Vintage Lace and Lavender

The End of a Long Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 03:31:00 +0000

Over a year and a half it's been since I posted. And what a story to tell. I believe my last post was right around a time when I thought that my life might stay status quo for a time. But, oh, how wrong I was. . .

Beautiful Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Finally finding some time in my days to get back to blogging. Have come across some beautiful pictures from Pinterest. Am sharing today:

Have a tealightful weekend!

Annual Letter to Friends and Family, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:28:00 +0000

Happy Holidays, everyone!
As usual it’s been an eventful year and a half. These letters end up being not only an informative “here’s what’s been happening with us” commentary, but also a bit of a journal for me. Wish I had time to journal on a daily basis, but it ends up being this – the once a year holiday letter to friends and family. So now I have to remember what’s happened in the last year – a test for my mid-life, fifty-something brain. Here goes:

September, 2011:

Tim and I take one of our semi-annual treks to Norwood. We’d been working on mom for quite some time to make the decision to move out to Ohio. Miraculously, she does. Wow. And so the checklists begin.

I spend the next several weeks searching for a “place for mom” (wasn’t that a movie?). She’s been on a waiting list at an assisted living facility for years and is first in line for an apartment there. Is the timing right? I visit the complex again – nope, the time isn’t right. Need to step her down into something “else”. Again, miraculously, I find a one story, ADA equipped, brand spanking new apartment with a 2 car attached garage. Perfect. Mom’s new home.

Now we need to equip the apartment with some essentials to make it feel homey until mom’s household goods arrive. I frequent estate sales and peruse Craig’s list for furniture and kitchen items. We end up equipping the apartment with everything she’d ever need for under $1000. Beautiful like-new Lazy Boy couch & 2 Queen Anne chairs, 2 twin beds, bureau, kitchen items, pictures & multiple other items. She could start off brand new! We wouldn’t even need to move anything! Nope – she wanted EVERYTHING from her home of 50 years. EVERYTHING! So I started calling movers for quotes.

Tim’s been working at a little restaurant down the street. I’m still at DayMark.

November, 2011:

The week before the week of Thanksgiving, I make the trip to Norwood to gather mom. She’s okay with selling the house right away. So we meet with a realtor. We meet with a stager. We meet with a contractor, we meet with movers. We pack a bag, she takes one last look and we’re off to the airport. Wow. My mom is leaving my childhood home and her home of 50 years. And she didn’t shed a tear. I can’t believe it. It really is time.
She gets to Ohio and seems to like the apartment okay (although it isn’t home ). I get her set up with a homemaker and a life line.

We have a lovely Thanksgiving that following week and spend as much time with her as we can in the next few weeks to make sure she’s comfortable and adapting. I actually manage to throw up a few holiday decorations and do some Christmas shopping. We have a holiday gathering with Tim’s kids and my mom meets the people that I’ve told her about for years. And then it’s off to Norwood again to close down the house.

My company decides it’s going to merge its divisions.

December, 2011:

The week before Christmas I arrive at 18 Irving St. with my checklist in hand. I contact the Salvation Army, Easter Seals and a local auctioneer (who turned out to be a total snob). I made arrangements for a dumpster and to have a “red light” system set up to alert her good neighbors in case the furnace went on the fritz over the winter. And then I proceeded to tear apart and sort through the memories – a job that I’d been dreading my whole adult life.
The berm outside her house filled up with things that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to throw away, but that I knew she didn’t need or want and had no memory value. So the EVERYTHING that she wanted really had to be cut down a bit. I put in a “free at the curb” add on Craig’s list and the scavengers arrived. The items slowly disappeared. The Salvation Army took bags of old clothes and Easter Seals took some of the furniture. The dumpster filled up. And then the movers arrived to start the packup. We used Atlas and they were just fantastic. I couldn’t believe that I was asking them to pack up some of the old, dirty items that I knew she wouldn’t need, but also that I knew she would want. And they did.

My mom’s next door neighbors, Dave & Marlene, were great. They’d been my backup for years, coming to mom’s rescue when she wasn’t well and I couldn’t be there. And here they were again, actually rearranging and getting INTO the dumpster to stomp everything down to make it all fit. I cried.

And then the house was empty. I had a cleaning company come in to wash the windows and do a general cleaning even though contractors were coming in shortly to start the update project to get it ready for sale. I couldn’t leave it any other way. I said goodbye to the house, my childhood and the neighbors, spent the night in a hotel, and had one last New England meal before I left for the airport for the trip back to Ohio.

A few days before Christmas, her household goods arrived. We managed to have a nice, but quiet Christmas. And then the unpacking started. The “where is this?” questions were endless, and having been through several moves myself, I knew that it would probably take a year to get her unpacked. And it has! And although we’re still not completely done, the important stuff has been located.

And we discover that my cat, Mason, has had a bit of a problem and has been urinating on my living room carpet. For months. So now the vet appointments start.

January, 2012

So the move was completed, but now we needed to get the house sold. The realtor we’d hired referred us to a stager who referred us to a contractor. We needed to have the wallpaper stripped, the whole house kill-stained (to get rid of the cigarette smoke smell) and painted. We needed to have the floors stripped and refinished, the bathrooms rehabbed and the electrical brought up to code. The kitchen counter needed to be replaced. And then once we got into it, we found some structural items that needed to be addressed and plumbing that needed to be rerouted. And we spent the next several months taking care of these issues.

I start setting up the doctor, dentist, opthalmalogy, hair & nail appointments for mom. Along with attorney and financial advisor appointments to ensure her estate is set up as it needs to be.

Mason is quarantined and on an antibiotic.

I am reassigned to work under the VP of Sales & Marketing.

March, 2012

And then the updates were finished and it was time to get the house on the market. Our realtor had an open house the first week of March. It was a beautiful day – a Norman Rockwell scene we were told – with children playing ball in the street and the neighbors out working in their yards. We had 40 people come through. And 3 offers right off the bat. We declined one immediately and then had 2 competing with each other. We ended up with an offer that was more than our asking price. A perfect scenario. And then the inspection happened. And we spent weeks negotiating through the 32 pages of issues.

Mason is taken in for testing and his UTI isn’t gone. He’s quarantined again and on another antibiotic.

My stress level at work has gone down working for my new boss. Phew!

May, 2012

And suddenly it seemed, the house sale had closed. It was odd how it ended – we weren’t even sure that all the issues had been resolved, and then the closing was set and we had a check in our hand shortly afterward. . . . And an era ended.

Mason is taken in for testing again. His UTI appears to be cleared up and he resumes life in the main part of the house. He’s now on a food regime that includes lots of water.

Mom gets a toothache and has to have her remaining two teeth pulled. . . and new dentures made . . . and now the endless dentist appointments start.

June – November, 2012

Along with the unpacking, rearranging and picture hanging, doctor, eye and dentist appointments, we have managed to get out and have some fun. We’ve gone to JC Penney for new curtains and she told me she hadn’t been in a department store for years. We go to the superstore and she buzzes around it in one of their scooters and gets to see all kinds of new things and pick out the food she wants. She loves her new hair stylist, gets a regular pedicure and we go out for dinner as often as we can.

In June we replaced our living room carpet and painted the room.

In August, Tim & I took an actual vacation - road trip to Minneapolis and Wisconsin to see friends and then to the Upper Peninsula.

In September we spent a night at the bed and breakfast in Toledo just to "get away" for a weekend.

In October, we took a long weekend to Holmes County (where the Amish people live!), Ohio. Stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast there, too.

December, 2012

And, so, here we are. We’re all getting into a bit of a routine now. Mom's homemakers are in regularly, her doctor is now familiar with her complaints, her physical therapist is keeping her on her feet and her dentist thinks she’s funny. She has several restaurants that she likes and has gone to the opera. We’ve had another lovely Christmas gathering with Tim’s kids and are going to a holiday symphony concert this month. And we’re hoping to get her to a holiday light show at the Toledo Zoo if the weather cooperates.

My company is having its ups and downs. We’ve lost several employees over the last several months (which they were hoping for) and they can’t seem to figure out what’s going to work to get them into a profitable position. They’ve rolled out a company-wide system change that hasn't worked right from day one and my work load is a little crazy right now. I refuse to take work home and try not to put in too much overtime (which means nothing when you’re salaried). I’m still dreaming of having a tearoom someday. Hopefully, it will be sooner than later. I really rather dislike the corporate world and never wanted to be here.

Tim lost his job at the restaurant, decided to get into the estate sale business and is staying busy buying and selling retro items.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So - that's the story for year of 2012. Can't wait to see what next year brings!

Much love to all of you this season and always!

Lynn, Tim, Sally, Sara, Mason & Ariel

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:21:00 +0000

Just added a page to Facebook for Vintage L & L! My new camera's in the mail!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:33:00 +0000

I'm back!!!!

Besides moving my mom to Ohio, I also was charged (as I am the only one left to do this) with selling her home in Massachusetts. This involved finding a contractor to perform a multitude of renovations on the house just to bring it up to code, but as well to make it more appealling to a potential buyer. My mom is a smoker, my dad was as well, so the smoke stained wallpaper (throughout the entire house) had to go, a kill stain applied and the entire interior painted. Electrical updates, kitchen updates, sump line redirect, and the list went on and on. Fortunately, after all had been completed and the house put on the market, we had an offer to purchase in a matter of days. But then it was 45 days of working with the buyers to make sure that everything was to their and their lender's satisfaction. Crushing. But we closed on the house on Tuesday and now life can go on. :-)

On another note, my day job has started a photography club. I will finally be learning how my camera works and can't wait to post pictures that aren't blurry and are actually of the things I want to focus on.

Have a wonderful day, everyone! It's good to be back.

November Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:20:00 +0000

Not that I have a huge following, but for anyone that might be interested, I apologize for being out of it the last - oh, my - over two months! I am in the process of moving my mom to Ohio, and it's a rather daunting task. We have a housefull of items to downsize and move and then a house to sell from out of state! So when I have a moment, I'll repost, but it might not be for awhile as we have some settling in to do. Hope everyone in bloggy land is doing fine.

Stay happy and happy sipping!

Packer Creek Pottery

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:06:00 +0000

This was a fun and out-of-the-way place to visit. Another spot on the AAA day trip. In Genoa, OH Packer Creek Pottery has a wonderful assortment of handmade pottery pieces with delightful artwork. And Genoa has some other neat little shops (to be visited the next time I head over to this town).

These are some of the artists at work in their workshop.

In their retail showroom, beautiful table tiles, bowls, even lamps!

A nice display on the wall of some of their pieces.

More displays.

Another artist pic.

A piece in the works.

In the middle of processing. Is this the "green" stage?

One of the pottery "throwers". This woman actually went to school to become a potter thrower and is now living her dream!

A finisher.

These are cooling.

Join me next time, when we go to Mon Ami Winery!

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home this week.

Day Trippin'

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:54:00 +0000

I've been very busy lately (unfortunately, not updating this blog!)

but wanted to let you know that my website and blog

have been undergoing a re-design (as you can see here).

I'm also busy processing through some new inventory

and will be adding that to my site soon.

Meanwhile, I needed a day of fun and so engaged in a single day

AAA motorcoach tour of some places in my area I've been

meaning to visit.

Today's update takes us to:

Schedel Arboretum in Elmore, Ohio

Who knew there were Redwoods in Ohio?

The bonsai nursery

The kitchen garden

The rose garden

It was a blistering hot day, but well worth the trip. Hope you enjoyed your visit here today!

Reason for the Season

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:11:00 +0000

This is a total tearjerker video I picked up off of Susan Branch's website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMlIM9zLio

I celebrate the Red, White and Blue the whole month of July, so here's to all of our brave soldiers who help keep us safe and to their families who so graciously share them.

The Big 5-0

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 29 May 2011 22:40:00 +0000

Oh, no - It's the Big 5-0!!!!

What a great birthday. Lasted over a week! My bunco group had an Irish themed gathering for me. Here's me with the delish Bailey's Irish Creme cake that my friend, Mary, made:

The party was at Mary's house. The group gathered their St. Patrick's day decorations and chipped in to help decorate.

My friend, MaryEllen, made this fun poster.

More decorations.

The lovely table that Mary set.

More decorations.

And here's some of the group, chatting as we do. MaryEllen recited a list throughout the night of Irish sayings and toasts.

More decorations.

Here's the cake that Mary made. Yum!

And my friend, Cindy, made this beautiful card for me, signed by the group.

They presented me with beautiful gifts. This table book of Ireland. . . 

And this cookbook. . .

This is a pay-it-forward gift from MaryEllen. I know who's getting this next!

And this beautiful Swarovski shamrock. Just lovely. Very thoughtful.

That night was so wonderful. But it wasn't over yet! More to come . . .

Thought for My Next 50 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Hoping this is how I'll react to my emotions when I'm 80 years old! Wooooo Hooooo!!!!

Great Movie!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 04:27:00 +0000

Wow, where have I been. Just got done watching a great movie, "Once". Check it out. Beautiful soundtrack.

Herbie and Jabby- Puppy Love

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:32:00 +0000

Oh, this is so cute!

Where is Spring?

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Ah, yes, here it is. . . . .

Have a tea-rrific day!

New Spring Products Being Added Daily to Website

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:50:00 +0000

Beautiful bath and body gift items and teas with designs by Mary Lake Thompson being added daily! Check them out!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Thought I'd share some of my holiday decorating with you:

My Winterberry table setting

One of the baskets I put together for friends. It had a layered soup in a jar, layered cookie mix in a jar, a little cookbook, some homemade chex mix, candy, dog treats for their dachsund and an ornament.

My kitchen table centerpiece

My coffee table centerpiece

My fireplace Santa

My mantel. All in Santas. The two pictures are of windswept Santas. Just love those.

My living room tree. This is the one with a lifetime of sentimental ornaments.

One of the ornaments from the "pink/gold" tree in my dining room

Snowflake ornament from my pink/gold tree

Snowman ornament. He looks so happy!

Dining room place setting

My dining room table. This is the first year I've set it up with my Winterberry collection. All I needed was some people to enjoy dinner off of it! Oh, well. Maybe next year. It was pretty to look at anyway.

I had the outside lit up, too, but my camera doesn't take good pictures at night. It was lovely, though. Still lit, too. Getting together with family on Friday, so I'm enjoying them for another week!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:03:00 +0000

Here's a wonderful tribute to the meaning of Christmas!

School's Almost Over

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:28:00 +0000

I've been taking a class on how to write a business plan the last few months, so I can try to seek out some capital for VL&L. Almost done, one more exam left. Then it's on to completing my plan. Should be done sometime in the spring. Wish me luck!

Getting back in the swing

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:46:00 +0000

Obviously, since I haven't been posting, it's been a hectic last few weeks. Took some time off from work over the Thanksgiving holiday. Shopped just about all day Wednesday, put together my Christmas cards, prepared Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, shopped the morning of Black Friday, served Thanksgiving dinner Friday afternoon and have been decorating ever since. I'll add some pictures to this post in the next few days. I've been mad at my camera of late as it keeps giving me blurry pictures. Very frustrating.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. On to Christmas!

Happy Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:59:00 +0000

Halloween Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com

Autumn Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:34:00 +0000

A local greenhouse down the street had their annual fall festival a couple of weeks ago. I stopped by real quick in between my Saturday errand running. It was fun even for a quick stop.

There was food. . .

Flowers. . .

Hayrides. . .

Cute fall displays . . .

Here was an interesting idea for an old bureau:

And an old grill . . .

They have great fairy garden items. . .

They even had a mini straw maze!

Lots of kids activities (paint the pumpkin). . .

And face painters (these people are so talented!). . .

And more beautiful flowers.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Driving to my "Day Job"

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:17:00 +0000

Sometimes the drive into work in the morning isn't quite so bad . . . .

Have a glorious day!

Oooohhh, October

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:34:00 +0000

I just love this time of year! The warm days and cool nights. Fires in the firepit, burning leaves. And new bursts of color in my garden!

This is the start of my spooky front door for Halloween. More to come!

Enjoy these glorious fall days!

Shabby Lane Shops

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 01:21:00 +0000

Been in touch with Catherine at Shabby Lane Shops in the hopes I can rebrand a little and get a new logo, website design, etc. in place soon. Check out her site. Lots of great shops!!! Hopefully, mine to be one soon, too!

Time to Decorate for Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Lynn) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Needed to go to the store for work the other day, and couldn't resist picking up a few things for my dining room tablescape.

Leaf placemats & jacquart napkins are from Walmart.

The chargers are from Walmart, too.

The cake stand and pumpkin are from Hobby Lobby.

The plates are from Pier 1 several years ago.

I have more pictures, but they won't seem to rotate for me, so I'll try to add them later.

Enjoy your day!