A Common Vision

You know one of the
best feelings in the world?

When someone "gets" you...

When you meet someone who

shares a common outlook,

or who sees things through
the same lens, so to speak. 
{ pun intended }

I have just such a person

in the form of my best friend, Tom.

You remember Tom, don't you?

You first met him here

when I introduced him as my new photography / stylist

assistant on any big, upcoming photo shoots.

Tom has an incredible eye,

and I've been sort of indoctrinating him into

the wonderful world of vintage inspired photography.

It's been a lot of fun, introducing him to my world,

and teaching him what to look for.

My edumacating him on the differences between tulle, tole and toile 

was worth the price of admission all by itself!

All of these photos you're seeing 

were taken during our most recent walkabout 

at Fredericksburg Trade Days.

And you know what else?

Of the 11 images I'm showing you in the post,

Tom took 8 and I took 3.

True, all the editing and post-processing 

was done by yours truly, but I am happily

surprised to discover that our styles are merging so seamlessly...

that it's hard to tell our work apart at times.

{ I know but I'm not telling }

We have mighty big things planned
in the days and weeks ahead,
so I hope you'll follow our adventures!

And you?

Who is your  creative kindred spirit?
I'd love to know!

XO,

This Old House

Creaky wood floors, 

drafty windows, peely paint.

aka the sights and sounds
of old house love.

I've been tossing around the idea 

of starting a little club.

A farmhouse club, that is.

Not an exclusive, snooty clique...

nope, far from it.

{ tags part of my oc cottage giveaway win }

What I had in mind was a convergence

of those seasoned folks who have lived in and loved

old homes, cottages, farmhouses...

along with those of us brand new 

to the wonderful world of

old home ownership 

and all the joys which go along with it.

 I find myself, oh, at least a few times each week,

encountering some new and befuddling

"old home" situation which leaves me completely clueless.

And it's specifically those times which leave me

wishing I had someone "in the know"

who I could learn from, whose brains I could pick,

whose knowledge could benefit not only me,

but countless others out there.

And who also knows that old homes have a sort of character,
a soul if you will, that new homes simply will never have,
no matter how much old stuff you fill them with.
They have lived a life, and they invite you to enter into
and add to the richness of that ongoing, organic life.

{ pillow from my evelyn and rose giveaway win }

Do y'all know LaurieAnna?

That little stinker just moved into THE most darling old home!

You really should pop on over and check it out.

LaurieAnna has lived in these old beauties for years,

so she is precisely the sort of person I would LOVE

to welcome to our club!
Shoot, I'd make her El Presidente if she joined!

So.....

all you vintage home owners, old and new alike...

are you with me?
Good idea?
Shall we do it?

Happy Monday!

Four

Happy Thursday!

Not a heck of a lot to say on this end,

except today marks mine and Mr. Twigs'

Fourth Anniversary...

Happy 4th to Us!

Perhaps the moving-cleaning-unpacking 

train will slow down long enough

for a bit of celebrating later, but for now...

back to work!

I think I see rain on the horizon...
it's gonna be a GREAT day!

XOXO,

free to good home

it was a pretty great weekend!

busy, but great.

you know the kind.
you go, go go, and before you know it,
you wonder where it all went.
the weekend, that is.

a trip to trade days, my super fabulous monthly
flea market, where i picked up some stupendous goodies
( pics coming soon )
and visited with old and new friends alike.

while there, i experienced the slightly surreal moment again
that i've had a few times before,
where someone recognizes
me from the blog and says
"are you anne from fiona and twig?"

that will never NOT feel weird to me!
but i was delighted to meet a new friend,
especially one as lovely as betsy.
hi betsy ( big happy wave ) !!!

and the next day, a visit to san antonio for
vietnamese food ( soooo good ),
and a swing by the camera store to ooooh and aaaah
over all the lenses on my wish list.

and interspersed between all that activity
was more unpacking and organizing,
a task which these days,
seems never-ending.

i am so resentful in awe of those of you who move into
new homes and a mere week later you're
posting full room pics of your glorious
new spaces. how do you do it???
are you utilizing free in-house child labor, or what?
{ giving y'all the side eye here... }

i am SUCH a slug.
a big, fat, lazy, non-decorating slug.
is it okay to 'fess up to that?
i mean, i am among friends, right?
aren't y'all sometimes slugs, too?

instead of showing you
all the projects i've completed,
how about i just enumerate
a mere partial list of
the stuff that still needs doin'?

continue to unpack all boxes in house
organize cupboards
replace bamboo blinds in living room
purchase and hang new blinds
hang curtains in all rooms
hang awning over bed
clean all windows, interior and exterior
landscape
sort through boxes in storage in barn
take donated items to st. vincent de paul and goodwill
plant flower and vegetable garden
re-caulk around shower in guest bath
re-paint bathroom doors and beadboard
sweep and mop all wood floors
replace back porch light
finalize fencing for dogs
repair overhang portion of roof
paint house exterior
install back porch step railing


etc, etc, etc...
and that's just at the new house.

the list of what needs doing at the ( old ) house
we're ready to list and sell
is even longer.

mix in a full-time job, and voila!
a recipe for burnout.
it's a tad overwhelming at times,
which is why when you pass a roadside sign
on the way home from church
which says "FREE DOORS",
you tell the hubs to slam on the brakes and circle back.

they were free to a good home,
and these will go quite nicely
in my future antique mall booth
here in town, i think.

free is good.
free is AWESOME.
and y'all are awesome, for listening to me
pi** and moan yet again.

happy, happy week!

blog interrupted...

so mom was doing a photo shoot 

here in da kitchen.

yep. ANOTHER one.

 she's always 

taking pictures in here.

i don't see anything
all THAT interesting....

no little plastic twisty things off the milk jug,

no paper sacks to crawl into...

just a whole lotta white stuff.

i'll just lounge here
on this nubby old towel
that mom always yells at me for gettin' on.

{ uhhh...that's a pricey vintage grain sack, Winnie }

 hey, i think i spots
a bug over there!

 i do, i do!

it's a bug!

maybe i'll have enough energy to go chase it,

but right now...

 here comes mom again with dat camera.

*sigh*

~~~quick, look all disinterested!~~~

yeah, that's the look.

wait.....hey....hold on....

NO FAIR!!!

ya caught me mid-yawn, mom!

sheesh, what's next?

candid litterbox snaps?

can't a girl have a little dignity?

{ although i DO look pretty fierce, i must say }

{quickly recomposes self }

oh yeah, i'm pretty.

i know.

mmmm, dis smells good...

 is dis catnip?

 dis smells real  good!

on second thought....

 it's a little stinky.

 mom says it's something called

lavender...

 it's good for peoples,

but us kittehs prefer catnip.

 *sigh*

posing is such  hard work.

 not only dat...

but it makes you HUNGRY, too!

see ya on da interwebs, mom!

XO,

Anne 

WINNIE

Snippets of Life....and a Giveaway Winner

Anybody want to move in?

Rates are cheap, company is good.

The food? 

Depends on which one of us is cookin'.  ;-)

Just some little snippets of life

around the homestead the past couple of days.

With projects out the ying yang,

both at the new house and the one we're getting ready to sell,

there hasn't been time to get entire rooms
looking good and photo shoot ready.

No time to hang pictures, mirrors,

foof, primp and style....

which is why you're only getting
"snippets".

that's okay, right?

I mean, it beats the alternative,
which is getting...nothing.

And then there's this little snippet
I captured of
this  guy....

Doesn't know what the heck he's doing.

but looks darn convincing holding that bad boy anyway!

In other news, the winner of my

Romantic Country Magazine Giveaway?

 

Karen at Design the Journey.

Mail me your address Karen, I'll get that right out to you.

Happy Tuesday!