Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign....more of my Favorite Things.

There is a list of things that I have a "Thing" for....old wooden picture frames, vintage buttons, little chairs, original paintings found in thrift shops, and Signs.  The frame thing really drives my husband crazy because there is quite a stack of them in the basement and he just doesn't "get it".  But the signs, he seems to be able to handle.  He hasn't really been vocal about them anyway.

This is probably my favorite sign and something that I would want to grab if the house caught fire.  It is an old street sign and is double sided and looks exactly the same on the other side with big black hooks where it hung from a bracket outside of a salon.  I found it in a little town I used to live in, Almonte, in the Ottawa valley back around 1997.  It was in a big barn that was chocked full of auction and estate stuff and the old guy who ran the place was a gruff man named Gary who went around the store leaning one leg on a little scooter/skateboard type thing because he was loosing bits of one leg a piece at a time.  I saw this sign and fell in love with it immediately.  I had been a hairdresser back when I was first in the working world (still have my license but have not worked in a salon for years).  He wanted $35.00 for the sign and I just did not have the money but was hoping and praying that the sign would still be there when I was able to get the money together.  A week or so later I went back ( I think I took it out of the grocery money, an old trick that I learned from my Mother) and to my dismay, the sign was gone! Gary told me an Interior Designer from Ottawa had come in a bought it!  I was shattered and went home with my head hanging low.  Weeks later on Christmas morning when all of the other presents had been opened by my three daughters and the frenzy of the moment had subsided, my oldest daughter, Lauren, came into the room with a large square wrapped package.  I had absolutely no clue what it was.  When I tore the corner of the paper I knew immediately and I broke down in tears....no Diamonds to make me happy, old signs will do it for me anytime!!!  My husband had done one of the nicest things he has ever done for me and my little girls had managed to keep it a surprise for weeks! I love you guys....Thanks for understanding me!