Showing posts with label Treasure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Treasure. Show all posts

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Treasure Hunt in Farmersville

Singer Sewing Machine
The tiny downtown of Farmersville, Texas always yields a treasure or two and today was no exception. The stores have changed somewhat over the years, somehow adding more sophistication and newer things. Or perhaps it's me who has changed.

Red Door Antiques moved across the main street into a newly remodeled space. It's beautifully decorated and full of lovely things. Even so, I miss their old space that was drafty and dusty, just like I like it.
Downtown Farmersville TX


Found amid the current items that seem to outnumber the aged and vintage things of previous days, an enamel dishpan from the 1940s, white with red trim awaited. Another customer remarked that they used to bathe their small child in a pan like that. Yes!
Enamel Dishpan with Red Trim

At my favorite store, Main Street Antiques, there was a vintage Singer Sewing machine, the hand crank kind like one that sold in my own store long ago. Of course it was a must purchase after spotting the twenty percent off sign. A little Goo Be Gone and a wipe down with a cotton rag and it sparkles like new.

The best find of all today was a Christian Hymnal that contains most of the songs we sang in church as children. This book was published in 1961 and has a soft cover along with a classic image of the Savior rescuing a lamb. Sweet!
One of my Dad's favorite tunes...

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Christmas Decorations

Putting away the boxes of Christmas decorations made me want to purge my rampant collection of holiday decor. A couple of trips to the trunk of the car and once again, my boxes fit neatly into the cupboard beneath the stairs. I knew exactly where I was headed with the donations.

Of course, it was somewhere that I would likely bring home more stuff than I dropped off.

The trip held no exception to the truth about giving; it makes more room for treasure. This vintage punch bowl was discovered at The Samaritan Inn in McKinney Texas.

Oh yes, one more item to find room for in the overflowing cupboard. The old pressed glass pattern brought back days of Christmas in the sixties and was simply irresistible. We traditionally served red punch poured into dainty little glass cups with handles way too small for anyone's fingers. The recipe was prepared with ginger ale, Hawaiian punch and pineapple juice cooled with ice cubes of frozen fruit juice. My sister was in charge of ladling at our house, hard at work at here at her duty post.
Perhaps when the right festive occasion comes along and punch is required, I might find a use for this set of elegant glassware. I can imagine filling it with a colorful holiday beverage. Forget the paper cups, I enjoy using real dishes.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Off for a Sunday Morning Drive

Living in the country has many advantages, one of which is the proximity of the old time neighboring communities. In just a few short miles and within minutes, I can be immersed in landscapes that take me back to a simpler time; a place where railroad tressles, onion sheds and grain silos dot the neighboring fields.
Downtown Farmersville Square

Two of my favorite places to spend a weekend morning include Princeton and Farmersville, Texas.

Today I set out early, heading north on one of Texas' picturesque highways to Farmersville's Historic Downtown Square.
To the right is a glimpse of the park adjacent to the Onion Shed pictured below. Today's unseasonably cool temperatures in the low 70s are the perfect pairing to a stroll through the grounds.
The Onion Shed and entry to Audie Murphy Trail Head
The Onion Shed is where Farmersville Farmers and Fleas monthly produce market is held. I missed yesterday's festivities, when the locals bring their handmade goods, vegetables and crafts for sale and display on the picnic tables under the tin roof.

Recycled Playground Equipment


South view of town
Although it is a colorful display that I've participated in as a one-time vendor, I enjoy the quiet on a Sunday morning when the local crowd is absent.

None of the merchants have opened their stores as most wait until after noon when church is out.

Main Street early on Sunday morning
This is Main Street where my favorite Antique Store is hidden away among antique buildings, many in the process of restoration. Its proprietor knows me by name and greets me with each visit, inquiring about my mother who is her age, yet the two are worlds apart. She brings baked goods and serves coffee and Mimosas to the visitors who patronize her store. Doris, at 87, has just completed the renovation of her building where a variety of consignment booths are housed, dedicating the building to her late husband.

Farmersville Visitor's Center - Chamber of Commerce

Galvanized horse troughs and farm supplies
Scenic Overlook - View of Lake Lavon
The journey on the return trip is refreshingly familiar as I gaze off into fields lining the road and stop at a Scenic Overlook.
Now it's time to head home and wash the produce purchased at a familiar stop in Princeton, Sally's Produce. I came away with a nice assortment of summer squash, green snap beans, tomatoes and a canteloupe along with a beautiful jar of red rasberry jam, the basis for a Rasberry Walnut Vinegrette dressing I'll serve on spinach salad. Sally wanted to know how to prepare the dressing, and I share my recipe while butterflies land softly on the produce resting between us.

All in all, it was a lovely trip.