Binky La Fey

After a bad week last week (Hubby’s Dad passed away) we decided to take off as planned with friends visiting from Tennessee (service is next week so it was sort of a limbo week & this took his mind off “stuff”). JoAnn & Mike came to the house & we hooked up the RV heading to The Hill Country in Central Texas. On Tuesday we woke to a beautiful day & headed to Llano. Theresa (at Garden Antiques Vintage) had told me about a shop there that is soooooooooo much fun. Binkey La Fey what a name for a shop but, it’s cute, fun & full of all kinds of goodies. They had Halloween to the max! Click on the orange writing above & link to the sites to see more.

A fun bottle display out front. LOVE the Two Witches Brew. WHY didn’t I buy that? Below is for Lulu, Cindy, & all of you who like spooky doll heads & parts……..

I LOVE YA but, don’t get ya! I think they’re spooky booky! Lulu, does the one below make your heart go pitter patter?

A bit more “normal” displays.

Of course “normal” to some is sooooo not to others (my Hubby thinks we’re all wacky)Those bed springs hanging with dyed crocheted doilies made him shake his head for sure.

I LOVED the idea of the suitcase on the wall to display the jewelry. Don’t YOU?

And the leggings below with the ruffles are cute (whose legs are really that short?). I would love this made MY SIZE! Just peeking out under a skirt or pair of pantaloons. Cute boots & apron (or is it a skirt?)

In another shop in Llano we found some cute altered lampshades (& a couple of linen tops popped into our bags).

Hope you enjoyed the trip to Llano & all the treasures we found. Also, hope you have a wonderful weekend & a Happy Halloween on Monday. The GRANDS will be here for burgers & chips to be followed up with TRICK OR TREATING! Always looking for a reason to “SUGAR THEM UP & SEND THEM HOME”!

HUGS! Charlene

Sunset At Lake LBJ

There’s nothing better than waiting for the sunset! Sitting on the beautiful patio at the RV Park at Lake LBJ!

Sitting on the wall for a little better view.

Maybe the view from Daddy’s shoulder is better…

There it goes.

Gone! Why does that darn Electric Plant have to be in the way?

Wish we lived in that “little shack” above so that we would have this view every night!

Life is good as a spoiled little Havanese! Enjoy your week!

Charlene & Elle

State Fair of Texas

HOWDY YA’LL WELCOME TO THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS! That’s what Big Tex (wearing the largest pair of blue jeans ever made) says when you walk into the fair. Wednesday was a bright, cool day & perfect to go to the fair. Hubby & I hadn’t been in a LONG time (we don’t like the neighborhood it’s in or the parking) but, our friends suggested riding the train. IT WAS PERFECT! Dropped us at the front gates of the fair. For 3 cans of food each(to be donated to the local food bank) we were in for $2.00 a person (a great deal as entrance fee is $16) Great to get a “deal” & know you are helping a good cause.

All Aboard!

We stopped along the rails in downtown Irving to walk a short block to a famous old DRUG STORE called Big State. They have an old timey soda fountain which our friends told us “fixes a mean breakfast or great hamburger with milkshakes or floats”. Since it was early we did the breakfast & it was wonderful. This family owned store was started in 1948 & was in this month’s Texas Highway Magazine. YUMMY food & a pancake as big as a dinner plate & 2 to 3 inches thick. You can see us all lined up at the bar!

Once at the fair we found Exhibit Halls full of History, Cars, Vendors selling all sorts of stuff…

From $12,000.00 vibrating chairs (yes, all 3 of the guys had to try that out). You can see Jerry(far back) & my honey are grinning from ear to ear but, look at our French neighbor Pierre (front) trying to figure out “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON”. And talking about what the heck… WHAT is that on your head Jerry??? WHY would you make a ball cap (not one of my favorite things anyway) look like that? And WHY would you put that on your head?

And why would you take a vintage Ford Mustang & make it into a pool table?????

Or have “City Girls” try to milk a cow?

Speaking of cows… This exhibit is CARVED BUTTER! Bigger than life size all 100% butter. In a 40 degree HUGE cooler in the Arts & Crafts Exhibit Hall. AMAZING detail but, really…. BUTTER????? Paula Deen eat your heart out! But, look at the details. Even the roap was butter. Have you ever seen anything like this?

And Pierre wanted to see the Pig Races. Now that I could have done without but, everybody got to choose what to see so off we went to meet… Yes #4 is Forrest Grunt. Run Forrest Run (no he didn’t win). Hamma Montana did.

My favorite thing of all was the ride on the HUGE Ferris Wheel called The Texas Star.

It is a Dallas Landmark & I had never ridden it before. It is the tallest amusement ride in the western hemisphere standing 212 feet. Manufactured in Reggio Emilia, Italy & weighing in at 678,554 pounds. There is a total of 44 gondola's seating up to 6 people each. All of this giving us a perfect view of…

The Amphitheater below.

The Cotton Bowl where Oklahoma University & University of Texas explode each year in a ferrous rivalry. This was once the place where the Dallas Cowboys FIRST played football. We’ve come a long way baby if you look at Cowboy stadium today!

A beautiful shot of downtown Dallas all from the Texas Star Ferris Wheel.

I think I hear the train whistle blowing… or in other words, it’s time to say goodbye. Hope you enjoyed a day at The Texas State Fair! That parched Texas landscape is looking a little better after 3 nice rains (finally). Come back soon!

HUGS! Charlene

Fall Decor

This is what I WISH the fall looked like in Texas!  This photo was taken at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. a few years back.  No matter how much I LOVE Fall…  Texas doesn’t have much of one.  And with the horrible summer & drought it is hard to get in the mood.  But, I did get out my Fall & Halloween Decor. 

A new addition has been added.  A BLACK tree with pretty glowing ORANGE lights.  And on the tree I have placed some wonderful images sent to me from Kris Hurst.  SHE is an amazing artist that LOVES Halloween about as much as my sweet Lulu (speaking of Lulu I sent her Kris’s Halloween Calling Cards for her Birthday & I thought she would flip).  Go visit Kris (HERE) & her Etsy shop to see all the fun things she has to offer.  Great CD’s loaded with images.  Below is a sample of the cards I sent to Lulu.  Go HERE to see her Etsy Shop.

Back to the tree & the cute goodies from Kris…

At the top is one of my favorite cards which I want to believe is myself… choosing which broom to ride.  And the hat as the topper is Ms Elle’s hat for Halloween.

See how cute is all of that?  And I did 6 soldered ornaments of myself & friends the year we had a “Witch Party”  in that top right photo you can see the one of me in my hat next to the cute Trick or Treat Flash Cards from Kris.  The bottom left has my purple glittered Spells & Potions sign above the Calderon that CACKLES as you walk by.

And on top of my refrigerator is this adorable black metal witch (her lantern lights up with a tea light), my pumpkin arrangement, Scrabble letters, & my reproduction vintage pumpkin cans.  Also, I LOVE the card “Best Friends” my friend JoAnn sent me one year (it comes out every year).

My cute witch candy dish sits on the counter in front of my sink.  She makes me smile while I do the dishes & I am soooooooooo proud that I haven’t eaten one of those Almond Joys.

My breakfast nook chandi wears her cute fall shades & has a beautiful garland wrapped among the arms.  And my table sports a much loved tablecloth & has a candle, pumpkin bowls & leaves in the middle.  See the leaf plates on the plate rack?  Those are great for salads, snacks or desserts.

 

The vintage hutch has so many goodies on it & I LOVE the arrangement & those two cute cards I had framed.  The artist is Susan Wheeler & I LOVE her art!

The hutch holds my pumpkin tea set & those stunning blown glass pumpkins Hubby bought me in a Gallery in Asheville.

Just a tiny part of my collection of cut glass salts, salt shakers, & cruets.  And behind those is a tin plate with a stunning fall scene on it.  This was a gift from my sweet friend Nan of Retired in Alaska Blog.

  

So, here’s another shot from Asheville & me pretending I’m there (I’m sure one of those houses would be perfect).  And wishing I had been at Jenn’s Event held there this weekend… but, my home is decorated & I stayed home to spend my 41st Anniversary with my sweet Hubby.  As I told all my gal pals… You have to know when to NOT PUSH YOUR LUCK with Art Events!    Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into my home.  Do you have yours decorated?  I am linking with all the girls at Show Off Your Cottage Monday & Show & Tell Friday.  Click the button below & go by & see what they are all up to.

HUGS! Charlene

Granite, Fun & A Weekend With Rain

As all of you know Texas is in a severe draught. HOW do you end the draught??? Plan a weekend trip in the RV. Take the GRANDS to the lake, pull the boat, RV, pack up all the stuff…. And presto RAIN! It’s OK I’ll take the rain for the blown plans as we NEED it so desperately. So, what do you do instead? EXPLORE! Do you love Granite/Marble? Do you have those gorgeous counter tops at your house (or want them)?

Do you know what it looks like in the natural state? Well we were in Marble Falls, Texas & the entire area is surrounded by acres of Granite. Above is a whole hillside of it & you can see the surrounding dry acreage just barren from dry conditions (but, it didn't hurt that cactus any did it?). As you can see above, NOTHING grows on the granite.

Above huge “CHUNKS” sitting in the field after being mined. Some of them roughly broken & others have been mined to be huge square slabs. Each slab is numbered & waiting to be transported. Below you can see how it is cut out of the side of this mountain (almost looks like it’s been sliced doesn’t it?) & loaded into the rail cars. The Capitol of Texas was built out of the pink marble in this area (with convict labor as the the workers to mine it).

The company(Cold Springs Granite) that owns this mine has been in business since 1951. While driving back to town we found the showroom for Cold Springs & in the parking lot was HUGE slabs of different pieces of granite that has been sliced, polished & ready for US (you & I) to install it in our homes. Oh I looked in the showroom windows & I will be back to see all the amazing designs they showcase in the showroom.

You can see the size of these slices of granite as hubby is six foot tall… And below is the side of the slice so you can see the rough unpolished side.

Colors!!! Oh sooooooooooo many colors.

Green, Pink, Black & White (Loved that one & the quartz pieces that shot throughout the whole slice) Only $60 a square foot!!!! YIKES!

So, if you have granite, want granite, or just never thought much about granite… I hope I’ve shared a bit of insight into this amazing beauty of nature. Formed from huge amounts of pressure on the earth, thousands of years ago… a gift for us today. Hope you found this as interesting as the “GRANDS” did. They loved this trip.

Hugs, Charlene