Time Traveling

I have been getting my rail road trackin' on this week and it has got my train of thought going wild!
My friend and fellow (way better) blogger Dana commented that she enjoys it because you can imagine yourself in a different time. There are long stretches where you can't see anything that would give away the year you are in. I really enjoyed playing that game today while walking the rails. Roxi loves it too, and we stay in sync with each other as I try to get a stride that matches the ties (nearly impossible) and she wanders back and forth the tracks, just ahead of me.

Is it 1931 or 2011?
I find myself astounded by everything around me. Little treasures here and there...
The sound is even amazing! Today was very windy and a dry 80 degrees; tornado watch weather. It was delightful and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees was music to my ears. The sound those high winds make blowing through the power lines was wicked, like an instrument. To be more accurate, it reminded me of the rising vocal chorus at the start of Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil". I wish I could have recorded it, you wouldn't believe it otherwise!
The afternoon sun made theatrical lighting; all the new spring growth glowed that fresh, young green.
Here is a Pitt Bull carcass lying in the middle of the tracks. Did he get run over or dumped off here? Roxi was only slightly interested and seemed nonplussed by the mummified corpse of one of her own.
I have quite a bit going on this year and I find the more I do, the more I have to do more. It's necessary for me to have a nature escape from this city I live in. I'm really appreciating my ability to move through this physical plane in this handy body I've been given. It's an easy thing to take for granted, especially after winter hibernation.
I can get to this place in a 9 minute walk from my front door! I was brought up to find nature anywhere I live. I need an escape where I can recharge, get grounded, loose myself in thought, loosen up, sweat, commune with the world around me.
As I write this I'm sitting on my front porch in the dark, listening to the owls socialize.
I have lived this day to the fullest! What more can I ask?

Heaven is right here on Earth.

It's Spring, and this nature worshipper couldn't be happier! I'm just...
...beside myself.


The Wintersweet is just now blooming, and I can hardly believe how delicious it smells. It's an olfactory ritual when it blossoms each spring, putting me in the Spirit of the miraculous and magnificent season with one whiff.
Everything is stretching and yawning awake from the past season, coming out from under the covers of winter.
I celebrated the day by treating myself to a long awaited rail road tracks walk. It is the perfect solution for a nature lover stuck in the city limits. I didn't take my camera and immediately regretted it, but at least I was free to soak it all up in my brain, instead of in a frantic, greedy race to capture it all. I promised myself to take my camera with me in the morning when I return, I can hardly wait!

There's so much to love about "trackin'", for one there is cool stuff littered about, just waiting to be spied & snatched up. Today I found a glass insulator cap, stunning even in it's broken state. I also picked this chunk of coal up, there's always coal on rail tracks from the train bouncing its cargo. Watching a coal train with its load overflowing, listening to the rumbling and singing of steel is an experience to be relished.
A train did pass me & Roxi today, we sat on the rocky embankment watching it pass and she jumped around a bit but seemed comforted by the state of joy I was in.
I am looking forward to plunging into this RR tracks theme...
I learned from some awesome Atlanta antique jewelry dealers that "jet" is a mineral similar to coal. I have seen anthracite carving that is every bit as beautiful as jet. All that mourning jewelry that I so heartily lust after is a fancier coal, essentially. I'll do a little research on anthracite, and hope that my secret source does contain some of this more dense coal with fewer impurities.
I have visions of silver bezels set with my own anthracite carvings.
Damn, I even make coal fancy!

I got skills...

I did Atlanta's Scott's Antique Show for the fourth month in a row last weekend, and there will be more on that in a different post, but for now I just have to brag on my new found trailer navigating skills.
Here's me getting in a little vanity shot while photographing our booth.

Here's Brandi and our porter Richard who worked for a small fee plus an entire pizza box full of brownies, fudge, white chocolate fudge and peanut butter candy. We have discovered the fuss over hiring a porter; it is totally worth it to have them pack up your vehicle in a careful and professional manner. Richard did an amazing job, when we opened the trailer at home to unpack, things had shifted only ever so slightly to the rear even after we "flopped it about" quite a bit as Bran put it. We're hooked!
This was my second time towing a trailer and even though it's only a wee little 5'x8' it is a challenge at first. I have to say, I wish I had gotten pictures of the massively packed and bustling back docks of the venue where I maneuvered the trailer like a champ- like a pro all by my lonesome! All the manly (and prissy) men including all the porters in sight were duly impressed and gave me my props as I exited the driver's seat.
I had to navigate a busy and impossibly tight loading area packed with cars, box trucks, SUVs towing trailers and campers to even get back to this spot, and then I backed it in between a trailer and a box truck perfectly.
If you don't brag on yourself, nobody else will!
I'm looking forward to the next challenge...

Chandelier Makeover

So I didn't take before pictures...if I had you'd be even more impressed.
This was a early 1960s style chandelier with beveled glass plated all the way around, each with a groovy kind of starburst etched in its center. It was fairly shideous, but I saw the potential even through all its brassy, tacky glory.
I "heavy metaled" it right on up with a row of steel chain (oxidized) and a row of brass ball chain (also oxidized). I changed out the center chain it hangs from to a larger version of the steel kind I used for the swags. I think the chains give it a feminine touch in spite of their rusty masculinity. It still cuts a classic silhouette.
This piece has a great armeture, this ball in the center is one of my favorite features. I think it has a spider-machine kind of look.
I applied layers of chemicals to oxidize the metal, making it look like something that's been hanging in a courtyard or dungeon for ages.
I also sculpted faux wax around the candelabra sleeves for a dripping effect. I painted them with bronze paint and have since applied a blue patina to them since this picture was taken.
I'm taking it to Scott's Antique Show in Atlanta for this weekend to be featured in my booth; I'll be interested to see what that crowd thinks of it. If it doesn't sell there, don't worry-it will go straight to my Etsy store!
Thanks for dropping by!

I am grateful for:

My insatiable need to cobble, fiddle with, modify, improve, change nearly every object I come in contact with.
My close friends; plentiful, gracious, supportive and brilliant.
My family who are a constant source of joy, love, hilarity and comfort. They are my anchor, without them I'd be adrift.

The joy I get from pursuing my many passions.
The weather, all of it.
The smell of clean bleached sheets as I crawl in to bed for a long night of sleep; the calm before the Atlanta Storm.
The dreams I will have tonight, the places I will go, the fantasies of living my life to the fullest as I do in my dream world.
I keep journals for things I'm grateful for. Thanks for reading this random assortment.

And now, a little R&R.

I finally am having a couple of days of breathing space, getting caught up on rest & chores and generally enjoying not feeling so under the gun.
Trip to the Awesome Junk Compound!
Here's the office where they tally up what all your wares cost and you pay cold hard cash on the barrel head, or the table you just bought.
Although I'm partial to overcast, moody, cozy soulful weather, I did enjoy this sunny February day in all its blue-skied splendor.
This junk compound is way up a country highway from Charlotte, it is gorgeous up there. Would make fantastic horse country.
I can't express through this humble blog the enormity of this place. Once again, another sensory overload with color, texture, shape, composition and light that delights every which way.
As a woodworker I am completely enamored of wood carvings, wanting to take each one home and just clean it up a little, rub in some oil or a coat of wax to really bring out the rays in the Spanish beech or white oak, the mahogany's chatoyancy...just enough to let it sing.
There were so many pieces I wanted to bring to next month's Atlanta Market, but I am careful about what to invest in; many of these pieces I would be able to do no less than professional quality restoration on, thus setting my self up for a financial loss....but I'm certainly still learning the ropes of being a dealer rather than a restorer.
Next time I have an idea involving spool beds I'll know just where to go!
This is a gorgeous white oak headboard & foot board with what appears to be a monkey face carved on top! It had some serious lamination and veneer problems on the bottom panel that in truth I'd love to address.... the mantra that my woodworking mentor Mr. Alan Williams oft repeated to me "Dusti, this is not a museum quality piece" comes to mind and I focus on things that don't need as much attention. P.S. My other favorite Al quote is "Dusti, don't make a career out of this piece!"
Cool stuff errywhere...
"They're creepy and they're cooky, mysterious & spooky, they're all together ooky..."
But they sure had good taste in furniture & objets d'art! Doesn't this look like an Addams Family bed?
I did pick out two things, one for revamping & selling and one for my own selfish greed (rubs hands together).
More pictures to follow!

Pilgrimage to Chattooga

Every month on the way home from Atlanta, my sister & I try to stop by the Chattooga and recharge, reflect and refill our spirits in the cold & swift waters of this Georgia river.
It is an absolute paradise and it has me spoiled. The Laurel crawling all over these foothills envelopes you in its Magnolia-like deliciousness. The constantly wet woodland floor is magic, I always want some in a terrarium. If I had my 'druthers, the floor of my entire house would be covered in the layers, textures, colors and fragrances of these woods by the river.
Everywhere you look is abundance and richness to delight all six senses.
As we watch the reflected light of the setting sun upriver I can't help but reflect on the progression of my life since our last pilgrimage to this sacred place...
I get camera-greedy with the waning sun, trying to snatch up as many photos as I can while what little light remains.
This was February 13th, just before Valentine's Day. It was almost too dark to shoot when I spotted this naturally occurring heart shape in the Mica flecked sands under the clear, cold water.
When I think of how my life will have unfolded by next year's Valentine's day, my heart swoons...
World Domination is coming together nicely.