45th Portland Auto Swap Meet ~

April 3, 4, 5, 2009

This last weekend was the 45th Annual "Always in April" Portland Swap Meet
Presented by six Portland Oregon area antique car clubs, The Portland Swap Meet is the largest auto parts swap meet on the west coast with approximately

4,200 vendor stalls and over 50,000 shoppers each April at the
Portland Expo Center.

We spent five hours there on Saturday, which was weather wonderful for this event and maybe, just maybe saw less than a third.

tick tock, tick tock, so very many many clocks .....

the dark faced one in the center was one of my favorites ...

back plates for knobs, etc .. they look like jewelry parts and could be




chrome, baby ... more chrome ...

I think these are steering columns?

isn't this great looking?

I'd love to hear what this sounds like in a car ...

chrome ... gotta' love chrome ...

box o' springs.. these were fairly small

seeing double ...

This is only the first of many photos that I'll post as I get to them.

~.~.~.~

Nameless ~

I have no idea what these plants are called ...

The red flowers are growing in a tree in my yard. I have seen them locally trimmed down as bushes, but mine is the size of a dwarf tree.

I love the flowers on this plant, they just popped open yesterday. The plant is shorter than I am and looked like a stick in the ground most all of this winter. What a lovely surprise!

Columbia Gorge ~

Last week we made a quick trip down the gorge ... and back the next day. The weather wasn't great, but it's spring here and warm isn't something expected. These photos were snapped on the Oregon side and quickly, from the moving car. The first set is more or less of the south side of the road/gorge... because that's where I was sitting in the car... not that I haven't taken photos while driving, but that was more of a hold the camera up and shoot without looking... not always a great idea or in focus...

I love the way the clouds just play hide and seek with the mountains

Day two, on the reverse trip .... a little nicer out. We have started taking books on tape with us for the longer trips, it makes the drive go by faster than you would ever expect, especially when laughing at a Christopher Moore novel.

The windmills or generators are on the hill across the river ... they look like children's toys, stuck in the dirt and forgotten ....

When I was little I thought when I saw the hills like this (I've seen this in the Palouse area, too), they were where some pre-historic monster sized elephants were buried ... you know, to me they still kind of look like the back end of one stretched out and resting.

If you look close, or hit the photo and enlarge it, you can see someone out there on that cold, cold, windy, Columbia River windsurfing ....

The bright green on the right side of the photo, is that mysterious island in the center of the river. There is a house and dock there, electricity runs to it. I've always wondered just who lives there, do they live there full time or just come over when it's nice? or is it someone hiding out from society in general? maybe it's owned by the state and it's for research? It's easy to imagine all kinds of things, some famous author that writes there... an artist that paints or composes music... ?

This little guy looked cold, to me. He just sat there and looked at us when we pulled up to stop and run inside (literally, it was chilly) for drinks and to stretch our legs.

This is not far from Troutdale, the wind had died down as you can see from how still the water has become.... but it was still cold. I am so ready for warm.

Around the room and more ...

This little guy I made quite a while ago ...
he has his scary cat friend with him to keep him company.



Bunny, bunny, who has the bunny? I do! I found this charming folk piece last Saturday at the Flea Market in Canby, Oregon. We got there late-ish... it started at 9am and was over at 3pm. We didn't get there until after noon. As it turned out that was a good thing (to quote Martha) because people would lower the price if you even looked at something on their table. It was quite a mix with some looking as if they did this all the time, others used it for their garage sale left overs. I'll post a few more of the goodies a had to bring home here and more later.



I like odd pieces with a past and this certainly has a story to tell, it will possibly be used for a jewelry piece.



No Hot, two Colds ... again, maybe necklace parts because of the weight

or handles somewhere in the house.

I found the little girls forever ago in a thrift store and had to bring them home. I'm guessing they were for a table decoration around the 4th of July or maybe a card party? The ladies all used to have their card parties and you had to have cute favors. I remember helping my mom decorate nut cups. The chalk ware head is a mystery, he has a hole on the top of his head so maybe a candle holder? The Camera is an actual working piece if you could find film

another camera ... the Man in the Moon in the back is a great folk piece I picked up in 2004 in Chicago at a Teddy Bear Convention where I was selling my bears and folk pieces. He is the creation of Sarah Katie.




some of the girls on my mantel ...



Jack is on the other side of the mantel

Another grouping of some old boys...the tiny bear was one I played with growing up, he had a mate and baby that may still be in a box somewhere ( I hope )

Two friends. The teddy has the most unusual nose that seems to be metal of some kind. I picked him up years and years ago in a tiny shop in Idaho. The dog came to me by way of eBay.

Bits and Pieces and Blooms

This is the door thingie I can never remember the exact spelling of ...ech - something...

I'm thinking of using it on one of the cupboard doors in the kitchen. Possibly with a glass knob of some kind because most all my doorknobs are glass, even the one to the porch. I need to take a photo of that to share, too. I picked this little gem up at the Barn Sale - for some reason the link to their site didn't work in the last post. Let's see if I can figure that one out ???

This is so cool, For You A ROSE in Portland Grows.

I found it at the Red, White and Blue thrift store over in Milwaukie.

Which I never go to, so it was fate, right?

It was suggested I send it to the new mayor... no.

I'm currently using it as a curtain in my very tiny window in my very tiny downstairs bathroom -

I just hung it doubled over the little dowel that was previously used as a curtain rod for some very dirty and tacky star printed fabric that I couldn't wait to get down.

This guy kills me. I found him at the Antique Mall in Oregon City, just off 7Th or so... maybe it's on 6Th? It's on the same block as Howell's Sandwich Shop, which is our go-to place for chicken fried steak, with lots of gravy (on everything, thank you), grilled onions, fried potatoes - not hash browns and eggs.... mmmm, makes me hurt to think about that .... anyway, Mr. Roadrunner is suppose to be on a pole and turn in the wind, but I like him hanging-high and on my porch where I can see him when I look out.

Did I mention my living room has seven windows? Big old double hung, with the sash... some painted shut, most have the majority of their original wavy glass. I am very torn about what to do about them. Not having the funds to replace them now, I do have time to work out this problem.... to replace or storm? ( as in storm window, but then you have to take them up and down ... oh, bother)



This is a super close up of Rosemary blooming nest to my porch. It's also around the back of the house, I chopped the heck out of that one when I moved in because it was spilling all over the place and it's still an 'ample' plant. I have enough Rosemary to keep the state of Oregon in lamb spices...or chicken...or snake
( you know, it taste like chicken, or so we've all been told)

This is a misshapen tree in my yard ... poor thing. It has the weird branch that just took off and left the others behind. I have no idea what it is, but one of my neighbors has one, also. I did see the same tree/shrub? cut into a square shape between two yards a block or two away. It was very strange to see. You just knew what kind of person did that ... we won't get into that here.

That is the 205 freeway in the background, I am that close. It's called 'easy freeway access' if you are a Realtor ... mine told me the sound was like the ocean.

OK, but I still use an air cleaner in the bedroom to block ... the ocean sound.

It's snowing ... or so I thought when I looked out the other day ... ? nope. just this pretty tree, I could only see the top part through the window and thought it was covered with snow. No snow, but we did have HAIL today. This is in a neighbor's yard and right across from my side porch.

Kitchen update, or rather standstill...
The kitchen is still not all the way painted ... maybe this week?

Where The Wild Things will be....

I found this trailer for the Spike Lee movie version of the classic book "Where The Wild Things Are" ...




I love the words at the end ... about hope, fear, and that we all have a wild thing inside of us.

Cupboard Deco

Saturday we hit Hwy 99E out to find the Barn Sale. Of course, I didn't bring a camera and could have filled the card, I'm sure. The animals alone were worth the trip...well, not completely. But they were fun to see.
The other small (?!?) problem, was that I spaced out taking my checkbook. I'm one of those no cash, just card people... big mistake today. I thought of the fact they only take checks or cash walking in and knew that would put a damper on my purchasing power.
Still, I did find this great old chippy frame and another small piece I may also use in the kitchen that didn't snap a picture of just yet.



It will most likely end up 'framing' this cupboard. I want to get a mirror cut, then do some distressing magic ( if I can find where I happened onto that how-to) give it that well worn look and then attached it to this door. What do you think?