Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Fabric, Florals, and Home Decor

My friend Karen Spratt Skillern and I spent an entire day just hanging out and catching up on old times last Friday.
Our 30 year class reunion will take place this coming August.
Karen is a talented florist and the owner/operator of Sassy Spratt, a Fabric, Floral and Gift Shop located at 118 Maloney Way in Mt. Sterling, Ky.
What is so cool is that Karen and I are nursery mates. I was born April 20 and she was born the very next day at Mary Chiles Hospital, so we were in the baby nursery together and our moms were in the same recovery room.
Love these bright colorful handbags!!
Karen fixed up this cute little gift bag for a little girl's birthday. Soooooooooo Cute!
 A beautiful spring wreath!! This one was sold.






Just a small sampling of what Sassy Spratt has to offer.

This is Karen working on a
cute little gift basket. Karen might want to kill me for posting her photo...LOL
Oh, and Sassy Spratt is have a huge sale on fabric right now.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Vintage Valentines

These valentines belonged to my late father in-law Elmo King and were given to him by his classmates at Hillsboro Elementary School.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Banta Family History



The little community of Banta covered an area on both sides of U.S. 68 near the original Gallows Hill Road.  According to Wanda Hamm Dotson, Banta was believed to be named for one of the children of Andy Jackson Banta, who came to Nicholas County with his wife and children by horse and wagon from Missouri over 100 years ago.

                                             Banta School-Circa 1921 
I would love to have the names of each student in this photograph!!
My paternal grandmother was Willie Lee Hawkins
My paternal great grandparents were  Marion Francis and Ella Mae Banta Hawkins. My great, great grandparents were Anderson Henry and Kiziah Minerva Soper Banta.
Kiziah's parents were Elizabeth Boardman, she married Henry Soper.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A look back at 2010

January found me laid-off once again.
February-Working part-time for Danetta at the Flemingsburg Gazette where I was live on the scene of our first big winter storm of 2010. Photo is of Foxspring Ave. As I fought the wind and the snow, my hat blew off my head and up the street. I felt like the crazy little magician in Frosty the Snowman chasing Frosty's magical hat.

February was also the  month I went to Jail.........well I went to cover the demolition of the Fleming County Jail that is......
March found me chasing the elusive "flasher" never did get his photo.......but oh well probably best we didn't see that one anyway.
April was the month I made a very crazy dash to open my own little Cafe. The Lunch Box was cute dream, but.........Kym is not a business minded person!!!
               May, June, July, was spent trying to run the Lunch Box.................I failed miserably........

Ada Grace turned two in July


In August, my youngest, Emily, started her Senior Year of High School and Natalie and Lee-Roy also went back to school.

                                   October: Fleming County Public Library held Mystery Sleuth's Night!
                        Kym learns how to be a good sleuth at the library. Debbie Crump loaned me her Press Hat.

The Highlight of October was gettin' to cover the very first HoeDown in the Holler........thank you Kimber Goodwin!!

                                           Lee Brice gives Fleming County Fans the thumbs up!
                                      Shane Thompson and Drew Smith wows Fleming County!

                                                     Macy Leigh turns one year old!!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Photographing the Clinton's......yea Bill & Chelsea













I may have missed Bill stoppin by the DQ in Fleminsburg, actually I did see him exiting from the back door and makin a run for his SUV, holdin' tight to his O'Boy!!, but I was at the Mason County Event and got to photograph the man up close and personal...haha......and then when Chelsea stumped for her momma Hillary at Caproni's on the River, well I was right there. Now, Chelsea was so very kind, but that one Secret Service feller, kept his eye on me. I reckon he thought I was plannin' on kidnapping Chelsea. However, what I did want to kidnap was my friend Terry Prather's fine Camera!!!!
I followed Bills Black SUV all the way into Flemingsburg but they turned off on the by-pass. Word was his SSM decided they didnt have time to stop at the DQ. I went on down to the DQ and waited along with nearly every citizen in Fleming County.

The last pic is Terry's backside, and I think I stepped on his heels......but wow i sure do love that camera!!

Confessions of a junk'n fool




Photos are from the 400 mile yard sale. One year Tisha and I covered the event for the Messenger. We traveled down US 68 in to Paris and hit nearly every sale along the way.
 This is my column that appeared a few weeks before the 400 mile sale
I have to admit that I am a yard sale junkie!
I remember back in the early 1970’s when (gasp) it was considered tacky to even have a yard sale, let alone be caught shopping at one.
But thankfully times have changed and some of the most elite citizens of society can be seen wrestling another shopper for a great bargain.
And if you think folks don’t get a little hostile when it comes to someone else getting in their territory at a yard sale, think again.
I have actually seen grown women in a hot game of tug-of-war over some item they both desired.
The rule of what is actually your domain at a yard sale is a spoken one. If you happen to put down something you plan to purchase, then you just lost that item. Every yard sale junkie knows that cardinal rule.
And you can bet there will be several others who have their eye on that very item you put back on the table, like vultures, they will swoop down and snatch that item up.
When I first started hitting yard sales, I didn’t know about the “put it down rule and you just lost it,” and lost out on some great bargains.
Now if I find something I know I can’t live without, well I hold on to it for dear life.
Old pros like me have learned to start scanning a sale while driving up to where it is being held. No kidding, as soon as you get near the site, your eagle eyes take effect and you can spot items even before putting the car in gear. Just don’t forget to put the car in gear before jumping out and racing toward the sale in a mad frenzy to beat that lady in the blue dress that is already walking toward your claim.
If you really have to have that item you can always resort to screaming, hey, don’t touch that bookcase, I have already decided that it is mine. That is if you don’t mind all the evil stares you will get.
Serious yard sale shoppers will stop at nothing to seize the deal of the day, so you do have to be prepared when you are going to a yard sale.
For starters you have to study the yard sale ads like you were going to have a final exam on them the next day. Then you have to circle in red the ones that sound the most promising. Next, especially since you may even have to take out a bank loan in order to gas up the car, you have to plan your route. Don’t forget to eat a good healthy breakfast before heading out because believe me you will need plenty of energy for a full day of running around to at least 20 yard sales. That is if you have done your homework and you have circled sales from at least five different county newspapers.
Now that you have the best laid plans mapped out you need someone to ride shot gun so you will have an extra set of eyes to spot the great deals, and you’re good to go.
A seasoned yard sale junkie will start out before the crack of dawn, so if you plan to get any bargains for your self you had better learn to wake up very early beginning on Thursday mornings
Every year I have noticed that there are more and more yard sale shoppers to compete with, so getting to the sale early is very crucial.
Home decorating items seem to be the first bargains to go and they are my absolute favorite. You can redecorate your entire house on even the tightest budget by shopping at yard sales. I happen to love good quality cooking pans, but could never afford their hefty price tag. Thanks to others who buy them and for some reason decide they don’t need them anymore I have been able to fill my cabinets with all different sizes of quality pots and pans, and some good baking dishes too!
After a long day of bargain hunting you can relax with your yard sale buddy and enjoy a cold drink and get a head start on planning your outings for next weekend’s yard sales.