There are good things and bad things...

It's Time for the Vintage Market!

I've never been one to shop just for the sake of shopping. It's just not something that I've ever relished doing. However. Several years ago my daughter told me about a vintage market that was coming to the area and that she wanted me to go with her (she was already a vintage junkie).  So I did.

This is my daughter, being silly, at our first St. Louis Vintage Market Days.  What a blast!

That day changed my life forever. I became an official convert.

I now understand why women like to shop. I enjoyed that day so much that I went back the following two days. Insisting my friends go with me. That this was something that they were just going to love. Mind you, it wasn't as life altering for them as it was for me. Most likely because their shopping gene had been activated at an early age, whereas my shopping gene was activated very late in life (as in the day before), but they still enjoyed it.

That first year, I took a ton of pictures and did a hefty blog on it. I think this is the fourth one for St. Louis. (Chandra, please correct me if I'm wrong.) Last fall the venue was in Highland, Illinois at the fairgrounds and I think the best venue so far mostly because so much of it was covered or indoors. 

St. Louis Vintage Market Days, Fall 2014

This was one of the coolest vendors that year.  I found a great Christmas gift here!

This year the venue is at the Chesterfield amphitheater and is just lovely; generous paved walkways, very flat, a nice walk from the parking (at Chesterfield Mall), very clear signage, and uber obvious orange safety cone walkways manned by very pleasant guides encouraging us "to follow the yellow brick road." It was fantabulous!

 

I could hear the live music as soon as we got through the gate. Last night was one of my all time favorite local bands, Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers. They are widely known in the St. Louis area and specialize in swing and big band style music. I bought their CD that first year. Love them! So did my girlfriend. She signed up for their email newsletter so she could get the latest on when and where they are performing.

My friend had never been before so it was cool introducing her to this fun shopping experience. She is no longer a Vintage Market Days virgin! She loved it of course. I didn't take very many pictures because I was busy chatting with her and greeting the vendors, many of which I remembered from past years, and some who actually remembered me! 

I hope to go back either today or tomorrow and spend more time capturing some photos, plus I have my eye on a lamp at Pheone's Vintage Market's booth for my little back porch project that I'm doing.  It's just so cute and so perfect (she even sells those vintage looking light bulbs). 

What do you think? Can you see those bulbs? Just perfect!

The other thing I was on the hunt for are some new drawer pulls for an antique dresser I picked up at an auction a while back. And I finally found them! Here's the dresser.  I can't wait to post pics of the drawer pulls and the finished product.

 

So, if you haven't experienced St. Louis Vintage Market Days you must go!  As we were walking to the venue yesterday afternoon somebody behind us asked someone walking towards us, "How was it?" And the person coming the other way, who was empty handed I might add, said, "Oh, it's kind of flea market-y." While I agree the layout is similar, I would beg to differ on the actual content! 

I just love this!

My favorite part of VMD are the vendors. They are so personable; they will talk to you about your furniture, they're willing to share their ideas, provide tips for replacing a stripped drawer pull, even coach you on how to keep that Angel Vine alive. One vendor even remembered what I bought the year before! The personable nature of each vendor is what really sets this event apart from any other. That human connection that makes the experience so much more enjoyable than going to the mall or a regular flea market. I think because these are people just like you and me that are out there with the desire to earn a living sharing their creativity and craftsmanship. People willing to really see you and share your shopping experience with you. 

My girlfriend was looking for something for her home and found an old tin ceiling tile and an old metal galvanized letter cutout to go with it. When she went to pay, the vendor gave her a couple of magnets so the letter would stick to the ceiling tile and she's looking at it, moving the letter around, cocking her head back and forth, "I really like the way that looks," she said. And I could see the wheels turning in her head. So, it's also a sharing of ideas between the vendors and the customers as well as, just an openness that you get.  Everyone we interacted with was so nice and very friendly. I'm looking forward to going back at least one more time this weekend. I'm still mulling over those lights for my little back porch...

Empathy

I'm at a book signing. One of my most favorite authors! I'm early and just waiting. I just read on her Facebook page that her mother passed a little over a month ago. And a fresh grief washes over me. I'm seriously fighting back tears. I'm not sure if it is truly empathy or just the reminder making me want to go hide in a bathroom stall and cry. I want to hug her when I see her. Tell her how very sorry I am. How we are now sister orphans. But I don't want to make her cry. Or embarrass her. So I take deep breaths. One after another. I wonder if anyone else sitting here knows. I don't think so. Most of the chairs are filled with women. Some noisily chatting in clutches. Oblivious. Completely unaware how her world fell away from her in separation mere weeks ago. And how she is bobbing along in the surf of life. So, that is how I felt. And sometimes still do.  And how I can only imagine she might feel.

"Containment"

About five or six weeks ago, I get wind that someone in our neighborhood is complaining that our chickens are in their yard and they don't appreciate it.

OK.

So we took what we had on hand and built a chicken guantanimo.  Actually, in all honesty, I ranted and raved about the injustice, while my gem of a husband actually went outside and started constructing.  Like, the next day.  It isn't very pretty, but remedies the issue of our deserter chickens while we scour loading docks to gather wood pallets to build a more permanent, sturdy poultry prison. Problem solved.

Chicken guantanamo under construction.

Evidently not.

Because, today, I received an email, from the HOA board president wanting to talk about some "chicken containment" issues.

Seriously?

So, this is when I start musing, wondering why it is the neighbor that my chicken has SO terribly offended didn't call or email, well, ME?  You know? The chicken owner?  Mama hen. 

We have a community directory.  With a map.  I'm in it.  I send out regular emails to the neighborhood with my personal cell phone number at the bottom.  But I've received no call with wails of angst on the other end of how my chicken(s) has(ve) destroyed their personal property, chased their children, terrorized their pets, or anything of that sort.  My phone remains silent.  As does my email (in regards to the suspect chicken or any property damage these renegade chickens have caused). 

Our neighborhood swimming lake.

See, we live in a smallish subdivision in the country (7 miles or so from the nearest QT or Wally World).  About 100 lots, most of them developed, ranging in size from 1 to 14 acres in size and covering approximately 440 acres in total, with a good portion of common ground (parks, lakes, beach, etc.).  Our neighborhood is surrounded by nature conservation bliss almost in entirety.  It is a little piece of paradise. 

 

A family gathering in the back yard.

 

On any given day you can experience a myriad of wildlife here; raccoons, ducks, geese, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, fox, skunks, owls, hawks, snakes, not to mention the occassional chupacabra sighting. Not only that, but there are a multitude of homeowners with dogs.  Who often let their dogs out, unleashed, to roam their yard (and dodge in front of your car unexpectedly, yipping at your tires).  Some even walk their dogs along our narrow neighborhod streets. 

Geese.  In our side yard. April 16, 2015

 

So, dear neighbor, if my chicken(s) has(ve) caused some kind of personal injury to yourself, your loved ones, or your property, please don't hesitate to contact me and I will make it right. However, if my chickens just happened to get out of jail (did not pass GO or collect their $200) and wandered off into your yard in search of juicier bugs to nibble upon, leaving nothing in their dangerous wake but a possible dropping or two, get over yourself.  You live in the country.  With all kinds of wildlife making regular donations to your yard every, single, flipping day. My chicken is NOT your problem.

Geese in our front yard.

If there is property damage involved, we will make it right. There is no question there. I know all too well how infuriating it is to walk out and see your hosta bed chewed down to stubs. But unless you caught my feathered family members red-beaked and have photo evidence to prove it - you are up shit creek - because there is a plethora of wildlife out here that also enjoys eating your landscaping. To them, it is just food. To you, it is just an excuse to complain about something. Because if you really had a problem that needed a remedy or correcting, you could've put on your big girl panties and contacted me directly. Like a grown adult. Like a neighbor. Who I have to live by. For atleast another 22 months. Count on that.
                      

 Deer from our family room window. I don't remember the date.  A few years ago?

 

And to my deer, I mean dear, HOA president.  I envy you not. Your position on our HOA board is completely voluntary, almost entirely thankless, utterly underpaid and I'm so sorry the neighbor who contacted you didn't have the balls to contact me instead, but felt the need to bother you with this ridiculously stupid complaint.

 

And I really think that's all I have to discuss regarding "chicken containment" issues. Yep.

 

..where there are no third class carriages...

Lakewood Hills Life - That's the Life For Me

There’s a crazy lady in our neighborhood who appears to be making it her life’s goal to be a pain in the ass to her neighbors.  But I guess there’s one in every neighborhood.  Right?  This is what I tell myself. 

I know many people must believe that their neighborhood is special and extraordinary.  But ours really is.  No really.  It is. 

 

When I turn off the county road and onto our little drive, everything changes; the light, the smells, the sounds.  It FEELS like home.  So I focus on that and not on the close-minded attitudes of the few and far between.  I focus instead on the community I have here.  The friends I’ve made.  The neighbors I can call for help at a moment’s notice – and who have been there for me.  The neighbors I can drop in on and barely knock before I walk in the back door to the sound of happy hello's.  Or the neighbor who not only doesn’t mind if I drop by unannounced, but proceeds to feed me and share an entire bottle of wine between us.  Or the neighbor who regularly drops off her son’s outgrown clothes and toys for my grandsons. Or the neighbor who insists you come over and try out the hot tub on the spur of the moment.

 

I remember these friends and neighbors, not the neighbors who say one thing to my face and another behind my back.  Or who speak in third person about me (when everyone knows who they are talking about), when I’m sitting right behind them at the homeowner’s meeting.  I focus on the community we have that helps each other out when a tree falls across their road or driveway, a family pet is found, or a teen’s cell phone is lost. A community that volunteers their time and energy to keep our neighborhood connected by organizing holiday gatherings in the neighborhood’s common grounds; cooking and decorating and cleaning. 

 

When we first moved here ten years ago, there were a few events a year around Easter and Halloween.  Now we have a monthly ladies night, a yearly Christmas cookie exchange, a yearly plant exchange, not only an Easter Brunch and Halloween party, but we now have a pavilion in the park where these events are centered,  a separate Trunk or Treat in addition to the Halloween party, and a 4^th of July BBQ.  This year we are talking about adding a fishing derby in the Fall.

 

 

I’ve witnessed this community get tighter and tighter each year.  Even as the homes get sold and new families move in – there is now a concerted effort by the community to make them feel welcome – and it doesn’t just fall on the few designated neighborhood welcome reps.  We built a website and even have a Facebook page.  The community did this.  Those are the positives.  There are those that live here that don’t make a positive contribution to the neighborhood, who complain and cause strife.  And there are those who just lay low and keep quiet.  But for the most part, the COMMUNITY is a positive one comprised of the people who take the time to personally contact a neighbor about their loose dog or their fallen tree and not just verbally vomit at the nearest board member. 

It would be nice if those that just lay low and keep quiet would become more engaged. I’m of the personal opinion that inaction is still an action.  To quote George Bernard Shaw, "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity." I’m from the South, and I grew up hearing, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” 

Let’s play the what if game, shall we?  What if, instead of complaining about other people, we focused on improving our own shortcomings?  What if, instead of complaining about your neighbor’s house, you improved something in yours?  What if, instead of calling someone else to complain about your neighbor’s - whatever, you walked over and introduced yourself and struck up a conversation about – whatever (their bonfire, their chickens, their car, their dead tree)?  I don’t know why people don’t do this.  That is your neighbor.  They live right next door or a few doors down and you pass that house every day – evidently. What if, instead of spending time complaining, you actually talked to your neighbors?  Face to face.  In person.  What a concept, right?