Shelbi's starting a blog!

This is going to be her header. Isn't it cute. She's so clever. You can find her blog here. I wish her many happy posts. Love you, princess number three.

Smiles,
Mom

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

This is my final post on our trip. Since the July Brimfield has now come and gone, it's time to move on. These are shots of some of the fun things we did and saw in the fields...

This photo was taken of Amanda on the first morning down by the lake at the little cottage that was our home for the week. A perfect little place just a few miles from the craziness of Brimfield. It was heavenly. I can't say too much about where we stayed because I haven't booked our stay for next May yet. Update: We've booked for next year, so now I can share this lovely gem of a home away from home on beautiful Lake Hamilton with you.

Dee just couldn't resist taking a ride on this little guy.

We spent one evening making hats to wear on Friday. Hillarie and I found these cute little black derby hats in a booth and got the crazy idea that we should decorate them to wear on the last opening show day. We decorated them with only things that we bought or found on our trip. It was such fun seeing what everyone created. And other shoppers were asking about them throughout the day.

This one was Hillarie's, just too cute. She is so clever.

Here's a pic of mine. You wouldn't believe the mess of paper snippets and hot glue strings we had. It was great fun and it's a cute keepsake for our trip.

After a couple of days of driving back and forth from our cabin to the fields, Amanda noticed that each home had stacks of chopped wood. She was amazed that there was so much wood chopped already in the Spring. Of course we know that in their climate wood chopping is a year round chore. We decided that when the husband got into trouble with his wife, he must have to go chop wood as punishment. From then on, if we found something that was pricey or too big, we wondered if we brought it home with us, would our family make us chop wood?

I hope that you have enjoyed my trip to Massachusetts. Thanks for sticking with me.

Smiles,

Carol

Excuse me sir, how much is that Free trunk?

Now you can buy almost anything at the Brimfield flea market. But how many things do you find that are actually free? Leave it to my daughters to find the needle in the haystack, or the steamer trunk in the field as the case may be. And what do those red boots have to do with this story?

It was Wednesday afternoon and Hillarie and I were shopping together and the girls were shopping together as well. It was late and we were getting ready to go to dinner. We called the girls to find out where they were. The reply I got was that they were moving the car. Now, there is simply not any reason to move the car and lose a primo parking spot until you are ready to leave for the day. Unless...unless. You find a rather large treasure. No danger of that. It's too expensive to buy a large item and have it shipped. We learned that fact last May, when we had to have a professionally framed piece of art removed from it's frame so that we could afford to bring it back to Texas.

The girls tell us to stay put and they will pick us up and then they park in a field and find a porter to load their treasure. This is their free treasure.... Cool, but huge and heavy. At this point Hillarie and I are not saying anything. It takes up the entire back of the rental SUV. The girls are very proud that they found a treasure and it was free. I remind them that we are nearly 2000 miles from home and its a bit too large for a carry on. They remind me that I would never pass up such a treasure for free back home in Texas. And they are right. They decide if they can't figure out how to get it home, they will bring it back to Brimfield by Saturday and give it to some other free trunk treasure hunter.

They try posting a message on the Brimfield antique message boards to see if someone might be heading back to Texas. All they found was someone looking to find a ride back to El Paso for their chihuahua. Really! I can't make this stuff up.

They consider sending it back via Grayhound. A good option, but it's 30 miles away, and there are weight limits. We borrow a scale from the neighbor and weigh it. It's 75lbs. They can ship up to 99lbs for 100.00 . This might work, we were going to mail things back via the post office anyway. Now we can send some things back in the trunk.

On Thursday afternoon, we are shopping when Dee and Hillarie are looking for Amanda and myself. There's a large moving truck with lots of large items waiting to be loaded into it sitting just outside. A young man notices that Dee is wearing her red boots. He remarks that the boots would be right at home in Texas. Dee tells him she is from Texas, and are they possibly a shipping company going back to Texas. Yes, they are, and they will bring the trunk back to Texas for 100.00, loaded with whatever we want to fill it with. (insert the sound of angels singing right here).

We brought the trunk to them on Saturday, completely filled with treasures and our wellies, so that we could have more space in our luggage. Naturally, we could have used our wells on Sunday, during the showers in Oak Bluffs.

These guys do this for every show, including Round Top in Texas as well as other big shows all year. Now we've got a connection, that could be a good thing, even if we might have to chop wood.(I'll explain that one in my next post).

Moral of the story, never give up, we actually saved money by not using the post office. And most importantly, when in doubt, pack your red boots.

One more post to come about Brimfield. After all, it's already July, and I'm still dreaming about all of the fun we had.

Smiles,

Carol

A Girl's Gotta Eat...

You just can't shop on an empty stomach. How can you possibly wheel and deal without sugar? I think that sugar is a food group, or at least it ought to be.

There's plenty of great places to eat right in the heart of Brimfield.

Oh yesssss, there are hot, fresh made donuts made by two ever so sweet guys, who know exactly the way to a gal's heart. Faddy's can make even a hardcore dieter go weak in the knees and squeal in delight with just the thought of powdered sugar....

As you can clearly see, we had to humor the gentlemen and order a balanced breakfast. That's one donut for each hand. And the powdered sugar sure does wonders for a girl's complexion.

Of course there was hot chocolate and coffee to go along with these gems. Oh yes, there is a Starbucks booth on sight.

Under the huge yellow and green umbrellas, you can find the usual fair style food along with specialties the likes of that theseTexas gals have never seen at a flea market. There is a stand that let's you pick your fresh lobster and they'll prepare it for you, just like in a seafood restaurant. Too cool.

One of my favorite places to eat was the pizza trailer. The pizza was delicious, but be still my heart, I am in love with fried dough. Who knew there was such a thing. They serve it hot with a variety of savory or sweet toppings. Your choice. I recommend having butter, powdered sugar and cinnamon. It's heavenly. Is that man not a god?

Of course we packed our lunch and made sandwiches in the back of the car a couple of days . It gave us time to rest a bit and plan the afternoon's shopping. Hillarie is a master at the art of sandwich making...

There's plenty of school and church organizations selling great homemade goodies as fundraiser. Don't forget to stop, but shop as you go in at the J&J show on Friday morning, it sells out fast.

The summer Brimfield flea market opens tomorrow. Oh how I wish I could be there, sadly it's a once a year adventure for us. For all of you lucky people who will be attending, find that treasure that makes your heart skip a beat, eat goodies that make you smile, and finally go with a friend and bring back plenty of memories.

I think I've got at least one more post about Massachusetts, so stay tuned

Smiles,

Carol

More, More, More

There's the magnificent and the strange. I'm going to share a bit of both this time...

It's kind of scary to think what might have lived in these drawers. But I like them.

Anyone looking for a bucket of ponies?

This is exactly how it feels around our house at times.

Simply charming.

I loved this box. It speaks volumes about going green. It's the reason I buy vintage, to save the earth. At least that's what I tell my husband anyway.

Sometimes you've got to dig to find the good stuff.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

This baby came home with me, yes on the plane. And it made it home without a scratch. Whew!

I so wish I could have brought this poster home. A League of Their Own is a family favorite. When Dee saw this in the Mays field, she reminded her Auntie Hillarie that she had taken her to see the movie in the theatre when it first came out.

Believe it or not, there were actually two of these giant charmers in Brimfield at two different shows, with two very different prices, maybe it pays to shop around.

Awesome, don't you agree?

Okay, I said there would be some strange things to see.

It's a spectator's sport in itself just to see what other folks buy.

Waiting in line outside the May's field. Look out, when the gate opens, it's like the running of the bulls!

What a way to stay cozy on a winter's evening.

I think think this photo truly sums up Brimfield. We watched as they loaded this bike with all of these finds. It wouldn't even stay on all wheels until the gentleman sat on it. The funny thing is, we saw him again the next day with another stack of buys.

Up next, I'll share some Yummies!!

Smiles,

Carol

Brimfield, Brimfield, Brimfield

No matter what sort of treasure makes your heart skip a beat, it's more than likely somewhere in the fields in Brimfield, Massachusetts. The show springs up in the middle of this quaint New England town for six glorious days each May, July and October.
There is a frenzied excitement each day with new fields full of dealers opening each day. And the crazy thing is, many of the fields open at daybreak or before. Shoppers are literally shopping by flashlight. And yes, there are lines to get into these fields forming hours before the scheduled opening. But, look out when the gate opens, it,s like the running of the bulls with everyone trying to get in at once. Crazy fun, but if you're afraid of crowds you might just want to wait a few minutes to go in.
This was Deidre and Amanda's first trip and it didn't take more than a matter of minutes for them to make their first purchases.

Dee had to have that lovely green hat without much encouragement from her sister or the charming sellers for the mad hatters. These two men were so sweet, the girls said they were their favorite vendors all week. I think Dee made a fabulous choice. She has been wearing vintage hats since she was about five years old.

Later in the week Amanda had to try it on as well. Simply lovely!

Now, let's get to some photos of the shows...

These chairs were just yummy. They sold immediately after the show opened. Oh well, they would have made it a tight fit in my luggage.

This little gem of a home was truly one of my favorite things at the show. Price tag? $6.000.00. I wonder if it sold. And who was the lucky little girl who grew up with this beauty in her room? And who could part with it?

I loved this booth. It was so serene. Everything was to die for. The large white arched pieces again, were already sold . But there was plenty of other treasures to see.

I wish I had gotten the name of the dealer who had these two ladies for sale. Just perfect, don't you agree?

There is so much more I have to share, so stay tuned.

Smiles,

Carol