Book Club: February

Ash has a really great blog. She is so funny and smart and I feel like we would be friends in real life. She started her casual-ass internet book club in January and I was excited to join it! I love reading and usually get through at least 50 books a year. A few years in a row I made it a goal and read over 100! You can check out my Good Reads profile here. I don't claim to have great taste! Ha!
I like the idea of being in a little casual club, with interesting books. The rules are you read the book sometime during the month and then post about it. Easy. Except I'm finding out I'm not great at writing reviews. But I'll try. I read this book almost two weeks ago and have been putting off this post since then!

The book for February was The Woodcutter by Kate Danley. The idea is that all the classic fairy tales/legends inhabit this real world, and one central figure, the Woodcutter, keeps it all moving like it should. I was intrigued by this idea, and the plot synopsis online made me think of The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly which I really loved.
Sadly, the story never really delivers. The first probably 10 pages were painful for me to read and I almost gave up. The story telling was very choppy and seemed to jump ahead too fast. Then it got better and at a few points I found myself staying up late to see what happened next.  But it seemed like as soon as something interesting started to happen, or a new character was introduced the story already moved on and you never really got to know any character past the very surface.
Like Ash said in her review, the more I thought back on this book the more annoyed I got by it. It was fine to read, but it was so unsatisfying!

February Flea Finds

I didn't buy much at the flea this month, but it was still fun to browse. Here is what we brought home...

A pile of photos as usual. I'll scan some later this week and show you! I can't resist old craft books either. This on is from the 50's and is pretty great! Here are a few of my favorite pages. 

A beautiful hat made from a paper plate and cup! So classic.

 A bunny made from a marshmallow! I love the idea of some of these on top of an Easter cake. Or like the book suggests "Watch him melt."

 And sunbonnet Sue is just sweet.

 I picked up another house shaped shelf finally! I've been looking for a year, but never find them in person. There are some online, but I don't want to pay shipping. I use this kind of shelf to display my salt and pepper shaker collection. It is in the tiny little hall off of our tiny little kitchen that holds the litter boxes. I think the cats appreciate it.

 Here are the two I already have. 

 The windowsills are crowded with pairs waiting for a spot on a shelf. 

 Before the flea we stopped by the Family Tree Estate store. If you follow Eartha and Lisa you saw them posting about consigning some of their vintage clothes at the sales and I couldn't resist stopping by! We picked up these two shirts for Travis. He also bought a cute air force button up at the flea market, but he wore it and its in the wash right now.

 As usual I couldn't resist the precious vintage baby clothes. 

My favorite are things with cute appliqué like these. 

 Precious embroidery!

 Someone I love is having a little boy this summer, so now at least I have an excuse to pick up sweet little boy things. Teeny overalls are so cute.

And last but not least I got this poodle letter holder, then broke it while I was getting it out of the car. Here's hoping that I can fix it.

The flea in February!

I wonder if I'll be able to make it to the flea every month this year. I made that a goal last year but ended up not going in a few of the hotter months. We'll see I guess. I LOVE the Nashville flea market! This month I was able to go on Saturday, when I'm usually working. It was so crowded! February is usually slow, but it was a really beautiful day. Here is what I saw.

We always love to look through old pins. Travis is looking for Red Cross stuff, and I'm looking for weird/silly/cute stuff. 

We bought these three, the two with red writing are like the "So's Your Old Man!" pin I picked up in Louisville earlier this year. I wonder where they game from, and how many there are! I like how rude they are.

 Looooove these old nursery wall art. Especially that moon!

 There was a tiny bit of Easter stuff out, but not much. I like that creepy old bunny in the back.

 The graphics on this little record player were so sweet! I like the three blind mice the best.

 I really loved this lamp shade but Travis wasn't into it. I guess he deserves veto power. But that gold!

 Really great GIANT framed horse tapestry. 

 How great is this image of two fancy women fencing? 

This made me laugh! I wonder if someone is really going to want an old TCBY sign. Are their huge fans of "The Country's Best Yogurt" out there?

 I kind of love these little mice by Russ from the 80's. I have one that is wearing a little suit. 

 We worked up quite an appetite walking around the flea market so we stopped by one of our favorite places in town, Istanbul. If you are in Nashville check them out! They are on Scout Mob right now. The owner is ALWAYS there and is so nice. And the food is great!

Mmmmmm, falafel and fries. 

Leftovers

Where I work we do a really good deal on double dozen roses for Valentine's day. There were lots left over this year so they let us take home as many as we wanted. I took 6 dozen! Ha! I don't have flowers around very often, but I like it! Sadly the only place in my house that I can put them is on top of the cabinet in my dining room, because a certain torti cat can't resist chomping on real flowers. 

I would have SWORN I had a few wide mouth vases, but couldn't find them. The green bottle with the flower decal was a lucky garage sale find from the summer. 

What do you think of the green roses? There were the most of those left, I guess they weren't popular this year, but I like them! I think the almost look like a lettuce bouquet!

A certain someone just couldn't keep away! See how her ears are back? That is because I had sprayed her with a water bottle about ten times before I took this picture!

For the rest of the day, every time I went into the dining room this is the scene that greeted me. But with all her plotting and planning, Scampi never was able to make it up there. Thankfully! The flowers are still holding up, almost two weeks later! I think I need to treat myself to fresh flowers more often. 

Junking on the way home

Since I was in Chattanooga for the sale I posted about yesterday I had to stop by one of our all time favorite restaurants. It is called Sluggo's! They have a pretty great looking menu, but I LOVE their vegan club sandwich so much that I always get it. I don't even know what it is about it! The pinto beans are good too, and their tahini dressing is out of this world! I need to figure out how to make it.

If you are ever in the area check it out for sure.

The drive home was only 2 hours, but I got a little antsy on my way back, so I stopped in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. It is a town that is known for it's antique stores. I haven't been since I way 12 years old. A lot of the stores were closed on Monday, but I found one that was open.

The green box with the cutest graphics was pretty tempting. It was made of metal with a great little hinged lid. But I left it behind.

 Look at the sweet graphics on this little crib! I need a niece to buy this kind of stuff for!

 And last but not least, this glamorous craft piece. I'll give you a moment to take it in. 

Yes, that is a syrup bottle that has been given a glamourous makeover, including googly eyes and a little wig. Believe it or not I was able to leave this little lady behind. I just walked out with a little black poodle with a spiral for holding letters on it's back, and randomly I found the audio book of Julie Andrews autobiography, read by her, for just a few dollars so I couldn't resist.

A Lifelong Medical Collectors Estate Sale

Chanda brought this sale to my attention in the comments last week. I don't usually look at the listings for estate sales more than an hour from where I live, but I'm SO HAPPY she pointed this one out! It was in Chattanooga which is about 2 hours away. It was Thursday through Tuesday and since I had a day off work on Monday, I decided to make the trek. It was the life long medical collection of a Dr! Travis collects medical stuff, and his birthday is coming up next month so I knew I could find something cool for him!

I was worried there wouldn't be much left on day five of the sale, but there was TONS! Two BIG rooms full, and it was all 40% off! I would have loved to see what was there on day one. The woman taking money said they had people running in the doors on the first day.

 These glass jars were my favorite! There were TONS of them and they are all around a foot tall. The labels are painted glass or mirror. I would have loved to bring home all of these!

Pretty!

There were all kinds of signs for different types of doctors, and photos, and strange medical devices.

 I thought this nebulizer was so cool! If I had unlimited funds it would have come home with me! There was also this amazing set of bookends that featured a man taking a horses blood pressure that I loved! I don't know why I didn't take a picture! It apparently commemorated the first time someone took any kind of blood pressure.

 This cool thing was full of tiny drawers for the different remedies.

 There were tables and tables full of all kinds of surgical tools. The only thing I didn't see was a reflex hammer, which Travis really wanted for some reason. It also would be cool to see a bone saw!

 TONS of forceps. 

There were lots of old wheel chairs. And a few dentist chairs. And lots of really cool furniture that would be great for display, but it was all pretty pricey. 

 Another item on Travis' wish list was a glass syringe. They had lots, and old boxes of needles.

I had NO idea what lots of things were for, but it was fun to look. I really wish Travis could have come with me, he would have been flipping out and having so much fun.

 I thought about getting this cool box but the bottom was broken. I didn't realize it said Memphis until I looked at the pictures. I wish it had been in better shape!

 I'm really regretting not getting this book! It was about the treatment of scurvy, and look at that nautical theme! If not for us, it would have been a perfect gift for my best friend, whose dog is named Scurvy! You wouldn't believe the HUNDREDS of cool books at this sale! And they were pretty reasonably priced.

I was truly bummed not to be able to buy this for Travis. A real medic helmet is near the top of his wish list and this one was so great! But they wanted $325 for it and that is just out of my price range. 

Even though it was a trek, I'm so happy that I decided to go to this sale after all! I had never been to a sale like this before, and it was so cool to look through everything! I would show you what I ended up with, but I don't want to ruin the surprise for Travis' birthday! But I will say that I did buy at least one thing pictured above. Have you ever been to a sale like this? I love seeing a BIG collection like this!