~A SWEET STORY OF COINCIDENCE?~

 I love reading inspirational stories that tell the life tales of others.  One of my favorite little books is one called SMALL MIRACLES compiled by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal.  It came out in 1997 and the pages are filled with stories of extraordinary coincidences from everyday life.

I don't believe in chance encounters.  I don't.  I believe our steps are directed by The Most High and those seemingly random moments aren't really random at all.

I believe they are

God appointed and God anointed.

Today I'm sharing with you an lightly edited version of a short story shared from SMALL MIRACLES.  I think you can still find the books (a series of three) on eBay and I've also seen them in thrift stores.  If you ever start to believe the hand of God isn't on your life...think again!

"I was walking down a dimly light street late one evening when I heard muffled screams coming from behind a clump of bushes.  Alarmed, I slowed down to listen, and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing were the unmistakable sounds of a struggle...only yards away a woman was being attacked.

...I was frighted for my own safety, and cursed myself for having suddenly decided to take a new route home that night...

Although it seemed like an eternity, the deliberations in my head had taken only seconds, but already the girl's cries were growing weaker. I knew I had to act fast.  How could I walk away from this?  No, I finally resolved, I could not turn my back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking my own life...

I'm not a brave man, nor am I athletic.  I don't know where I found the moral courage and physical strength--but once I had finally resolved to help the girl, I became strangely transformed.  I ran behind the bushes and pulled the assailant off the woman.  Grappling, we fell to the ground, where we wrestled for a few minutes until the attacker jumped up and escaped.  Panting hard, I scrambled upright and approached the girl who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing...

Not wanting to frighten her further, I at first spoke to her from a distance.  "It's OK," I said.  "The man ran away.  You're safe now."

There was a long pause and then I heard her words, uttered in wonder, in amazement.

"Daddy, is that you?

And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest daughter, Katherine."

~~*~~

Blessings today as you remember our steps are ordered by the Father~

Love to you...

~A GATHERING WE WILL GO~

~GATHERING TOGETHER~

My Miss K has spent part of her Fall Break with me this week so I've been one busy Nana.  No time for blogging!  Too consumed with having fun and doing things like pumpkin hunting.  Seriously celebrating my incredible love of Autumn this week and anything and everything related to Pumpkin Days.  I love them.

~SWEET LITTLE LADY~

This weekend my favorite little girl and I are going to attend PUMPKINVILLE.  It's a fun hands-on-gathering in downtown OKCity that is presented by OG&E (OK Gas & Electric).  It's chock full of crafts, pumpkin decorating, treats, cider pressing, story telling, treats and they even have a hay bale maze.  Sure to be a blast for both of us...  I'll share our pics next week.

 ~I LOVE SOUP TUREENS~

(Great $5 Find!!!)

Today I'm showing you a few fun finds.  I'm not too much one for whimsy and so I rarely purchase things that are super-cutesy.  But...when the retail store I managed closed it's doors nearly ten years ago I couldn't resist bringing the little Native American/Pilgrim figurines (at the top) home with me.  This year I decided to actually set them out, but FIRST they needed a little makeover!  Gone are the orange, brown, red and gold paint colors and in their place is a sweet soft white with a hint of AS (Annie Sloan) dark wax.  Too cute not to love.

Next comes the vintage soup tureen!  Perfect condition and I love that it has the ladel.  SCORE!

~FLORAL PUMPKIN?~

Found this sweet pumpkin shaped candle holder last year.  Love how it looks with a wee bit of my 1978 wedding bouquet.  The patina is perfect for Fall... 

~CAN YOU GUESS?~

Does anyone know what the rose above was originally manufactured for?  I only found one although I'm sure they were sold in pairs...  Have a clue now?  If you guessed a drapery tie-back then you would be right.  I love it just sitting on my mantel!  It came as you see it...didn't have to do anything to it.  Couldn't believe it!  Cost:  $1.99 (eeeek!)

 ~AMAZING SIGN TO PAINT~

This canvas over wood picture/sign originally had a mannequin on the front.  Not sure what happened to it but it was all dulled out (maybe from the sun?) and looked hazy.  I snagged it for a few dollars and plan to paint GUEST COTTAGE on the front with pink roses... 

~CLOSE-UP DETAIL~

I'm lovin' it!  Can't wait to get started on it!

~BOIS MALTED CREAM CANDLE~

Because I love love love candles (white or cream ones, please!) I was excited to find several Bois Malted Cream jar candles at ROSS for $6.99 each.  They retail for $14 each in gift shoppes everywhere.  Great score!

~OBLONG WICK~

Not only do they smell fabulous but I love the wick!  Helps all the wax to burn evenly!

~SWEET WICKER PURSE~

A few weeks ago my Mr. AGPMan and I lunched at our local Cracker Barrel Restaurant.  They were having a HUGE MARKDOWN SALE on tons of stuff and I bought the sweet bag you see above for $4.  Original price was $24.99.  It came as you see it (minus the lace doily peeking out!)... 

 ~VINTAGE PRINT~

Today my Miss K helped me tend to my booth space and afterwards we stopped by Goodwill to have a look around.  Found a few amazing things...a faux leather jacket for her for $2.99 (will be perfect for 50's Day next spring) and a couple extra small Ann Taylor (Loft) tops for $1.99 each.  Because they both are so tiny they fit our girl perfectly.  Also found the lovely framed print you see above.  I plan on painting the frame out (you KNOW I will!) and replacing the paper backing!

~OOPS...REPAIR NEEDED~

Price was $5.99.  Keeping this one for my bedroom.  Love it!

The basket above was just reworked a bit for Fall.  The roses you see were some my hubby gave me several months ago.  I love the color they dried out to be.  I had a dozen, but one by one they fell apart. :(   I added the fallen petals to a jar of potpourri and tucked the last three stems inside the lined basket.  Love it.

 Last but not least is a book I snagged today for $2 at a garage sale.   I loaned my copy out sometime back and have yet to get it back...  So~home this one came...  I love Susan Branch!  Her beautiful artwork makes my heart sing!

Hope your Saturday is fabulous!  Mine is going to be jam-packed and full.  Looking forward to every second of it!

More soon.

Love to you...

~WHITE BASKET MAKEOVER...A LONG LOST FIND~

  Some sweet things to share with you today!

Christmas is still a ways off, but this tree basket is very special to me...here's why~

   In the late 1980's my Mr. AGPMan handmade at least fifty wood Christmas Tree Baskets for the wee little booth space we had at a local Folk Fair Festival.  We ended up selling every single one of them (save for a few for family and friends) and I distinctly remember them being priced at $9.99 each.  That was a pretty penny all those years ago...

 A couple months ago while helping my mother downsize for a move I spotted her basket in a box of things to keep.  I couldn't believe she still had it after almost twenty-five years.  It was still painted a dark pine green and the raised red heart appliques were still attached to each side.

 I brought the basket home (a happily returned gift) and over the weekend I gave it a facelift.  Nothing super special...just removed the hearts, roughed it up a bit and then slathered on a couple quick coats of soft white paint.  I love how it came out...simple, clean and uncomplicated.  I'm keeping this one forever even though my guy informed me he still has the pattern for the design...

 

 A couple of weeks ago I found a vintage hanky holder at Goodwill!  It was a ridiculously low price ($1.98) so I brought it home!  Only problem I found with it was with the rose base.  The piece was made in Japan and the base seemed really small given the height of the stand.  Sure enough once a handkerchief was attached the entire thing wanted to lean forward.

 

Then I remembered earlier in the month I'd found another neat metal stand with a super cool base.  It was also only $1.98.  Only problem with it was there was nothing attached to the metal rod.  Just a rod with a stand...I'm not even sure what it was supposed to be...

 I asked my Mr. AGPMan if it was possible to marry the two pieces together to make one and about 15 minutes later he returned with only one piece.  He's just amazing!  One was metric (I think that what he said) and one wasn't.  Anyway... I love how the thing came out!

 I painted it with my favorite spray paint and then added dark wax.  The excess wax was removed and this is how it looks today!

  Isn't it fab?  I'm keeping it...at least for a while!

My last sweet find was a set of four candle cups with the word HOME cut out!  They really look lovely on our bookshelf holding faux tea light candles.  Not enough space for real votives...

 I'm off to work in my studio this morning!  I'm in the middle of finishing up another special order Gathering Case (Train Case) with another one to do in the wings...  I'll be sure to share with you soon.

Hope your Tuesday is wonderful~

Love to you