The Fancy Flea Was The Place To Be

 Today was a beautiful day in Florida and a perfect day for the Fancy Flea.

The Market was buzzing with busy vendors when we arrived and I could tell that this was indeed worth the trip from Tampa to sunny Lakeland FL.

The market is held in the spring and the fall each year.

 The vendor from this space is actually in a shop in Tampa called Relic which is right down the street from  Summer House Marketplace.  

 I love her creativity!

 You may recognize this beautiful clothing from Kim of Paris Rags.  She tempts me every time!

 Say "cheese" Deb!

Sweet Deb from Vintage Soul.

Her shop is another worth the trip outing,

located in St. Cloud, FL

 I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring these home for the Shabby Old House!!

 Shopping in this wonderful space was Shelley from Sweet Pea Home.  I love her style!

And although I didn't get a picture because my arms were filled, I ran into my dear friend Jane from Artfully Graced who was there with new blogger friends.

How did you spend your Saturday?

I hope you filled it up to the top with great things, just like I did my truck!

Tornados and the Beauty of Volunteers

 Lessons from the garden...

 Sweet determined surprises whether in groups of many or just one willing to move heaven and earth to appear.

 And who cares if they come in a Cracked Pot

 Just as long as they come!

Praying for the victims of yesterday's storm and that the beauty of volunteers would been seen everywhere!

Fifi O'Neill's Book Signing at Posh On Palm

 I had the privilege of attending a book signing party for Fifi O'Neill given by Susie and Mark Holt at their beyond beautiful shoppe, Posh on Palm in Sarasota FL.   Fifi, is known for filling our minds monthly with beautiful inspiration from the pages of Romantic Country to her current work of artistic wonderment, " Romantic Prairie Style."  To finally make her acquaintance was a very special treat for me!  Don't you just love the Cowgirl boot bouquets?

Susie and Fifi have long paired Beauty and Romantic living as a signature to everything they touch.

I think we should hail them as the Romantic Beauty Queens!

I found Fifi to be a charming lady with a cute sense of humor and the store filled up with many of her friends and followers.

The atmosphere was breathtaking as Mark and Susie had made sure that this was a glorious event for their special friend Fifi  and their delighted guests.

Just as I can assure you that this was indeed a beautiful evening I can assure you as well that you too can  experience the same moments of beauty on each and every page of Fifi's book, 

Romantic Prairie Style.

Springtime Whites in Eufaula

I look forward to the drive to Eufaula from Florida in the springtime.   You just never know what flowering subject will make it's debut from one week to the next.    I saw the most amazing trees filled from limb to limb with beautiful white blossoms and what a spectacular show they made all the way from Tallahassee to Eufaula.

Their beauty lined the roads and graced many lawns.    I found myself saying to myself, "  I am going to have to plant one of these amazing trees just as soon as I can find one."     I couldn't wait to find out just what they were.  

For as many years as we had been going back and forth from FL to Eufaula I had never seen them before.    It's hard to leave warm sunny Florida in the winter months so our timing this year was just right to see these pretty spring beauties.   You can only imagine my joy when I found that the Shabby Old House had her very own gloriously white flowering tree.  

  

All dressed up for springtime and waiting to greet us it welcomed us home.

I got dizzy looking upward into all the blossoms.

And when I couldn't look up anymore I  decided to take a walk around the town.  Eufaula is such a beautiful town in the spring.  The trees were everywhere and it wasn't until I went to see my dear friend that I figured out exactly what they were.   In the fall the trees lining the roads in my friends neighborhood are the most beautiful shades of autumn.   She told me that her Grand Daddy had lovingly planted them and to my surprise those very same beautiful trees were covered in white blossoms.  The mystery was solved

They were Flowering Pears.  So if you want to beautify your corner of the world I can assure you that you won't be disappointed with this beautiful tree,  unless of course you have allergies.  To that I give you my sincere apology because I plan to plant one more tree!

I am joining Kathleen for White Wednesday.  

Make sure you check out the wonder of whites today.

Hugs

Becky

Vintage White Iron

The collections of vintage white iron pieces  are perfect additions to any secret garden plans one might be dreaming of.  In fact if it were possible I would take every square inch of this peaceful plot along with every crusty, rusty iron delight.

 I can just see this collection under the big magnolia tree in the yard at our Shabby Old House.   I actually did take the herb planter home.  I didn't mind the rush hour traffic with the glorious smell of lavender filling the air.  It really is calming.  

 A vintage white iron table and chairs with loads of white flowers would welcome my guests.  This planter just may be next to come home with me.

 Rooms without walls or doors tucked in quiet corners of the yard are just waiting to be created and never have I dreamed as much as I dream when I stop to linger in the nursery area of this sweet little shop in Tampa.  

   I am so happy that you have joined me today as I share for Kathleen's White Wednesday, a shop I have come to love in Tampa.
Relics has it all.  Fabulous furniture and flowers and wonderful vintage lawn furnishings and garden decor. Truly a wonderful mix of old and new. 

Happy Colors of Spring

Pots of vibrant color, perfectly placed together greet you.

And with that greeting there is one temptation after another in the abundance of wonderful "stuff for sale."

 Unique pieces of lawn art,

relics of  surprise,

and you will leave with dreams of beautiful  garden rooms.

Where do you go to find this?

The Definition of a Relic is...

 One might use the word Relic to describe some things esteemed from the past.

The word has been used to describe objects associated with a saint.

More often the word is used in association of things left behind, cast offs , perhaps old and worn and no longer the fashion.

But when a Relic gets into the hands of two fabulous shopkeepers, Vivian and Virginia......

Well, I will let said Relics speak for themselves.

Learn more about Relic in my next post.
Until then.
Becky

She's so Green....

She's so green .....she can even make a horse trough look fabulous.   Amy was born with the gift of a " Green Thumb," and what I will be showing you of her magic touch and  a darling shop in Tampa will  make you start dreaming of  the great outdoors and filling every corner of your outdoor living space with flowers.  So keep coming back because I will be revealing the shop and the shop location in the days ahead.  
Until then, have a gloriously green day.
Hugs

Becky

Pretty Whites

I'm joining Kathleen at Faded Charm today for White Wednesday.

Sweet Shabby Bliss Found Here

 It's marked on my calendar for month's and I look forward to it arrival 3 times a year.  I am up early and out the door for the Renninger's Antique Extravaganza that is held in Mt. Dora Florida.   This past weekend's weather was fabulous and it always makes me happy for those wonderful vendors who do what they do making all of us shoppers deliriously happy with the thrill of the hunt.

 Every time I go I run to one of the sweetest friends that I have come to know,  Miss Peggy. Hers is my very favorite booth inside the market.  I know that I must spend an hour just soaking up the inspiring vignettes that are staged so well that you can't just buy one thing.   You really need every item or it just won't look right!

 I never come in that I don't load my camera full of photos that I can later enjoy over and over again.

 I have never been disappointed either.....Well I take that back. Finding a few sold tickets on items that should have come home with me has left me disappointed but only in myself for not getting my tail to market earlier.

 But I know that in so many cases that these items have gone home with other friends I have made along the way.  Peggy's booth is very popular and so often is a meeting place for many of my kindred spirit friends.

She has become a friend to each of us and we love her smile, her kindness and her incredible eye for beauty.