The Antique Show

   By far my favorite shopping falls into the category of "antiquing". This has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. Although in all honesty, when I was young, I would hold my breath hoping that my parents wouldn't see the giant "Antiques" sign by the side of the road. Since, that never happened, I grew up wandering through shops full of very old things and usually managed to find something that interested me.

   It wasn't until my husband and I set up our own home that I really went all out for antiques. Over the years we (mainly I) have managed to plan trips around places with good antiquing or museums with great collections of early Americana.

Over the weekend, we attended one of my favorite antique shows of the year. It comes at just the right time as the holidays are over and winter has set in. By this time I need to get out and look an amazing collection of dealers and their wonderful antiques.

   Somehow I usually manage to find something that speaks to me although I can't always pay the price tag on that fabulous Penna-German decorated dower chest. What I did bring home however was a wonderful leather-bound hymnal of the diminutive size printed in 1839.

     I also, managed to bring home some great textiles. With these pieces, I will find lots of inspiration for future projects.

The best thing though about this show is the reunions. It seems around every corner of the show is another a friend. It was wonderful catching up, exchanging stories of the past year, and seeing what purchases had been made. Here we speak the same language: original surface, early construction, paint decoration, and so on.

So, in this new year, happy antiquing and maybe I'll see you browsing the isles of old things somewhere!