antiques/junking – Page 17

Registration is open for Paper Cowgirls!

antiques/junking, bird song art event, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, Tutorials, vintage paper/collage art, Workshops

By Karla Nathan / February 23, 2011

Paper Cowgirls is open for registration!

I've already signed up to take a couple classes and am really looking forward to the event. Over the last couple years, I have heard so many good things about it and have wanted to get down to Texas to give it a try.

And I am thrilled to be one of the teachers this year. Well, that is IF ten people sign up for my class…. If ten don't sign up, it gets cancelled.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Personally, its a class that I would sign up for, if it wasn't my class, I mean. I really like the piece we'll be creating. I spend lots of time working on the prototypes and figuring out the steps on how to make these mini dress forms.

An idea can be the easy part. Making it work isn't always as easy! It took me a while to fine tune the process and get it down good enough to show others how to do it. I had a practice class with some friends before I submitted the project to Paper Cowgirls. And I'll do a couple more practice classes with two other groups of friends before I head to Texas to actually get paid for showing people how to make them.

As I've visited my favorite antique stores, I've been keeping my eye out for great pieces to add to my kits. Last week, I came across a few bags full of these insulators. Won't they make cool toppers for these dress forms?

Here's another pile of toppers I've assembled. My plan is to have a wide variety for the students to chose from, so that all the end products are unique.

When I go to a class, I always take my extras. And usually from the Bestie pile I've been talking about lately. Because I like my own piece of art to look like MY OWN piece of art, not just like the teacher's.

Oh, I get a lot from the classes and enjoy and use the kits. And I seem to learn a lot from everyone sitting at the table with me. But- I do like my creation to look like I was the one creating it, so I bring supplemental goodies to add to the kit the teacher provided.

So, for Paper Cowgirls, just like I am with Bird Song, I am giving the students the opportunity to make their own choices. There will be kits of course, and they will be filled with lots of vintagey goodness. And since most of the stuff is vintage, not all will be just the same in each kit.

For some of the supplies, I want to have piles on the tables for everyone to pick through.

I'd rather they didn't have to bring their own unique things unless they really want to. I'd like to provide enough to make sure that while we all follow the same steps and instructions, everyone has the chance to veer off the beaten path a bit and art the piece up in the way that calls out to them.

And with all my classes, the students will be Using the Good Stuff! Look at these great laces I bought yesterday from Beth. She gave me a deal so wonderful that I can afford to treat all the students to nice, old lace.

We spent the day together, she let me help her redo her antique mall booth, and I'll have some photos of that for the next post. And she bought me lunch, then hauled me to Costco so I could mooch off of her membership and buy plates/cups/etc for Bird Song and for another gathering I have coming up.

Over all, this has been a great week. Well besides the awful cold that settled into a sinus infection. But now, I have myself heavily medicated for that and the pounding in my sinuses is just about gone. I had Sugarwings a few nights, which makes any week wonderful. Even though, at my age with a sinus infection, chasing a 4 year old and getting up with her in the middle of the night isn't as easy to do as it used to be. Its worth it.

Besides lots of Fairy Grand Baby time, and getting to spend a day with Beth to play decorator in her booth, and signing up for classes at Paper Cowgirls, I also got this copy of Somerset Apprentice in the mail.

I've never been in it before, and honestly had never seen it, I wonder if it is new? But it is GOOD. I read the whole thing cover to cover while I was in the Dr.'s office waiting room and was impressed with the photos and the layout, not to mention the directions.

The whole magazine is step-by-step directions from many artists. It was well done, easy to read and follow. I got some good tips from it! And it made an unpleasant visit to the Dr. go much better.

Hey, thanks for all the comments and emails about Using the Good Stuff. I think the subject was close to the hoader's heart in all of us!

Retail therapy

antiques/junking, bird song art event, collections

By Karla Nathan / February 17, 2011

Thanks for all your well wishes, Sugarwing's arm is just fine and my cold is fading. I woke up this morning trying to figure out what was different, then realized that I was breathing through my nose again! What a wonderful feeling.

I had a day of shopping therapy, I think I owe my recovery to that. I followed a spur of the moment whim and took myself to the Rusty Chandelier and Jesse James in St. Joe, MO and found a lot of little treats, mostly for upcoming classes.

But this OLD lace jacket was a splurge just for me. Its not practical, and will probably shred and fall apart as I wear it, but I convinced myself it was worth it. And I think I was right. It was only $22, and after it falls to pieces, I can always salvage it for art supplies.

And look at these little velvet posies! I love old flowered hats, (I might have mentioned that a couple times here and there) but I love VELVET flowers best of all. Especially the teeny ones like these. I do tend to spend extra when I find flowers this great. This hat was a bit over the budget line for what I usually allow myself to spend on flowers, but these were such wonderful flowers!

And there are lots on here. So, for $20, I think I'll get my money's worth out of it.

And since I got a couple of other hats for much cheaper, I figure it all averages out.

The cabinet that I keep my hats in is overflowing at this point, but the levels do go down. So, I never turn down hats when I see them at good prices. Once I get my boutique re-opened, I'll list packages of flowers for sale. And I use them. By the handful.

I live by the credo, "Use the good stuff!" Because why put all of your artistic effort into making something and using half ass goods in the project? I believe that a good piece of work deserves good supplies going in to it.

Or am I justifying an obsession? Maybe I buy too many hats…

Nah.

My pal, Lisa, made a joke on her blog about the guests at Bird Song guessing how many hats I own to try to win a prize. Actually, I think it would be a good idea to do.

After a day in the studio, I'll have all the students guess how many hats are in the room, and give one of the hats as a prize to whoever is closest. It will be like that game where you guess how many beans are in a jar. (which I am usually really good at, I've won that game more than once when I enter a contest)

When I got back from shopping, a package was waiting for me! From Kay Ellen Hammer. Her mother invented this great double tape, and they sent 25 rolls of it to give away at Bird Song too. Our goodie bags will each have a pack in them! Thanks Kay Ellen and Jodee!!

While in St. Joe, I also found a stack of old pamphlets from the government for farmers. They were published in the 30s and dealt with everything from how to grow strawberries to how to treat TB at home. I bought about 40, non-disease ones.

And I am stocking up on vintage ribbon for the classes I'll be teaching this year. I believe that my students deserve to use the good stuff too!

By the way, we have a few spots left for the May Day weekend event at my house. I'd love to see you there. Meeting blog friends is always a treat. If you are interested, email me for an invoice. Details can be found HERE.

EDIT- One spot left!

I'm going to be adding a link for all the Bird Song attendess who have blogs, onto my links page "pretty places". Today, I cleaned it up a bit and made it look spiffier and easier to read.

Links are how we all get to know each other in blogworld, and I am always happy to share. If you'd like to exchange links with me, please let me know and I'd love to add you to my page.

How to join us at Bird Song- Hope to see you there!

antiques/junking, bird song art event

By Karla Nathan / February 5, 2011

Well, I think I've got the Bird Song site ready for sign ups! No photos yet of Debbie's project, but a very nice description. And if you know anything about Debbie, you have to know she'll do something excellent. She is so talented and has such a discerning eye for beauty.

If you would like to sign up to attend the classes at my home on April 30th and May 1st, please email me at karlanathan@sbcglobal.net after 8 am Central time Monday, Feb.7 and I will send you a pay pal invoice for $250.

We have space for 20 guests. I'll answer the emails in the order they come in.

More info here:

http://karlascottage.typepad.com/bird_song/

Above is a bit of my kits, just a small part of it. The NEST banners are meant to have options and can be made low-color or with touches of robin's egg. There will be quite a few options for the banner, so everyone can end up with an unique creation.

Have you seen Carol's NEW blog? She is doing two blogs now, so we get double the Carol goodness.

And I am honored to have her teaching at Bird Song! She'll be showing us how to do this fringed tree.

And Lisa will teach this woven piece made with old lace and natural elements. I met Lisa online through our blogs and could tell she and I were meant to be buds. She'll be quite the addition to the weekend, and I'm trying to convince her to stay longer, because she is a blast to hang out with. I love to have a few days in the studio with her just to play with papers.

Hosting this weekend is kind of a selfish thing for me. I'm so looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it here, to spend time in the studio with me and with this great group of teachers that I am gosh durn lucky to have as friends.

Gosh durn? Well today, I beat cabin fever by getting out of the house with a good group of friends and doing some retail therapy. And in the car, we had a cuss word talk. Gol Dang and Gosh durn came up, as well as Jiminy Christmas. One friend said she always knew her Dad was about to explode if he invoked Jiminy.

My bad habit? Freakin. And Durn. I'm a big Durn-er. Oh, and crap. Do you have a favorite faux swear word?

We were shopping at Bottoms Up, the once a month spectacular headed by my Bella buddy, Gwen of French by Design. My huge purchase wasn't old, even though the place is filled with the best antiques to be found in KC.

I got a giant bag of rhinestone bracelets for 20 bucks. These sparklers will be fantastic art supplies. I've already added a bundle of the neutral colored ones to my Bird Song banner supplies.

They are just perfect for the S in NEST!

I bought 60 plus packages of these bracelets, and each package had 2-3 in the bag. I'll share. Leave a comment on this post and I'll give a few away. They are fun to wear, or to cut in half and glue onto a project.

PS- how embarrassing, my last post was full of typos and odd sentences, if you read it on Google Reader. I hit publish instead of preview and once you do that, corrections don't show up on googlereader. It was a bit of a jumble.

Style Evolution party

antiques/junking, magazine pictures or articles, parties

By Karla Nathan / February 1, 2011

Has your look changed over the years? Mine used to constantly change, back when I was working full time as a decorative painter and antique dealer. My home was my workshop and where I experimented.

Now that I don't do either of those professions much, I've stopped the revolving door of furniture moving in and out, but I do still come up with some upgrades here and there.

This was my dining room a few years back, this photo is from Country Almanac, or Country Victorian, I can't remember which magazine.

Here is the dining room now. Less flowery, more neutral. Definitely less country. The hutch in the first photo was a maple one that my mom had, and when she died, I took it home with me and gave it a redo. But it never really fit in with my home, so I gave it to my niece.

Yet another version, this was in Paint magazine. Sometime between the two previous pictures. It was just a little too blue for me. I liked it for a while….

Now, this is a REALLY old version of my dining room (from Country Almanac). It was so different then that it used to be a living room! When we first bought this old farmhouse, we used to move the sofa to the room with the wood stove in it every winter, then switch the living and dining rooms back in the spring time.

I liked the idea of having a portable space, one that you could easily adapt for the seasons. But then, we got a satellite dish and all the TV hook ups and wires changed that concept. It became too hard to switch the entire room, the TV cabinet wasn't easy to move. (with my love of TV viewing, I'd trade a wide screen for versatility any day!)

I can still change the look of the living room for the season just by changing the accessories.

In the spring, I bring out all my rose pattern pillows and curtains, then in the winter, I like to go all white.

Here is a shot of the white version, taken by Carol Spinski when she photographed an article for Somerset Home.

This look was in Romantic Country. Its from when I first discovered white paint and learned how to make slipcovers. I fell in love with light and airy, but burnt out on the over the top floweryness of it all.

I can afford to do the big switcheroos because everything I get for the rooms is dirt cheap. I scrounge and shop garage sales, estate sales, auctions, and have been known to go through a dumpster or two. I find things that need work, are beat up, or on clearance and redo them myself. When I do treat myself to something new, its usually not expensive, like these curtains from Target, or the rug from TJ Max.

And I recycle things from one room to another, this salvaged mantel has been in the dining room, living room and now is a head board in my bedroom. (this photo is from Romantic Country too)

This shot was taken for Romantic Country, almost used twice but rejected at the last minute each time. Funny, I like this look so much better than the previous pictures of my house that were actually used in the magazines.

This was in Country Victorian, I think… there is that mantel again. And the same furniture, different slip covers. I wish I hadn't painted over the border by the ceiling, I kind of liked that.

This used to be what my studio looked like, not too long ago. Twice, I have been asked to be in Where Women Create, but nothing has come of it. I adore my studio and would LOVE for it to be photographed for that publication.

Here is the same corner now. I use the bench (hand built by my son, from an old headboard) at the studio dining table.

I feel pretty lucky to have been in so many magazines, probably about 40 or so at this point. I don't really pursue it, its a hobby. Every once in a while I come up with an idea and run it by an editor. I wouldn't exactly say its a job, even a part time one. Its just a whim, and every time I do an article I think its probably the last time, because I can't believe that I was even chosen to do one let alone dozens.

I'm certainly not a professional writer, or decorator , just one of those people who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Just lucky, huh? Its always fun to do an article, and I really do like having these old pictures chronicling my home's metamorphosis.

If you enjoy looking at before and afters, please check out Jen Rizzo's blog today, she is having a Style Evolution party and the pictures of her home are just to die for. Gorgeous!! She makes me want to redo mine….. hmm…..

By the way, if you'd like to come and visit me and spend time in the studio, sign ups for the spring workshop are coming soo. I'd love to have you come to the cottage! Meeting blog friends is always a good experiance.

Kansas City will be lacking Curiousity

antiques/junking, free images

By Karla Nathan / January 10, 2011

Yesterday, I just had to go and say good bye to the Curious Sofa. It was Debbie's last day and I figured there wouldn't be much shopping left, but that isn't why I wanted to go anyway.

I just wanted to say so long to one of the prettiest shops I've ever been in. Debbie has decided that she is ready for a change and is happily moving on. She has tons of customers who love her and I think all of them turned out to get one last purchase from Curious Sofa.

Knowing that her clearance sale had been a success, I still was shocked when I arrived and saw this! Nothing left but sold items waiting to be claimed, extension cords, and work room supplies like the microwave and blender.

Yet, with all the inventory gone, the shop still held its beauty.

Even though the store was bare bones, it sure wasn't some spooky Halloween skeleton! With everything moved out, I could really appreciate the care that Debbie put into creating the whole atmosphere.

Each bit of wall and ceiling held evidence of her vision. That woman is so talented that even with her inventory sold, her shop still was an inspiration to see.

No matter what her next adventure in creating will be, I have full faith in her success. She has the dedication to detail that makes everything she touches make her audience say "ooooh".

I feel really lucky that she will be coming to my studio to teach one of the workshops for our Bird Song retreat on May Day weekend.

(details about the event coming soon- I'm not quite done with getting the website up for sales yet, thanks for waiting. There will be 20 spots to sell, its going to be a cozy, casual weekend at my home)

While I wasn't expecting to shop at Curious Sofa, I was lucky to find a few old photos left over from the big exodus, as well as one lonely post card sitting on a shelf by itself.

The card's picture seemed appropriate for the situation, a road leading off to the distance and a person walking away, with the words, "A bright and happy new year" printed below. I hope that this is a what awaits Debbie, as she walks away from her well loved shop toward greener pastures.

I've scanned the card for you, so you can have a souvenier of Curious Sofa too. Click on it to open in a larger window, then save that bigger image to your computer to print.

Gotta love the KC gals!

antiques/junking, Books, jewelry, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage

By Karla Nathan / December 1, 2010

Is swoony a word? If not, it should be. This article is very swoony!

Its in the latest Joan d' Arc. This was a gift from Carol, now, that is a good friend, huh??? I'm lovin this book!

This one too, a gift from the uber talented Amy Barickman.

I'm planning on packing both in my bag when I hit the road next week with my husband to visit Virginia. The trip will be different now that we no longer have a spare apartment or car out there.

It will be more like a vacation, staying at a hotel and not cooking and cleaning. Yippee! I'll be needing this great reading material while I am there.

Of course, its dangerous reading books like these while staying in a hotel room. Both will be inspiring me to create and decorate.

Kansas City gals got it goin on. First, Amy comes out with yet ANOTHER book for us to drool over, then Gwen's Bottom's Up antique show just keeps growing and growing and getting better all the time. Beth will be there with her to die for bargains, and dealers from my favorite mall in the world, Rusty Chandelier are going to be bringing their GREAT stuff this time too!

To top it off, Curious Sofa is having a sale. There is no where prettier at the holidays than at Debbie's.

I've been sprucing up my own store too. This is the new banner I made for my Etsy shop and I'm making an effort to add to it every couple of days.

Today I added these itsy bitsy little trees, they are only about an inch high.

The Boutique has some new, old, books.

I've added The Secret of a Happy Day (full of angels!), Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. There is also The Lord is My Shepard, but I forgot to take a photo of that one somehow, I'll have to add it later.

I think this looks like a shooting star, don't you?

And this brooch is crown shaped.

And there are sparkling buttons along with the books and baubles.

And a sweet little vintage deer on a wallpaper covered box under an archway of millinery.

I'll leave you with some photos of whats new, then I'm getting back to work. Tomorrow I have Sugarwings and what doesn't get done today, just doesn't get done!

Ooooooh, Curious Sofa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

antiques/junking, give away, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / November 2, 2010

There are few things prettier than Curious Sofa at the holidays! And nothing better to inspire me and jump start the transition from Witches to Angels. I know, Halloween barely cold in its grave at this point, but I'm all in gear to move on and start Christmassing it up!

And I just adore her whites. Being there, surrounded by all the shades of ivory and silver was just what I needed as that extra boost for completing my projects for Romantic White Christmas, the online classes that Beth and I are teaching.

She is coming over today so we can get pictures done for our sign up page. Which means, I'll be pulling out some of my Christmas decorations as backdrop for the photos.

Things have been so crazy busy around here, and on top of that, I've had a dreary cold. So, my baby shower decorations are still up, along with the Halloween stuff. Its going to look like quite the holiday mash up when I start adding white Christmas to the mix.

Next week, some Bella Buds are flying in early for Silver Bella and visiting Kansas City for a couple days. I've invited them out to the cottage to dinner, and I sincerely hope that I can tame the run away holiday mess before then.

I have a feeling that I might not. But that won't stop me from enjoying my evening with them. I'll tell them that its extra festive to be celebrating so many things at once, and throw some Silver Bella decorations on the Halloween, Christmas, and baby shower conglomeration to top it all off.

We'll take them all to Curious Sofa, and we'll visit Carol's farmhouse, too. So they won't be under the impression that midwesterners have no sense when it comes to decorating. Carol and Debbie are the queens of understated glam decor.

My favorite thing at Curious Sofa was this set of plates that Debbie embellished. She is so busy with the store, I doubt she gets much time to do artwork, and thats too bad. She creates beautiful things.

My other favorite thing that night? Well, my BFF, Beth, of course! She met me at the open house for the evening. It was nice to get out of the house and do something festive.

I'd better get busy now, and set some things up for pictures today before Beth gets here. Before I go, I have three winners to announce-

The Romantic Gothic Ghost giveaway from me goes to Janet Ghio.

The one from Beth goes to Samantha Miranda

And my October Giveaway is for Laurie

I'll have details about the Romantic White Christmas as well as my November Giveaway in my next post.

The end of an era

antiques/junking, family

By Karla Nathan / October 12, 2010

We've done it. The shed is empty. In clearing it out, we came across the sign I used to put bythe road during sale weekends, and someone stuck it in the ground here. Isn't the whole set up cute?? I was surprised that I felt no remorse at all, it was truly a relief to have it all behind me.

I'd stopped having the sales quite a while ago, but always thought that I'd have just one more little one to clear out remnants. But each year, the stuff got dustier and dirtier. There was still some great inventory left, an old iron bed, a mosaic table, doors, colums, dressers, chandeliers…. on and on.

7 truckloads total of goodies left here this weekend. All given away. It felt wonderful.

I could have taken it to the Salvation Army and gotten receipts for tax write offs… I could have listed the good stuff on Craigs List…. I could have had a sale… I could have just let it sit and rot… all these things were in my mind for years.

But I didn't do a single one. And it hung over me. Looming as a big chore that I had to face.

Finally, I just decided to let it go. Just let it leave. I knew there were things in there that people would love to have. It certainly wasn't just trash. It was good stuff that I had lovingly scrounged! But it was no longer worth anything to ME.

I'd made my profits from the business. This accumlation was paid for long ago, and I find things so cheap that I had very little cash into it. And if I considered how much I'd made over the years on the stuff I did sell, it certainly covered the small loss on these things.

And now we are ready for chickens!

The building is large, one side long and narrow, the other a big square. I'm thinking the smaller side for birds. If I ever get a pony for Sugarwings someday, it can live on the other side. We used to have 5 horses, but have since taken down the old barn. But I think that a pony would be really happy in my antique shop.

We also cleaned out the garage, to make room for two cars and the tractor. I had a furniture painting business in the past and the 24 x 24 building had been my workshop. So, another collection I had was bits and pieces of trim and hardware and interesting bits of wood.

In other words, stuff that rats love to build nests in if you leave it sitting for a few years unused!

So, everything was pulled from the garage, some was burnt, some went to a junker friend who also hauled off dozens of cans of paint.

We got the saw out and cut up my work bench. Since it had been built of pressure treated lumber, I thought of using it the top of it as a "bridge" or sidewalk in the garden, so we sat it in the creeping myrtle behind the house. The bottom half will be moved to the chicken coop to hold the nests.

And speaking of nests, here is a baby update:

My son's Beloved is still having contractions. She did way too much yard work on Saturday building a compost pile in her yard and had a rough weekend from that. On Sunday, I was really worried about her, she was so weak and pale, from contractions all night.

But she is on bed rest and now they have slowed down.

The newest fairy baby isn't due till November 11th or so. I'm hoping that this girl will be patient and wait till then to arrive, but her folks are hoping otherwise. The momma's other 5 kids were all born early and she feels ready NOW.

I'll let you know as things move along. Keep them in your prayers, please?

Lucky

antiques/junking, family, housework, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2010

You guys are all pretty nice to have around, you know it? Thanks!

Its such a beautiful day here in Kansas, what a great October weekend. We are going downtown with good friends to hear some live music in the park, and to enjoy this weather. But before that….

I have to make a stab at cleaning out this.

It used to be my antique shop. Before that it was a chicken coop. And now we are thinking about turning it back into a chicken coop again.

So, I've been trying to get ahold of people who I thought might want some of the junk that is left over. I'd like to have the building empty by tomorrow. What no one takes will be on the curb, feel free to stop and look through my trash if you are driving by!

And this is only half the shed. The other side is just as bad.

I'd thought about turning it into a play house for Sugarwings, but the idea of fresh farm eggs is just too tempting. We already have some fencing we could slap onto the back of the building and we have some shelves that would make good roosting.

No matter what we do with it, I need to get it de-junked. This stuff has sat here for years, unused and unloved. I know there has to be someone who wants it. I thought about doing a rummage sale, but it turns out that I am too lazy. Cleaning it will be bad enough, but sitting out there early in the morning trying to sell stuff for quarters and dimes? Its better just to find homes for it all.

I had to tell myself that I've already made my profits from that business, and now I'm out of the antique shop biz and the rest of the inventory has to go. Do you ever hang on to stuff, knowing that its worth something? Well, this is GOOD junk, that for some reason just didn't sell. Wrong time, wrong place, I guess. But even though it is "worth something" its worthless to me just rotting in the shed.

The stuff deserves a new home. And I deserve a clean shed.

Untill the chickens poo all over the shed, at least. Not so clean then.

Have you seen the newest Somerset Life? Lots of blog friends are in it!

Including these pretty pages by my Texas shopping bud, Lisa.

I was lucky enough to score two articles in it. And that sweet Lisa actually called me to congratulate me on them! I don't think she has any idea how touched I was by her gesture.

See, around here, no one is very impressed by my work.

One article is about my peat pot frozen Charlotte fairies. The photography was really nice on this article, I loved the faded, blurred pastel backgrounds they used for the pics.

And I was excited to see that one of the upcoming challenges for artists is to use a peat pot in their own artwork and send it in. The deadline is Feb. 15th if you are going to make something for it.

And speaking of good pictures- my friend, Carol, took the photos of my house that are in the current Somerset Home.

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. Not just being in two magazines on the stands at the same time, but in having good blog friends who leaped to my defense about the deleted post without even knowing the story behind it. Once everyone knew that it was the mom who didn't like what I said about the photos, everyone understood. Many of us were new moms at one time and knew completely how she felt.

And I'm lucky to have such a good family that pulls my foot out of my mouth for me every once in a while when I get it stuck there. And then they love me anyway, even with toe breath.

Save room for dessert!

antiques/junking, Food and Drink, Travel

By Karla Nathan / October 5, 2010

The Dorothy tag books have kept me so busy that I almost forgot to show you one of the BEST parts of Roundtop- Royers!

This yellow brick road was right up my alley. And it leads to some great food.

On our first evening at the flea market, a food stand was pointed out to me and people mentioned eating there. Well, I'm not big on fast food, or fair food, and really wanted to sit down with a nice meal and some air conditioning and was glad when my friends agreed, that a cocktail and cool air was tempting. So we went to a steak house instead.

The next day, they wanted to eat at the food stand for lunch, even though the line was a mile long. I'm usually pretty easy going and can fit in with whatever plans everyone has, so I said sure. Thinking that I could always just eat a power bar if the food didn't look all that good.

But DANG! It was amazing. I had a grilled shrimp salad that was so good it could have been served in a fancy dancy restaurant with starched white tablecloths.

Now, I knew why everyone was raving about Royers. They had a shack set up in the midst of the flea market, as well as their main restaurant down town. So, the next day, we decided to try the main diner, and went early before it opened to put our names in. Good thing we did, when it opened, it filled. In a snap.

Its colorful, funky, funny, charming, and delicious. The second lunch was even better than my first. I had the same grilled shrimp, but this time on top of a tender hunk of salmon. With black eyed peas and fresh vegetables. Lunch wasn't cheap, but it was worth it, and the service was great. Happy, smiling people at both establishments.

I want to go back next spring just for another piece of their peach pie….