Friday Favorites

It's been approximately 100 years since I posted a Friday Favorites, and today seems like a really great day to rectify that sad state of affairs.

Let's start with the bouquets from my flower subscription. I purchased this seasonal subscription for the first time last summer and was hooked- picking up a fresh bouquet every week for three months? Yes. Sign me up again. This summer's bouquets have been worth every penny again, and I have no doubt I'll buy the subscription again next year.

Speaking of subscriptions, I recently signed up for a seasonal candle subscription from a local small business. The candles are hand-poured and delivered right to my front door every month through December. My first candle arrived on my porch in the cutest packaging, and with additional treats, to boot. The scent is definitely fall-forward, and I'm excited to start burning it. I love supporting local entrepreneurs.

Despite the ongoing saga of the rodent bastards who consider my garden their own personal breakfast buffet, I managed to get three cantaloupes across the finish line. I can't wait for Queen B to get home to try one.

Last summer, while we were organizing items for Oscar and Emily's downsizing yard sale, they argued fiercely over what Hugh's sister kept calling "the fish plates". I finally asked them what the hell "fish plates" were. Turns out, they were a set of hand-painted plates from Austria that had belonged to Oscar's mother. Emily hated them; Oscar was attached to them (obviously, I mean, they were his mother's), and the fight was on. 

Emily wanted them in the sale; Oscar insisted they were keeping them. The fight ended when I took a picture of them, ran it through Google reverse image search, and discovered they were rare and...valuable. At that point, they went back into the cabinet where they had been dwelling for these forty-five or so years, and the topic was closed. 

Until...the estate sale this past June, when they were the first thing snapped up by the antique dealers who were invited to the pre-sale. Flash forward to a few weeks ago, when I was browsing my favorite antique store downtown, where, what to my wondering eyes did appear...yep, the fish plates. And I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that Oscar's last piece of Grandma Sherry was on display for strangers. 

Naturally, I bought them. I figure, Emily got what she wanted, which was the cash from the antique dealer; the dealer got my money; Oscar gets to have the plates stay in the family; and I get a pretty kick-ass wall display as well as the satisfaction of knowing Oscar is happy. It's a win all the way around, and people? I don't even like fish.

But I loved Grandma Sherry.

Also, on the topic of vintage things, earlier today I went to a new flea market in Hooterville. A friend who used to own one of the antique stores in town is running it; she decided to do something less time-consuming, so she sold the store and opened the market. The market was fun, and while I didn't find anything that I couldn't live without, I'm excited for the new opportunity.

Lastly, I ended my day today at the fire department's tribute to 9/11. The department invited the community out to remember the sacrifices made by the first responders, as well as the tremendous losses suffered by the families of those lost in the towers, Pentagon, and airplanes. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years.