Passing through Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge is a lovely little community nestled in North Georgia. Known as the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains, it truly lives up to its name. My honey and I stopped in this pretty little town on Labor Day and enjoyed a few hours walking around its shops filled with unique gifts and artisan pieces and of course, my personal favorite, antiques. The train was also taking on passengers for an afternoon ride. We didn’t make the train trip, but I did stop in a lovely shop called Blue Ridge Antiques & Mall owned by Liz and Robert Sanchez.

Magnificent old hotel with two floors of pure shopping pleasure, the top floor houses the former hotel rooms and they are filled with antiques. Great wooden floors, high ceilings, transoms and tin ceilings. A marvelous property to enjoy good antique shopping.

What a lovely entrance to the second floor of Blue Ridge Antiques & Mall. Warm and welcoming.

Neat Coke cooler.

Lots of pretty dishes.

If you are a collector of fishing items and especially lures, than this is the place to visit. Prices were very reasonable.

Went below to the first floor which is at street level and found more period architectural accents and wood floors but inside here are lovely gifts at every price point imaginable along with gallery rooms set up with American Country pieces and art work. This level was packed with shoppers but I still found another treasure and as I went to check out, met Liz and Robert and she personally ground the coffee beans I was purchasing for my sister. Blue Ridge blend was the flavor and the car smelled like a marvelous coffee shop all the way back to Atlanta. (sis told me that this coffee was out of this world. She is a hard core coffee connoisseur so this was high praise indeed).

Stopped into Three Sisters Fudge located inside Timeless Reflections and purchased a small box of freshly made pumpkin fudge and chocolate pecan fudge.

This was the creamiest fudge I think I have ever had and full of natural flavor. The pumpkin was to die for and both Alan and I agreed that the box of freshly made fudge was so much better than the overpriced truffles we purchased in Asheville.

We had such a lovely time in this pretty little community that I’m going to bring my sister back here in the fall and we are going to spend the day enjoying Blue Ridge. This is a must stop and visit community if you are traveling north to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I interrupt this blog to announce

the birth of my two newest grandchildren. Yes, the twins have arrived to my son and his lovely wife, Kerry and sweet daughter Kaitlyn. Connor (middle name still not decided), 6 pounds 13 ounces and Kelsey Elizabeth, 7 pounds, this morning at 6:47 am. Mother is doing wonderfully and has already nursed them both. Pictures should come soon...or as soon as my son will stop grinning and strutting like a proud peacock and can stop to send them to me as jpgs from Italy.

If you haven't noticed, I have changed out my header to reflect their birth and the change from costumes for grandchild to costumes for grandchildren. Oh how I wish I was closer to them right now. I would love to see my newest grandchildren and hug my sweet granddaughter, Kit Kat.

Gotta finish the princess costume for Kit Kat and now have to plan for designing three at a time going forward. The Delirious with Joy Sea Witch

Asheville Saturday Fun

A wonderful Saturday full of fun in Asheville. Started the morning off with a trip to the Tobacco Barn, Asheville’s largest antique warehouse. If you are looking for big items or wrought iron, this is the place to visit. Lots of antique items mixed with new and reproduction so if you are looking for the genuine article, make sure you do your homework before purchasing here. Prices vary from dealer to dealer, but there are great buys on the wrought iron garden pieces. You can spend hours looking through the aisles an aisles of items located here. I did walk away with a few treasures and will post about those later in the week.

Aisles and aisles and aisles!

Large angel statue.





This wrap around settee is identical to the one our family had in New Jersey. Brought back wonderful memories.


Had to shoot a photo of the mermaid.

These really cool lenses are from stop lights.

Yes, this is skeleton in a coffin but not a spooky display but one for a funeral home.

Spectacular twig chandelier.

Lovely Persian carpets.

Sweet little porcelain birds.

From here we traveled to the historic downtown area of Asheville. Lovely revitalized city. The artist community came in and purchased up most of the old buildings and repurposed them into eateries and galleries. The Woolworth building is a spectacular gallery along with the Kress building. We had lunch at the Beir Garden Tavern and had a pastrami fusion sandwich. Thick slices of pastrami smothered with monteray jack cheeses and sweet peppers on toasted marble rye. Excellent. Next stop, The Chocolate Fetish, Asheville’s premier chocolate shop.

Purchased a few truffles with exotic names at $2.00 a piece (felt like I was purchasing shots at this price). They were tasty, but frankly overpriced for what was offered.

Asheville is a dog town and you have lots of folks walking with their leased pets. It was wonderful to see so many dogs around the city…very much like Germany and their communities.

Saw a sign that said Purl’s and had to stop in. I have been knitting since I was 7 and couldn’t resist the call of the designer yarns hanging in the window. .

Looking into the window, I see a small basket with a tiny dog sleeping in it and surrounded by the yarns. That sealed the deal…had to go inside. I asked about the sweet baby in the window and the dog’s name is “Merino”…like the sheep.

Sweet Merino likes to sleep in a basket and watch everyone walk by.

Lovely shop with incredible yarns and full of color. Purchased something for myself and a Christmas gift for someone I care for. If you are in Asheville and love to knit, you must stop by Purl's and say hello to Merino

We continued to walk around the city and on every corner there was someone playing an instrument. I love street performers and Asheville had someone playing bluegrass, R&B or acoustical guitar everywhere you turned. Temps began to soar so headed back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool before supper. Following dinner we headed out to the movies to see “Inglorious Bastards” the latest Quentin Tarentino flick. If you can get past the in your face violence, the film was superb. Excellent script, interesting story and take on history “what if” and visually well executed.

All in all we had a busy and fun Saturday. Will post our Sunday adventures as soon as I can get the photos transferred from my digital. Sea Witch

Goldwings!

My honey and I had a lovely, meandering road trip to Asheville, NC. No rush, no time to be anywhere in particular, just drive the state roads and enjoy the scenery. Not one to just sit in the car, I had my knitting bag with me and began knitting a beret to sell this winter. When the air starts to get "fallish" the need to spin yarn and knit calls and I must pick up my needles. There is something wonderful about hand knitted items.

Black wool with multi-color giant boucle will make a pretty beret.

We pulled into our hotel and we parked next to a group of Goldwing motorcycles. My honey used to own a Goldwing and immediately was reminiscing about his. I noticed all of the American flags and the POW flags and saw that this was part of a group who were Vietnam war vets belonging to Airborne and Ranger units. As my son wears the tabs of the Airborne and Ranger, and presently with the 173rd, I have a kinship with these former soldiers.

On the front plate of the first bike was this tribute to Playboy's favorite playmate and the 117th Warlords. I don't know if this cartoon figure is still found in the magazine, but she is the original kooky blonde and it brought me back to the 1960s when I saw her.

Thank you for your service, gentlemen and continue to ride safe.


We decided to have dinner at a local restaurant that was highly recommended by the front desk supervisor. Frankly, the meal was institutional at best but the soup saved the meal.

Fantastic tomato bisque was rich, creamy and full of flavor.

Ditto for the french onion soup. Loaded with onions, rich broth, and plenty of gooey cheese. Factor in the basket of fresh sour dough bread and life was good.
Until tomorrow's blog, have a wonderful evening. Sea Witch

Labor Day Adventures

My honey and I are off to begin our Labor Day Weekend. I will be posting over the next few days and you are invited to stop by and see what we are up to.

Wishing everyone a safe and pleasant Labor Day Weekend. Sea Witch

Small White Wednesday

You will often hear me describe things as “one of my favorite" but if I was told to only select “ONE” white shell that is truly my favorite...the one that stands above all of the rest... it would unquestionably be the Precious Wentletrap. A big name for a tiny shell but when you exam it closely you will see the immense beauty in the purity of its form.

The word wentletrap is from the German-Dutch origin and literally means spiral staircase. The Precious Wentletrap is so exquisitely formed that the early 18th century collectors placed it’s value above rubies. Royalty prized these lovely shells and paid prices equal to what it might have been if reproduced in gold and studded with diamonds.

The tapering spiral whorls of this small, dainty shell which reaches not much more than two inches in length and often found under or around an inch in length, are not sutured together as in the case with most spiral univalves. There is a space between them all the way from the nucleus to the aperture and the whole is covered with very regular and ridge-like varices which have the appearance of a white latticework cage enclosing the glossy whorls or the treads of a spiral staircase.

X-ray of Precious Wentletrap showing the space within. Beautiful.

At the height of their popularity these shells would fetch several hundred pounds a piece and reportedly were so in demand that Chinese artisans counterfeited the shells using rice flour. The Emperor Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, paid 4,000 guilders (truly a king’s ransom) for one. They held pride of place in the cabinets of the Empress Catherine of Russia and the Queen of Sweden. Though no longer considered rare, they are still greatly admired and fine specimens are much coveted as ever, but their prices, thankfully, are a modest fraction of what they once were.

Almost always a pure, alabaster white, they look like the finest bone china.

Wentletraps are usually found on sandy bottoms near sea anemones and corals, their food source. Some species are foragers and search for anemones and it is not uncommon to find these creatures along tide lines.

When disturbed or distressed, these creatures will excrete a purple dye that acts as an anesthesia to the attacking organism. The ancient Greeks utilized this dye in their royal fabrics. It is said that milking 300 wentletraps provided just enough purple dye to provide purple for a small collar. One of the reasons why purple is considered a royal color...they were the only ones who could afford its expensive cost.

Wentletraps inhabit all seas and oceans worldwide, from the tropical zones to the Arctic and Antarctic zones. The Precious Wentletrap is found in the Indo-China region.

A $2.02 frame transformed.

So, you take a big, brown plastic frame and remove the faded print.

Spray paint the frame satin black. When dry, pour a little white acrylic paint in a paper plate and add a little water to thin. Sponge thinned white paint on one side of the frame and then wipe away excess with an old t-shirt or dishtowel. Repeat on all four sides to give the frame a dusty look.

After frame dries, add a Halloween type print of your choice. I downloaded and printed these out from public domain sites. What a fun way to decorate for Halloween this year with a Gothic looking frame and your favorite witch.

Snow White witch with basket of apples and her crow.

I adore Victorian pin ups. This lovely witch looks wonderful in this transformed frame.

So, check your favorite thrift store or Good Will for ugly frames and transform them into Gothic pieces perfect for Halloween decorating. They are inexpensive and what fun to give them a new look and a holiday purpose.

A $2.02 frame from Goodwill.

Big, plastic and brown with a faded print...oh the possibilities.

Add can of satin finish black spray paint,

add a craft sponge,

and a little bit of white acrylic paint.

...and wait until tomorrow to see its transformation.

New Booth Space

I have been a busy woman this weekend and I’m excited to share that I have moved into new booth space at Queen of Hearts in Buford, GA. I adore my counter space at Vintage Village, Snellville, but have wanted to expand to a much larger location for some time now. I’m one of those sellers who has to “feel right” about the space. If it doesn’t talk to me, I cannot be convinced to take it. Last weekend, I grabbed my sister and took her to Queen of Hearts as she was looking for a new dining room set. While sis shopped, I was talking with a few of the dealers and before I knew it, they walked me over to a primo space with a great location and at a rent I couldn’t say no to. So, I signed the lease agreement, went to Home Depot and purchased paint to change the existing industrial green to a neutral coastal sand and I was off to the races.

Still lots of room for my things. Have to find some old doors so I can build some door displays.

I'm crazy for globes. Something about the muted blue of the sea maps calls me.

I adore vintage clothing and have been collecting and wearing it for over 2 decades now. This Hugh Hefner type smoking robe is wonderful.

Circa 1960s peignoir set in, smoking robe and a 1930s West Point Military Academy dress jacket with lots of brass.

Lovely Post Civil War settee. Rare Pecan wood. Great Southern piece. Circa 1860s

Bird cage with crows. You can never be too ready for Halloween.

My honey came with me this Sunday to help me unload and set up. It is wonderful to have a partner who enjoys and supports this field. Makes the setup move quickly so you can enjoy working the display of items. After an hour setting things up, we headed back home but not before we decided on a late lunch.

A stop at Ippolito's, one of our favorite Italian restauants and with the best garlic rolls anywhere. Fresh antipasto for two, Fettucine Alfredo for me and Eggplant Parm sandwich for my love. A perfect end to a lovely day and a new venture. Sea Witch