 
Hugs, Valarie 

happy Tuesday!

Sharing... planted impatients early spring in an old chicken feeder and they are doing very well despite the heat!  Lots of shade, and light watering make them very happy here at the blue cottage!

I love the country....

Nothing like horses, beautiful trees, a cross, saddles in a dining hall and shopping at the camp store with my grandson.  If you have a chance take your kids out to Rockin C for a week. Great staff, great food, great memories, rustic cabins, best of all this camp is teaching these kids life lessons. No cell phones, no video games, no sporting events... for one week! Rockin C is a Christian working ranch, they will build fences, ride horses, gather eggs, drive nails, and have fun while learning about Christ.

Hope you all have a great week!  Hugs! Valarie

just cleaning.....

Working on the master suite today.... She was in need of a deep clean and make-over on the shelving.. did not take before pictures! (dang it)

I had all my clocks in different rooms, thought for a change I would display together. Several of the small clocks are sitting on a piece of porch railing that I snagged from a garage sale. The tri fold mirror on the right side is one of many i have. I heart those and they add so much to a shelf!

3rd shelf rearranged a few of my favorite books, scrapbooks of mine and LOML memories. In the apothecary jar are all of our movie tickets for the last year... I usually keep a years worth of them then add a page in our scrapbook.  I am very sentimental .. (in case you didn't notice)  

LOML nightstand, alarm clock (they are never attractive), remote (a must have for LOML) a picture of us and another jar filled with numbers 430 (our anniversary) all sitting on a silver platter. (i have a small obsession with silver platters) The canvas art hanging is a piece done by Duda Daze that I gave LOML one year for anniversary gift! If you click on photo you can see her work.  She has done 3 custom pieces for me and I smile every time I walk by her art.  

My nightstand re-worked - vintage telephone that rings like my grandmother's phone did and oh I love the sound of a old phone ringing! Another alarm clock, silver candlestick and candle all on silver platter!  The old window hanging to the left of this picture, I make those and sell here in town locally.  One of my favorite sayings and I never grow tired of it!

The mantle above the bed.. re-worked it as well with old mirrors I found along the way, pieces of silver and crystal .. kinda lost my steam on this ... this was the last shelf I did... probably redo doesn't look so well in pictures... oh WELL!!  My bedding is Target, custom pillow in back made here locally and you can't see in this photo my dust ruffle is black/white polka dotted, so it accents this king size pillow in back. Love it!  The white pillow is "SWEET DREAMS" one of my favorite as well.

WHew, okay that was a lot of cleaning, and dusting, and re-arranging... Hope you had a fun tour with me! Hugs, Valarie 

Quick glimpse of the adventure!

We arrived!!  

We sat up camp... of course, she was the smallest trailer in the whole camp ground.. we had several visitor comments and tours! I loved it... LOML on the other hand figured out quickly that this was a social outing for me and not so much about the camping!  

Beautiful scenery! 

We hiked Yellow Rock Trail .. 3 mile hike to the top! LOML leading the way as always! 

 

The top of Yellow Rock Trail - this was taken around 7am.. the fog in the mountains was beautiful and the sun was coming through.   

We had a blast, loved the adventure! 

Missed you all~ Valarie 

The Maiden Voyage....

I will be away a few days heading to Arkansas for Serendipity Gypsy's Maiden Voyage and to ring in the 50th Birthday tomorrow sitting atop a mountain to reflect, remember, and embrace this amazing time in my life! Thank you all for your friendships, your messages and you. You all are the best and I think the world of each of you!  HUGS! Valarie  

What was sewn yesterday for the GYPSY!

My sister Fannie and Mama... the sewing machines were hummin'! 

Mama made this banner for the front of the trailer... OH my GOSH! I love it!

Fannie made these tea towels! 

Red white check curtains with fringe balls! and JUMBO rick rack!   

  

All of this makes me HAPPY! HAPPIER! HAPPIEST! An awesome week!! 

Hugs to all.. 

Valarie  

A FUN DAY!!

My sister Fannie and Mama come to spend the day in McKinney!  Of course, my sister went over the top with the celebration coming up!  Hauling in a walker decked out with red, black & white balloons, a mink collar with a diamond broach to always feel beautiful, yellow silk vintage gloves to keep my hands young and my nails fabulous, a vintage hat with a net, bifocals, a Menopause Musical fan to keep me cool when precious moments (hot flashes) come my way and grandmother's vintage hankie to wipe my brow should I break out with a precious moment in public! oh ... a vintage pearl necklace is under that mink collar!  OH MY GOSH, we had a blast., we spent the day laughing, sewing, eating cookie cake, drinking raspberry tea. We proceeded to a lunch at one of the best Mexican food places in Mckinney.... then came back to the house for an afternoon of sewing! Yep, they were serious both of them brought their machines!! Let's just say the Serendipity Gypsy has several new items .. will show you tomorrow!

My niece joined us for lunch, then came over and decked out the chalkboard in my kitchen...
Thanks Fannie, Mama & Haley Jayne for an amazing day!
Valarie

SHOW and TELL

Small vintage clocks and silver!! I have them in silver vases, on top of books, on shelves, anywhere I see fit... that's why I love HOME. No rules here!  In case you are wondering I found this fabulous hurricane vase @Goodwill for 2 bucks! I am linking up today with Cindy @Romantic Homes! 
Happy Friday!!

would you like to meet my friend?

I would like to introduce you to my friend Karla, she is my neighbor and a new blogger! Would you all stop over at her garden and make her feel welcome to our blogging world? She is very, very talented!! Oh my gosh super talented.. her gardens are magnificent and her home is stunning. You must pop over and take a peek at this window greenhouse below that is now completed. Skip over  karla-at-home... tell her I sent you!  Smiles! 

Cleaning the windows....

and the aluminum trim.... She is getting all spiffed up for the maiden voyage on Sunday!
More to come tomorrow! 
Valarie  

She's HOME!!

Serendipity Gypsy is home. Please come in for the tour! Understand she has just arrived back home, so she does NOT have any junky find charm yet or curtains, and many of the final touches.  With that said.... COME ON IN!! Welcome to the dining area!! I figure I can sit about 6 friends on the bench seats, perhaps have a glass a wine or two! I love the table, with the metal stripping (so vintage!), has A/C, vintage cone lamps on both sides of the back window.  The bench seating will fold out and come together in the middle and makes a full size bed. Underneath the seating is all storage. I will for sure need that to bring back my finds from Roundtop this fall! 

The kitchen area. Stove, refrigerator with sink and water! A nice to have!  Notice above the window storage area with sliding doors. All restored back to the original look. 

 

All woodwork stained to Honey Birch - just like it was in 1962!

Storage closet .. he added the detail above the closet - Light shines over the kitchen sink. Closet holds the porta potty and the water tank for the sink! 

Her new Texas license plate... I am very proud of the install of the A/C mount, very nicely! I did not want to lose a window of light so LOML figured a way to mount A/C on back since the entire back wall had to be rebuilt.  New tail lights and side lights as well. 

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST!! I want to thank my LOML (LOVE OF MY LIFE) for making me dreams always come true. 

 You are my world, my best friend and I am so proud you are all MINE! 

Also, Lorrie - Thank you for selling her to me! 

If any of you need help with a vintage trailer remodel, I highly recommend the guy who did the work on her in far North Texas!  Leave a comment if you want his contact info and if you do not want his info leave me a comment anyway and let me know what you think of her new do! If you want to see all the before pictures click HERE! 

Happy Tuesday! 

Valarie 

red flamingos!

Red flamingos... I mean really.. if you are going to have a vintage trailer .. you gotta have a flamingo or two. I chose red!!
Happy Monday!!
Valarie

yep, we did Six Flags.....

Don't ask me why! My daughter and I were energized with caffeine, ready to go by 8am!! We tackled to little guys and headed West to Six Flags yesterday. I might add it poured rain, we dried out stayed for another 5 hours and when it poured the second time .. we thought that may be a sign to head due NORTH!  Just a few glimpse's of our day!  

SuperMan ride first stop! I think I'll watch!  

It was a fun day! 

Valarie 

rehab visit tonight....

Made a quick run out to the rehab site of the Serendipity Gypsy to deliver lighting fixtures! Could not wait to share with you all her progress... she is going to recover just fine! Here is where we started.... 

Kitchen is built.. stove & refrig are in, cabinets and drawers are done. See the new wall to the left of the refrig. Didn't snap a picture of the cabinet top and the metal trim out on kitchen cabinet.. will share that later! 

The drawer pulls are VTG Chrome Chevron Boomerang V - original to trailer. 

 Storage closet for all my girly stuff! 

Beyond excited!!
Valarie

Raining....

Quiet day at the Kerby cottage... working at home today. Have clients coming in this week-end from Oklahoma so I am locating and arranging the day tour to introduce them to their dream home! Hope you all have a nice cup of coffee, or a glass of iced tea and watch the rain come down today!  
Hugs! 
Valarie  

Tabletop Tuesday!!

Answering questions.... from emails sent today! Thanks for the questions! I love questions because that means you are reading my blog.... and I love company stopping by! 

• Yes hardwood floors are original to home. We had them hand scraped and stained in June 2008.  
• Wicker table and Hutch - I call them vintage, had them since November 83! 
• Chairs - bought them at thrift stores and painted them.
• Small pie safe holding dishes.. yes, that is ALL restaurant ware 
• Chandelier - 5 arm was gold, added prism's and spray painted black w/matte finish  
• Valance toppers- I designed with different fabrics I loved, I DID NOT sew them! 

Playing along today with Tabletop Tuesday!  Sharing a few of my favorite things.. vintage silver creamers sitting on top of crystal cake pedestal, vintage piece of old lace.. tattered around the edges (i love it!) and then my chandelier over the table adorned with a few more creamers and of course roses (another favorite of mine).   Thanks for stopping by my blog for Tabletop Tuesday... and please visit anytime!! Valarie