In keeping with the Idaho nugget

In Montana

This summer we did not make it out for our many planned-in-our-head vacations.  So much of day-to-day life got in our way.  We were to take my mom back home to Texas as the end of her visit here, but she nixed that one. No amount of wearing her down on letting go of her fear of life she operates on worked.

Of course, then money and time then became obstacles we could not jump.  The painting of our house:  we live in the Seattle area where painting a house in sunny, dry weather has a small window.  Very much so this past "summer."

As I write, our house had been completely primed (a blinding white on a sunny day), and the rotten wood replaced.   Big kuddos to my husband for all of it.  I helped primed but he did 90 percent of it.

In Yellowstone

Original shade

As I mentioned the antler lamp I bought on Friday came with a real hide shade.  I came back into the house after some late p.m. gardening yesterday and my husband switched it out with the black one that I had put on.  Here it is with the original shade.  When the lamp is on the shade looks gorgeous.  I love how it diffuses the light.   I am rethinking this...

Latest estate sale find

I started to go to estate sales in earnest this past year--thanks to the wonders of the internet and a great website called Estatesales.net.

I never had the patience for the newspaper's or craigslist's classified ads.  But I am so hooked on these sales and the adventure of the hunt.  And sad that I did not know venture into this world two decades ago. 


The lamp above was not a steal but I have coveted a antler lamp since I saw one at some design blog a few years ago.  The lamp came with a some-type-of-skin shade.  Very Wyoming.  Not me.  I had this black shade at home and I knew at the estate sale that it would work with this lamp.  It's gorgeous, if i say so myself.  I LOVE it.