Tuesday, September 4, 2012

a day of shopping


 with the heat finally abating for a few days, it seemed the perfect day to hop on the old kawasaki and get in a little exploratory shopping... there is nothing quite like a partially cloudy day in the mid 70's for a spontaneous bike trip into town.


at my first stop, the montana rescue mission thrift shop, i found some wonderful men's shirts that were just begging to be de-constructed and re-imagined!


also hiding in a little corner was a box of old thread spools filled with wonderfully neutral colored threads! a quick burn test revealed them to be cotton so they will be perfect for over-dyeing...


stopping next at st. vincent de paul's yielded a large bag of wine corks. several years ago, a friend of mine and i embarked upon a carving odyssey for stamping in art journals. i don't know whatever happened to all those wonderful stamps....but i'm thinking these will be perfect for carving new ones to experiment with mark making on cloth!


the a quick trip out to the red barn antique shop on the outskirts of laurel brought me to this little treasure. at first i was excited to find such a wonderful little tin box (given my passion for collecting boxes of all sorts). imagine my joy to find a full set of round tin cookie cutters! of course, these will never cut cookie dough in my house since they are destined for the rust pots for making moons and suns on cloth.


a small tin box (!) full of rusty little tools were also to be had...including an old working padlock and key. these will be happily joining the cookie cutters in the rust pots.


then a quick jaunt into laurel proper to the good shepherd antique and thrift shop brought me to this marvelous stack of old 78's.  i had such a difficult time deciding which to buy for my victrola. there were big bands, blues, classical, and even a few crazy old doris day cuts!  of course, the blues won out and i now have 12 new blues albums to listen to... i'm thinking, however, that i may have to make another trip out there for some of those big bands albums!


most intriguing, however, was this large crate of rusted old door knobs. my soul ached when i decided to pass on them...mostly because i was still on the kawasaki and could only purchase what my old leather back pack could hold and it was already at capacity (if not slightly beyond). i would love to have had the entire box...but may have to settle for picking up a knob or two when i go back out there for more of the 78's.

meanwhile, it's time to settle in and get some needle chanting done tonight. i've pulled out a couple of my "mindless" projects to keep my hands busy while my elders sleep.

namaste'

18 comments:

  1. what a fantastic haul from your day's shopping! The thrift shops in your town have some beautiful treasures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha ! seems you had a good day out, Joe !

    ReplyDelete
  3. a long time ago... I was taken back to house with a front door covered in about a hundred door knobs of all different shapes and sizes by a wild raven haired witch, the knob that opened the door was just off centre & up near the top of that mysterious door. I'll never forget that night and never found the house again...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh mo! that sounds mysteriously delightful! i don't think i would have ever forgotten such a night either!

      Delete
  4. What a treasure hunt! I remember my days of doing those same searches :)
    We're finally cooler, not even 80 and it has sprinkled those big fat drops that I love! Yay!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh what i wouldn't do for some of those big fat rain drops!

      Delete
  5. Goodness, what great finds! Maybe you need to outfit your bike with paniers, I really liked the doorknobs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha! my bike used to have fairings...but i've been stripping it down and converting it into a hybrid cafe racer/road warrior...so no fairings or paniers. i'll just have to take the truck next time if i want more. of course, this is why i shop with the bike now...to curb my collecting habit!

      Delete
  6. i haven't been to st. vincent de paul in a long time. we have one here in town. what great finds.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Joe,
    I enjoyed checking out your blog. I'm a fellow student in the Spirit Cloth Diaries. where does your love of stiching come from? You totally scored on your treasures hunt!
    carmen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. welcome carmen! i've been entranced by fiber arts of one kind or another most of my life. from knitting to stitchery to bearmaking (in the 80's) and bobbin lace (in the 90's) to elizabethan costuming to weaving to spinning and more. i think it comes from having a very tactile nature. i was always the kid that had to touch absolutely everything!!

      Delete
  8. Great haul there Joe ...you will have to go back to get your little mitts on those yummy door knobs ...the cookie cutters are adorable .......x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes. most definitely! even if it is only on a few of them!

      Delete
  9. You have a good eye for delicious treasures. Looks as if you did quite well for yourself. Love those jeans with the red stitching. Quite chic for the Kawasaki.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it's true. even the clerks are frequently amazed by the crazy stuff i find in their own shops!

      Delete
  10. What treasures .... I LOVE those spools of thread, and your jeans look amazing! I would love to come treasure hunting in your part of the world!

    Jacky xox

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you are welcome to join me any time! the old kaw has double saddle seats at the moment, so plenty of room for two tushes to settle in for a day of treasure hunting!

      Delete
  11. so many treasures! i was wondering how you got them all home on your bike, full to overflowing.

    ReplyDelete