Find and Reuse

Here in Takoma Park, Mother's Day weekend filled with sunshine and yard sales.

Finds of the weekend:

1. A handwoven hand-dyed mudcloth from Mali, perfect for our dining room table. We found this at a yard sale. The family had bought it a dozen years ago when they were traveling in Africa.



(Oops--I guess it is actually "hand-died")



2. Metal champagne flutes. Since I saw Beth's stainless steel wineglasses over at Fake Plastic Fish, I've been coveting something like these for our picnic basket. We found these at a community yard sale on the grounds of the library. Proceeds went to help finance the local Independence Day celebration.



We put the glasses to use Sunday morning, drinking mimosas in bed as we ate croissants and read the newspaper. (This is an old tradition that David and I had, but only recently is it one that our son could enjoy as well. Granted, his mimosa had seltzer instead of champagne, and he enjoys the comics more than the book section.)

3. A gorgeous cake plate. I'd been dreaming about cake plates all week, ever since I ran across the lovely examples over at This Week for Dinner.





I'm not sure this one should count as a thrifting find, since David found it in our basement, filled with things from his grandmothers which we have not really unpacked since we got them a dozen years ago.  I'm so pleased it is finally joining us upstairs!

Check out some other great thrift store finds over at Thrift Share Monday and at Thrifty Treasures.

Thrifting

Several months ago we enjoyed a weekend full of wonderful meals, much wine, knitting and weaving, games, dancing with dogs, and hikes and drives in the beautiful countryside--along with the inspiring company of our lovely hosts.

I left the weekend with a deep desire for a salt cellar--like the beautiful wooden swivel-jar (which looked kind of like this)which graced their well-dressed table.

Over the months, David and I have searched in antique stores and at woodworking studios with hopes of finding something similar. No luck.

Last week as we parked our car in front of the house we were visiting, we glanced at the yard sale taking place next door.



When I saw this lidded wooden bowl, I immediately thought of Babe: "That'll do!"

The Fruits of Rainy Afternoons

Every vacation is bound to have a rainy day.



We spent some of ours reading on the front porch, or knitting as we watched the drops of rain fall into the lake.

Eventually we headed into town to visit the antique stores and a few pottery studios along the way. We came out with new table linens:



This quilt top was made by the owner's husband's great-grandmother shortly before she died in the 1960s. It makes a beautiful tablecloth--although I admit I worried constantly that we might spill something on it.

We also bought a "totem" candle holder made down the road from our cabin. It is influenced by the Carolina face jugs of traditional pottery. I love it.



* * *

Of course, we came prepared for rain with a few of our favorite boardgames, as well.



One of the games we played was The Settlers of Catan. It is certainly one of my favorites, although I always seem to lose to my metropolis-building husband. And appropriately enough, I always seem to wind up with handfuls of sheep!