I Googled 'Collaged Furniture' and found this image.

{Silly me. I was thinking paper collaged onto furniture... not furniture collaged onto furniture!} Artist Thomas Wold's creation, as seen on Apartment Therapy blog, reminds me of the casework created for a retail wine shop that I wrote about on my retail design blog. This stuff is COOL and I'm heading out to the shop to grab some 'junk orphans' to see what I can create. What do you think about it?? Too progressive for the vintage set - or just quirky enough to elicit squeals of delight?

Ok, then... you win!

Our favorite links have been restored to the sidebar!

{Sorry if you clicked in over the past hour or two and couldn't get on the blog -

I had to pull it down while working on this new format}

Here's a quick tour of the changes:

Everything about Retreat is on the left.

Friends, fans, followers, visitors and resources are on the right.

{By the way, if you need help with your blog, I'd love to help you. I've designed quite a few {Faded Elegance, Garden Party, Poppyseeds, and our blogs} and can fix things up fast & affordably for you. Email me at Debi.WardKennedy@gmail.com}

We awoke to this glorious sight this morning.....

                                       

No alarm, no shocking sound nudged us from sleep.... nope. Just opened our eyes to a quiet peaceful morning, and discovered this beautiful rosy glow in the sky to greet us.

Now this may not seem like anything special to some of you - but remember that we live in the Great Gray NorthWest and haven't seen the sun or the actual sky for weeks now! It's been nothin' but gray clouds and rain. And wind. Lots of wind. So seeing this was a real treat, in more ways than one....

                                                      

We've asked the Universe a few questions lately.... mostly having to do with what our next step is. Our biggest concern is missing an opportunity, or not being clear on what to do next. Last night we went to sleep with one particular question on our minds. This morning's light show was like an answer straight from God: "If I can wake you up so you won't miss something as beautifully simple as this sunrise, don't you think I'll make sure you notice the opportunities and path before you?" Indeed!

We wish you all a most meaningful, wonderful, and Happy Thanksgiving, friends. We are so grateful for your friendship, support, and presence in our lives. You inspire us to be all that we can be, and to contribute to this marvelous world in a way that makes it better for everyone. Thank you for visiting us, coming to shows, reading our blog, and connecting with us. Blessings to you all....

The new magazine is on its way - debuts in February!

Stay tuned to the Flea Market Style Mag blog for more details

We thought we'd share a peek at how we spent our Halloween....

This is our second grandson, who is our son Joel's son. Mr. Cute Stuff up there is Jameson Ward Kennedy, AKA Bubba, Jamers, and Lil' Dude. As a result of our last-minute trip to Southern California for a family medical emergency, we got to see all four of our kids and our grandson at the same time. No small feat to accomplish that, let us tell you! Seeing Bubba in his Lil' Devil Halloween costume was the highlight of our day today.

We have enjoyed having some special family time together with Bob's parents, our girls, our son and his wife & son. And yet, on everyone's mind and heart is the failing heart of Bob's dad, and how to help him and mom as things proceed. One thing we've learned about in life: Enjoy every moment, and remember that the happy often accompanies the sad.

We had some plans in mind for Retreat's next month or so, but this trip has put all of that on the back burner. Right now, nothing is more important than family. We are trusting that our needs will be met as we help here with everything we can...

Once you have junk on the brain, you see it everywhere....
...even all the way across the QFC parking lot. (And when you drive by slowly and take pictures, people give you funny looks!)
But the looks they give the old rusty trucks full of old rusty junk are funnier! Check out the guy in the left side of that photo... He's wondering 'What the....???'. Me? My first thought was 'Hmmmmmn.... is there anything GOOD in there?' ;0)

...that led us to this place on Earth and in our lives has been quite a journey. Thirty years in the making. (Amazingly, our farm was built in 1979. The year that Bob and I started dating. Coincidence? Nah.) At times it has moved quickly, other times it creeps along, and sometimes it doesn't look like it is moving forward at all. Or even seems like things are sliding backwards. (We really hate those times.) We are action people - planners, creators, do-ers. We don't sit still for too long. Ideas are constantly swirling around in our heads and hearts and conversations. New ideas. Big ideas. Crazy-to-anyone-else ideas.

Since the day we first saw this place, we've seen the big picture. Doesn't scare us in the least to take an idea all the way to its greatest possibility. We did, and planned for that achievement. Of course, we'd love to jump from point A to point B,C,D, and E and be in the daily running of our business at that level! But it's all of the smaller steps along the way to that big goal - the ones that we are learning to take each day - that are spurring remarkable growth within us.
We have an incredible resource here - and yet our ability to access and use it ALL right now is limited. We know our goal. Everyday we stand in the physical space and envision the whole thing unfolding, but we can't access or prepare the barn and fields for it just yet. That can be frustrating! Some days, it can be downright depressing, to be truthful.

Today, things changed. From out of the blue, we overcame that inertia and hatched a plan to use PART of it until we can use ALL of it. We feel energized and excited about this new, heretofore unseen, opportunity to move our vision-dream-goal one step further along the path to reality. We CAN start small, and let that energy build to help us reach our larger goals. And before you know it, we'll be announcing the big stuff and flying from point A to points we haven't even imagined yet. So stay tuned. We'll soon be announcing some fun things from Retreat that will be comin' up in November! (This big guy?....well......some REALLY fun things are going to happen in there, but not quite yet.....then again, tomorrow it may all break loose and be possible! )

though it seems like just yesterday we were two kids saying our vows (and having that dorky photo taken), we are celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary this weekend! we're headed to portland & oregon city for a few days of antiquing, visiting with friends, attending a fab antique show, dinner out, and lots of fun. just spending time together is the best part of it!

for the past 30 years, we have walked side by side and hand in hand on this journey... climbing steep hills, sliding down slick slopes, trudging across deserts, slogging through mud, and relaxing on sunny beaches. (both actually and metaphorically!) it's been a long and winding road, indeed, but there is no one on earth we would rather have traveled through it all with than each other.

we are both looking forward to all that of the blessings that the next 30 years together will bring us... and we feel very very lucky to have made it this far, with family and friends beside us and a business & life that we love.

This weekend, we discovered 'Island Home Collection', a home decor boutique in Anacortes, Washington. We ducked inside to browse and got stopped in our tracks by THIS:

They use it as their cashwrap! (And it's REAL - still playable) Just goes to show that we aren't the only crazy people on Earth who see a baby grand piano and come up with something different to do with it! Thank you, Steve, for letting us snap a photo in your store.

We just love these upholstered stools sitting around it....Bob says it inspires him to come up with some stools for our Piano Bars. Check out the Island Home Collection web site for info on their store and products. Not exactly recycled or art furniture, but beautiful stuff!

We are a crazy bunch, are we not? Who but we junkers becomes irrationally excited over finding a garage or barn or warehouse filled to the brim with old, rusty, crusty, musty stuff? Stuff that someone else discarded as useless.... yet to us, it's raw materials for new creations, or additions to a collection, or pure inspiration. We see the endless possibility in it, where others saw only the end of its original use. (We are SUCH visionaries, my friends!)

Junk hanging from the rafters, junk piled on the floor, junk tumbling out of crates and boxes and bins...

Junk covered with grime and dust and dirt and grease.... ahhhhh. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

A pile of old broken clay pots can become an arrangement that is a work of art, or a mosaic, or a million other things. All it takes is inspiration and a willingness to step outside of the catalog or box store. ;0)

Junky old fence and stone column. Brought to life in a garden with a bounty of roses. Sigh. I love this life...... don't you?!!!