Sometimes I do stupid, implusive things.

Ok, ok, my family would probably say that a lot of times I do stupid, impulsive things.

Recent idiotic behavior:  Impulsive shopping.  I don't do this one often, but when I do... it's a doosie.  We have this pub style table and four chairs in our kitchen.

And often, 4 chairs are plenty, but sometimes we need another chair.  And just any old chair won't work because this table is tall.  Of course we could go to the dining room and seat 8, but here lately... the dining room is temporarily serving as a 'holding tank' for Justine's apartment furniture.  Any how, so I had been thinking about purchasing a couple of bar stools to use at the pub table.  So I picked a couple out that I thought would be really cute and they stack, even better.  They are not wood, but they are metal and I like the style, they look like this.

Kind of industrial and retro at the same time.  Since the pub table has a metal ring around the bottom and my antique baker's cabinet that looks very much like this but with a metal tabletop (actually mine is prettier than the one in the pic.) And the backspash in our kitchen is a vintage style metal tile like this one.  I though metal might be a fun addition for the spare chairs.

Ok, so I made the purchase on Overstock.com and the stools arrived.  But, because of my excitement to order the stools I made a error.  I purchased the barstool height instead of counter height.  Darn!  So much for $2.95 shipping, now I have to pay $15 to send them back.  Justine scolded me pretty good.  I hate it when I do stuff like that when there are witnesses around.  Dagnabit!




Pub Table & Chairs:  Ashley's Furniture
Metal Stools:  Overstock.com
Baker's Cabinet:   Antique Shop in Glen Rose,TX
Tin Look Metal Tiles:  Lowe's

I'm so excited.......

I found these lovelies on Ebay and they are on their way to live with me!  Have you ever bought anything on Ebay?  I know some people are a little afraid of it, but don't be.  It is so much fun!  And for all you collectors out there you could hunt forever in shops and not find the things you see on Ebay.  I'm not giving up my antique mall/ yard sale affliction anytime soon, but Ebay is loads of fun.  Happy shopping!

Making a few changes

I have decided that my blog needs to look a little more like me and a little less like I got it off a free site, so I am going to make a few changes. I work on a website for my job almost every day and I have fallen into a rut when it comes to my own blog. I have just been.... lazy. So, I am going to try out a few new things. Some will work, and others I have already found out do not. So here goes. A new siggy for starters, and hopefully a new layout/template by the end of the week. If you want to try your hand at something new for your space check this out.

Jeff's Addiction

I think I have mentioned it before, Jeff's errrr 'problem'. He's got an addiction... it's collecting stuff. It began a long time ago, I really don't even remember the first time. But, it started slow, almost unnoticeable. But, now... he has made me into an enabler. He lured me in with this.

These were definitely not the first signs he purchased, these were the signs he began to purchase for 'me'. Once he made them a gift for me, he knew he could continue on with his behavior.

A fairly large(19 X 27) vintage metal, blue-green Red Rose Tea Sign. Then he bought another one, this orange Red Rose Coffee sign.














Then came the little samples, these are small collectible versions of the coffee/tea ads, they are marked with the year on one side and the ad style on the other.















As you can see these are not tiny signs, and after many years of hanging them in the garage and being reminded by our children how much money was lying about in the garage I gave in and let them come into the house. Gone were my beautiful bird and topiary wall art and floral drapes and furniture. Now vintage signs are everywhere. I will post some more pics later along with more of Jeff's collection (50+). I have finally convinced him that until we get a larger place he is going to have to be satisfied with collecting license plates, and for now... he has agreed.

I often try to find blogs about vintage metal & porcelain signs, but haven't had much luck. If you know of one, leave a comment with the blog so I can check it out. We have really enjoyed the signs, although sometimes I feel like I live at Chili's or TGIF. It sort of suits us though, bold, bright colors and very graphic and nostalgic. So for now... we're keeping them up.

Granddaddy killed the King of England

Actually Great Grandaddy X 13. I suspect that not very many folks can say that. But, tis true. I was working on a ancestry gift for my little brother for Christmas and I decided to frame this picture of my dad and then list his heritage on the Thomas side as far as I could go. And since Jim is the only Thomas male in our branch of the family I figured he would really get a kick out of it, and he did!

The finished product looked a little like this, but in a beautiful frame with mat, sorry I didn't take a picture of it.

Frank Lawrence Thomas, Jr
B 5 Oct 1925 Coleman County, TX - D 19 May 1992 Dallas, TX

Frank Lawrence Thomas, Sr.
B 31 July 1886 Texas -D 29 Nov 1967 Bangs, Brown, TX

Joseph Smith Thomas

B 21 Jan 1862 TX -D 24 Dec 1953 Coleman, TX

Asbury S “Seth” Thomas

B 26 Aug 1833 TN -D 5 Feb 1904 Denton, TX

William Thomas
B 1810 Polk, TN - D 1850 LA

William Thomas

B 17 Jan 1790 Galax, Grayson, VA -D 17 May 1866 Edgewater, Grayson, VA

Jonathan Thomas

B 29 Nov 1762 Orange, NC -D 13 Dec 1838 Bridle Creek, Grayson, VA

Owen Thomas
B 1731 Grayson, VA -D 1769 Orange, NC

John KL Thomas

B 22 Sept 1710 Pender, Edgecombe, NC -D 1751 Edgecombe, NC

William Thomas

B 1660 Isle of Wight, VA -D 1710 Isle of Wight, VA

Philip Thomas

John Thomas

B 1628 Queens Creek York, VA- D 1655 James City, Nansemond, VA

John Thomas

B 1585 Carmarthenshire, Wales -D 1653 Queens Creek, York, VA

Jeven Thomas

1555

Rhys Ap Thomas
B 1449 Cantref Mawr, Carmarthenshire, Wales -D 1526 Carmarthenshire, Wales

Thomas Ap Gruffudd

B 1425 Cantref Mawr, Carmarthenshire, Wales -D 1474 Bardsey Island, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Gruffudd Ap Nicolas

B 1393, Maenordeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales -D 2 Jan 1461, Hereford, Herefordshire, England

Nicolas Ap Philip

1367, Maenordeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Philip Ap Elidir FitzUryan

1320, Dyenevor, Glam, Wales

Elidir Ddu Ap Elidir

1246-1283, Llandeilo Fawr, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Rhys Ap Gronwy

1190, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Gronwy Ap Einion

1160, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Einion Ap Llywarch

1130, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Llywarch Ap Cynhaethwy

1190, Wales

Cynhaethwy Ap Gwrwared

1070, Wales

Gwrwared Ap Seisyll

1050, Wales

Seisyll Ap Rhun

Wales

As you can see, I wasn't always a Thomas. Ap means 'son of' or something like that, and way back then fellas took their dad's first name as their last and so forth until about 1500 or so and then we became Thomas. See the fellow marked in red. Yep, that's him. He killed King Richard and even served Henry VII and VIII. You can read more about it here . It's very interesting reading and I guess... well somebody's gotta be related to him, right? I didn't know any of this stuff until I had given Jim his gift, he was so excited that he started researching the older names on the list. And bam, that's when he found it. We had our own castle and everything. We also learned that some of those other guys were part of 'The Crusade'. Apparently one Great-Granddad is also the Great-Granddad of HRH Charles. Hmm. Somehow I think I might have gotten the rotten side of the tree. Next thing you know, I will find out that I am descendant from . . . the 'Doubting Thomas'.

Oh Daddy, how I wish you were here to discover all this history with us. Missing you still....
julie lynn

ps - Thanks Cuzn' Jimmy for all your hard work on this ancestry junk, you are so much better at it than I am. ;)

Collecting Vintage Christmas

I love Christmas...everything about it. I especially love that it is an entire month dedicated (or should be) to our Savior's birth. But, I also enjoy the St. Nicholas part too, and items that evoke thoughts of simpler times, like vintage Christmas.


I think I started with Santa mugs, and then books and on to figurines. My favorite items are by Holt Howard. I search out Christmas at yard sales, flea markets, antique malls & Ebay throughout the year. My girls have generally teased and made fun of me until about a year ago and I won Jill over to collecting Angels.

About 8 years ago Jeff found me an adorable set of 8 placecard holders and since then he has found me 2 more sets.

I have an adorable bobblehead Santa with an open sack that I fill with candy canes, many of my figures are salt and pepper shakers. One Santa's bag is a bank. I also have Santa mugs in every size and shape.

I have a few vintage Christmas books, my favorite is How Come Christmas by Roark Bradford, copyright 1930 and is illustrated with woodcuts. It's a mingled story of 'modern day', the baby Jesus, Sandy Claus, Methuselah and Moses.

An excerpt from How Come Christmas: Well, hyar we is, chilluns, and hyar hit is Christmas. Now we all knows we's hyar 'cause hit's Christmas, don't we? But what I want to know is, who gonter tell me how come hit's Christmas?

When shopping for vintage Christmas look for items in good overall condition, no chips or breaks and stay away from items that have been repainted. Also, try to purchase items that still have their original box, many of mine still have their boxes that are like a cardboard jewelry box with Christmas designs printed on the box. Also check for their original labels on the bottom, signatures such as HH (Holt Howard) and sometimes even original price tags are intact on the bottom of the figures. What about price? I have paid as little as a .25 for a small mug but as much as $7 for a small HH mug. Figures like the bobblehead Santa and the Santa with Mrs. Claus, sleigh and reindeer or the stage coach Santa NOEL could be more than $50.

Merry Christmas and Happy Collecting!

Julie

Julie's thoughts on Julie/Julia

I have been so busy at work lately, to much playing for me that I haven't been posting! Any how I realized that I have quite a few posts unfinished and in draft status. So I am going to try to finish a few.... so here's one.

Julie the Book/Movie Critic Strikes Again............

Julie/Julia

I didn't like it, not one bit. Not the movie, nor the book. I would have much preferred the love story between Julia & Paul Child. I love to cook and read blogs but not Julie Powell's. My Book Club read the book, and I just didn't like Julie Powell's character, I guess I don't like Julie Powell. Mmm. That doesn't sound very nice does it, after all she is a real person. I just didn't care for her from the very beginning of the book. I didn't like the fact that she was selling her 'eggs' to pay her credit card bill or the way she talked about the 911 families, or the how she treated her husband. Or the way she would just begin to swear like a sailor for no apparent reason. She just didn't seem wholesome to me. I guess I don't know a lot about Julia Child, but I envision my grandmother or something when I would watch her cook on PBS, very down to earth & wholesome. Let's just say... it wasn't my 'plate of beef bourguignon'.