The VEB review— yardsale haul, foster kittens, boycott Canada Goose.
New Hampshire was a lot of fun for me… I really enjoyed meeting you people who are (apparently) sharing a brain with me.
I spoke about obsessive bargain hunting, and shared some finds I’ve been sitting on in the last months (so that I’d have something fresh to talk about).
Equally importantly, I got my eyebrows filled in evenly for three consecutive days.
I cannot overstate this miracle.
This is the only picture I have of me alone. It’s not even in focus, but I hesitate to use any photo with other people in it. (Even if I think it’s great, they might hate it.)
It’s also not a good photo of the fair, but I chose an offshoot of the big barn to hide while using the wand of narcissism selfie stick… I bought it last year for Lara’s wedding– I knew I was going to take a million pictures, and I wanted to actually be in some of them– it worked great, especially for taking group shots. But for research’s sake, I will tell you that using it alone, you will definitely feel like a moron.
Anyway. Yard sale!
Every fall our community has a townwide yard sale… it never disappoints.
You can see my purchases from past years here and here.
This year:
Trunk- $5
The hardware on the trunk is awesome, and was the reason I wanted it… but after I owned it for about 24 hours I realized it’s not truly me, so I sold it and put the cash towards Utah GFT.
Vintage wire laundry basket – $3
NOT a reproduction… Hello? S.C.O.R.E.
Pair mid century patio chairs- $10
I sold the patio chairs but kept the cushions because finding original, vintage patio cushions is HARD! And I really liked the color/pattern. And I’m a hoarder.
Tall vintage fan – $5
Doll pram- $2
I had one of these doll strollers before; I bought it to see if Elvis would tolerate a photo shoot (no) so I sold it. This one is twice as big, and again, I had fantasies of a kitten photo shoot (no).
The last one sold to a woman who was hosting a vintage-themed baby shower, and she was going to fill it with (insert something I cannot remember) but was a cute idea.
That was it for the big stuff… I also got some antique seltzer bottles and some random dishes to add to my collection of why-do-I-buy-these-things?
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What I’m reading:
Leeway Cottage, by Beth Gutcheon… I don’t know how I missed reading this before! I really liked it! Story of a marriage, set against WWII and a Maine summer colony.
A Little Love Story, by Roland Merullo… set in Boston. A little bit of old houses, a little bit of Boston, a little bit of 9/11, a little bit of monks, dementia, Cystic Fibrosis, and love… all that sounds like a TERRIBLE combination of story lines, but he does it really well. I think his writing is very subtle and sometimes amazing.
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Pathological fashion obsession:
These animal bangles: leopard, elephant… I think they look super vintage-y!
This is me texting my mother to say I arrived safely and my luggage came through so I didn’t get have to wear pajama pants.
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Foster kitty updates:
The adult foster polydactyl Kitty got adopted nearly right away! Her new mom took the time to email me and sent two photos of Kitty looking very satisfied, so I feel good about that!
The foster kittens finally got fixed last Friday… two of them have been plenty big enough to be fixed way before now, but one of the three was very sick and she didn’t grow for the longest time!
I could’ve gotten the other two fixed when they reached weight, but they LOVE being together and I hated to separate them! It seemed good for sick kitten to have as much love as possible!
They are all healthy now and are on the waitlist for a cage at a PetSmart adoption center.
They are adorable and sweethearts. And I will miss them! Walking away from their little faces in a cage is going to be pretty crushing.
Did we think about keeping them? Sure. I’m STILL thinking about it!
I will worry: do they have a wonderful home? do they miss their sisters? do they miss me and Paul? But there are MORE who need help.
The need is so great for foster families, that I think ultimately that will help me feel okay with it.
If you are able to get involved with your local shelter, I think you will find it so rewarding!
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My Soapbox: boycott Canada Goose.
The trendy popularity of Canada Goose jackets is unbearable to me… not only are they filled with down (I wrote about down in this post,) they are trimmed with Coyote fur.
Coyotes are trapped in the wild, and leg traps are still legal in Canada… these animals languish typically for 24 to 72 hours before the trapper returns.
Mothers desperate to get back to their starving pups will attempt to chew off their own limbs to escape.
Animals who don’t succumb to the elements, blood loss, infection, or predators are strangled, shot, stomped on, or bludgeoned to death when the trapper returns.
These are videos, taken by the trappers themselves… they are not gory. Just incredibly sad.
Equally sad is the trapper’s narration… saying things like: getting the kill on video will be “neat” for people to see. Seeming to not understand the grotesqueness of videoing yourself killing an animal who has one mangled leg in a trap.
THIS IS WRONG.
There is no justification for the enslavement of other beings.
FUR = SUFFERING
Please do not buy Canada Goose products. Please don’t wear fur. Please don’t buy down feathers.
Please tell your friends that these products are the result of innocent animal’s AGONY!
If you own fur, and you don’t want to wear it anymore, you can donate the fur to to a wildlife rehabilitator— they use it to warm and comfort orphaned and injured wildlife.
If you read all of this, THANK YOU. I know that these things are terrible to confront, but it is up to us to say loudly and unapologetically that THESE THINGS ARE WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE.
October 25, 2016 @ 11:47 am
Victoria,
I’m so happy to read your most recent post. I always miss you when you’re doing life without updates to your faithful fans.
Love the treasures.
The final piece about Canada Goose makes me ill. Do people still buy fur? Why!?? The faux fur is amazing.
I couldn’t be a foster mommy to animals, I’d end up with 200+ pets and be kicked out of our city as they put serious restrictions on the numbers of pets one can own.
xo,
Karen
October 25, 2016 @ 11:49 am
did you get an email notification of this? I am losing my mind/tearing hair out/I HATE TECHNOLOGY.
xoxo
October 25, 2016 @ 12:16 pm
I did get an email notification if you are worrying about them going out 🙂
October 25, 2016 @ 12:25 pm
I sent it roughly 47,000 times… so there’s the exciting possibility that someone out there got ALL of them and is unsubscribing immediately.
if you are that person, I AM SORRY.
October 25, 2016 @ 12:22 pm
I got an email notification, if that helps/hinders your hair situation
October 25, 2016 @ 12:35 pm
Yes, got the email notice. (I hunt eagerly for them).
The Canadian Goose piece was heart wrenching. I don’t wear fur, wouldn’t even if I could. (Animal allergies.) These videos are heartless. I’m shaking with anger and indignation that these practices are still legal.
Love your finds. Would have loved to get my hands on that awesome trunk!!!
October 25, 2016 @ 5:37 pm
I did. 🙂
October 25, 2016 @ 12:08 pm
Leg-hold traps are still legal in many parts of the US as well. Horrific, this age we live in. I think people in both countries are fighting for a ban. This is the 21st century. We should be better than this.
October 25, 2016 @ 12:17 pm
I don’t own any fur but wow it is very useful to know furs can be donated to wildlife rehabilitators!
October 25, 2016 @ 12:29 pm
Ooooo I live in Utah! When you come let me know and I will buy you lunch! Allyson
October 25, 2016 @ 12:29 pm
Thank you for coming to New Hampshire! My sister and I were thrilled to see (and meet) VEB in person! Your presentation was incredible. We loved shopping at the Sage Antiques Farm antique fair. Great vendors. I couldn’t agree more about the fur-trade. It’s horrific. Why anyone would, in this day, buy and wear fur, is beyond me. We are not survivalists! There are so many faux fur alternatives. When my husband and I lived in Cincinnati, I had the pleasure of shopping at Donna Salyer’s Fabulous Furs store. They have some great items and you can see Donna on http://fabulousfurs.com/about-fabulous-furs/a/donnas-story/. A pretty cool lady. Also, so great to hear that the foster kitties are doing well! As always, keep up your amazing work with design and for the animals!
October 25, 2016 @ 12:32 pm
Are the flowers on the bush in the pram photo -real-????? O.o
If so, will you please tell me what they are??
October 25, 2016 @ 12:41 pm
Dahlias!! They are my favorite flower because they are STILL going strong now, at the end of October. (the giant one is Vassio Meggos) more pics: http://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/favorite-new-dahlias/
October 25, 2016 @ 12:34 pm
Was so excited to see an update from you today………. love the video of you and Paul getting the mirror up the roof!! I got to the pictures of the coyotes and my heart literally broke. I know they have the reputation of being a nuisance to some people, but the thought of some living thing being trapped, terrified and in pain makes me ill. I have never understood how certain human beings can be so heartless to animals, but there are an awful lot of them out there and it goes on and will continue to go on. There have got to be better ways to deal with unwanted animals, but i don’t think many people have the compassion, patience or money to do things humanly, its too much of a bother. Continue to spread the word of animal cruelty, if people actually knew how rampant it is outside of their daily lives I think they would be shocked.
October 25, 2016 @ 12:35 pm
Hello VEB – great post. I love Coyotes! We live in the mountains in southern California where we have hoards of rabbits who eat our lawn, eat newly planted roses, eat Lavender (until they decide they don’t like it) and anything else they want to “taste”. The rabbits crawl up on my patio table to eat baby lettuce greens that I planted there to keep them away from the rabbits. The rabbits even have the nerve to poop on my patio furniture! I welcome Coyotes and give a little yelp of joy whenever I find Coyote poop that has rabbit fur in it. Hope no one traps them here!
VERY envious of your community yard sale. OMG! The things people practically give away!
Happy antique / junque hunting!
Smiles from Carol
October 25, 2016 @ 12:43 pm
Oh my, I am new to your blog and didn’t expect a post about the Canada goose coats. I did not watch the videos but I will be aware that these products are out there. Those products would definitely not be for me. So sad.
October 25, 2016 @ 12:48 pm
Thank you for the update and the synopsis off all your fantastic finds. At the end of each of your posts I spend several minutes contemplating moving somewhere with better yard sales and Craigslist finds (jealousy, your name is me). Most of all thank you for the Canada Goose post. I do not buy their apparel and now I never ever will, and I will share this info with everyone I know.
Good luck with the kittens. I know it’s unlikely but I do hope they can stay together.
PS – while I was getting all emotionally wound up reading your GG exposé and sharing it with everyone, I burned my lunch – that’s how good your writing is 🙂
October 25, 2016 @ 12:56 pm
Victoria, you and Paul need to keep those kittens. That is all.
October 25, 2016 @ 1:11 pm
I so want to see the kitchen. Has it been completed yet? Update please!
October 25, 2016 @ 1:11 pm
The pictures of the animals in the traps are incredibly sad to me. I hate that crap. The picture of the three kittens in the window on the other hand is adorable. How did you get them to all look at you at the same time and stand still?
October 25, 2016 @ 1:14 pm
Just here to let you know about another place to hunt pretty stuff!!
https://www.ebth.com/?utm_content=sales_email&utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email
October 25, 2016 @ 1:16 pm
Thank you for the post about the Canadian Goose Project. I was shocked , disgusted and said.
On another note. Is the GFT really in Utah? Or is this a ploy to keep us off track of your next GFT?
October 25, 2016 @ 1:17 pm
I always look forward to your posts – I live vicariously through you! Since you mentioned your eyebrows I thought you might want to check out a u-tube video by Dominique Sachse — she is a gorgeous and sincerely nice newscaster in Houston. When she was younger, she either plucked or shaved off her eyebrows. She has many wonderful videos about how to apply makeup which is is great at, but said that having to fill in her eyebrows on weekends or days off is a pain, so she did a lot of research and decided to have them tatooed. Here is the cite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22W6dga53II
She is also on facebook: KPRC2 Dominique Sachse – you might enjoy following her.
Your dahlia’s are gorgeous — I’m jealous — they don’t do well in Dallas. The kittens are adorable — not sure how you will be able to give them up. I bet they get in the buggy when you’re not looking! And don’t get me started about how disgusting it is to wear fur — just makes me beyond angry.
October 25, 2016 @ 1:25 pm
You are so pretty and chic, soft hearted and moral,a reader! and incredibly smart and creative. I wanna be you when I grow up…except darn! I’m 76 so that definitely ain’t happening. Maybe in my next Life. I couldn’t watch the video-I made the mistake of watching one about how Turkeys are processed for the upcoming high season…horrible torture while they are still living… we never eat turkey except for the Holidays and never never again. It makes me want to V…t just thinking of that ghastly video. We have been eating less and less meat and I have decided to stop completely. It is just too disgusting. It’s the whole concentration of everything into vast corporate systems. A Farmer in the past took care of his Animals and when they were to be food their end was swift and I hope as painless as possible. But raising and processing millions of animals for pure profit has turned it into a dirty,unclean,cruel and heartless travesty. I thank you for making me remember what my values are and to think about my impact in the life I live for good or ill. I had become too used to and accepting of the Status Quo.
October 25, 2016 @ 1:41 pm
Thank you for speaking up on behalf of the animals.
What is the value of anything when brutality is accepted.
October 25, 2016 @ 1:46 pm
Got an email, but don’t know if I’ve missed other recent notifications as I didn’t know anthing about the three sweet kittens until this. Thank you for urging us to boycott products that are the result of cruelty to our fellow inhabitants of earth. I need reminding and I appreciate the information about products I didn’t inow about. It also pays for us all to research products before we purchase, to make sure they live up to anti-cruelty standards.
October 25, 2016 @ 1:57 pm
We loved having you in NH Victoria….I love your town wide yard sale finds and I vote that the
doll pram in the red plaid please be inserted in your Christmas card with said foster kittens…I mean how cute would that be 🙂
<3 <3 Sharyl 😉