Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Gettin' Out of The House

The house repair experience is still fraught with woe. They haven't cracked into our kitchen floor yet but it will be soon. The wait is killing me. I just want it done. I want to see what's under there. I want to deal with it and have it behind us.

On Sunday, the Mister and i were about to fall into the trap of doing more renovation work but I had to put my foot down. I knew that if we didn't get out of this house for just a little bit, I was going to go absolutely insane. We decided to hit the little town of Goodlettsville and do the antique stores there. We didn't last too long since the air conditioning is usually fairly hit or miss in those places but we did manage to forget about house repair troubles for a little while.

Here are a couple of items that I didn't get but had to document for y'all:




Ha! Now, this is the kind of thing that I'd usually buy but I'm trying to practice catch-and-release from time to time. I can't bring home every crocheted animal with a crooked mouth. Or so I'm told. 





Yikers. This is the kind of thing that I usually would not buy but it was so insane that I had to let you all have a peek. This is one happy dude!


Here's what I did get!



I couldn't resist this little housedress because it has the holy trifecta of cotton gingham, rick-rack and a hand-sewn zipper. Trust me when I say that this dress would not fit me even if all of my bones were removed but it was cheap and to me is like a lovely piece of folk art.




Gingham is so hard to photograph. It's like a wacky optical illusion. 




Kelly green is one of my favorite colors and I'd been wanting this necklace for nearly a year. Finally, it was reduced to just a few bucks. I also found this glittery bangle bracelet  for two dollars. 




I know that I told you all once about how I've started collecting "Missed You In Church" cards. For some reason, I just love them. I thought that it would be one of those collections that might be a cheap slow-burn as I hardly ever find them. Well, what did I find an entire shoebox of? Yep, you guessed it. "Missed You In Church" cards! It was heartbreaking because they were priced more than I'll usually pay for a postcard so I had to choose three out of the box. It was really hard but I gravitated towards the cute animal ones. 



Whoowhee! They hit hard! Bringing in a sad basset hound to guilt me back into Sunday School! 
Who could resist those eyes? Jesus may forgive but that dog looks like he's still waiting on an apology that suits him. 



Two kittens shoved into a flower pot that is obviously meant to hold only one kitten! 
They'll stop at nothing!! 

And this reminds me - never plant kittens. They'll only grow into disgruntled, couch destroying cats. 

We had a good day of peeking at treasures and even had a diner lunch complete with fried pickles. Luckily, by the time that we got home, we were too tired from the heat and fried food to do much in the way of house chores. I think we really needed that day out.  I hope that you buckaroos have had a chance to get out and do something fun lately! Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the stress and chores and grown-up stuff that we're forced to do - but we all need a mind break from time to time. 

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha


24 comments:

erin said...

i absolutely adore the company that does those letterhead posters/postcards. we have two hanging in the kitchen: "i love you like biscuits and gravy" and "keep my skillet good and greasy". i found the skillet one in memphis and was surprised, until i remembered that the company was based outta TN. too cute!

Eartha Kitsch said...

I love those ones that you have! That printing company, Yee-Haw was amazing and we were sad to learn that they closed in April.

http://www.yeehawindustries.com/home.html

Their shop was so much fun too. Tons of amazing prints and cards and equipment to see. And a huge Piggly Wiggly market pig head in the front window.

Sara In AZ said...

So glad that y'all got out and about and enjoyed the day away from your house troubles... you certainly deserve it! All of your finds are FAB! I esp. love that kitten card!

Tasha said...

You are so right. I've been starting to feel run down and sorry for ourselves for not being very social lately, and we went out last night with friends and it was great. I'm so glad we did it.

Btw, I LOVE those missed you in church cards. I grew up in an atheist household so I'd never heard of such a thing until now. What a hoot!

Tasha said...

Oh no! I just saw your comment about Yee-Haw. We have two of their prints that we bought years ago at Renegade Craft Fair here in Chicago
(Keep On The Sunny Side and You Are My Sunshine) and have yet to get them frames because we're lazy farts. Very sad to hear they've closed. :/

Eartha Kitsch said...

Thanks Sara! Wish y'all were here to go with us!

Tasha: Sometimes, it's hard to convince ourselves to go out but when we do, it's always totally worth it. I'm glad that you kids got out of the house too! And yes, re: the church cards. The Southern Baptist Church that I went to as a kid made phone calls instead of cards. My Mom would always worry herself sick when we missed church because those people would start calling her!

And yeah, I'm married to a man who builds frames and we've never framed our Yee-Haw print. I just taped it to the wall. Pitiful.

She's Sew Slye said...

I'm crying with envy over here, love love love that dress!

Oh those churches! With their guilt laden cards! Aren't they a stitch!

love your posts as always <3

Dana@Mid2Mod said...

Love your finds! You're right about the trifecta of homemade dresses...LOL And what's up with the latest style of letting the zipper show? That was only done by the most inexperienced or sloppy seamstresses back in the day.

I grew up Southern Baptist too, but my mother was so adamant about having us there every time the door opened that I never got a card or a call. I guess they figured I must legitimately be in bed with a fever of 104 if I missed... and not just playing hooky.

Rita said...

You are so right about needing to take breaks from house stress. Yesterday discovered that we need to replace some of the siding on the house. THEN we get to paint it. Yippee. A day in town to look at treasures sounds like just the ticket. Glad you got to do that.

nancyworegreenstockings said...

I don't know how you resisted that crocheted poodle!

I never knew "Missed you at church" cards were a thing, but how amazing! The puppy one is just too fabulous. He really does look so sad.

I hope the house stress eases soon! Good luck!

Barbara said...

Oh honey, I'm so glad you left the cave today and did some window shopping. I'm on a yarn kick right now. Trying to make a baby blanket. I have one circle done. Go me!

Keep calm and remember, it's just a house. Put on your respirator when they come and a pair of headphones. Hide in a room far from them and practice yoga.

And never forget, your kitties are little filters. Get more kitties.

xxx
love,
barbara

RetroSandie said...

So sorry about all of your home problems...but glad you got to take a day out and go schmoop around! And I really had to giggle at your comments about the dress -- and the fact that you can't wear it but just like to look at it! Awesome!!!!!

Jamie@OwlReally.com said...

Shopping is the perfect therapy, if you ask me. :) Glad you had a productive trip out of the house and came home with great goodies!

cheshirecat666 said...

damn,after I put my finger over Bills mouth,he's a total red haired wildman babe! Yum

Jackie Jardine said...

That dress is aaaahh-mazing. I too am a fan of kelly green, so I <3 that necklace too.

Hope your home repairs will be a thing of the past real soon.

<3 Jackie @ Let's Go Thrifting!
http://LetsGoThrifting.blogspot.com

Rae - Say It Aint So said...

that little poodle! were you at rare bird? i'm tempted to run out there and rescue her before Travis catches wind (I might have gotten into a little trouble for buying a poodle toilet paper cover off ebay after saying that used toilet paper covers were too gross, even for me. ha!)
and i love those sunday school cards! especially the ones with parrots, because it kind of sounds like you send it to someone other than the person who missed sunday school, like you are tattling.

Anonymous said...

Don't let the house suck you in! It is so easy to get into the renovation ritual. We renovated our old house for 5 years straight, we did have two kids in that time period but that was it, no social life what so ever. In the end we had to sell it to two idiots for pennies! Take time for yourselves or you could turn out a bitter old lady like me, ha, ha!

Adrienne said...

I'm glad you escaped your renovation woes for a day!
I love the green necklace, it is perfection. The Missed You Church cards are fascinating.

Adrienne
What Lola Wants

darkelady said...

Hi Lurker here, just had to say how much I enjoy your blogs. I too have house woes. I live in an apartment with a leaky ceiling, which they can never seem to resolve. This has been going on for years. I woke this morning to the worse leak ever. Water on the microwave, the table in my toaster. Yuck. And I can't get hold of the property manager.

On a happier note I am going this weekend on a piano hunt. A local performing arts venue is celebrating their 50th, so they had artist paint old pianos and placed them around the area. I am going to find them and take photos.

Thanks again for cheering my morning with you finds. Love the missing from church cards. They must be a southern thing I live in New England and hadn't heard of them before.

Chad in Dallas said...

I grew up in a tiny Texas town... Southern Baptist also.. and You'd hear it from the local ladies if they caught you out. They'd stop to talk in the middle of the street, in the car... Mom would roll her window down and face to face ..."Missed you at church Sunday!" would lead off the conversation. lol...

Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping] said...

Oh these cards are brilliant, I've only seen them on your blog. I think in the UK they'd be so thrilled if ANYONE turned up to drink warm orange squash from a chewed beaker and sing kumbayah, they'd not dream of guilting you out for never attending again!

Glad you had a good day out. The husband skived off work early today and I brought the kids into London on the train to meet him. We had a great time Summering in the city, we saw buskers, jugglers, & break-dancers, played in a sand-pit, ate churros, posed with Olympics mascots...

SUZY8-TRACK said...

Those missed you at Sunday school cards are a hoot! The one with the sad dog really cracked me up! Love your little gingham dress...so adorable!

SUZY8-TRACK said...

Oh by the way, that really, and I mean REALLY happy dude looks like an ex-boyfriend of mine, minus the mutton chops.

Jen said...

Well, I'm glad you two were able to escape and have some fun for a little bit. The dress is darling, but you are so right about photographing gingham—especially when it has bust darts AND a French dart! Holy shaping!

Those little postcards are really cute, too. I think I actually remember seeing those float in when I was younger, but churches don't do that anymore, I don't think. At least not those in big cities. Maybe in small towns they still do?