Field of Dreams - For the Gardener

Next time you visit Salvage Chic, head south less than half a mile and you will find this horticultural gem known as Fieldstone Garden. Nestled on Union Street in Hanson on the property of proprietors Tammy & Chris Field, here you'll find a treasure trove of annuals, perennials, vegetables & herbs for sale, many of which Tammy has cultivated from seed. Claudia and I swung by today after our shop closed, she to buy some vegetable plants, and I to take some pictures. Since I'm a small business owner myself, I like to patronize the "little guy"; but I'm not much of a gardener (future blog about THAT!) so I'll just spread the word, and let the photos speak for themselves. Go visit Tammy - I guarantee her prices are lower than any you'll find at even the Biggest of the Big Box stores.



Lush beds of perennials just waiting to be potted





















While I was taking pictures and right about when I was thinking "My Yard looks like CRAP compared to this place..." Tammy sidled up and said "There's another Secret Garden out back." My eyes lit up. OH! You mean one I shouldn't photograph?!? "NO..." (she probably wanted to smack me) "there's nothing ILLEGAL there, you just can't see it because it's behind the shed." Check it out:



Speaking of the shed, talk about SALVAGE CHIC! Chris built it and all of these things for Tammy. (SWOON...) A talented carpenter, also available for hire.




Last but not least, a SQUIRREL NUTKIN STATUE! Purchased at, you guessed it, SALVAGE CHIC!! Worth a visit to see this alone. Go visit Tammy & Chris Thursday through Saturday from 10-5; and be sure to tell 'em that Salvage Chick sent you!! Oh and PS: Fieldstone Garden is DOG-FRIENDLY! So bring your leashed 4-legged friend along for a romp.

Design Star Challenge!

For those of you who've been noticing all of the exciting changes to the building that hosts Salvage Chic - Tomorrow marks the Grand Opening of the Bryantville Pizza Kitchen!! Owned & operated by the new landlord "The Handyman", who bought the property about 6 weeks ago from Billy Kidd. (and NO, he HASN'T raised the rent... what seems to be everyone's First Question.) We've actually been getting along remarkably well, so remarkably well that today, when The Handyman approached me with That Look that usually accompanies bad news, I waited for the other shoe to drop. "UM, Salvage Chick, I wonder if I could ask you a favor... you know that tomorrow is the Grand Opening, and UM, I have a lot of Friends and Family coming, so I, UH.." HERE WE GO! I thought. He is going to say something stupid like "was wondering if you & Claudia could drive your bikes to work so I have more parking spaces?" I waited. "I, UH, was wondering if you could help me decorate my bathroom." OH! SURE! We'd LOVE to! And I merrily skipped over to meet our Design Challenge.

Once there I was amazed to see that once again, The Handyman has not done anything half-way. This bathroom is decked out in travertine tile which, while lovely, didn't seem to lend itself well to "salvage chic". It cried out for dark & contemporary accents. I briefly thought to myself "Too bad I don't own the Bombay Company, then he'd be all set..." SIGH. Off to consult Claudia. She took a peek and we put our heads together, brought over some goods, brought some back, brought more over, all the while muttering "Does he know people BEG to PAY us to come do this kind of ****?" or more importantly, "Someone is probably robbing our store BLIND while we're over here obsessing." It's not perfect - but we didn't think he'd like us hammering into the tiled walls just so we could hang some fabric to 'soften' the place up. It looks much better in person - go check it out! And tell him Salvage Chick sent you... although you might have to order some food; he might think it odd that you just want to see the bathroom!!

Oh and PS - if you want to adopt any of these pieces, just ask at Salvage Chic! All items are still for sale.

Lights? Camera....

ACTION! A sudden thunderstorm hit Pembroke around 3 PM today and Claudia and I found ourselves without power and quite literally, In The Dark. The holiday weekend had been much busier than I expected so I was ready to call it a day; after all, who would stop to shop while it was pouring hailstones the size of golf balls? Just as I was wondering how hard it would be to turn everything 'OFF' before we left, Claudia said we should hang out a bit - maybe the lights would come back on. Plus we had our friend Amy from Brockton visiting who was waiting out the storm (and had brought us some fantastic cookies!) so it seemed like a good idea to kick back and squint at them both while I sampled the chocolate chip ones.

Right about when I moved on to the oatmeal raisins a car pulled into the parking lot and Claudia sat up straight - "See, here comes someone!" Sure enough a cute couple Nick and Kat had ventured down from West Roxbury to shop and were surprisingly undaunted by the lack of electricity. I dug up a couple of flashlights and they had a blast poking around like they were on an archaeological dig. They picked up a pair of salt & pepper shakers shaped like phonographs and an old camera and informed us they will definitely be back! While they were checking out another woman came in who was equally game to shop without the lights on. I had thought about offering everyone an "In The Dark" Discount but they didn't really seem to need any encouragement. HMMM, I thought, maybe we are on to something here... prices could be even LOWER without the overhead of 3 electrical meters to cover! But I'd miss some of the modern conveniences like, oh, THE CREDIT CARD MACHINE. Our 2nd shopper party happily unearthed a discounted accent table, a great spindly-leg kitchen table with a metal top, and 3 assorted painted chairs to use in her outdoor living space. Claudia and I managed to wedge it all into the middle of her mini-van, and I really hope it did not end up on top of her little daughter who was nestled in her carseat in the back row! As she was pulling out of the lot we headed back inside and wouldn't you know it, the lights came on! Just in time to shut them off again and head home to celebrate another Booming Weekend at Salvage Chic. Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Old Mother Hubbard

went to the Cupboard, to get her poor dogs a bone. When she got there, the cupboard was bare, and so her poor dogs had... NEVER MIND THE DOGS, CHECK OUT MY NEW CUPBOARD! Fresh from Brimfield, and what a Bargain, this one is a Keeper... for now. As you can see, my kitchen has no upper cabinets - and I got sick of standing on my tiptoes trying to reach the dishes. As promised, something had to go to make room for it; so my old hutch is for sale this week at Salvage Chic. "Out with the OLD! In with the... OLD." No wonder Kenny calls me a Serial Re-Decorator. Now, off to find those poor dogs a bone.

My Jeep Brim-eth Over

With Goodies I picked up this week on a visit to Brimfield! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the Mother of All Antique Shows is held three times a year on several fields in Brimfield MA, right after Sturbridge on the Mass Pike. The May show continues through Sunday the 17th, and new fields open each day this week so there's plenty of fresh stock remaining to be had. GO CHECK IT OUT!

Took a jaunt out yesterday there with my Mom and we had a blast traipsing around looking at everything. I had the best intentions of taking pictures all day long but my Dinosaur of a Digital Camera weighs like 8 pounds so I left it in the car. Here's a shot as we were driving in to park:



When I'm shopping at a place like Brimfield I try to keep an eye out for the Cool and Unusual. I really do wish I had been able to photograph some of the crazy things I saw, but at least you can see some of what I DID come home with:



Found This for my Husband, whom I recently learned coveted all things Smurf when he was little (remember how EXPENSIVE that stuff was?) This morning I asked Kenny why it was posed on our kitchen island on a piece of aluminum foil and he replied "He's Tanning." FUNNY! I hope he had sunscreen on.



And what's THIS still lurking in my Jeep? A fab painted hutch I bought for my own kitchen but don't fret... that just means the piece I'm displacing is coming to Salvage Chic soon! Stay tuned.



PS Click on the Blog List to the right: "The Antique Odyssey" for more tales & photos of Brimfield! Pam sums it up pretty well with a List of Things to Take, Do & Avoid!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

I wasn't kidding when I said we are in full-blown Spring Fling "Out With The OLD!" mode this week at Salvage Chic. So much so that yesterday when a woman inquired about buying one of our "Not For Sale" display cases, Claudia and I decided HEY, that's a way to shake things up... Today as I was emptying the shelves out before the woman came to pick it up I got an idea in my head; sometimes you just need to rearrange stuff that's been around a while and it literally starts flying out the door. So I cleared the room of all the kitcheny items and started piecing together this little boy's bedroom. Of course as luck would have it as soon as I start a project like this the shop got ridiculously busy and the phone started ringing off the hook. Every time I climbed up on the green nightstand & bureau to try to hang the Sesame St curtains there it went.... RING RING RING! Sigh. For the 3rd time in 10 minutes I jumped down in my stocking feet, tripped over my clogs and ran to answer the phone. "Hello, I'm calling about an ad you have on Craigslist for a green bureau and matching nightstands, do you still have them?" Ummm, yes we do... (thinking, you mean the ones I just climbed off of after I moved them because they have been sitting around for 3 months?) GREAT said the woman, I need them delivered to Quincy and here is my credit card number. OK - funny how that worked - I know I said stuff has a funny way of selling right after we rearrange it, but usually people have to SEE THE ITEMS IN PERSON!

Here's a look at the rest of the room, and what else might NOT be around for long... Stop in this weekend and get it while it's HOT!

Taking Care of Business...

Every Day! Taking care of business, Every Way! I've been taking care of business, it's all mine! Taking care of business and working overtime, work out... so sang the Bachman-Turner Overdrive and hopefully that song's stuck in all of your heads now, too!

The week started off with a bang yesterday with a 10AM housecall in Pembroke where I bought some fabulous items from a woman with great taste whose house is so amazing it made me want to go home and de-crapify my house, paint everything white and live in a very tastefully spartan existence amongst a glorious array of old hotel silver. My only regret was I did not bring my camera to document the Jeepful of goodies I acquired!

Then off to the shop to unload the goodies and price & place some FABULOUS items that arrived Sunday; the goal was to make room for some stuff Claudia was going to help me pick up in Kingston that I bought last Friday, but luckily the woman had a last minute appointment so we got a reprieve and just in time for us to visit AN AUCTION where I was NOT SUPPOSED to buy any furniture but of course... I did.

So today, Tuesday, found Claudia and I in the shop with WAY too much new inventory trying to figure out how to get rid of some, shall we say, stagnant items. "We need Jack to come get this Art Deco bureau of his" she said, to which I jokingly replied "Call him." I really didn't mean to push that on her, I figured I'd just talk to him over the weekend but the next thing I knew, she was on the phone! "JACK! We didn't see you last weekend, we were worried about you, is everything OK? Just thought you'd like to know, we sold your church pew this morning, isn't that great? Oh and by the way - WE NEED YOU TO COME PICK UP SOME OF YOUR AWFUL FURNTURE THAT IS NEVER GOING TO SELL." Alright, I'm taking a little creative license here, she was much nicer than that. And Jack took it well, from what I hear... Special Thanks to Claudia for TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS. And it's not just Jack's items that need to go, so stop in Salvage Chic this weekend for some Real Furniture Bargains! The Magic Words are "I notice this has been around for a while, can you do better on the price?" And the answer is... "YOU BETCHA!"