The Quack and I spent a beautiful week in the Shenandoah Valley for vacation.
View from on top of Stony Man. |
We went on several hikes, drove over the mountains into beautiful West Virginia, saw some super cute towns. And relaxed…a lot!
One great find was the Factory Antique Mall in Verona. Miles and miles of antiques, mostly reasonably priced, very clean and well organized! (I promise they're not paying me or anything, although I might go for that, because then I could go spend more time/money there.) Then we also went to another place in Staunton, VA, but I can't remember the name of the store.
So, I thought I'd show you my finds!
First, this hutch. Part of being a savvy thrifter is passing up on things, right? I love painted furniture in general, but there's just something about BLUE furniture that speaks to me. It says, “YOU NEED ME!” It would have gone so well with my other four pieces of blue furniture! Someday when we live in a house…
Might not have fit in the car…probably wouldn't fit in the apartment. Didn't stop me from considering it. |
We decided against it, after much deliberating. If only we'd been driving my station wagon instead of the Quack's corolla, I would probably be playing furniture tetris right now instead of writing this post.
(Speaking of things I have no room for: did you know about Hoosier cabinets? Did you know that lots of them have built-in flour dispensers? Did you know that that is AMAZING!)
Here are some things that we did come home with.
The Quack got himself this pair of pliers. He just wanted to add to his tool collection on the cheap, but look how pretty!
Side view:
I found a…well, it's a nut meat chopper! It's cute, AND solves a problem for me. I really can't stand chopping nuts. I always end up with little bits of nut all over the floor. I know that I could do them in the food processor, but then you have a dirty food processor all for a quarter cup of nuts. Brilliant!
I now see that the top is not screwed on correctly. I will fix that. |
Some more useful kitchen tools. The Quack has wanted a wooden pestle, I had wanted an offset spatula, and the nutcracker and picks are bonuses.
And a nice enamel lasagna pan. With a pretty red border, because the world needs more pretty red borders.
Somehow I owned three lasagna pans, all of them very poor quality. I'm excited about this one. |
We spent hours in the park, and on Skyline Drive, but I got my souvenir secondhand. |
Early on I found a copper teakettle with a pretty handle and commented on it…and its overwhelming price tag. A little while later the Quack pulled me over to a booth that was having a sale, and showed me this, for a much lower price PLUS half off!
Isn't she beautiful? |
In action. Rosie called it the “vintage Jaguar of tea kettles.” |
And to satiate my need for blue things, I found this beautiful linen tablecloth in perfect condition.
Gorgeous lace detail. |
View from on top of Old Rag Mountain. Photo by the Quack on my phone. |
Tess says
Aw nice, we love reading the Little House books out loud on road trips too! Great minds think alike. 😉
Sukie says
We think alike on many things, Tess, but Little House seems to be a theme. 🙂
Julie @ These Walls says
Gorgeous photos and great finds! What a beautiful part of the country. I'm glad you two had such a lovely vacation.
Annie says
Wow! your kettle is beautiful. there are specific ways you are supposed to care for copper, a little research might be required.
Wow, i googled those cabinets. I think they should have rice bins too. 🙂
Laura Jeanne says
What a wonderful kettle!
Becka says
You found many wonderful treasures in Virginia!
I, too, had always wanted a Hoosier Cabinet and we finally purchased one for our 30th anniversary. Mine had the original flour sifter but it was in poor shape. We ordered a replacement one–there are all sorts of things you can add to Hoosier! Unfortunately the sifter doesn't work too well–the flour doesn't fall down into the bottom where it can be dispensed. I found I had to keep getting up on a chair and pushing the flour down into the lower part of the sifter and soon gave up on it. I do love the Hoosier and have it set up as a baking center in our kitchen. Another use for your nut chopper is for chopping chocolate chips to use in place of mini-chips. The smaller pieces don't sink in muffins or cakes.
Sukie says
Becka…are you referring to the coffee cake I made the other day where I thoughtlessly subbed chocolate chips for mini-chips and had them all sink straight to the bottom? Because you are right, the chopper would have solved my problems wonderfully. 🙂
Pippajo says
Oh, those Hoosiers! I told The Vicar now that I have a vintage range, the next thing I “need” is a Hoosier complete with flour sifter! I drool over them all the time! And I have a nutmeat grinder though until reading this post I thought it was a nutMEG grinder. Mine wasn't so kindly labelled. Thanks for teaching me something new!
Mary says
Isn't the Shenandoah beautiful??? I love your finds. The table cloth and kettle are my favorite. The tatted lace is so hard to find in such good condition. Job well done Suki!! So glad you and the Quack had a chance to rest and be together.
Barbara says
That sounds like a perfect trip!
Lisa G. says
You got so many lovely things! Even the pliers, LOL. I once, at a rummage sale, saw a Welsh dresser, beautiful! Wood of a yellowish color, whatever type of wood that is. $100. It probably wouldn't fit in our house. But I have never forgotten it.
Sounds like you had a most refreshing trip.
Sukie says
The pliers are funny–of course, the Quack didn't notice the decoration til I pointed it out at home!
Just googled Welsh dressers-they are awesome. It's so painful to have a great opportunity like that that doesn't work for your situation. Sigh.
Kathy@9peas says
I lived in Front Royal for twelve years, the area is beautiful!
Martha says
GREAT finds! I frequent my local goodwills/thrift stores on several times a week, so I don't miss anything good…but I never find anything that lovely!
Laura says
The lace on that table cloth isn't any old lace, I believe it is BOBBIN LACE!! Squee! It is a Scandinavian hand craft that is falling by the wayside. And of couse linen in any form is ALWAYS a catch 🙂 . I always snag linen skirts or pants at thrift stores for pennies on the dollar!
Anne-Marie says
I'm not an expert but I think it's Battenberg lace, made of machine-made tapes joined by hand-worked needle lace stitches. http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/ID/Battenburg.html
Lisa G. says
The design of it also reminded me of Battenburg lace. But aren't the tapes usually smooth? (I'm no expert.)
Rachel says
Oh, you were in my backyard!!! Describe the store in Staunton…betcha I can tell you where you were 🙂
I do love it here. I never realized, growing up on the eastern side of Virginia, how different and beautiful the mountain side is. Now we're in Staunton, and I don't ever want to leave!
I love your finds. Don't you love old things with a history all their own? (And Polyface Farms is perfect for guidance in living off the land…)
Sukie says
Well, it was on that main street (Beverly?) in the historic district, and it wasn't the ritzy looking store with multiple floors, and it ALSO wasn't the crazy jam-packed one masquerading as a hardware store.
Staunton is a super cute town! We went to Mass at St. Francis-what a pretty church!
Rachel says
So it wasn't Worthington Hardware. I'm stuck on the ritzy one…waffling between Turtle Lane and Queen City Marketplace…was it 17? (17 is next to Made: By the People, For the People)…
Ann Marie says
You were in my backyard too!!! Next time you women vacation, you must tell us all where you'll be so we can stalk you. (just kidding…sort of)
Glad you enjoyed the Valley–it's the only place I've ever lived and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be. 🙂
Margaret says
Just FYI, I used my Hoosier cabinet as a changing table for all 5 of my kids! It was very functional and looked sooooo cute in the nursery!! It not only has the original flour sifter, but it also has little glass jars in a round carousel .It is now out on my screened – in porch. I live in Leesburg, VA, not far from where you were. If you are ever in Leesburg, you need to stop in and see our newly built Catholic church – St. John the Apostle! Very traditional.
Haus Frau says
Sukie, those pictures made my evening. My husband and I met at Christendom College and so the Shenandoah Valley has many happy memories for me. He proposed to me on top of Old Rag Mountain. 🙂 We've always loved browsing antique shops together and I've always wanted a Hoosier cabinet. So glad you and your husband enjoyed your vacation, and thanks for sharing your pictures and beautiful finds!
Anne says
Thanks for sharing your cool finds!! Glad you had some time away. I'm still giggling over 'furniture
Tetris.'. 🙂
nancy says
Enjoyed your post…and yes know all about Hoosier cabinets being raised in Hoosier farm country. Love antiques…so much better than cheaply mass produced items we have today.
Sara says
I grew up in Virginia, and I think it's the most beautiful state! I really miss it. Glad you had such a wonderful visit.
Jenny says
The tea kettle is fantastic.
Margo says
ooh, your finds are fantastic. I always go for blue things, too. The Shenadoah is gorgeous and we have close friends and family there, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it.
Melanie says
lovely finds! I grew up in northern Virginia and my grandmother and her family are from those mountains. I spent many childhood hours there. 🙂 Now we live in the Ozark mountain area, also very beautiful, but the weather isn't as pretty. Or maybe I just had a higher tolerance for humid nastiness as a child. I was going to post a comment earlier when you were bemoaning the terrible hospital shifts, lol. My husband is a nurse, and has always worked craziness. He just started a new job a couple of weeks ago, evening shift. It's not good around here, getting used to having dad gone for bedtimes!
Virginia says
The Shenandoah is the most beautiful place in the world! I miss Virginia so much this time of year, although TX has it's own austere charm, I suppose. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Snazzy tea kettle!
Suzette says
I'm so so so so dreaming of a Hoosier cabinet. You have just opened a can of worms for me! 😉
Kari says
I have tea kettle envy! Tell me, does it sing? Or scream ? Or nothing? Mine screams…I want to test drive the whistles before I buy a new one.
Sukie says
The beautiful thing, alas, does not any whistle. Its only flaw. 🙂
suzanne says
Your dream could be closer than you think. Look up Laura's article for the Missouri Ruralist, Favors the Small Farm Home. She describes how a family can sustain themselves on just 5 acres. John Seymour is another good author on the subject of self sufficient living.
Joy in Alabama says
I have my grandmother's Hoosier, complete with rolltop and flour sifter and metal bread drawer. When I was little, she only had that and a metal sink unit for her kitchen counter, along with the kitchen table. I also have a glass “box” that was at one time a set of containers to use in the icebox, but she always, always kept vanilla wafers in it in the Hoosier. She made the BEST rice pudding and cathead biscuits in the world! Oh, how I loved her!
carrien says
I don't know if it is a hoosier, but my mother has an antique cabinet that I grew up with that has a flour storage container and sifter built into on of the cupboards, and a tin covered counter, and a roll up section with all these wonderful nooks and crannies in it that I love to look at when I was little. I get it when she's done with it. Unless I”m still overseas long term, in which case I will have to admire it when I visit my sister's house in Canada as infrequently as I do.
Ashley says
I think I swooned a little bit over that hutch and your beautiful teakettle. It's okay – I'm better now. Lucky you! I admire your success from afar, with only a little wistfulness. Thrifting in the San Francisco Bay Area is an exercise in frustration – eeevvvrrry now and then (just often enough to get you hooked) you'll score something amazing at a brilliant price, but most things are painfully overpriced. Sniff. 🙂 Congratulations on your fabulous finds!
Mrs. Pickles says
Oooh, where did you stay? The hubs and I are talking about taking a much-needed vacation, and I would love to go to Shenandoah! And antique-shop! 🙂
Sukie says
We found a rentals using airbnb.com and homeaway.com. Both went very smoothly! Being able to read lots of reviews helps.
You can also rent cabins actually inside the Shenandoah National Park, which sound wonderful. I guess they're shut down right now, though…
DeirdreLMLD says
Thoughts:
– Ahhh I want that hutch, too!
– The tablecloth is so pretty! In the pictures it looks more sea foam/teal than blue. Is that just the lighting or my screen? You know how I feel about teal these days…
– That kettle is off the hook.
– Those mountain pictures are breathtaking!
Sukie says
I'd say it's more of a Tiffany blue. It has a tiny bit of green in it, but not much.
Lisa says
I grew up in that part of Virginia, and it is the most beautiful part of the whole country, in my opinion. I miss it so much! Especially hiking such pretty places as Stony Man! I can't remember how many times we went there growing up, and I'm ashamed I took it for granted so much! Thanks for sharing all your treasures you found on your trip…..:)
Dusa says
Suki – I have a feeling we would be great thrifting friends. If you ever get to Burlington VT, I would totally show you my favorite haunts ( and “furniture Tetris”? Exactly!!)