A couple of neat things from this weekend:
Saw our first ladybug :) When we first found it, it seemed dead and just sat motionless in my hand. Finally, it started to move it’s legs a bit, then started walking all over my hand. I gave it to my youngest daughter, Marley (a.k.a. bug-lover) so she could let it go free.
On Sunday, we were driving home and noticed a new antique furniture store having a sale. We’d never been to this store, and thought we’d stop by to see what they had. My husband went in and I stayed in the truck with the kids…he’d call on his cell phone if there was anything we might all want to see. He called right away and said, “this place is filled with antiques from China!” Needless to say, we all went right in and were felt transported back in time to ancient China. The proprietor was a very nice older Chinese gentlemen who spoke broken English. Each item was tagged with it’s approximate age, province of origin, and type of material used in the item. The gentleman told us that the items were actually much older than documented on their tag….China will only allow antique items “younger” than 150 years old to leave the country. So, these were all tagged around 100 years old. There were beautiful chests, wardrobes, baskets, pottery, benches, paintings, etc. We found a chest that was completely made of leather, even the hinge. We ended up buying a wonderful low bench, aspen wood and metal basket, and oil lamp holder. My oldest daughter loves China and we were buying her a ceramic soup spoon, but the gentlemen “threw it in” for free. I couldn’t help but think, what if the ancestors of our child made this bench or basket and here I was, holding it in my lap? We’ll be back to that store.
Our last 2 documents are at the Houston consulate today! I’m anxious to have them back so we can send our dossier to CCAI this week.
