The Vintage Husband - Out Sick

Sorry folks no post this week. I have come down with the first cold of the season. I was supposed to go fishing with the kids yesterday and I had planned to have some great pictures of us catching some trout from up at Ice House Lake. But alas, I spent the day in bed sick.

However Erika did manage to get this 1930's Art Deco buffet done on Saturday. So I am going to steal the picture and put it on my blog. I can't take any credit for the work though. She did it all on her own.



Look for the buffet and other products on the Tatterd House's Market Page

Right now I have date with a Kleenex box

It's the 1st Sunday of the Month - Must Be Alameda

Today the Vintage Husband was volunteered to help The Tattered House at the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire. Being a good Vintage Husband, I complied with the request. (I know what's good for me!) So it was up at 2:30am for the trip down, this time with the daughter in tow. Sandy worked at the Tattered House, leaving Erika and I to set up and sell at the Faire.

I am pleased to say that I made many attempts to interact with the customers today. As many of you may or may not know, I am not always the social butterfly. And I am not always quick to strike up a conversation with a total stranger.



After today I am a believer in the fact that the economy has taken a down turn. While lots of new friends and potential customers were made today, the cash was not flowing like usual. That is not to say we didn't sell anything, but the tire kickers were definately out in full force.





We did manage to sell this b-e-a-u-tiful side board today. And although I didn't get them in the picture, the pair of alabaster lamp sitting on top of it were also sold, but to a different customer.

Look for these metal flowers on The Tattered House's Market soon. They are in different sizes, between 3" to 5" and are made from, get this, old tin cans. Do you remember the frozen strawberries that came in a can? That is what a lot of these are made from. You can still read some of the print on the leaves. Someone really spent a lot of time making these flowers.

Here is some luggage we had out at the flea market today. Lot's of silver platters and cups.
Sea fans and some crowns, a little tin table and an unstuffed pillow case

This HUGE birdcage saw lots of attention today - but alas - with no takers. You may find this on The Tattered House Market soon as well.

We also put out an assortment of sea shells today, a staple of The Tattered House. I think there will be less of these going into the fall and the holidays, as the girls see these as more of a spring and summer item. However, I would expect to see some glittered starfish and the like for Christmas decorations.



After a very long, and slightly prosperous day, we all arrived home safe and sound. Once again I didn't make any purchases and didn't really look around at the other venders spaces as I don't really need anything. And with only me to help, Erika wasn't able to get away and check anything out. However, next month Erika said she will not be selling at Alameda, and I believe is going down with Annette to shop.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and I will speak to you all again next week.

Brett

Take time........

Take time to smell the roses. When I was a kid, I never fully understood the meaning of this old saying. Why do I want to stop and smell some old flowers? Now, however, I fully get the meaning. So today was my day to stop and smell the roses. I puttered around the house while the kids were out doing their thing.

I was glad to see my daughter and her friend outside in our garden chasing butterflies and playing with the bugs instead of sitting in front of the television. Leave it to Abbey to find 2 praying mantis' mating. I think they found 4 praying mantis total. Then there was the snail that they played with and named Bob. She came in and asked for some salt at one point. I questioned "Why?" "We want to see what happens when we pour it on the snail" she said. "Not today" I said. "Well then , can I have a jar or something to keep it in?" No, no pet snails, thank you.

Folsom Lake

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The kids and I went out to Folsom Lake today. It was more like Folsom Pond. Or better yet Folsom River. We parked at Beals Point and then walked what must have been a quarter mile down to the water. I think we were standing right in front of the dam.

In twenty years, I don't remember the lake this low.

While we were there a fire helicopter came and sucked up some water





This was an old road along the valley edge




This looks like an old row of trees, by the way this is looking back up towards the parking lot and the dike around the lake.



Man I hope we get a lot of rain this winter!!!



Brett

Humming Birds

I love birds. I love to take pictures of birds. And best of all I love taking pictures of humming birds. This little girl comes by the back yard everyday. She'll get right in your face if your not careful!

I think it's the speed that they fly at that fascinates me the most. Their little wings beat so fast you can't even see them. And when you get 2 or more, they fly through the back yard like a couple of world war 2 air planes in a dog fight. Zipping around trees and poles and people. Climbing straight up in the air and then zooming right back down and around.

We have mostly Anna's humming birds but in the spring Rufus and Black Chinned hummers will show up occasionally. We have a couple feeders in the back yard, so there is always a show.

Baby Snake

As of Friday, we have a baby snake. It is an albino corn snake. We have both the parents as well. The baby is about the size of a #2 lead pencil. The partents are about 3 feet long in case you've never seen an adult corn snake. One is orange and the other is green.

Funny story, in May, Erika called and said that the snakes were acting funny and she thought I should get some "feeders" on my way home from work. So, I stopped and bought the feeders, and tried feeding the snakes when I got home. But, alas, the snakes were not hungry. Strange. Normally both snakes go nuts when I put a feeder in with them. When I feed the snakes I take them out of there cage and put them in a different container. Each snake is fed seperately. I was letting the green snake crawl on the counter while I tried to feed the orange snake. When he didn't eat, I let him crawl out of his container. Here is where it gets funny. We never knew the sex of our snakes. It takes an expert to tell male from female. I never really gave much thought to it. So, the orange snake (the male) crawls over to the green snake (the female) Starting at her tail, he slides along her body all the way to her head. Right on top of her. Meanwhile she starts twitching as he is sliding alond. The whole time I'm yelling for the kids and Erika, "Hey, come here, check this out!!" When the male is even with the female, they start doing it. Both snakes have a hemi-penis. Male and Female. Both hemi-penis' come out and lock together. Pretty cool. We all stood there and watched the snakes do it for about 15 minutes.

So now we know we have a male and a female snake. We let them do it a couple more times and then waited to see what would happen. Our female laids 11 eggs on June 6. Of course we read up on what to do to try and make sure the eggs hatched. It would be 2 months before they did. 1 out of 11 - not very successful on my part. I think some eggs got to wet and drowned, while the others dryed out. It's hard to duplicate the exact conditions. Plus we went on vacation to Oregon during this time and left them unattended. Not that we need any more snakes, but once it happened it was cool to see it all take place.

Our cockateils were also having some fun at the same time. We had 7 cockateil eggs at the same time as the snake eggs were first laid. Unfortunately, none of the bird eggs were fertilized. Our male, Bob, isn't quite doing it right. He gets on top of Bird-Bird sideways. Maybe next year the birds will have babies. Right now we have enough going on.

Brett

Moss Landing / Monterey

Moss Landing / Monterey






My favorite reason for going to Moss Landing is for the brids, literally. Last year we took a boat ride on Elkhorn Slough (a slough is a marshy river). For me it was more exciting than going to the aquarium in Monterey. The kids enjoyed that trip as well. There are lots of birds, sea otters and seals to be seen. We didn't take the boat ride this year, but still saw plenty of birds and some harbor seals. My favorite (and Erika's) are the pelicans.








this one's a little fuzzy, but I like the pose






a Harbor Seal - Oh he's so cute!