Railroad Crossing...Look out for the Cars, trains, and trucks in our town.

Our scavenger hunt for ESN this week is transportation. How apropos!
Silsbee is a Santa Fe Railroad town from way back.

The "Santa Fe" yard, now run by a contractor, is right in the middle of town.  We can hear the cars bump, bump, bumping at any hour as a new train is put together. Often, when one is going from north to south or south to north down "Main Street" -actually 5th St. or Business 96--you will "catch a train".  That means a long, long wait while a long, long train pulls out of- or into- town, or a train goes back and forth across the street adding cars.  Mimi always reminds us that the train means someone has a job.  Here is some of the history of Silsbee as compiled by the Silsbee Bee.
And everything you might want to find out about the History of Railroads in Texas.

all railroad pictures are from google pictures.

Another form of transportation we are well aware of in East Texass is the log trucks, which go by our place day and night en route to the paper mill at Evadale.  The loaded log trucks come from the west on Hwy 327 and stop at the traffic light at 327 and 96.  They do make a racket as they take off on their way to hwy. 96 and east to Evadale aka Stinkydale or Evil Smells.  Again, people who work "at the mill" and their families say "that's the smell of money".  The paper mill is owned by Meadwestvaco. and I just researched a bit and found that Meadwestvaco is much more than just a paper mill.  I also found this site with skadoodles of log truck pictures.

This all being said about, I turned my thoughts to travel and searched ESN photos for places one might go. Preferably quiet, serene places, like Hawaii.
You can pack your beautiful floral hawaiian shirts from Eccentric Thrifter and head for a tropical paradise.

One of many available at Eccentric Thrifter

We can even travel back in time with a good book from Barb's Bargains.

Barb's Bargains has a good selection of books.

We could travel around the world. Even to such a remote place as Russia. These salt and peppers from ComycGyrl Collectibles are reminescent of the Russian nesting dolls.

adorable salt and pepper set
.

We might look to Bargain Express for money for our fantasy trip.

One of the collectible coins at Bargain Express

Whatever you are shopping for, be sure to check out the stores on ESN, including my store, Hazel's Hodgepodge.

Royal Purple

ESN scavenger hunt this week is for things purple.
Purple--the color of royalty!
Purple is one of my favorite colors.  Since I have a "fall" complexion, it is a color I love to wear.
There are so many shades of purple from the palest feminine lavender to the deep dark purples of the egg plant.
Here are some of the purple items I found on ESN this week:

What can you find in purple on ESN?

1. A super cute flower girl hat from Embroidery Fashions Boutique.

2. Wall decor from Walls that Talk.  And these are available in your choice of colors, not just purple.

Classy and fabulous quote and butterfly.

3. Ladies Long Sleeved Merino shirt in purple and lavender plaid from Eccentric Thrifter.
4. Also from Eccentric Thrifter is this adult purple knit toboggan cap. They also have toboggans and other hand knit hats in assorted colors.
5.  Beautiful white porcelain enesco plate is available at Carolina Blue Lady.
6. Also the silk wool thread from Barb's Bargains has some beautiful shades of purple included.

Whatever your favorite color, take a look at the photos at ESN. You are sure to find what you are looking for.  Happy Shopping!

Big Thicket Trade Days--Kountze, Texas

This past weekend, after several months of considering it, we took the plunge and got a space at the Big Thicket Trade Days in Kountze.  It was a very humble beginning as we didn't want to put a lot into tables, canopies, or the other things it takes to really do a space up right.  We borrowed card tables, took one of our plastic shelves, loaded up several boxes of HodgePodge stuff and were on our way.  We also took a few guitars, our one in-stock violin, a few straps, picks, and guitar stands from the music store. 

I thought that overall it was a rewarding weekend.  The weather was good.  It was not too hot, or too cold.  I got a little sun on Friday, but there was a nice north breeze and the temperature was okay.  Saturday was overcast most of the day but again a nice day.  Sunday was a blustery, windy day. This time it was a south wind. It did not rain though, just a little mist.  We were not out there long on Sunday which was a good thing.  We made some sales, but spent most of the time packing up the HodgePodge stuff.

Joe and Moe, our leprechaun windsocks, have a new home for this St. Paddy's Day. I put them in a small tree as eye catchers.  Turns out someone wanted to buy them.   Like Paul says, almost anything we have is for sale. 

A collage of our space at the Kountze Trade Days in Feb.



I brought along some of the Wilton cake pans that I have collected over the past few years. Not having any more room to display them, I spread them out on my tarp. As it turned out,the cake pans were our #1 selling item for the weekend. I even brought more with me Sunday afternoon and sold quite a few of those, too.

These are some of the cake pans I still have.
You can see and buy them at Hazel's HodgePodge

If you like to learn more about Kountze and the Big Thicket Trade Days click here.  And be sure to take a look at the video.  This gives a good overview of the Trade Days.

I enjoyed people and pet watching myself.  It is amazing how many people had their puppy dogs with them. Some were being pulled along by a large dog on a leash. Some were carrying small dogs. And I saw one man with an elaborate stroller with a cage on it and his little dog inside.  Wish I had taken a picture of that!

You could even buy a dog there --or adopt a pet.

The advertising for the music store was worth the cost of the space.  I figure we made a lot of contacts by having the guitars out there.  We handed out a lot of business cards.

Yes, it was worthwhile endeavor!  We will be better prepared in March and have more merchandise.

See you at the Big Thicket Trade Days March 25-27.