Come see us at Allegan this weekend! BookEnd

ALLEGAN (MI) ANTIQUE MARKET: Hard to believe the season is already half-over! We have had an awesome year so far -- lovely weather and great crowds. This weekend also looks like it is shaping up to be a good one. We found some terrific stuff on our way home from Ohio last weekend, plus we will be shopping all week long. Will have tons of new treasures to share. Check us out on Facebook later this week to take a peek at what we'll be bringing. And the weatherman looks like he is going to help us out as well -- partly sunny, high of 78. Perfect weather for antiquing. If you've never been before, Allegan is one of those rare shows that has just about everything going for it -- lovely, old-fashioned grounds with dealers both inside and out. The show is just the right size -- big enough to hold a variety of merchandise, dealers and price-ranges, but not so big that you can't see it all. Plus, bonus -- it's about half-an-hour from the beach, farm markets and fruit stands. Perfect day out for a Midwest weekend! What are you waiting for? Plan to join us. Details are just a click away under our show sidebar.

BOOKEND: "The Paper Garden," Molly Peacock. I was stopped right in my tracks by this one. To quote from the jacket, "In 1772, upon the death of her second husband, Mary Delany arouse from her grief, picked up a pair of scissors, and, at the age of 72, created a new art form: mixed-media collage. Over the next decade, Mrs. Delany produced an astonishing 985 botanically correct, breath-taking cut-paper flowers, now housed in the British Museum..."! And it goes on from there. Curse you, beautiful summer weather! I need a snow day so that I can get caught up with all my wonderful new book-friends. (OK, maybe just kidding about the snow day. Want to keep the nice weather. But come on!! I need to get caught up here.Maybe a rainy Monday will do it.) xo