Easter Giveaway and Antique and Flea Market Finds

It’s almost spring and to celebrate I have 2 sweet bunny gifts to give away for 2 lucky winners, just in time for Easter! I’ll give you the complete set of instructions on how to enter, at the conclusion of this post. It seems so long ago since I wrote my last blog, on decoupaging terra cotta planters. A lot has happened since then and I’m sorry, I am just now writing again. Four weeks ago I had a terrifying experience when I was out in the cottage greenhouse.

Four weeks ago I had a terrifying experience when I was out in the cottage greenhouse. I was watering my plants when I heard a loud pop and a sizzling sound behind me. Turning, I saw a fireball traveling from the greenhouse heater cord, coming toward me! Jumping to get away, my foot got caught in the rungs of the wrought iron chair that sits under the potting bench. I lost my balance, and fell against the brick wall on the opposite side of the greenhouse. My foot was still caught in the rung of the chair and I desperately grasped the bricks on the wall to keep from falling, as the cord caught on fire. I heard another pop and sizzling sound and was horrified to see another fireball traveling up the cord toward the fire. I was afraid if I lost my grip on the wall, I was going to fall into the fire. When I hit the wall, I heard my arm crack and from the way it felt, I was pretty sure I had broken my arm and didn’t think I would be able to hang on much longer. In desperation I cried aloud to the Lord, “Don’t let me fall, Lord!”

Instantly, my foot was freed from the chair, I regained my balance, and I ran out of the greenhouse, to the house to get Richard.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live...I was overcome with trouble and sorrow.  Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, save me!"  Psalms 116:1-4 

Miraculously, the fire was all out by the time Richard got to the greenhouse, though smoke filled the greenhouse, there were two large charred areas on the pea gravel floor, and the heater cord was totally burned in half. So many things could have gone so much worse…but the Lord heard my cry and didn’t let me fall into the fire when I called to Him.

Afterwards, I told Richard I thought I’d broken my arm, but told him I was too shaken to go to the hospital right then, and asked if he would get me two Tylenol. Later, he wrapped my arm with an Ace bandage to help me keep from moving it so much, and after a fitful night of sleep, Richard took me to the the emergency room. My arm was broken, but I only cried when they had to cut off my wedding rings, my fingers and hand had swollen so badly.

The doctor said the radius bone of my arm was broken and where the break was, my thumb had to be immobilized and enclosed in the cast, also. Simple things, like putting on my seatbelt, opening an umbrella, taking off perfume lids, holding a phone and texting, unscrewing a lid from a bottled water, and putting on earrings are impossible.
I have discovered (Richard has too!) that women have too many conditioners, gel’s, mousse’s, and lotions to apply and far too many fasteners, hooks, zippers, and buttons!
However, “on the other hand” (; …it has been very endearing to have my darling husband massage conditioner into my hair after I wash it, comb my hair out for me, wrap my coat around my shoulders, and pull my covers up at night, as he tucks me in. ❤️

I should not talk about myself so much if there were anybody else I knew as well.

Henry David Thoreau

After all the trauma in the emergency room was over, Richard asked the doctor if I could travel… and if so, he told the doctor he was going to take me to the condo in Branson to recuperate. The doctor said I could travel if I took it easy and kept my arm elevated while we were traveling. He also said I would need something for the pain, and wrote a prescription for me.
So with the front seat piled high with pillows, we headed to Branson the next morning.

“Taking it easy” like the doctor advised was easy, since I didn’t really feel like doing much of anything, our first week, but by the second week I did feel like getting out and going to a few flea markets and antique shops.
Many of you have asked me in the past what I find when Richard and I go antique shopping or go to the flea markets, and what prices I usually pay for my finds.
I thought, since I am unable to do a lot of the things I usually blog about while my arm is in a cast…I would show you some of the treasures I found while we were in Branson!
Richard bought a special foam “pillow pad” for me that holds up my iPad so I can type, though it is tedious, using only one hand. When I finished writing my post, I forwarded it to my computer to add all the pictures and links. Picture taking was another challenge, so some of the pictures below are not the best.

SO…are you ready to go antiquing and ‘ticking?!! 🤗 Let’s get started!
This beautiful antique duck plate was made in Bavaria. I love the soft, muted colors of this plate and they go perfectly with my Royal Copley antique ducks that Richard bought for me years ago.
The price tag on this plate was marked $8.00, but the shop owner took another 10% off at the register, so it was only $7.20!

This bedizened little what-not container was only $5.00! The decorative lid at the top is an emerald green color with an ombre effect that gradually lightens to a gold color along the edges. A graceful swan perches on the cut-glass top and the heavy glass bowl sets in a pierced brass charger.

Look at this luscious, creamy colored Weller Ware pottery. From the pottery marks on the bottom of this vase, I know this particular piece was made in the 1920’s and is 100 years old! I bought this beautiful vase for $12.50 and it sells for approximately $70.00 on EBAY.

The gorgeous colored pheasant sitting next to the Weller Ware vase in this same picture is another rare find. It is a toothpick holder made by Rosemeade Pottery and it was only $7.50!

My kitschy collection of wooden wishing wells is growing! The biggest wishing well, with turning crank, was a find from another time, but I found this cute medium sized wishing well with a little bucket on a chain for $1.00, and the teeny tiny wishing well for only 50 cents.

Hanging above the trio of wishing wells is another find that made me smile. The moment I saw this winsome clock winking at me from the doorway of the flea market, I knew Mr. Bluebird’s new address was going to be in the Cottage Greenhouse. (: Price $2.00.

I love Depression Glass and cobalt blue anything and this little creamer, tucked way in the back, is the perfect size for watering my hard-to-get-t0 planters. Cost $5.00. The little cafe creamer ($1.00) is the first one I’ve ever seen in the cobalt blue and I bought it just because it was so cute! Last of my cobalt blue buys was this sweet candy dish with fluted edges and domed, clangy, metal top. It was $7.50. Happily, they had two of these and I couldn’t bear to leave the other one behind, so I bought the other one for my dear sister. ❤

Sisters are for sharing laughter and wiping tears.

My main quest, this time, while looking at antiques was to find more Depression glass salt and pepper shakers to store my seeds in. Depression glass is the clear or colored translucent glassware that was distributed in the United States and Canada during the time of the Great Depression from 1929-1939. Some food manufacturers and distributors wanted an incentive to boost their sales, so they came up with the idea of including a piece of glassware in food and detergent boxes.

I love Depression Glass salt and pepper shakers: their colors, lined details, embossed flowers, and their ruggedy little tops that are dented and worn, whisper of days forgotten, if you listen.

I also found 2 more of my little what-not birds that I enjoy collecting and filling my greenhouse cubby’s with. This little pheasant and redbird were only 50 cents each. The shakers in the pictures above were $5.00 each.

I ❤ the faded colors of this shabby house of baskets and the little heart cutout under the eaves! Each little basket slides out and is a sweet drawer for storage Cost $3.00.

These bronze ducks were a super find and they were made for Wild Ducks Unlimited (see marking on front of sculpture). I paid only $15.00 for this duck sculpture. One like it sold on Ebay for $120.00! The geese look like they are in their natural habitat nestled in the pea gravel of the greenhouse floor, among the fronds of the liriope grass.

Look at all the beautiful baskets I found on this trip! I was so happy when I found these hard to find, low sided baskets to use when I cut and gather flowers! After we got back, I hadn’t been in the greenhouse, since my accident, and honestly, I was reluctant and still a little traumatized when I thought about going back in there for the first time, alone. Richard had already thought of all that too, and after we got back home, Richard sweetly said, “Whenever you decide you want to go out to the greenhouse, I’m going with you.” ❤ Two days later, we BOTH went out to the greenhouse. While we were out there, Richard hung all 4 of my baskets for me, high in the rafters of the greenhouse. Since I couldn’t carry anything, he brought out all my plants that had died…after the greenhouse heater disaster left our greenhouse with no heating during the extreme cold and snow Texas experienced, while we were away. Total cost for all 4 of the baskets…$6.00. Gift of Richard’s thoughtfulness and love…priceless.

These are two of my favorite finds during the whole trip. This darling little wooden stool with silver legs and chintzy painted top ($7.00) and this chippy, metal frog with his beguiling smile and his hands behind his head. ($8.00) Since he didn’t have a lily pad to rest on, I thought this little stool made a lovely substitution.

Hope you liked shopping vicariously with me! Now, the details for the Easter GIVEAWAY! I have 2 sweet bunny gifts to “giveaway” to 2 lucky winners, just in time for Easter!

The first giveaway is a light blue kitchen towel covered with white polka dots, with an applique of bunny rabbits hiding in terra cotta planters. Pink ears and fuzzy pompom tails are all that can be seen of the hiding bunny’s. Included with the kitchen towel are 2 Rae Dunn wooden handled spatula, and a wooden handled whisk with pastel colored whips that has the words HAPPY SPRING on the handle. One spatula has a picture of a gray rabbit with the words HIP HOP below it…the other spatula has a picture of 6 colored Easter eggs, each egg with a different letter on it to spell E-A-S-T-E-R. The entire word, EASTER is written again, below the colored eggs.

GIVEAWAY 1

The 2nd lucky winner will receive a bunny kitchen towel, 2 spatula, and 1 whisk. The only differences from the first giveaway are the pictures on the spatula. One spatula has a little yellow chick with the words PEEP PEEP written below it. The other spatula, a picture of a bunch of carrots with the word SPRING written below it.

GIVEAWAY 2

To enter this giveaway and for a chance to be one of the two lucky winners to receive this spring kitchen set, just leave a comment below telling me which of the treasures I found when antiqu’ing was your favorite.

All my subscribers/followers will automatically get a 2nd entry to the giveaway. To become a subscriber/follower, go to the top right corner of this post and see: FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL. Enter your email address and click on FOLLOW… then let me know you are a new subscriber/follower in the comment section below. Don’t worry if your comment doesn’t appear right away; all comments from subscribers that haven’t written me before are checked by Word Press for any spam, and may be delayed before posting.

For a third entry and chance to win, Pin/Save a picture from my post above to PINTEREST and write another comment telling me so. The Pin/Save button pops up in the upper left corner of each picture I have included in this post.

This giveaway is open to all readers who live in the continental United States until 10:00 pm, Central Daylight Time, on March 20th (the first day of spring!) The 2 winners will be announced in my blog on the following day, March 21st.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Thank you so much for reading my blog!

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.  Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live...I was overcome with trouble and sorrow.  Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, save me!"  Psalms 116:1-4 

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Trenda@cottagegreenonthelake.com