September | October
Hello everyone! I haven’t done a post in many months and have a few fun things to share!
I completely skipped posting this summer! My pots were chock full of ivy, and I couldn’t have enjoyed them more. The ivy is a perfect transition to fall. Soon, they will be picked up to store for the winter.
A few of my sweet friends had a wonderful wedding shower for Hillary this September, and Kyle Robino did the flowers. Stacie Kinney took photos which was especially nice!
There were charming Montana soaps for guests to take home.
Kyle knows how obsessed I am with caladium leaves, and she incorporated them into the entire shower theme. Hillary babysat for her daughter ten years ago, and it was so fun for the girls to reconnect!
Hillary featured her fiancé’s initials for a fun shower manicure…
I was so happy to have Hillary home for the weekend. We missed my mom so much! She was in a boot from a fall, and it didn’t make sense for her to travel here despite how much we all wanted to be together.
I really had to convince Hillary to do a wedding registry. She lives in a small house and kept reminding me she doesn’t have room to store things. I sent her some photos of some plates I thought she might like, and she came around :)
Adore this Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted Mega pattern she chose for her everyday.
She also registered for these great zodiac plates from Laboratory Paravicini. How fun to have the opportunity to register for “cool” plates for Montana entertaining. She will be getting a couple patterns of Herend dishes from me eventually, so she went with more modern choices over a traditional china pattern.
The flowers brought so much joy to my kitchen for days after Hillary was back in Montana!
Next, a bit of shop news!
The painted pumpkins went quickly this year. I only have a few left.
The Czech Christmas trees are all online and live in the shop. Now is the time to order them! I am offering free shipping to my loyal readers who read this post. Just use the discount code FREESHIP at checkout. Unfortunately, the shipping adds up when people are shopping for multiples, so here’s your chance to get a few!
There are also plenty of museum bees and a nice collection of matchstrikers, just in time for the holidays!
And of course, French pottery! I have quite a few pieces in stock as I really prepared for the holiday shopping season this year. I have sold more in the last few weeks than ever before, and I wonder if there may have been an article somewhere about Aptware or French pottery. I never know what drives my sporadic sales!
Also, the Lauritzen Gardens Antiques Show happened!
Normally, I would take many photos to share, but that just didn’t happen this year, and I’ll explain why further on. I did snap a few…
A gorgeous collection of faience pottery from Schorr & Dobinsky
Look at the acorns on top of these darling majolica floral containers from Anthony Scornavacco Antiques!
Barley Twist always brings something I can’t live without!
Trace Mayer brought this gorgeous painting and I still want it!!
Not posting about the show was not typical for me. Many of you know how much I love the antiques show, and love taking photos and sharing them every year! But this year, my parents were in Fort Myers during the hurricane, and it was such a stressful weekend. The show was outstanding, the speakers were amazing, the antiques were stellar, and the whole weekend was just wonderful, but the whole time, I was worried about my parents.
It is a mess, but they are ok. They have been in good spirits despite losing their car in the flood, and having their lives turned upside down. The inside of their house was not affected, which is a miracle. The power was out everywhere, but my parents had a generator. (They got one after the last hurricane!) One neighbor set up coffee on their front porch, and another neighbor was grilling out hotdogs. I told them it sounded like they were at camp! We are all grateful they are ok, but it will be months, maybe years, before Fort Myers recovers.
Our condo in Naples is also a mess!
This is the view looking out our window at the sidewalk where many of you see my posts with turtles!
My parents began their hurricane journey at my condo and were able to snap a few photos. Here is that same view at the beginning of the hurricane… You can see the water beginning to collect.
And here is the same view a few hours later. The sidewalk is completely gone and washed out in the ocean, and the water is everywhere - including our garage which is, sadly, where my parents car was.
It was a crazy few days with no power or communication! My heart goes out to all who were affected!
Despite worrying, I was still enamored with the gardens, apparently, as I found a few photos on my phone. I was walking around in a daze, and barely remember taking the photos!
I also managed to take a few photos at a special dinner we attended that weekend. This landscaping took my breath away! Mums, kale, ivy and pumpkins = fall perfection!
One more photo showing the beautiful dinner inside… It’s a wow moment!
If you are still reading, thank you! Will check back in soon!