very good advise and I will try to follow your advise too! Happy New Year!

Glad you are feeling healthier. Wishing you and yours a bless,healthy and happy 2019.
Marilyn

I need to learn to do this. I need to make time for myself as my biggest complaint is that I never have 5 minutes for me!

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts I appreciate the way that you are a approaching the new year and I believe I will do the same !!
We are certainly the only ones that can change our attitude. That really seems to be the only thing we are in control of.
Happy New Year!!

Thank you! Gave me some good tips!

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Happy New Year, Nicole! I loved your thoughtful blog post. While my Dad was dying I gained over 40 lbs on an already heavy frame. Sometime during the past few months, my body decided enough is enough. I have been SO short of breath and so tired all the time and in pain all over. When I retired 2 years ago my stress level dropped so much! Anyway, I’ve lost 14.6 pounds, and working to lose more. Rod got me a BodyGrove tape because I love to dance. Your blog was so motivating, Nicole and I am SO glad you are feeling better. Hugs.

Great advice! I’ve been in the same mindset, and this will help me change the way I’m approaching this!

Enjoyed this blog! First time I’ve been on your site and can relate in many ways to the struggle you have had.

I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (they think due to a tick bite but it was never diagnosed) when I was 30 – forty years ago. Over the years I gained over 75 pounds – would lose a few then gain them back.

A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer…after chemotherapy, surgery and radiation and a research chemo study, I lost over 80 pounds!

Needless to say, my lifestyle, eating habits, exercise and wardrobe has changed. Funny how some things can change your whole perspective! I treasure each day I’m given, have continued to work on changing habits and lifestyle, make time for things I didn’t and feel so much better!

Your blog challenged me and reinforced my resolve to continue the “new me”!!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours. Thanks for all the Santa.

Thank You Nicole for this lovely post. My twin sister and I were afraid of Santa. When we were very small we waited in line for a long time. When our turn came we cried and refused go up to Santa. To get to Santa we were suppose to go through a little village and then get a gift from Santa. After waiting so long our late father said we are going to get the gifts,so he went through the village to the delight of all the spectators. Nicole sorry about your bunny. That book you have from 1897 is precious as is your dollhouse. Wishing you and your family a Blessed Christmas and a Happy,peaceful 2019.
Marilyn

Merry Christmas Nicole and family; Happy New Year also. It should be a good one for all of us as things have been improving the last 2 years or so. Losing a pet is hard on everyone but there’s always joy when a new one comes for Christmas. I love to see the Christmas lights that people decorate their homes with; I have many lights this year just need to get them up and on; no tree yet; we always like to have a live tree we plant in the ground and I love to decorate them outdoors too. Maybe next year I can do it up great like I want to, with music. I loved all the Santa statues you have posted. My son and my father both have played Santa’s in the past for the children. They have always loved it to.

I love this picture of you with Santa so many years ago. You sent the one of you and I in front of our tree on Christmas morning to me when you were 5 years old. Love the Gene
Autry song which I sang when I was a child. Love, Mother

thank you so much for those photos that we all share from our childhood. May 2019 bring you joy, peace in your heart and great health! I look forward to wonderful writings from you in the new year. Winnie Jackson 🙂

It’s fun to find something I think someone I know would like and give it to her/him for no reason.

So sweet, you always write such sweet stories.
Hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

I had tears reading this lovely story! My husband and I had moved to a new area and I had met a few people. Unfortunately he was involved in a car accident and taken to the local hospital, but then life flighted to a large hospital in a major city. I had no idea how to get there (before GPS). I called a woman I had visited with a couple times and asked her for directions. She told me to get to her house and she would take me. What a blessing she was – and we remain friends to this day!

It is surprising that you would have this type of post when I had just recently gave a “giving plate” to my friend. It was given to me as a gift still in the box and had a recipe and ingredients to make sugar cookies for whoever I gave it to. I thought of my friend who has been so wonderful to us and made the cookies and passed it on to her. She as yet hasn’t passed it on. I will hint to her that it doesn’t have to be sweets, or even food for that matter. I love the idea and I have in the past made a food dish and gave the dish itself along with the food to people I care about. I also try to find gifts that are something the person will need or like really well. With Thanksgiving and Christmas close, this is my favorite time of the year. Thanks for posting, Nicole.

What a marvelous collection you’ve got. Thanks for sharing.

I love Moscow. My grandson plays football for the team. He loves Moscow.
I love your store.
We live in Northern California
Balboa Island Ca decorates like Moscow for all the holidays. Never seen another town that does until Moscow.
Love your site
Sandra

Loved the old vintage Halloween decorations! So cute…I loved the witch’s leg lamp that your aunt gave you…Your blog put me in the mood for Halloween. The chili recipe with pumpkin looks tasty….

I love your decorations, Nicole! And I agree, it’s the best time of year! I love everything about fall. The cool crisp air, fresh apples, mulled apple cider, Halloween, pumpkins… Thanks for sharing your recipe – I’m going to give it a try with a meat alternative!

I look so forward to reading your posts. I am a Texas girl with a New England heart. It’s our favorite vacation destination, always in the fall. Our last trip was 4 years ago. It’s been way too long!

Very wonderful decorating

Hi Nicole! Happy Fall and Halloween!
Your post got me in the mood to get out my fall decorations and start decorating! I love your vintage Halloween decor, too. You’re such a clever collector and decorator.
You’re also right about fall here in New England. It’s our reward for staying through winter! Your Pumpkin Chili sounds yummy, too. I’ve never heard of it. Must give it a try. 🙂
Stay cozy and warm!
xo
Deb

Just lovely!

I love your vintage collection. One of my sons has a Halloween birthday so after the grandkids go trick or treating we usually have pizza and ice-cream cake, or a special cake his wife makes. I think this year we will try your chili recipe. It sounds delicious!

Nancy

You did such a nice job decorating. Your collection is great. We have the pumpkin and cat light. It is on our desk. We have a few other vintage decorations. That house is so festive and looks so scary.. It sounds so nice how your neighbor celebrates Halloween. Thank You for sharing.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Joan,Marion and Marilyn

I love Halloween. Hope to do as you have done and decorate for it this year in my new home, which I haven’t been able to move into as yet but hopefully before Halloween. It is getting closer. I love what you have used. I also have a vintage sewing machine and I will copy your idea and use it also in my decorations. It is still hot in my area, but by Halloween it will cool off I am sure. So much to do and so little time. Old time movies are the best especially for Halloween. They also were more humorous than today’s picks. I watch a lot of older movies on TCM and I bet they will be airing some Halloween favorites soon if not already. Have a Happy Halloweenish time.

Need to try the pumpkin chili recipe. Never heard of it .love all the fall decorations and the dollhouse. Love all fall things. We go to a Amish fall festival and it is Apple fritters, Apple butter on fresh bread. All made fresh on site. Blue grass music, crafts wine tasting etc.Love it. Photos are great. Marlene

Where can I find a tractor sewing machine prefer red.
Thx
Jeanne

Sounds like a great time! Always enjoy your posts!

Your hard work has really paid off.
Gidget truly is a time capsule! And I love that it’s a family thing, too! What could be better than making new friends and lasting memories?
We survived another hot and humid, New England Summer and still had fun!
Here’s to cooler weather!
Farmgirl hugs,
Deb

Great blog and love picture of Kim and Pip!
Love, Mother

I LOVED all the pics…cant wait until me and my sweetie can go again in ours…Hopefully soon…I would love to go to a vintage camper rally..I loved the puzzle…and your furbaby is ADORABLE….we have two little furbabys that travel with us as well.. 🙂 Your camper is awesome…keep camping and having fun…And sharing with us too…Neta.

I am 73 and want a camper like yours. I have been wanting to camp out since I married 12 years ago. Finally I saw my hubby discreetly looking at the ads in our town for campers. I hope that there is more to it than looking lol. Loved reading your adventure.

You all have done a great job! Gidget is adorable!

What a great job. The vintage is to perfection. I love all the vintage. Enjoy.
Marilyn

Now all you need is your little Featherweight. Adorable.

Nicole,
You did a fantastic job on Gidget! I just love everything.

I LOVE the vintage camper! You have done an excellent job, and at low prices too!

Love the turquoise ! Everything looks just fabulous! It’s like a step into the past! Great job!

I love it!! She so cute. I have a 63 Scottsman that I am restoring. I still have a ways to go but I’m loving it. You can see my pics on my Facebook page Strange Art & Vintage Finds w/ Mary Jane. I named her Mary Jane after my favorite author and the man I bought it from was a pot head lol. I saved her. Hugs!!

Splendid! I drove past a used car lot down the street one day and saw a vintage Shasta on the lot for $3,000. I went back the next day to check it out with the idea of revamping it to it’s original state and the price had gone up to $13,000. It was not meant to be.

Oh my, that was so much fun! Being in my 60’s I saw so many things that were new and exciting when I was a girl! Now they are vintage…or are retro….YIKES!!! When did THAT happen??? Hahaha
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, girlie!
Hugs&Squeezles!
Judy

Nicole, I really enjoyed reading your post, as always, but summer is almost over, and autumn is just around the corner, and I am still looking for a camper or motor home for our use and to travel to NYS to see my brother and his family there. Would love to go glamping too, but so many obstacles in the way right now. Hopefully there will be one this fall or winter available for sale in our price range. I love Gidget. She is so cute. Back in the day when I was young and my parents would spend all summer at Yosemite camping out in tents. It was a blast too. I love the memories.

You have all outdone yourself! What a fun thing to do together as a family. She’s truly a blast from the past… Being a child of the 60’s I felt like I was stepping back in time… So many memories of everything retro… It’s so great to see you able to enjoy the fruits of your labor of love… Happy Camping!
Deb

I am just getting started on my 1964 Tear Drop
And you’re an inspiration to me!
Love ❤️ your beautiful trailer!!

Thank you for taking me along on my virtual Glamping trip. I still dream of having my own red and white vintage trailer someday. Love the vintage linens too.

I love your dollhouse!! I am impressed with how you made some of the small items! Enjoyed all the pictures. Love, Mother

Hi Nicole,
My own fondest memory does indeed include a dollhouse. But mine (in the late 40’s) was all metal with everything printed on the metal including rugs, etc. But even after ALL these years I can still picture it and remember what joy I had when I got it for my 9th birthday. You have done amazing work…..and all since May!
Well, all I can say is, “Wow”!

Nicole, THAT dollhouse is just simply AMAZING!!! I’ve not seen anything like it. WOW!
You have a lot of patience girl!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Hugs&Squeezles
Judy

Nicole, this is such a sweet post. I love how you’re always drawing inspiration from your childhood days. I feel like I could step inside each room and go about my daily routine. You’ve done a wonderful job of re creating that time. The era you have decorated in must be fun to find mini’s for! What fun there is also a community for doll house enthusiasts. Of course there would be!
I used to follow blogger Cynthia’s Cottage a few years ago when I first started blogging. Her style is cottage roses and her miniatures were/are so charming. Not your style, but beautiful all the same. Here’s the link for you just for fun! http://cynthiascottagedesign.blogspot.com/

Happy Summer Nicole!
Deb

Okay, I have a dollhouse story too. I was an only child until almost 12. My parents didn’t want to spoil me so I did not get everything I asked for. A dollhouse was once of those things. In junior high, during a shopping trip, I spotted a dollhouse on clearance and my mother bought it. It was a weird futuristic- looking thing with 3 oval rooms that fit together in various ways. All the furniture was the same weird colored see-through plastic. I don’t recall having dolls for it. I played with it for awhile but it was not a real dollhouse in my mind. In my 20s I subscribed to a kit club and made many pieces of furniture for a house I didn’t have. My first husband bought me a kit but I had a baby and never built the house. Fast forward many years and I visit Colonial Williamsburg’s Abby Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and found a whole room of antique dollhouses! My friend and I just drooled and proceeded to seek out a local shop and make several purchases of dolls and furnishings. When I got home I purchased a dollhouse kit. It took me 8 years of work, off and on, but I finished it about 5 year’s ago. It sits in my living room and it’s really a bit large but I love it. Now it has landscaping! I’m 62! I loved your story. Thank you!

Thank You for sharing. The dollhouse and the rooms are lovely and so realistic. You did such a great job. I am happy for you that you have a new dollhouse to decorate. Enjoy.
Marilyn

Oh my goodness! I’m so thankful y’all are ok and doing well. It will take time, GOD is with you, I will pray for your family and little dog. May the blessings be ❤

I loved the way you told your story. In the end, it is about all the loving people who come in and help. In a time, when everything seems so difficult, it was wonderful to hear your story and all the wonderful people who helped.

OMG, I am so sorry for all your problems. What crazy weather we have been having everywhere. So very glad you and your family and pets are all safe and sound. You are right, things can be lost and and replaced but family and loved ones cannot. The true spirit of America comes out when there is a crisis and your neighbors are proof of that. I hope that things get repaired quickly for you and life can go on for you. God Bless!

I am so glad you are alright and the family as well. Anything can happen to anyone at anytime. God is with you and yours!

Oh my, now that’s enough troubles for a long while. I was raised in tornado alley in Nebraska, so I appreciate how y’all were shaken. Isn’t it wonderful how neighbors and friends come together at these times. Hope puppy is well and the rest of your summer goes well. God bless.

Loved the blog. We lucked out when the storm did not take your family from us. It could have been a lot worse.

Prayers go out still today Nicole for your family of loved ones and a great big Thank You God for sparing your lives and prayers for the families of those who were lost in this horrific storm. Nature can be beautiful and horrifyingly brutal at times. We can not answer the ‘why did this happen’, but maybe it is to remind us all that there is good in this world in the people around us who are there to help us when it is needed. Your story was so authentic in its writing that I could almost be there experiencing it with you. Happy that little Pip is on the mend. I know our animals are scared silly of any loud noises and even rain on the roof scares my Allie cat. I am so glad that you had a place to get into like your basement and you made it in time. Maybe you can post your blog in July that you had for June before this storm. God bless all.

Thank you! I love this! You have inspired me to go junking to find my own ‘o-mats!

What a great article, Nicole. I remember those can openers that attached to the wall. They were great to use and I would use one today if I could find one, and the same goes for the ice crusher. Today’s models don’t always hold up as well as those models of yesteryear. And I would love to find a coffee grinder that worked as I like to grind my own coffee beans for coffee, the finer the better. I have an electric one but I used it to grind up spices. Gotta go junk-tiquing soon, now that the weather has become warmer.

Brought back memories of my kitchen in the ’60’s. You have found some good things with Andrea sounds like fun too! Must have left red ice crusher in Bellaire house when I sold it.
Love,
Mother

Nicole, I feel like your older sister. I also love vintage kitchen stuff. You should see my kitchen! Also, I notice you married a Danish man. I am a Christensen descendant and wonder if you or your husband are related to me?

AWESOME Love all the great finds. I love re-using the things fromthe past. Things were made so much more durable back then…made to last… all your finds made me smile. 🙂 Be Blessed. Neta

You’re right a smile for every “o mat”. You mentioned you haven’t hung your Slimline can opener yet, if I remember correctly, it is screwed to the wall through the plate on the back end and then swings out to use, and swings back to keep it out of the way. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the smiles to start my day.

I bought the cutest tablecloth from the 50s and I live it. So bright and cherry.

After my mom passed away many years ago, I found a complete pieced quilt top that I remember my mother piecing with the church women. Fast forward 35 years….cleaning out drawers to repaint and there it was, wrapped in tissue, pristine. As a Christmas gift last year, I wrapped it and sent it to my sister from our mom. A very dear friend has completed that quilt as of February. It is amazing. And the quilt top is over 50 years old…awesome!

Hello Nicole,

There is a wonderful product you can get at quilt shops or online called Retro Clean. I have used it and it works magic if you follow the directions! I have saved so many vintage quilts, linens, and fabrics with water stains (from floods, etc.), rust stains, blood stains, etc. I testify it’s worth every penny. I’m just saddened they didn’t create it sooner to save so many lovely textile pieces that were tossed through out the years. Here in California it was $15.99 for the 16 oz. Package. http://www.retroclean.com
Thanks for your inspiring share!!!

Its fun to see all your vintage linens and hankies and how you use, care for and display them. Wish I’d kept a few of my ancestor’s things. Saw a pretty quilt idea making hankies into butterflies for each square. My friend is working on one with hankies her friends are sending her or she finds.

I also love collecting old linen and cotton tablecloths and napkin sets as well as crocheted handkerchiefs. They make the table look special, and using cloth
napkins is environmentally friendly and also makes the get together feel special.
Will keep an eye out for old quilts after your blog.

I too have several vintage linens, hankies from my great Grandmother, table clothes, pillow cases and dresser scarves that I did as a child, quilts from an Aunt and great Aunt. Thanks for tweeking my thinking, I love them but using them daily, guess I just take them for granted, no more. I’m going to get out some tatting lace, from great Grandmother and great Aunt, and make it into something, like trim for some towels for my ladies wash stand I use in my bedroom (it is part of a bed set from my Grandparents) they got it in 1910 as a wedding gift. Whew I got windy about all of this, thanks again for the super writing and great pictures. God bless.

Nicole, these are very beautiful pictures. My mother, your grandmother, had beautiful linens, crocheted doilies and bedspread, but I do not have any of them. I love the vintage hankies you gave to me.
Love you,
Mother

So appreciate the vintage inspiration! In the farmhouse, I’m more of an antique/prim/old-fashioned gal, but with the new camper I’ve come to love looking for vintage finds to spruce her up. I came across some embroidered tea towels for a song at a fun shop, and stitched them across some toss pillows to help them fit better into the retro camper look…thanks again for the inspiration!

Nicole, I love your vintage collections. I too have been a collector of hankies, scarves, tablecloths, runners, oh and I found a great find at an estate sale on vintage linen calendars…about 20 or more of them for 10cents each… I love them. I was lucky and had the year my husband and i got married, found the years of both my sons births, and some other fun years….I too tie hankies on my train cases, on my vintage handbags, and at one time I had tons of vintage gloves but I ended up selling those since I didnt wear them enough..I love my vintage table cloths I change them out quite often usually weekly, I have so many and I like to use them..I use the larger ones for curtains to hide things on shelves sometimes…loved the post…be Blessed. Neta