Changes

Much has happened during the last months when no new posts were made.

For one thing, Blogger went to an https url. All the old blog posts were left unpublished and in draft form. 

Mertie decided to close her store and retire. That happened almost a year ago.

A sign used in this blog

Other changes in the neighborhood have occurred, too. Farmhouse Salvage closed, as did Gifts and Gadgets and English Garden Florists. Rambling Rose Antiques is still going strong.

The antique dealers in area are still on Facebook and actively sharing ideas for re-purposing junque and displaying their recent antique finds and refinished items. Some of their stores have moved, but the network is still strong. You can visit them on Facebook at Antiquing Brazoria and surrounding counties and the website of the same group Antiquing Brazoria County.

Store front of Mertie's This and That on a spring day.

I became an inactive blogger as my elderly father needed more attention. Now I am back freelancing and hopefully blogging.

I looked back over the pages written for this blog and thought that some of them should be kept but updated. Perhaps I will make a summary of some on Valerie's Memos or Valerie's Soapbox. Updating the articles with references to thrift shops, antique shops, and other vintage dealers would work, right?

And there are the posts on the lady statue in Brazoria that is made from car parts and dressed in seasonal outfits that I always planned to write, but never did. We will see what happens.

To your right as you came through

 the door

Anyway, Mertie is still active on Facebook, in her church, and out and about in her neighborhood. And she is still as lovely as ever, both inside and out. I will always be grateful for all she taught me about the resale business and for the chance to write these blog posts.She is a great mentor and friend.

To your left as you came through the door

Good-bye, y'all. See ya around the internet.

Welcome!

A friend wanted to comment on the Mertie's This and That shop, so together we started this blog. I hope you will enjoy it.

While you are here, take a tour of Mertie's as shown in the video. Follow the link to Facebook to see more items in our shop. All the pictures are of the shop and its lovely antiques, gifts, and collectibles.

Look for announcements of sales as well as new and feature items.

Feel free to comment.~Mertie

Notes from a Customer and Friend

I love unique and beautiful things. I love looking at them. I love being surrounding by them in a room.

I remember looking at the wonderful collections of books and knick knacks at my grandmother's. I would spend hours examining the items my Dad had brought back from WWII. I remember a complete set of Shakespear's plays in small leather-bound booklets, ivory elephants, lidded boxes of all shapes and sizes made of porcelain and wood, small trays, vases, and figurines.

At my mother's home I would look at my Granny's country antiques. Once we cleaned out her storage shed and found old well buckets and the kind of irons that you laid in the fire to heat--you know, the ones used for door stops today. She had lovely quilts that she made herself, quilting the patchwork cover in a frame alongside neighbors who spent an entire day at the house during frequent quilting bees.

At my Aunt's house were lovely items that she had collected from her trips overseas with her Air Force husband and from import shops here in the States. Her homes were always decorated with an underlying Japanese theme.

My mother decorated with paintings and prints, animal statuettes, comfortable sofa pillows, sturdy furniture and colorful rugs.

I would spend time at each home just gazing at the beautiful items. To me, having these items around me means home. I collected similar items to decorate my home, to make it cozy. Whenever I want to just sit and relax, I find myself looking at my beautiful items and enjoying the artistry of each one.

Items of this quality are found at Mertie's This and That. Interesting, pretty, collectibles and antiques that make a house a home with character, that support a design theme in a room. I get as much pleasure at browsing Mertie's This and That as I do visiting my Aunt's home, or gazing at the items left to me by grandmothers and my mother.~Valerie