The Forty Mile Yard Crawl

I have some long-time friends who are kind enough to invite me and my family to their country house in Virginia.   Every year we look forward to relaxing, catching up with our busy lives, and my son's favorite--a slow ride on an inner tube on the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.   When my friend called to invite us again, she said she wanted to tempt me to visit.  Obviously we need no convincing, but her temptation was that the Forty Mile Yard Crawl would be held that weekend.  It started in Strausburg, VA and continued to New Market, VA.  We didn't make it the whole forty miles, but I found many treasures along Route 11.

I wanted to share some of my finds from this adventure, but wanted to say that mixed in with them are even more treasures from a beach shopping trip.  No summer vacation at the ocean is complete without a vintage hunt with my friend, Sandy, who is lucky enough to live near the water year round.

And, I must confess that also in my eclectic stash are some things garnered from less exciting shopping trips around home and in Pennsylvania.  Yep, I've been a busy girl this summer.

I'm pretty sure that this classroom map will make it to Sweet Clover's September sale.
Perfect for back to school.

The backdrop I'm using for the photos is some Italian velvet fabric.  Yummy.
I also was excited to find a globe, a book with vintage maps, an architectural fragment, and some binoculars.  I've never seen a globe with a lucite support.  Have you???

I always buy folding camp stools, but this one was so unique.  It has a back rest, nail head trim, AND it is a rocking chair.  Someone added a mirror to an old ceiling tile and of course I bought it.  The brass compote holds marble spheres and tucked under the chair is a book with a fleur de lis spine.  Resting on top of it are two small French readers.

This is quite a jumble.  Empty frames, a weathered box in a fabulous green, a lion book end, a piece of a tree trunk turned into a pedestal, another architectural fragment, some games, and the little clown perched in the middle is actually a juicer.

The wooden floats tumbled around, some into an old garden trug, another supporting a seamstress's pincushion, and yet another provided a riser for an iron deer head.
Behind it all was what the seller described as an army mosquito netting hat,
but I'm going to say it really belonged to a beekeeper.
 Don't miss the artist's brush trying to hide.

Another totally unrelated mix of treasures.  Everything is resting on an architectural blueprint that's curling and cascading on the velvet.  The steps are old library steps outlined in gold.  On the top step is a ceramic horse head.  One step down is a rubber mold of an Indian.
 I topped this old goblet with a seed pod orb.
 One of my favorite things to collect are old document boxes.
 Teeny ones and ones with words are the best.
 I also came across some very unique copper bracelets.  One has an applique and the other is made to look like a belt buckle.  The other is simply linked metal circles.

I love that I have friends who coerce me into shopping with them.
 I hope you have some too.
 I'd like to hear what you've come across this summer.


Kathy