HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

We've had a great but very busy Labor Day weekend so far!!   61 miles of yard sales Thursday .. we didn't make it the whole 61 miles .. Antiquing and visiting with family Friday .. more Antiquing and a wonderful family reunion Saturday .. MORE Antiquing Sunday .. you'd think we would stay home and rest today .. NOT!!  We made an early run to Oakville to meet up with Theresa and Nick (Ken's daughter and grandson) and enjoyed a short visit with them as we had our Coffee and Cinnamon Raisin Toast (me) and Sweet Onion Bagel (Ken) ..  they weren't able to stay long as Nick had to get took off to get back to college in Rolla.  The Bread Company Bunch were there too .. Carl and Rich both came over and thanked Theresa and Nick for keeping Ken away from their table  .. of course as soon as Theresa and Nick left we headed over to join them .. LOL!! 

The rest of our Labor Day has been very restful .. we've watched a little TV .. stretched out for a nap .. I couldn't get to sleep because I had these little imps bugging me that I should be in on my computer "catching up" and telling you all about our Labor Day Adventures .. soooooo .. here I am .. story time is about to begin!!! 


61 MILE YARD SALE ..  Thursday was the first day of the big 61  mile yard sale and according to what I found on the internet some people would be set up and ready to go Thursday and some wouldn't .. so we weren't sure just how many sales we would run into.  Well .. let me tell you .. there were so many sales .. and so much climbing in and out of the car .. and it was so hot .. we didn't make it the whole 61 miles!!  We started out in Bloomsdale, Missouri .. and made it Perryville, Missouri before we pooped out!!  We left our house at 9:30 in the morning and it was around 5:30 pm by the time we got to Perryville .. so we had been out about 8 hours on this "treasure hunt"!!  I kept track of our stops in a notebook .. and how much money we spent at the ones we found something at .. I know I didn't write down some of the stops .. and we passed several sales .. if there was no sign out there you didn't see the sale until you were on top of it and we just went on by .. knowing there would be another one down the road!!  When we first started out we going down the gravel roads to the ones that weren't right on the highway .. after a couple of those we decided to stick to the ones that were on the highway.  I had 21 of them written in my little book .. a big part of them had a big zero written for amount spent .. out of those 21 sales we spent less than $20.00 on "treasures!! 

This was such a beautiful and peaceful sight I just had to take a pic!!!  

I was zooming in on the red barn!!

 

We stopped at Sirro's in Ste. Genevieve for lunch ..

 

 

We spent more on our lunch than on our "treasures" .. LOL!!  

 

This car was for sale at one of the yard sales!!!  

 

One more old barn!!! 

The "treasures" from our hunt!!   Let me see .. I got 8 place mats and 4 napkins with napkin rings for $5.00, the 2 sparkly blue things in front .. actually things to hold helium balloons in place .. 50 cents each .. Cd 50 cents .. DVD 50 cents .. popcorn container 10 cents .. old car coasters $1.00 .. teddy bear coasters 50 cents .. Precious Moments coloring book 10 cents .. Mr. Peanut container $2.00 .. bag with vintage spools of thread 50 cents .. Alex Cross book 75 cents .. butterfly house $1.00 and basket with cat tails and dandelions $3.00!!  OH .. and a set of teal colored queen size sheets and pillow cases for only $1.00 .. I thought  when we got them home and washed them they might be all holey  but $1.00 was too good a price to pass up .. and I'm happy to say .. they have been washed .. and were put on the bed yesterday morning and they're good as new!!!  The wonders of yard sale shopping .. LOL!!! 

Remember the $75.00 pitcher I broke when we were antiquing in Alton??????  Ken has glued the handle back on .. and now you can see why I snagged the basket of cat tails and puffy dandelions!!! 



Labor Day weekend is also  family reunion weekend!!   The reunion was to be Saturday  at the Town Hall in Hidalgo, Illinois but several of us were getting together  at the "Lincoln Garden" Restaurant in  Charleston, Illinois for dinner on Friday evening so Ken and I took off bright and early Friday morning for Illinois.

 Everything and everybody is  loaded in the car and we're ready to go.. including Leona Blanche .. my "memory bear"!! After Mom passed away  my  sister-in-law, Joanne, created a memory bear for each of us using Mom's clothing and scarves and jewelry.  It was decided at the reunion last year that we would all bring our bears with us this year in Mom's memory.  I will be posting a picture of all of them later!!

Out of Missouri and into Illinois!!  

 We stopped at a couple of Antique shops along the way.  At the last shop .. in Greenville, Illinois ..  we asked the gentleman at the register where was a good place for lunch.   He suggested the "Corner Café" ...

 

 



 It was a great suggestion!!! 

 

After lunch .. which was about 2:00 .. we headed for Effingham and  "America's Best Value Inn" to get settled in ..  and then off to Charleston to meet up with the family.  Sorry I didn't get any pics of the get-together .. don't know where my brain was .. DUUUHHHHHHH!!  Having dinner together was great but we all drove just a few blocks around the corner and got back together in a large conference room at the apartment complex where my sister Shirley lives and had an even better time talking and laughing and catching up on each others lives!! 

 All too soon it was time to vacate the conference room and go to our respective homes / hotel rooms and get some sleep.  We would  soon be back together to pick up where we left off but will be joined by many many more members of the family!!! 

We headed to the hospitality area in the hotel for Coffee and a hot Waffle as soon as we were showered and dressed the next morning!!  The Waffle was one of the reasons we chose this hotel to stay in .. LOL!!   And then it was time to head out .. we stopped at a couple of Antique Shops in Effingham and one in Greenup before we made it to the Town House in Hidalgo. 



 

 

 

Grandma's Place II in Greenup .. she has a store full of wondrous things!!!  



 

This is one of them!!!  The flame on the candle actually flickers softly .. we almost bought it but could see no way to change the flickering light or the battery without taking the back clear off of it!!!  The next time we're in town maybe we'll take a better look at it if it's still there!!!  

 

 We came across this old barn somewhere along the way .. I have a thing for old falling down barns and houses .. can you tell????????

 

We eventually made it to Hidalgo for the reunion.  We had a great time catching up with family members on what's happening in their lives and the lives of their children.  Of course we also had a lot of great food also!!  Ken got to meet a lot more family members .. there were 32 people present and he had only met about 10 of them .. thank goodness he got acquainted with a few of the new ones the night before .. LOL!!! 

Since our last reunion in 2012 there were 3 weddings .. Billy's daughter Jacqueline married Chris Reel in Clarksville, Illinois ..  Tommy's granddaughter Kamy married Carlos Forero in Miami, Florida .. and I married Ken Novak in Branson, Missouri.  3  new babies ..  Billy's daughter Jacqueline and hubby Chris have a new baby daughter, Lily Ann  .. my sister Kay's grandson Austin's girlfriend Kelsey gave birth to a baby girl, Jordyn Leigh  .. and Kay's granddaughter Ashley and her hubby Doug also gave birth to a baby girl, Emery Kayt.  And 1 death .. Kay's son Jimmy's wife, Terri, lost her battle with Cancer.   There is one approaching wedding in the very near future .. Tom's grandson Chip is marrying a lovely lady named Theresa.  Chip and Theresa joined us at the reunion on their way through to New York for the wedding!!   And there are 4 babies on the way .. Tom's granddaughter, Kamy and her hubby Carlos are expecting twins .. a boy and a girl any day now.  And Richard's grandsons Wesley and Nathan and their wives are expecting also .. 1 is expecting a boy and the other is expecting a girl!!!  Mom and Dad currently have 102 descendants .. and more on the way!!! 

Through our visits at Charleston Friday night and at the reunion Saturday I learned a lot about what my siblings and their families have been doing in the last year .. and I learned one thing that really tickles me .. Ken and I love watching "American Pickers" .. and I discovered that several of my family members in Illinois also love the show!!  Now when we're watching it I feel a "bond" between myself and other members of the family for I picture them sitting in front of their TVs enjoying the same show .. and chuckling as they watch the antics of Mike and Frank and Danielle!!!!

 

 I usually take LOTS of pics at the reunion but this year I decided to set back and not bug everybody for family group shots .. one of these years I'm going to get myself organized and get the family shots at the very beginning and be done with it .. but then I tell myself that every year .. LOL!!  This year the only group shot I got was of the "memory bears" ...

 





 

This is the dessert I put together  to take for the reunion lunch!!



  

 

I'm calling it "Butterfinger Cheesecake Brownies"

 

 

This was the other reason we chose the "America's Best Value Inn" to stay in .. they had refrigerators in the rooms .. the Days Inn we had originally planned to stay in had them but you had to pay extra.  As you will see in the story later .. we should have paid extra!!! 

 

MY  treasures from the day ..

 

We bring things to the reunion for a silent auction and the money goes to a flower fund .. to purchase the grave blankets for Mom and Dad's grave at Christmas time and for other flowers throughout the year.  My sister Kay hand made the snowman pillow and I got the bid on it for $7.00.  The carousel horse I got for a $1.00 bid.  The tiny turtle and Raggedy Ann doll were gifts.  The little brown medicine bottle and 2 quart jars were bought at Antique shops.  The oval braided rug was my high dollar purchase at $23.00!! 

I was surprised at the price on the Ball glass topped jar .. only $3.00 and this Mason jar with measurements on the side and the Presto lid for only $4.00!!!  

These were Ken's treasures!!!  For some reason he took a liking to the little cast iron mouse .. he thought it was a bargain at $7.00.  And I don't know what he gave for the 1957 Cadillac advertisement.  That caught his eye because he had a 1957 Cadillac like this one except that his was white!!  Great memories!!   

Hopefully this is the only mouse we'll ever have in the house!!!!  

 

 

 I told Ken he could make me one of these to put on the garage door at Halloween .. he said "take a picture of it and I will" ..  so here's the picture of it .. LOL!!! 

 

We had planned to spend Saturday night at the "America's Best Value Inn" and go to a huge Antiques Sale they were having at Belle Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, Illinois Sunday ..  BUT .. the room we had smelled very old and musty and we both did not get much sleep Friday night .. I sprayed the room and the bed with perfume before we went to bed and every time I got up I sprayed a little perfume on my wrist or my pillow so I couldn't smell that smell but it didn't do any good!!  It was a miserable night!!   We talked to the desk clerk Saturday morning  and asked him if he could get something done about the smell while we were gone or get us another room.  He said he would have them spray the room when they cleaned it up and if it wasn't okay when we got back to let him know.  Well .. when we got back the room still smelled very badly .. we decided the other rooms probably smelled just as bad .. so we went to the front desk .. of course it was now a different clerk .. we told him about the smell and that we had talked to the morning clerk .. he called the morning clerk ..  to verify our story I guess .. and then said he would put us in another room.  We told him no .. that we would go somewhere else.  He refunded our money for that night and we loaded up our stuff and left.  We talked it over and decided our own bed in our own house in Hillsboro, Missouri sounded awfully good .. and headed home!! 

 

Along the way we saw some beautiful cloud formations .. I just had to get some pictures!!! 

 

 

 

Once we got into Missouri we started hearing thunder and seeing lightning .. we got a couple drops of rain .. shortly after we got home .. we hadn't any more than pulled into the garage it started pouring down .. but lasted only 5 minutes or so!!!  From what I hear family and friends in Illinois got a real thunderstorm but no such luck here!!!! 

 

Sunday .. we  headed out bright and early to go to Belleville to the huge Antique Sale .. first stop was Hardee's for Breakfast sandwiches then we were on our way.  I don't know what I expected but the huge Antique Sale wasn't worth the drive over there!!  There was no furniture or bigger items .. booth after booth of small items .. glassware .. jewelry .. books .. toys .. and HIGH prices .. Whew!!!  I told Ken they must all just like to take their Antiques around to show them off .. from the prices it doesn't look like they really want to sell them!!!  Of course there were people buying .. but for the prices they were asking I really didn't see anything I even wanted!!!  Believe me .. next time I see the ads for their huge Antique Sale we'll not be making the trip!! 

 

Can you guess what we did when we left Belleville?????????  FIRST we stopped at "Gruchalla's" Restaurant in Columbia, Illinois for lunch .. I had fried Chicken and Ken had grilled Chicken .. they had a long shelf with birdhouses on it in the dining room we were in .. their birdhouses weren't nearly as cute as mine .. but the food was good!!  I'm wishing now I had taken a picture of their birdhouse shelf so I could show you a comparison .. LOL!! 

 

Next stop ....  

 

 South County Antique Mall!!  This is one huge Antique Mall!  We went there one other day and didn't make it through the whole thing!!  I thought sure we'd see the whole thing this time but once again we got tired and gave it up!!!  We started at the back and worked our way towards the front .. next time we'll start at the front and work our way back and then we will have covered the whole thing. 

 

We didn't buy a whole lot but we saw a lot of neat olllldddddd "stuff"!!  Ken chose the book .. he likes taking me places I've never been before and this book has places in it he hadn 't thought of!!!  $1.00 for the book.  The wooden handled thing is a carving tool .. $2.00.  The little jar was my big "treasure" . just $2.25.  It's not much but I'm thrilled with it!! 

 

GUESS WHAT???????  I am all caught up now on our 4 day Labor Day Weekend .. WHEW!!  That means I can get my fingers off this keyboard and my buns off this chair  and GO TO BED .. WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!