New Treasures In Vintage Finds!

Hello Friends ~ Lovely new treasures have just been added to our Vintage Finds Boutique including this gorgeous Austrian dish set. Be sure to see our Vintage Finds section for fabulous antique china, beautiful antique Victorian prints, lovely lamps and many other charming treasures! Visit www.stacysshabbyshoppe.com today for a relaxing, romantic shopping experience! ~Stacy~

Princess Diana ~ Gone, But Not Forgotten

Can you believe that Princess Diana has already been gone for 10 years? This August 31st marks the 10 year anniversary of her tragic death in Paris, France. I believe that the world is a little less bright without this lovely lady in it. Her compassion, strength and charisma will forever be missed by the people who thought of her as the "People's Princess".

A "Concert for Diana" will take place on July 1st which would have been Diana’s 46th birthday. It will be one of the first events to take place in the new Wembley Stadium in London, England. Proceeds from the concert will go to charities supported by the late Princess and to charities of which Prince William and Prince Harry are Patrons. This concert will be broadcast on television around the world that evening. It is a way for the Princes to celebrate her extraordinary life with all who loved her and to patronize the charites that were so dear to her heart.

On that day I will be flying my UK flag in support of Princess Diana and I will honor the anniversary of her death on August 31st. I am a Monarchist and proud of it, although I was not so enamoured of the position of the Palace when she passed away. If you wonder why I say this, watch the movie "The Queen" with Helen Mirren. It is brilliant! Even though Princess Diana was not perfect in her life, it was hard for me to understand the official position of Queen Elizabeth due to her personal feelings and the fact that Princess Diana was no longer an official member of the Royal Family.

My husband doesn't understand what all the fuss is about with the Monarchy. It is hard for him to comprehend and I suppose it may be hard for many Americans to understand due to the fact that the United States does not have a Monarchy. As a Canadian and a member of the British Commonwealth, we grew up with the Royals and with the existence of the Monarchy. We sang "God Save The Queen" in school, we knew all about Britain and the way the Monarchy works, I saw the Queen twice. It is just something that is instilled in you from a very young age. So yes, I am a supporter of the Monarchy even though they may not make me happy all of the time. Don't even get me going on Prince Charles.....

Please show your support for Princess Diana, the causes she supported and for the Princes by visiting the web site http://www.concertfordiana.com/. As Queen Elizabeth gets up in years, we can only look for great things to come with the future King of England, Prince William, and hope that he will continue the legacy that his Mother created. Oh ~ did I forget Prince Charles...as King of England? Yes, well...can't we just skip him altogether and go straight to Prince William.... (*_*)

In Memory Of My Dad

~WILFRED CLARENCE PETER QUERING~

January 28, 1941 ~ June 10, 2006

Dear Dad ~ It's been a whole year since you pased away and the passage of time is still not healing my broken heart. I miss you so much ~ I just want this to be a bad dream. Soon I will wake up and you will be calling me; gossiping, laughing and telling me crazy jokes. A tighter father/daughter bond did not exist and it still does exist for you are not gone, you are just away. I take a part of you with me every day in everything I do. I strive to be the person that you were ~ compassionate, caring, outgoing, endearing, funny, smart, educated, worldly, generous...the list goes on. You were my first love, my teacher, my confidante and my mentor and I shall miss you every day for the rest of my life. Love, ~Stacy~

My Dad was a family man and a lover of children probably because he behaved, for the most part, like a child himself. He never lost the ability to think how a child would and he loved doing things with children, he was always the favorite Uncle or Grandpa. Kids were drawn to him in an extraordinary way. My Grandmother once said to me "Stay as young as you can for as long as you can". That was definitely my Dad. Everyone loved him!

Dad would have laughed at me posting this photo. He was always acting ridiculous, making hilarious faces and just being insane! He especially liked acting nuts in department stores and when we were shopping in general. There were many times that I fell into racks of clothes because he had me laughing so hard, not only when I was a child, but up until the last time I saw him in "fine form". I had a magical childhood due to this man ~ thank you Dad!

***Only 3 out of 100 people die each year from prostate cancer. My Dad was one of those three and he was only 65 years old. He was on medication for three years for an enlarged prostate and his doctor did not think that it was necessary to remove his prostate. He was wrong. My Dad fought a very quick, courageous battle with the utmost dignity and grace. Please be vigilant about your loved ones health care. Force them to go to the doctor and get tested no matter how much they complain and don't want to do it. Be aggressive with doctors, do not allow them to put you off for months to get a biopsy and to start treatment if cancer is found. I have no doubt in my mind that my Dad would be alive today if he would have lived in the United States instead of Canada. The healthcare system in this country is incredible, in my opinion. Please use it to you and your loves ones full advantage! Precious lives can be saved!

Beatrix Potter

The movie "Miss Potter" is scheduled to be released on DVD on June 19th. I never got a chance to see this movie in the theatre and I'm really looking forward to seeing it when it comes out next week. I have been interested in Beatrix Potter for years and have read several very interesting books on her life. Beatrix is, of course, famous for her tales about charming life-like animals.

Beatrix started drawing at a very early age and never stopped. She was very involved in the process of publishing her books and consulted with her publishers on nearly every decision that was made. She was meticulous about her drawings and would sometimes redo them 20 times or more until they were just right. The words in her books were also painstakingly thought out by Beatrix and nothing was published until she had given the final approval.

Here is a picture of Beatrix when she was about 15 years old. The vast majority of the animals featured in her books were actual animals that Beatrix owned. She was an avid animal lover and a great naturalist. Peter was indeed her rabbit and she owned the mouse Hunca Munca, as well as Mrs. Tiggy Winkle the hedgehog and many other of the charming animals she wrote about. She loved animals and owning them gave her a great resource for studying them when she was drawing her illustrations.

Here is a picture of Beatrix with her beloved rabbit Peter on a leash.

Beatrix with her husband William Heelis. Heelis was a local solicitor who advised Beatrix on her property dealings in the Lake District. Beatrix accepted his marriage proposal at the age of 47 after her soon to be husband, publisher Norman Warne, tragically died. Beatrix was an avid conservationist and dedicated her later years to preserving the ecology and natural beauty of the Lake District where she lived. Beatrix worked closely with The National Trust and left them a substantial part of her estate to be preserved as a living landscape. Her farm is still operational with a young couple taking on the task of preserving her way of life.

The elderly Beatrix Potter who was beloved by so many. People everywhere were enchanted by her charming stories of rabbits, ducks, mice and other sweet farm and woodland creatures. If you would like to know more about the incredible life of Beatrix Potter, there are several good books that you can read. One of my favorites is "Beatrix Potter's Letters". It is a large book containing hundreds of letters to her publisher, family and friends during her lifetime. Reading this book will give you an insight to what an amazing and complex woman she really was.

My Favorite Show ~ Yes, It Really Is!

My favorite show of all time is Little House on the Prairie. Now, I know this must sound ridiculous to most of you, but it is honestly a show that I can sit down and watch from start to finish and end up feeling good after watching it without having to really think. Don't get me wrong ~ I am a serious action junkie. I do not like "chick flicks" at all. I am just not that type of person. A good action film really gets me going, but when I am watching something on actual TV, I love this show. I am really sick of all of the reality shows, talk shows, crime shows, cop shows...all of that stuff. So, I turn on the Tivo and catch up on what's happening in Walnut Grove. And really, take one look at Charles...who can resist him! Here are some of my other favorite residents of Walnut Grove...

Caroline Ingalls...always patient, always kind and always taking Mrs. Oleson with a grain of salt!

Charles and Caroline ~ Ma and Pa ~ sharing a quiet moment together.

And here are the lovely little girls we all love ~ Laura and Mary Ingalls.

I love Mr. Edwards! He is so hilarious...."Old Dan Tucker is a fine old man"....

Doctor Hiram Baker is another favorite character.

Don't we all just love to hate this woman!? Talk about a witch, but she really made the show didn't she. It would not have been the same without her at all! What an actress! I believe that she is still involved with the theatre somewhere in California.

And the chip off the old block herself...the hateful Nellie Oleson! Grrrrrrr!

Good old Nels...always trying to smooth things over with everyone and make up for his wife being a complete idiot! He was always so nice!

So there is my confession...I am a Little House on the Prairie addict! Oh well, I guess I could be addicted to worse things than this! I used to sit and watch this show with my Grandmother years ago when I was young. Perhaps that is why I still like it so much!

These gorgeous antique rose porcelain dishes are listed in our Vintage Finds Boutique. They are so incredible in person and are some of the thickest and most beautiful porcelain pieces that I've ever seen! We have lots of lovely treasures in Vintage Finds and Cottage Treasures ~ be sure to see them all. We are also going to be starting to step up our Ebay auctions and start listing more items on Ebay so I hope you will check in on our auctions to see what's new. Have a great day! ~Stacy~

On Friday night my friend and I had the "great" idea to pay a visit to the new Ikea store here in Draper, Utah. It is only about 10 minutes up the road from where I live so we thought we'd give it a go. Ikea was opened here on May 23rd so we thought by now that it wouldn't be so crowded! Boy, was I wrong! Now, I have been to Ikea stores before in Vancouver, Calgary and in Edmonton and a few in Australia when I lived there, but I have never seen anything like this! Talk about packed!


We drove up and the parking lot, which is massive, was completely full and there were even parking lot attendants telling us where to park. By that time we weren't even sure we wanted to go in, but we felt almost "herded" into a parking spot so we thought "what the heck". Hilarious! The store was an absolute joke! We couldn't even look at anything. Have you ever had that feeling when you are in a huge crowd and you can't go back, you have to just keep moving ahead? That's what this was like. We just had to go with the flow, the aisles were wall to wall people and we had to keep walking. We could not wait to get out of there! It was chaotic! I think I will wait for another month or so to go back and pick up the few things that I know I will purchase from past experience. It was an experience that I don't want to revisit any time soon!