Let’s wrap this up!

I have had such fun reading all of your comments about your own memories of penny candy and where you got it…..

For me it was a small corner grocery store in Eau Claire. You know, the one that most neighborhoods had back in the day…..

The one I went to was only known to me as “Stangies”…I guess it was his name. It was a tiny place on the corner of Broadway and 5th Ave.

It had one of those wonderful screen doors with the 7-Up metal sign on it, and old wooden floors. The penny candy was behind the register and so was Stangie…..he got tired of helping me and my cousin Jan, so he finally let us back there…..I took my eldest son back to Eau Claire last year, and I walked the route to that store with him…it was surreal…..going past 521 Lake Street via the alley, seeing the place where a playground used to be in a schoolyard that we played at all of the time, the building is now condos…but it looks the same. The grocery store is long gone, but not the building…here it is today:

The steps are concrete now, they used to be wood….I can’t explain how odd it is to see my son Bryan in front of this building!

So here is to the candy store, and the little grocery stores and the wonderful memories we all have…..one more hurrah!

Who of you remember the lemon Tootsie Pops???? My favorites were these and orange ones, and of course cherry!!!!!

And this really big piece of taffy???

Or the rest of these?????

I could go on and on…actually I did! Thanks for going with me down this memory lane ! This is what my blog represents, all of the good things I remember…thanks for stopping by and sitting for a spell at 521 Lake Street, we can go over to Stangies whenever you want!

A few fun places we went in Eau Claire

I was looking thru my photos and realized I had not shown you the wonderful shop I always try to go to when I go home. It is called Cranberry Cottage, and why I didn’t get a photo of the sign….don’t ask me! :)

I have to say I was a bit disappointed this time, as a lot of the vintage stock was gone…..

but the way they merchandise was still so cute:

I loved these canisters!

And this cake keeper, but I have no room in my AZ house…perhaps I need to start collecting for that summer home…:)

They also had a display of all of the newer Vera Bradley purses. I really like them but have never seen a color combo I was crazy about enough to fork out the $$$$$, then I saw this!

It is a little bit retro, but reminded me of my vintage tablecloths. Now I just have to get brave enough to use it! I don’t want it to get dirty! LOL

This was my biggest purchase while I was gone, and I have it hanging on the door to my craft room so I can enjoy it every day! :)

One other reason I love Wisconsin……

FARMS !!!!!! And wide open spaces….

Thanks for stopping by….I have a few more places to share, I will be back Friday! :)

A Hard Re-Entry

For some reason I am not completely sure about I have had a hard time readjusting to Arizona after being in Wisconsin. I really was ready to see my husband and sons and Maya, but on the way home from the airport I could feel the tension come back.

When I am there I just feel “right”….like this is where I should be, in one of the sweet little houses, in a much quieter town than Phoenix. It was almost painful this time trying to readjust…I am so dreading the hot that is coming and what it does to me. I get so lethargic and so tired of being indoors! I am sure all of you who have bad winters know how I feel, because believe it or not, it is the same lousy feeling of being housebound and day after day of the same thing.

Yes, you do not have to shovel “Hot” but it zaps you in a way that the cold just can’t…..you can always put on more clothes to keep warm, sometimes you just can’t take off enough to keep cool.

I also miss my family, and I know vacation is different that being there full time, but I am hoping that we can summer there in a few years…

Until then I can dream….so here is the house the is next door to my Aunt and Uncles house! I have always thought it was so cute!

This is the side view, it has a large yard to the right of the garage….

This is the other side of the house….

I could just kick my self that I didn’t take my camera in with me!!!! It has so much potential! The main floor has two bedroom and one bath, a great foyer and living room, formal dinning room ( that would be multi purpose for sure), and an incredible eat in kitchen…The cupboards are hand made and a terrible color, but I see a sweet pale butter yellow with my fun decals, and of course a red Formica countertop! I even saw a 1940’s Formica dinette set that would have been perfect for 125.00 with the chairs. Granted the chairs need redone, but how perfect! And a sweet little sun porch on the back that I could put the washer and dryer on….The attic already has electricity and plumbing done, and the stairs are in the dining room, you would just have to put a landing at the top….The basement is huge and could be used for storage or even a pool table, which is already there….the poor woman who owns it is in a nursing home and her niece does not think she will get out and they will have to auction off the house to pay for the care….so sad…..I know the timing is all wrong…but my husband wants to be by water…we can walk a block and a half to a lake to fish! But seeing as how we aren’t going to need a summer home for at least another 8 years it is just not the right time… and so I will keep dreaming…and figuring out what we will need! :) Thanks for letting me share this with all of you, it feels better just talking about it…..I have never been a patient person, I am beginning to learn how to be! :)

This was too much!!!!!!

Warning...a lot of Photos! :)

Or another reason to Move to Wisconsin when we retire for our summer home…..

My cousin Mike loves to garden….it is something he is really good at and he really does a great job! I can’t wait until he can help me with my garden….a few years down the road.

Mike and Linda took me to the sweetest little Nursery, it was on a street corner in a residential neighborhood!

This is the sweet lady who runs it…

They had two smaller greenhouses and these wonderful vintage signs were on the fronts:

I wanted to buy the signs!!!!!

I bought some OLD’S morning glory seeds.

I went inside one of the greenhouses and it was just wonderful how beautiful these baskets and flowers were!!!!

This was the first one, a lot of 6 packs and such. Then I went into the next one….on my gosh!

This is my cousin Linda! :)

I know they are just baskets but I could never grow them this beautiful in the summer here…or some of the flowers they have….I felt so… I don’t what…maybe frustrated is a good word, but it wasn’t good feeling when I left this sweet little nursery…I so want to be there!

look at this odd greenery…isn’t that unique??? Never have seen it before…

I also took some photo of the garden next to my Aunt Rosemary’s….

Can’t grow tulips here…and I would love to have them!

There used to be a white picket fence between the properties when I was little, all that is left of that is this GREAT gate and arbor!

Little pieces of my past are so fun to see again!

Oh, and you see this house?????

This could end up being our summer home someday….can’t you just see all of those lovely flowers in the front…and side and back….

but that is another post for another day….:)