Where Do They Go

I miss the freighters this time of year.

But alas I know the ships crews deserve a much needed rest.

But I still miss them...

So where to they go when they are not travelling

our Great Lakes you ask?

Well this is what they do.

I was a little too far away for this pic it seems.

This is where some of the Canadian freighter lines lay up for Winter.

Across the St Clair River in Sarnia, Canada.

 Quite a few...could not even count them all.

This past Monday, I decided to grab some lunch

 and eat by the bridge in Port Huron.

I could have parked right under the bridge...

but it kind of creeped me out.

Each span is a one way across into Sarnia, Canada.

Another pic of the spans.

This where I usually park and watch the freighters

The bridge is called the Blue Water Bridge.

Can you tell why?  ;o)

At night it is lit with blue lights.

Past the bridge is the mouth of Lake Huron.

The rushing water where the lake meets the river just past the bridge

causes many whirlpools and the current is very strong.

Too strong to swim in.

All of the freighters lay up in different parts along the Great Lakes.

We are fortunate to have some lay up close to us...

Cannot wait for them to start their stacks up again!!

But for now

This is where they go....

On another note,
I was saddened to hear that Davy Jones passed on today.
I am showing my age now. LoL
For those of you who do not know Davy Jones,
he was the lead singer for the Monkees.

I loved their tv show and their songs!
My favorite being
"I'm A Believer"

One of my memories of the Monkees

was when I went on my high school junior trip to Boston.

There were only 10 of us that went

 plus our 4 chaperones.

We were walking down one of the main streets

and one of the shoppes was playing a Monkees song.

After passing the store, we all decided to do what the Monkees

did at the beginning of their show.

We started singing

Here We Come

Walking Down The Street...

and walked like they did.

Not something I would be caught doing now...but funny at the time.

Anyway you will be missed Davy. 

Prim Blessings to all

Janice

Monday Montage

I have a thing for suitcases and old bags.

Alas I cannot collect everything,

but do have a few.

A real early alligator bag.

A fun 1950's Blue Suitcase

This was my mom's.

An early leather suitcase with leather straps

Close up of one of the straps.

Unfortunately I do not have the key...

Still wondering what might be inside. :o)

This brown beauty was my dad's.

Inside of it..little blurry. sorry about that.

I asked my mom if this meant anything and she was not sure.

Not sure if my dad wrote this or if it came standard.

Does anyone have a clue?

Do any of you like to collect suitcases?

Thanks for checking in.

Blessings to all!

Janice



What Should I Do

I have been in such a rut lately.

Drawing stuff for Easter
And even Spring...
Then for some reason
 I have been thinking about
how to decorate for Christmas

I know...someone needs to wash my mouth out with soap.

Then I realized
My first
 Blogiversary is in a few weeks...
Plus I am closer to having 200 followers.

So while I think about what I am going
to do for my next giveaway...

I want to challenge everyone
to let your blogging friends know about my blog.

Sorry for not adding a pic to this post.
I have a new tablet,
and I do not know how to upload pictures yet. :0)

Now in the meantime,
please let me know what you might like to win
as a giveaway.
All ideas welcome....
it may help me get out of my funk!

Prim Blessings to all,
Janice

These Babies Arrived Today At Noon

Thought I would share a couple of items we brought

to the store today...

Circa 1750- 1799 small copper fry pan

with reinforced wrought iron handle.

Medium and Large ones.

A mid 1800 Farriers Bench with side drawer.

A farrier is someone who shoes horses.

In the rear is where the farrier sat to do his work.

Lots of cubbies.

Would make a very nice prim coffee table!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Prim Blessings to all

Janice

 

Friday Fun Facts

As I sit here and write these facts Thursday night,

I keep making Bob turn the tv to the weather radar.

They are predicting 5 to 8 inches in our county.

However some of us along the river will get 8 to 10

with thunder snow included.

We will have to wait and see I guess...

1. Coca-Cola translated to Chinese means "To make mouth Happy".

I use to be addicted to Coke...now I drink iced tea to be more healthy


2. The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas washes 15,000 pillowcases daily.
Whew...so glad I do not have to do that laundry


3. If you lined up every Slinky toy in a row that was ever made, 
they would wrap around the Earth 126 times.
That's a lot of slinkys

4. The 2 steps at the top and the 2 steps at the bottom of a staircase
 are the most dangerous.
I have to agree with that one...
Seems like I am always tripping at either the top or the bottom.
Call me a KLUTZ  


5. McDonalds distributes more toys per year than Toys R Us. 
That sure is a lot of Happy Meals...


Well that does it for another week of facts. 
Right now the radar has rain heading our way,
with ice behind it, and snow behind that.
Yuk.


Prim Blessings everyone,
Janice

Prim Goodies From Our Trip

So before I start showing these pictures,

I want to warn you that some of you may start drooling...

I know I was..but Bob would not let me keep anything.

Will tell you at the end of this post why.

Circa 1832 Pine Corner Cu
pboard.

The corners are one piece boards.

Simply Gorgeous!

An 1892 wood grape cart.

An 1892 Grape Sorter.

I thought this would make a great table for towels and toiletries in a prim bath,

or add some glass jars filled with your craft items!!!

However this piece already sold Monday..Thank you Sandy!!!

This adorable little potty chair with the enamel pan.

This trencher has a handle and metal patches..way too cool.

I wanted this one.

Large trencher

Late 1800 blue painted bowl...love this color.

Bob would not let me keep this one either.

Said we needed stuff for the store.

Wool picker.

The patina on this piece is awesome.

Two early measures.

Early Crock Pot...not the kind you can cook in.  :o)

A make-do candle.

This metal oil can stand with two lab beakers.

Now this is why Bob would not let me keep anything else from this trip.

Once you see this piece, I'm sure you will know why...

Are you ready?

Are you Sure?

 I know...I am such a tease.

Here goes.

;O)

An early dry red painted cupboard. Yipee...its mine!

Once the weather gets nicer,

I plan on a redo of one wall in the kitchen.

This beauty will hang on that wall.

Hope you enjoyed the pics.

Prim Blessings to all

Janice

What the heck is a Paczki?

Today is

PACZKI DAY

or

FAT TUESDAY

as us Michiganders call it.

If you are of Polish descent like I am

you will already know that us Poles

eat Paczki's on Shrove Tuesday

which is the day before the Lenten Season.

The rest of the Michiganders have just tagged along

on this tradition just to eat these yearly made filled donuts.

A Paczki which is pronounced "poonch- key"

is a jelly filled donut which packs about 450 calories in each one.

Not a dieter's choice for sure.

Paczki's come in all kinds of flavors.

Blueberry

Strawberry

Cherry

Custard

Lemon

Apricot

Chocolate

However traditionally the flavor of choice in our home was prune

which was topped off with a glaze or powder sugar.

I remember Gramma B getting up really early on Shrove Tuesday

to make paczki's for everyone in the family.

Gramma would mix the ingredients.

My mom would help knead the bread.

My job was to shake the powdered sugar over them once baked.

Yum..the kitchen smelled so good!

Of course we always had to try a few before everyone came over for Supper...

Gramma B's were much smaller...less calories.

This one was strawberry that I had today.

Well there you have it.

My Polish tradition.

Happy Paczki Day to Everyone!

Tomorrow I will reveal our goodies from our trip.

Some of the pieces have already been sold.

Take care

Janice

Monday Montage- Goodies We Found

On Friday Feb. 10th, Bob and I visited one of my blogging buddies Dawn.

She owns the most PRIM PERFECT primitive store called

Holly Hills Primitives

Located in Holly, Michigan.

This is Dawn. She was most gracious to not only let me take her picture,

but she even let me take some pics of her store.

(sorry gals...I bought the bunny she is holding)
Dawn's blog is:
hollyhillsprimitives.blogspot.com
Hop on over and see what she has new,
and tell her I sent you.

Here are those pics!

I loved this little wheelbarrow filled with grass and prim carrots.

I should have asked Dawn if it was for sale, cause I would have bought it!

Loved this little chick and look at that crock lamp.

Prim bunny with a shoo fly screen..plus wouldn't that candle holder look great on a table.

Isn't this gal prim perfect all dressed up in real shoes.

Another prim standing bunny with other goodies all around.

If you are ever wanting to go to a cute prim perfect shoppe,

please visit Dawn in historic Holly, Michigan.

You will not be disappointed.

Thank you Dawn for all of the goodies!

They wanted me to tell you that they love their new home with me.

Bob and I greatly enjoyed finally meeting you,

and we are still drooling over that pie safe!

After we left Dawn's shop, we visited the other antique stores in town.

Here are some of the items we also found.

A Real 1858 Mason Jar.

There are many fakes out there.

This particular dealer did not know what they had.

A snow on the mountain granite cup and a blue swirl bail handled bowl.

Some lidded enamel bowls.

A coffee can for my collection.

Paper Egg Carton

Another quilt for my collection...love the blue!

The doll and bonnet came from Dawn's shop.

I told you she had some fun stuff!
The ditty bag came from Shirlee in a previous swap.
Tell me what you think of this grouping?

Had to buy this 1800's hurricane lamp. Even though the shade is not original,

I loved the irridecence of it, however I do not know the pattern.
Can anyone help me with that?

The square hooked rug came from Dawn's too!

A close up of this hooked rug...love the colors!!

After we finished shopping we went over to an Italian restaurant

and shared some spicy chicken rigatoni.

It was snowing all day,
and after a fun day of shopping,
 this is what Bob and I came home to.

It melted all away two days later though.

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Wait til you see what we bought this past weekend!

I know..I'm such a tease.
Will show them another day.
We are off to try and find more furniture today again.

We sold 2 more pieces again yesterday in the store.
Maybe folks are realizing that the antique furniture will
outlast the pressed wood stuff made today.
I guess our marketing campaign of
 "GO GREEN, BUY AN ANTIQUE"
 is working!

A big shout out to all of our customers.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
You have made our small business successful
and we appreciated each and every one of you!

For those who would like to visit us
Here we are:
Back Porch Antiques
550 Broadway
Marine City, Michigan, 48039

Enjoy a cup(s) of complimentary coffee or hot chocolate on us.
Homemade cookies on Saturdays when Bob and I are there too!

Prim Blessings everyone

Janice

Friday Fun Facts

I have to hurry with these facts

as Bob and I are off again on another buying trip this weekend.

This time for our store and not for us.

I have been so busy this week

that I have not had the time to post all of the goodies

that we bought last week...

but I promise I will.

In fact, I think that will be my Monday Montage.

Any hoot, today's Friday facts are as follows ~

1. There was a lady who jumped off the Eiffel Tower and tried to commit suicide.

She landed on a car and lived, and ended up marrying the driver of the car.

Guess you could say she fell for him

2. In France a five year old can buy an alcoholic drink in a bar.

Being of French decent myself, my paternal grandparents gave us a glass of wine with our meal every supper. We were taught to respect alcohol, not abuse it. That tradition stopped with my own parents.

3. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

My eyes are not that good to find out if this is true.

4. There are more plastic flamingos in America than real ones.

That's because someone has 50 or more out on their lawns

to celebrate some Over the hill birthday...and why did they pick a flamingo anyway?

Don't you think vultures are more appropriate for that?

5. Flying is statistically the safest form of travel,

yet it is the most common fear in the world.

I'm one of those who is afraid to fly...

ever since I had to take a flight out of Florida when a hurricane was coming in.

The turbulence was so bad that I thought the plane was going to crack up in the air.

Have never flown since then.

Well that does it for another Friday. 

Please wish us luck on our hunt this weekend...

We badly need to find some furniture

as we sold 6 pieces this week alone...

I'm not complaining, its just we were not expecting

our January and February sales to be this good

 as normally these are our slow months.

So now we need to find more for our busy season coming up.

I love to shop though!!

We truly are blessed with some awesome customers!

Plus we are mulling over something that will change our lives even more...

I will tell you more about this when I have time.

Until then,

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Sunday will be spent trying to catch up with you all.

Warm Blessings,

Janice

The Long Awaited Wait Is Over

Before I reveal the winner..

I just want everyone to know that Bob guessed the number

before I even posted the giveaway post.

This happens to us all of the time.

He finishes my sentence,

or I finish his,

or we are thinking the same thing at the same time.

It's pretty spooky sometimes...

buy anyway he is NOT the winner.

Sorry honey, but



There were 3 folks
who picked the number 9.

Those folks were ~

Tam
 Dawn from Holly Hills Primitives
 A Primitive Homestead

So since Bob was the first to pick the number nine,
I gave him the chance to pick our winner...
so blame him ladies if you did not win.

The winner of my bag of hearts is....

A Primitive Homestead

Congrats to YOU!!!
Send me an email at
backporchprimitives@yahoo.com
with your name and address so that I can mail you out your hearts.

Thank you everyone who made a comment
and I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's!

Warm Blessings to you all!
Janice



Who Gives A Heart

Who gives a heart you ask?

Well, I do!



So since I do,

Whomever can guess how many hearts are in this granite pan

and comments with their guess to this post

by Midnight tonight

Will receive a bag full of these prim hearts shown above.

In the case of a tie,

I will have a drawing between all of the winners.

If no one guesses the correct number of hearts,

the closest to the amount will win.

Sorry the granite pan is not included in this giveaway.

Good luck to all!

Happy Valentines Everyone!!!

Will post the winner on Thursday night

as I will not be home tomorrow night.

Take care

Janice