Cows, a new dining room, a confession, and a few favorite things...

Have you ever found that piece that just speaks to you?  The one that makes your heart skip a beat?  Well, I have actually found a couple lately and they were actually reasonable enough for me to take home!

I know.....I actually teared up(no joke) when I pulled her out of the packaging(I found her on Ebay).  Isn't she FABULOUS??  Talk about my heart skipping a beat, I almost had a heart attack when I found her.  I know a lot of you probably don't understand, but I just can't explain it.  I LOVE her.  She is a very old original painting of a cow.  She is signed by "Grandma Glidden."  I don't know who that is, but thank you grandma!  I love her so much, I actually re-did my entire dining room to make her feel at home.

 
Here she is on my dining room wall flanked by some antique platters.  I'm going to get her a new fabulous gold frame so she will stand out more.  Most people that see her think I'm NUTS. My dad thinks she's dirty and a little gross, my husband thinks of steak when he looks at it, and my boys keep saying, "I thought you loved chickens?"  But I don't care...I love her and she speaks to me.  

Speaking of cows...remember that post we did about Elkhorn and Julie showed the cow that was on the cover of Country Living magazine? 

Ta-da! I found her!!! Do you beileve it?  The one at Elkhorn was $385, this one was about 95% cheaper.  I swear.  She is missing her tail, an ear, and one horn is bent, but I love her just as much.  She shares the dining room with my other girl.

There she is sitting on the fabulous white buffet from the shop. Yes, I took it home. I also took the picture on the wall...

two scales...

two chippy shabby chairs, an old medicine cabinet...

 

The duck egg antique dresser, the Galena picture and my next favorite thing...

this awesome old chippy stool.  Yes, I stole this from the shop as well as the wire basket full of ball jars. This stool was actually for sale at the shop for the first couple weekends we were open, then I snuck it in back behind the curtain where it sat for a couple sales until my mom and sister forgot about it and then I put it in my trunk.  See, I take a lot of things from the shop(my mom calls it "eating our profits"), so sometimes I have to sneak things out.  But it is definately one of my favorite things.

Alright..while I'm at it...I might as well confess...I took the table, canning jar holder, platter, and boat from the shop as well.  The "Leahy's Eggs" sign my mom actally made FOR me so that doesn't count.  And the chairs around the table are mine(but looking for new ones).  So I actually got my whole dining room(with the exception of the cows) from the Tattered Tiques shop.  All these pieces could have been yours...but you were to slow...I snagged them.

Ok, now that I have confessed, lets get back to my favorite things.  My dining room window actually looks out at another of my favorite things...my faux bois bird bath.  We found this beauty up in Eagle River, Wisconsin for $20 bucks!  Yes, she was intended for the shop too, but I don't think she ever made it there.

This is sort of simple, but I love this old jug.  Whenever I find an old glass jug with a wooden handle on it, its a keeper. They are just so cool. (notice my cow in the background...love her!)

I have some more favorite things that I plan on showing you, but I'll give you a break for now.  There are definately some things in the shop that I am eyeing, so you better get up there and grab your fave's before I do!