An Update and Last Minute Musings

      First of all, I wanted to give everyone an update on Elaine's husband, Ray's surgery.  If you didn't read my previous post, I'll briefly recap.  Ray went for a routine physical and from the x rays taken on his lungs they found a mass on both lungs.  One was benign, but the other shows cancer so on Sept. 19th Ray had surgery at Scott and White Hospital in Temple.  They had to remove part of his lung and were able to remove the mass.  Some of his lymp nodes are being tested for cancer and that result is still upcoming.
     Ray made it through a five plus hour surgery ok but was in extreme pain after (as one can imagine just thinking about surgeons cutting open your chest).  On Saturday, Ray had trouble breathing so he was put in ICU and a breathing tube was placed down his throat.   Again, Elaine said the pain was terrible and he could only use a I Pad to communicate.   That afternoon after God sent some of their close friends from Brady to visit, he took a turn for the better.
     Today (Sunday), I'll post what Elaine reported on Facebook:
Another day of progress for Ray. Doctors removed the breathing tube as well as the chest tube. Both of these being removed makes it easier for Ray to move better while in bed. He still has assisted breathing and O2 level is great. Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring and PRAISING GOD for the hurdles that were overcome today.

      Elaine and Ray and his family and ours cannot thank everyone enough for all their prayers and thoughts while he is going through this.  Please realize, your prayers have helped more than you know.  We continue to ask for prayers for good results of NO cancer anywhere else and quick and steady healing for Ray and comfort and strength for Elaine and Ray's daughters, Catherine and Angela.

I wanted to share a fun picture of Ray and Elaine at the Trade Days Prom last year! Aren't they "they pair"?

      This past weekend I just finished up Fredericksburg Trade Days and feel rather exhausted as I tried to also finish packing this for our BIG show this starting Sept. 27th at Zapp Hall in Warrenton, Texas.

       Tuesday, is move in day with the help of Elaine's son, Dan Reinhard.  Then I'm excited to have several fantastic friends in this biz help me out.  On Friday and Saturday, Lori Allen and hopefully Sheryl Westerman (both from Trade Days) are coming to help and will have some of their fantastic paper creations and jewelry for sale.  Then on Sunday and some days the following week, Lisa Love Harris of The Garden Cat will be helping me and bringing her fantastic murder mystery book and some of her treasures to sell.  The last weekend, my friends from Hondo, Sharon and Doug Schueling are coming to help and then hall back my RV......  Am I blessed or what??  I cannot express my gratitude enough for these special friends.   Not to mention, so many others have offered their support and the ladies of Zapp Hall, Cheryl LeHane and her sister, Karen and their Sister/friend, Deela have offered to help.  I feel so grateful and humble and give God the praise.
       I hope to see you at Zapp between Sept. 27th and Oct. 5th.

  Betsy

Perspective

   Guess what, it's one week and one day from the Greatest show on Dirt (as Debbie from Talking Trash often said in her blog) of the biggest show in Texas that happens twice a year in the little towns of Warrenton and Round Top and several other small towns as well.  It's been called "Antique Week" but as time has gone by it has morphed into a longer and unorthodox show consisting of dozens of "shows" within this big show.
      In the "official" news magazine, Show Daily they do a great job of including every venue and highlighting when each show starts plus which vendors are at the different shows.
     This Fall, we (mainly me dragging Elaine along) decided to do the Fall show and debated about which Venue to set up at.  Our friends, Diane and Roger, owners of Blends- in Georgetown have set up at Zapp Hall along with our friend Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage so we applied and got one of the last spaces they had.
   

We got excited and started focusing our purchases on things for the show, then Elaine's husband Ray got a report from a routine check-up that a spot or mass showed up on a chest X-Ray that Elaine insisted he get.  After several tests, they actually saw a spot on both lungs but one was the bigger concern.  As more tests and procedures were set up, plans started to change about the show.  The surgery to remove the mass was set for September 19th with 3 to 5 days in the hospital and then bed rest at home.  It became obvious that Elaine couldn't do the show, so while I was on vacation in Maine, I started praying and contemplating and determining whether I would do the show alone or cancel on the kind ladies who run the Zapp show.  

After a lot of prayer and evaluating everything, I decided to go ahead and do the show with the support of Elaine and our many wonderful Antique business friends and family.  I had envisioned a theme for the show for a while and ran it by Elaine and we decided it would be a good way to showcase our diverse inventory.

We're calling our space the Vintage Brocante.

I have never been to a French Brocante (flea market) but I've read lots of blogs of those who have attended some and in my mind, I see our space as little streets of Paris with various antique and vintage wares displayed for sale.  Here are some images I found online of vendor spaces at a French brocante:

The second picture is courtesy Tongue in Cheek

I hope it comes out like I imagine it or at least the shopper will hopefully get the feel and excitement of the vignettes we plan to set up and more importantly the GREAT goods we'll have for sale.

I am so grateful for family and friends stepping in to help like Elaine's son, Dan Reinhard who is taking off a day from work to help me unload the trailers and set up the booth next Tuesday.  Our friend, Lisa Love Harris of The Garden Cat is going to help me and a few others have volunteered plus we have some names of people who we may hire to help.  Along with all of that, Elaine's husband Ray has told her that he should be ok if she wants to come over part of the time to help (but that will definitely be a wait and see).

So, it's really about Perspective which according to Word Reference.com has one meaning that says:

1. the proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it; objectivity: try to get some perspective on your troubles.

      When we weigh our situations, it's best to keep things in perspective and to remember 

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.

    Blessing to all and if you read this post before tomorrow morning, June 19th, we thank you for any and all prayers for a successful surgery that takes around 7:30 AM.

Betsy

Road Trip to Maine

     My sweet sister and business partner, Elaine Reinhard-Lang agreed to accompany me on a cross country trip to Maine from Texas to deliver my boyfriend's truck to him.  Our younger sister, Arlene Marshall wasn't able to go on this sister's trip this time but hopefully on our next adventure we'll all get to go.
      In case you're wondering, that trip was over 2400 miles and we made it in two and a half days and managed as only junk dealers do to work in a couple shopping exits!
   

Our first night was spent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, so being the ever vigilant junker, Elaine asked the attendent at the gas station if there were any thrift stores near by.  Guess what?? There just happened to be this America's Thrift store about a quarter mile from the station!  We managed to buy some vintage costume jewelry items, some was even on SALE!   We got a few other items and were on our way.

We made it all the way to Tennessee before the next urge hit us!  A small sign on the interstate said Sweetwater, Tennessee Antique district.  We looked at each other and decided it was time for a "rest" break!

We found this giant antique shop located in an old warehouse and it was like candy to a sweet addict!  The shop was owned by two people but the way it was laid out and the amount of great merchandise made us think it was a mall.  The prices were very fair and it's just a shame we were both flying back to Texas because it was tempting to buy a lot.  We fell in love with a vintage folding shopping cart and couldn't refuse the fair discount the owner gave us.  We figured where there's a will there's a way, so we weren't even concerned about getting it home (foolish us!).

Torrential rains throughout Virginia the next day put a stop to further shopping.  By that time, we were getting very tired of that Dodge Dakota truck and just wanted to get to Maine.  We did stop one more night in Virginia and then drove through eight states before making it to Maine.  I love the rolling hills of Virginia and Pennsylvania but the rain kept us from doing much car window sight seeing.  We did get a kick out of this exit in Hartford, Conneticuit... wondering if it was intentional to put an asylum exit with a state capitol exit.

Speaking of the capitol of Conneticuit, it looks like a fairy tale castle (but I'm wondering how many fairy tales take place inside)! ha!

Once in Maine, Elaine only had a few days before flying home, so we had to cram in some sight seeing AND antique shopping.  On Sunday, we took her to a great antique/vintage auction in Burnham, Maine and we almost had to pull her away to get her to leave! ha!  We were both wishing we had a U Haul instead on a plane ticket to go home.  Elaine won the bid on a huge box lot of vintage Christmas decorations for an unbelievable price.

Here are some of the most unusual (and valuable) mercury glass ornaments she uncovered in one of her boxes.

Here's a few other items we got at the auction and on our trip.

We were in envy of this fellow who's truck was loaded down with treasures, Beverly Hillbillies style.  In fact we found out we weren't the only Texans at this auction, but we didn't get to meet the other fellow Texan (or else we probably would have asked if he had any room to take back some of our purchases)!

I

In case you're wondering why we drove the truck to Maine I'll briefly explain that my boyfriend is originally from there and decided after retirement that he can't take the Texas heat anymore so he moved back.  For now this will be a LONG distance relationship, but on the plus side, I get to make trips to Maine and do some shopping! ha!

We did take Elaine to the coast twice so she could see the beautiful Maine fishing towns.

Here she is in Belfast, Maine at the dock that was filled with sail boats and lobster boats.

Elaine and I are standing in front of the Rockland lighthouse.  It was a LONG walk on uneven granite slabs to get there, but it was worth it.

Just so you'll know, this is my guy, Willie.  He is NOT into antiques but was a great sport and took us to the auction and some yard sales.

Remember the cart I mentioned we bought in Tennessee?  Well who would have thought it would be such an ordeal to mail (and so expensive) but it was.  Part of the problem (and it's a good problem for a junker) was that Willie's niece and I bartered scrapbooking supplies for two awesome warehouse carts.  We had to figure out how to get all three home.  In case, you're wondering after going to the post office, UPS and even calling the airlines to see if I could check it, we found out Greyhound Bus Co. is the best and least expensive way to ship bulky items.

Here's our package which amazing arrived in San Antonio, Texas undamaged.  Here's what we went through all that trouble to ship:

Awesome, right?

I apologize for this long synopsis of our trip, but I hope enjoyed going with us on our trip.

Betsy