One Day Left

For those of you who frequent my Vintage / Junk Sale pages, I wanted to let you know that everything will be removed by Friday evening. I've already removed most of the sold items so what you see is still available for a short time. I've marked many of the items down and need to clear everything out, so if you see something you want from the sale items here, just send me an email. I'll not be adding new items to this section again until July or August.

Thanks so much!
Lana
~*~

P.S. We have a new friend for Buddy... not the one I mentioned recently (it will be coming to live with us in a few more weeks)... but a puppy my son got this week. I'll share photos of her tomorrow.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Ok, it's time to check in...

I enjoy walking outdoors, but to have a safe place to walk, I need to drive a few miles down the road and that's not always convenient. Either I have something going on at home that I can't leave unattended or it's raining, too hot, too cold, etc. I decided to get a treadmill so I would not have an excuse. I'm on a budget, and needed to go with what I could afford. Last fall I bought a manual treadmill ($128 at Amazon) and did not like it at all. I know you have to work harder with a manual treadmill and that was fine with me, but we could never get it adjusted so you could walk on it without the tread slipping. I never used it.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago I bought the one pictured above. It's a Weslo Cadence G 5.9 and I love it! I bought mine at WalMart but you can find it other places. We have it in a spare room that's waiting on a renovation near the end of June, so for now it's not in the way. When we do renovate and make the spare room a guest bedroom, the treadmill can still go in there because it folds up! I love that, too! If I wear it out or it doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll just have to save up for a better one, but so far it's fine.

I just wish I had a Kindle or something to read while walking. I have the treadmill set up where I can see out the window, but there's not a lot going on out there other than a couple of bluebirds flying in and out of their birdhouse. I listen to a mix of Michael Buble, The Beach Boys, and Celtic music on my pretty aqua iPod shuffle that Suzanne gave to me as a Christmas gift a few years back, but I think I'd like to read some, too. Maybe I'll win a Kindle on a blog giveaway somewhere. :)

So, I guess you want to know how I've done for the last week or so? I didn't lose as much as I intended, but I slacked off over Memorial weekend and didn't walk for 4 days straight! We were busy, gone most days, had company, had a yard sale, went to a cook out, went to KY to get a new puppy, etc. I know.... excuses, excuses, but I did start back walking again this morning and I'll walk again tonight.

Daily calorie intake was approximately 1200 - 1500, but to be honest, I didn't keep up with it exactly. I know about how many calories are in most of what I eat so I keep a mental tab going, but I will be writing more of it down from now on. Over the weekend I splurged and made a fruit salad for our family here at home using low-fat yogurt, low-fat whipped topping, and fresh fruits. I skipped dessert at the cook-out because it wasn't light or low-fat at all! I'm sure I'll get in the groove before long, but as long as I'm losing, I'm happy. I have Jillian's 30 Day Shred dvd and plan on starting that again this week. It worked when I used it before, and I could see results, but last fall when I started getting sick and was sick for several weeks, I stopped doing it and never started back.

Here's how I did this time:
from May 19th to May 30th I walked 11.6 miles on the treadmill and lost 3 lbs.
That's not as much as I hoped for, but I didn't exercise as much as I should have either.
I'll do better next time! :)

Thanks for checking in, thank you for all the encouraging comments and email messages,
and for those of you who are also on this journey...
I know you can do it too! :)

God bless,
Lana
~*~

Click here for more Weigh-In Wednesdays

In Flanders Fields

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~ John McCrae (1872-1918)

Saturday Sundries

sundries: miscellaneous small articles, details, or items


I wasn't quite sure what to share this time, so I got my camera and just wandered around the house, looking at little things here and there... trying to see them for the first time... and choose something that you might find interesting.... or strange! :)

I think I've shown you this collection before... maybe a few years back... but not closeup photos of the items.

I never intentionally collected these. Over the years I have just picked up a stray item here and there at junk stores, garage sales, my Dad's junk, my husband's junk (and workshop trash!), and a few are gifts from friends who noticed that I found these kinds of items interesting.

After a time, I realized I had a collection of door knobs, hinges, door plates --- and some things that I don't know what they are called --- and put them in a large, heavy, iron stand.

The light wasn't good in the living room where I keep these items, so I brought them out into my workroom and opened the door to shed a little more light on the subject. And then I spread them out onto my old work table (and dusted them off!) to take more photos:

{This was the door handle on my childhood bedroom door. When Mama and Daddy remodeled a few rooms and changed out the door, I asked to have the handle. Neither Mama nor Daddy thought it was silly of me to ask for it.}

{These marble eggs really don't fit the old hardware theme but somehow found themselves in the mix!}

{Above: New items from my friend, Suzanne, who gets me. :) }

I'm sure when my husband's friends come over to visit and see this sort of thing they take pity on him for having a wife that collects "junk"! Little do they know, these are actually priceless treasures! Well, not really, but when I'm gone, I think the kids can make a buck or two off my collections! ;)

And I have just realized that if 3 makes a collection...
50+ items must make an obsession!!! ;)

Do any of you collect door knobs or other old hardware pieces? If you have blogged about your collections, feel free to leave a link in the comments so we can see!


Thanks for stopping by!

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

P.S. To see more Saturday Sundries posts, just click this link.

Buddy & Sam

Buddy is doing well. But he would do much better with a very active and playful friend, and if all goes well, we will have one for him in another month or so. We can only be outside so much, throw so many tennis balls, drag Buddy and the knotted rope around the yard so many times, and play hide and seek so many times before the passers-by think we are nuts hiding behind trees and bushes, lol!

He loves for us to throw the rope on the clothes line so he can jump and get it....

over...

and over...

Buddy would also love to play with Sam, but being an old, set-in-his-ways cat, Sam doesn't take too well to Buddy jumping all over him. He does well just to watch from the sidelines.

Sam has his own patch of catnip that sprouted up at the edge of the yard this year. He goes there and hides from Buddy... but Buddy usually finds him and thinks he's playing hide and seek like Rufus used to do in the weeds.

So Sam usually makes his way back up to the porch and he and Buddy keep each other company... at a distance...

{Sam's the blur in the background to the left}

That's it for today!
Have a safe and fun Memorial weekend!

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

Weigh-In Wednesday

You don't know just how hard it is for me to hit the publish button on this post, but here goes.....

Yes, I know this isn't Wednesday, but I wanted to let you know about a weekly post I will be doing beginning next week.

I have wanted needed to do this post for a long time, but always chickened out. It's hard to face the reality of not being what you want to be, and face up to what you are, and finally do something about it. At least it's hard for me. It's even harder to go public with the reality. I have changed my mind on posting this so many times. How would I be judged?

As long as I stayed in the background, behind my words, you could picture me, Lana of Honeysuckle Lane, however you wanted me to look... perhaps you thought I was a tall, slender blonde, or a feisty red-head... or maybe a dark-haired country girl looking lean and fit in jeans, boots, and a flannel shirt (considering all the chicken and turkey posts I've done in the past). But if you've read the rare past posts with photos of me, you know that I am none of those. I am still the person, the artist / wife / mom, who wrote this blog for the last 5 years or so, but I have always held back in some way or another. For many years I have been embarrassed of the way I look, of my weight, and that has caused me to stay on the sidelines, to turn away opportunities, to miss out on so much... all because of how I felt about myself. Silly, I know, but that's just the way it has been.

{taken in February of this year at my son's wedding rehearsal}

I have been overweight for over 20 years and I am so tired of being overweight.
So I am finally.... finally..... doing something about it.

There are many reasons why I decided to blog about this, but here are a few:

• posting this on my blog will make me feel more accountable
• this will be a journal that I can look back on and see my progress
• hopefully, by sharing my experience, I can be an inspiration to someone else

Each Wednesday, I will try to post about my progress on losing weight and getting healthy. I'll share photos, but I'm not sure yet if I will share a weekly photo of myself or maybe once a month... we'll see. I am no expert (obviously) but I will share what I am doing, what's working for me, how I am doing, how I am feeling, etc.

I appreciate your comments and encouragement and will try to respond if there are any questions.

Wish me luck and I'll be back on Wednesday to report in! :)

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

To Let Go or Not To Let Go

... that's a hard decision!!!

I've been thinning things out even more... yes, I am an expert at storing three times as many things in a space that you would think could possibly fit in said space... and it feels good to make room... but I am having second thoughts about some of the items.

For instance, that old tobacco tin at the top... don't you just LOVE the graphics on it? I would keep it if the entire thing was black and cream, but years ago someone painted the lid and rim a sea-foam green. I suppose I could paint over it, but then there's one more thing I would have to work on and I already have many more big projects that have been waiting for months.

And this ironstone gravy boat with the light crazing and faded gold trim....

I collect ironstone, but all my other pieces are just white... no gold on them.

But if I also kept this little fancy teacup...

...and this pretty chocolate mug.... then I'd have a collection of gold trimmed pieces! ;)

Sigh... I'd better not, I still have a lot of pieces that I'm not sure will fit in the kitchen once we finally renovate it this summer. You know, the kitchen renovation I have talked about for the last few years here on my blog. I have high hopes that it will come to pass in the next few months... fingers crossed!!!

So, if you would like to see some of the items I am letting go, just visit the Vintage pages of my website. Who knows, you just might find something that you've been looking for! :)

Blessings,
Lana
~*~

Saturday Sundries

typo in title now corrected... {insert red-faced smiley here}

sundries: miscellaneous small articles, details, or items

I have some very talented friends... wonderful ladies I met through the folk art groups that I have belonged to over the last several years. These little sundries are just a sample of the many handmade items I have received from them... some I purchased, some were sent as surprise gifts, and some were gifts in secret sister and secret santa swaps.

Who created these fantastic folk art items?
photo 1 ~ Patti Gagliardi of Winding Vine Designs
photo 2 ~ BJ McCart of Daughternature Primitive Folk Art
photo 3 ~ Sherry Harrell of Blair Creek Cabin
photo 4 ~ Stacy Nash of Stacy Nash Primitives
photo 5 ~ Jenny Hoffman of Country Rustic Primitives
photo 6 ~ Susan Pilotto of Mouse Droppings Fine Folk Art
photo 7 ~ Shelly Auen of Primitive Stitchin'
photo 8 ~ another Sherry Harrell design! {I made the little paperclay sheep underneath the stand}

I could have #2 and #7 mixed up... if BJ or Shelly are reading this, let me know.... and start signing your work! lol! ;-)

I hope you enjoyed seeing these. You may see all of the Saturday Sundries posts here.

Thanks for stopping by ~
Blessings,
Lana

~*~

P.S. This weekend is my last Vintage update for a few months. Click here to see the items I've added and to read about the special discounts!

For You

Dear blog reader(s),
I know tulips are long gone this season, but I love how the light filtered through these in the early spring and I wanted to share their beauty with you.

Have a blessed weekend,
Lana
~*~

Vintage Native American Beadwork

A few months back I purchased a box lot of items to acquire of a couple of pincushions that were in it. One of them I will keep (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of it but I'll share it at a later date) and one of them I am a bit iffy as to whether or not it stays or goes. It's the pincushion shown in this post.

I like having a varied selection of antique and vintage pincushions, but I'm trying not to collect them unless I really, really like them.

The dealer stated this was made from pinecone seeds. Which are the pinecone seeds: the reddish brown ones or the black ones... or both? I'm not really sure, so I am in the midst of trying to learn more about it.

It's completely covered with the seeds. Can you imagine the time involved? And this is only a small item compared to the much larger, more elaborate pieces found in Native American bead work!

In the box lot was a couple of vintage dolls and a few vintage hand-woven miniature rugs:

a multi-strand, white (though a bit dirty), glass seed bead necklace with an interesting silver beehive barrel clasp:

..and a couple of zuni dolls. One of the zuni dolls is a necklace that isn't very old, but could be vintage:

However, I do think this zuni doll is an old one:

It's a little over 2" tall and has an old leather cord still attached to it. It is made from teeny tiny glass seed beads. From what I've read, they were often beaded over a rabbit's foot. I think that's most likely how this one was made because I can see a bit of fur and some tiny bones sticking out the feet of this doll.

My mom would have loved these items. She was told we have some Native American ancestors a few generations back. She was very interested in anything pertaining to Native Americans, their history, their customs, their art, etc. I do think it's interesting, but I can only collect so many different things... or someone in my family will be calling Hoarders or Clean House to come see what's going on, lol!

So, all of these items I mentioned (including the pincushion, I think) will be listed on the vintage pages of my website, probably next Saturday evening.

I'd better get back to work. I'm trying to get down to business on building up inventory for the Lavender Festival... which is only a month away!

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~