More Shopping with Heather.

I went shopping with Heather on Saturday and found some more things for the house in BHC.  Not quite the same adventure as Mexico, but we still had a fun time, and scored some really cool stuff.

 

First off let me tell you I "love" Tai Pan Trading.  I have only been in there a few times (usually with Gary or Randee') and once with my mom, and I have never bought anything.  It is very overwhelming to walk in and see all of the cool stuff.  I always have an idea in mind when I leave the house but when I get in there the idea is lost,(I get sidetracked very easily).  Usually I don't have a lot of time to spend just looking around at everything.  Heather and I were there for close to 3 hours, it was so nice to just be able to wonder around and look at everything ( some things we went back too and looked at 2 or 3 times).  Anyway I found some cool dishes, a cute little bucket, and some small planters.  I have had my eye one this oval platter for a while, I really like the pattern.  I look at it every time I go in and always decide I don't "need" it, or I don't have anywhere to put it.  (Its too pretty to be put in the cupboard and only used once in a while).  But when I seen the covered dish in the same pattern I knew I had to have it.  No really,  I picked it up and was cuddling it like a baby.  I think Heather thought I had lost my mind.  Then I seen the big serving bowl, I was in heaven.  Lucky for me I have lots of counter space to display all 3 of them in BHC.   I am still pondering going back and getting the rest of the set, plates, bowls, and the cutest square pedestal coffee mugs you have ever seen.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


I love these little wooden planters. They come in a set of 2 and they will be adorable when I get some flowers in them.

Shopping Adventures

Heather has been in Bullhead with us for the last week, here are some of our shopping finds.

These little plaques were at Bealls (I have the perfect spot for them, but probably wont get them put up til next time we come down).



This little tin basket was a steal at Goodwill. Gary couldn't believe I was going to leave it "as is" he says I am not an "as is" kinda girl.



So after getting the little tin basket I had to re-do above the cupboards. I like this much better.



The monogram plate is a wooden plate I got at IKEA, I have been wanting to do something to dress it up since I got it, just wasn't sure what to do. The little green Sugar Cube Holder was my Great Great Grandmas.




We went to Mexico on Sunday, (we didn't know most of the shops were closed on Sundays), but all was not lost we decided to have a taco at our usual taco stand, (I would say close to the best taco I have ever eaten.)  When we started out shopping I think we were all a little disappointed in the amount of closed up shops.  These first pictures are thing Gary and I have bought on previous trips down.





Heather got some really cool wind chimes.

A Girl's gotta have a purse or two, but in Mexico you are only allowed to cross the border with one purse or handbag per person. Well Heather found two she liked and I found one I liked so Gary had to carry one over the border for us. So, we get to customs and Gary, Heather and I all go to different custom lines (we were the only ones going through so there really wasn't a LINE)
So, the custom officer takes your passport and asks what did you buy in Mexico? Gary's reply was "some pottery and a European Shoulder bag",  he didn't miss a beat. (That's probably the one and only time he has admitted to carrying a purse out loud.)

All in All I would say we had a pretty successful day in Mexico. I can't wait to go back, I love my orange "Prada" bag so much I want one in black.

Hiking "part II"

OK, so maybe we are just asking for trouble. Today we went up to a mine. We were very careful, by careful I mean we kept a very watchful eye on the way into the mine and along the sides of the mine for Scorpions and Snakes. We didn't see either of these today, which was OK by me.

We have been in this mine before so we knew there were Bats that hung out. We started shining our flashlights on the ceiling looking for them. Well guess what, we found some. The first group flew away one by one and headed down another hallway. When we got to a point in the mine where there are wooden ladders going up and down a shaft we looked up and they were flying around in circles. Some were flying down the different hallways to get away from us. We explored the different hallways in the mine and on the way out we found about 100 bats hanging out. Shannon was almost at the mouth of the mine when Gary took a picture of the bats and the flash woke them up. They started flying in all different direction. Some went toward the exit, others went behind Gary and I. Here are some pretty cool pictures Gary was able to get.

"Just waking up". The brown spot behind the bat at the top of this picture are more bats.


This little guy decided to fly further back into the mine. He was probably only about 3' from Gary and I. We think this is the one that ran into Gary's arm.


Shannon, Amelia, Me & Annette.


Shannon at the entrance to the mine as the bats flew past her to get out.

Hiking anyone??

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, we decided to go for a hike. We like to go up Grapevine Canyon and see the petroglyphs, its only about 20 mins from our house. We thought we would go further up this time and get some pictures of the waterfalls. Well, we got to the parking lot at the end of the trail head and there were some kids on the other side of the lot saying there was a huge Rattle Snake in a bush. Of course Gary wanted to see ( I did too but was way more scared that Gary). When we walked over I found a nice big rock to stand on about 25 ft from where the alleged snake was. Gary was much closer. We couldn't really see anything at first so Gary started throwing small rocks into the bush. Well finally we seen him moving in the bush. About that time Mark and Annette pulled up, Mark grabbed a stick and starting poking around in the bush. After a few minutes and a couple of pretty good pictures . Mark said this is 2 snakes. (he was standing even closer to the bush than Gary was.) If you click on the second picture you can get an idea how big both the snakes were. The head in the center, we think belongs to the body on the right, the body in front of the head is the other snake. I think I need some Snake boots! Needless to say we decided to only go up to the Petroglyphs and no further. We did get a couple pictures of small waterfalls and a pretty big lizard.

More Treasures!

OK, so we made it to BHC on Tuesday and so did the all the treasures (without getting broken). I only have a few of the things up so far so... here goes.

This is a little sweater that was made by my Great Grandma Bunker for my mom. The detail in this little sweater is amazing, it has little butterfly sleeves and a little tassel tie at the neck.











These are 100% silk Handkerchiefs given to my Great Grandma Fielding by a Chinese cook in 1910. The embroidery and the detail is amazing. I had the perfect place to hang these three together in the hallway that goes into our bedroom.











The cake plate was my grandma's and she is the one that gave me the cute little yellow bird. The little towel rack isn't old but I love it. I seen it and had to have it. I bought it a Pier One. It looks like and old fashion door knob. The wreath is one My mom and I made yesterday. (for some reason I am really into wreaths lately.)











This is the laundry room, no treasures yet but when I remember to bring them down I will put Grandma's old Irons on the shelf. They are really old Irons they probably weight about 7 or 8 lbs each. Grandma used them to keep the doors open in the house in Delta.

"Distressing" is Stressfull

I have always liked the look of Distressed furniture but never had the guts to try it, until I seen a post on http://showandtell-sausha.blogspot.com/. Instead of doing some large piece of furniture, she did a small jewelry box she had bought Godwill. It turned out so cute, I thought, "I have an old small jewelry box, I can do that." Well let me just tell you it is not as easy as it may look. (Im so glad I didnt try on a big piece of furniture). Anyway, Gary was in Arizona so I thought why not. I dug my jewelry box out of hiding and got started. We had some left over white paint from one of the bedrooms, (this is great no out of pocket expense, YEAH!!) I put on 2 coats of paint letting both dry overnight, then I set out to "distress" away. Maybe it was the paint I used was old I'm not sure but, Wow it seems like I sanded forever. Randee' came home and she even sanded for a while. Some of the stained glass look was chipping off, so I removed that, I tried to think of something I could put in place of the glass but I couldnt come up with anything. I will be on the look out for one without the glass and try again. So here are the results not sure yet if I like it. If you have any tips please let me know. Please to Sausha's blog and check out her jewelry box its soooo cute!

Treasures

As some of you already know, my parents have sold their condo and become "Snowbirds". They just bought a 5th wheel and they have a spot in BHC not far from us. As you can imagine going from a 2 bedroom condo to a 34' 5th wheel there isnt much room for all the "treasures" accumulated throughout the years. (lucky for me!) Mom says it is great to come to our house and visit their things. I am glad to be able to hear the story around so many different things and also happy to give Mom and Dad a place to come visit their things.

Apparently, the mirror that has been in there spare bedroom was the mirror that was over the fireplace in my Grandparents house in Delta. (yep I got that too.) I had no idea where they had got that mirror from and probably would have just thrown it away. I guess you could say I am a little sentimental, I still have the burnt orange chair that use to be pink when I would sit with my grandma while she tickled my back, she also crocheted each of her children and grandchildren an afghan in that chair. One day I will recover it, but I doubt I will ever give it up. So here are a few of the treasures. I will post the others as I get them put up.



I have wanted one of these jewelry boxes for a while now, and was so excited when mom said she didnt have room for it and ask if I wanted it. So imagine how excited I was when I opened it and seen all the bracelets my dad had given her over the years. I thought I was just getting the jewelry box not the jewelry. There was also some pieces I didnt recongnize, the Marcasite necklace was my Great Great Aunt Lotties and the 2 bracelets on the left were also Lotties. The one on the far left she bought in Paris, it has the Eifel Tower on each link and also on the clasp. Mom isnt sure about the one on the right, but it is really pretty.



I remember my mom using this mirrow when I was little. This was also Great Great Aunt Lotties. (something I didnt know). We arent sure if it is silver or not, it kinda looks tarnished. There is a heart in the middel and little cherub angels playing the violin.

Wreaths

I was blog surfing about a month ago, and stumbled onto some crafting and decorating blogs. I was so excited, what a great way to get new ideas. You should have seen the look on Garys face when I showed him. I know he was thinking "OH SHIT". I have gotten alot of really cute ideas from various blogs, the latest one being some wreaths. One is made from a book and the other is made from tissue paper. Both cost less than $2 to make, (score! cute and thrifty) a few hot glue gun burns, teasing from various members of the family and this is the results.

Amazing What Spray Paint Can do!!!

I have found a bunch of crafting blogs and love them. They have given me lots of great ideas for decorating the house in Bullhead. We painted the inside of the house, except the laundry room, one trip down in November. (I hate white walls) Last time we went down I was armed with my cricut and several cans of spray paint. We painted the laundry room, (not with the spray paint). I made a shelf for the laundry room and also made a Welcome sign for the front door. I painted the bar stools to match the dining room set, Made a monogram for the entry way, painted some candle sticks and dressed up the candles on those candle sticks, I painted some copper looking roses I got from Home Interiors years ago. Oh Yeah! and I almost forgot, we went four wheeling in Feb and found this little "box" with a handle and 6 holes in the top. We arent sure what it is but it works pretty good as a "Jello Shot Server".