Goodwill Good Luck

Hello, all, 

Today was discount day at Goodwill, so it seemed smart to take advantage of it. Because of another errand in a different direction it didn't work out to go to the new, large location, but the one near us had plenty this morning. 

Here is part, but not all of the booty. The extra large cup will be the site of another fairy garden. The jigsaw is for me, ditto the striped tin that will go out in the front with a plant in it, as well as the set of holiday salt-and-peppers. They are new in the box, a Mercury glass Christmas tree and little deer. There is a box of new Kate Spade cards, another game for a family member, two more mugs, an electric pencil sharpener and a wooden box with dominoes in it.

 This table runner and pillow for the holidays are both brand new, never used.

This little jacket will cover up my arms when wearing a gray-and-white sleeveless dress, plus help with too cold air conditioning.

Last, but not least, to go with the update of the new bed quilt, instead of this in a chair in our room:

we now have this instead:

It still had the original tags on it, so a great find. 

Come back again to see the latest news and views of thrifting in Houston!

Have a good one,

Michele

Ta-da!

Hello, friends,

Today I managed to get something done that was important to me, but had gone undone for years, maybe ten or more. Last week after a special push to remember to do it, my wedding ring was dropped at a jeweler to be resized. Monday someone from the store called to say it was ready for pickup, which made it the top spot on my list of errands today.

Yay! But wait, there's more. I had BOLO for a new summer quilt for a while. None in the thrift shops worked. I bought one at Tuesday Morning, but it looked bad once it was here and got returned last week. Last night it occurred to me one place that hadn't been checked out is the Burlington Coat Factory a couple of blocks from home, so I went there this morning. They had a big selection and there were actually three or four that were good possibilities. But this is what came home with me:

Sorry about the cat. They're an ongoing hazard in taking pictures at our house. 

A close up of the pattern. 

It coordinates well with the rug in the room, which was what went awry with the coverlet from Tuesday Morning. It clashed horribly. This is also okay, if not great, with the drapes in the bedroom. 

One last look. Trixie is stoically hanging in there. Design and decor issues are not about to interrupt her nap, nosirree! I am glad to find something with the BoHo vibe that appeals to me and at a surprisingly low price. Now, on to look for a different bed skirt in one of the colors in the print. If that's not available, there's Rit to try. 

Have a good afternoon and relaxing evening. 

Later, Michele

What's blooming

Happy Easter Monday, all. I hope your weekend was wonderful.

It is absolutely beautiful here today, one to pity any person in town to interview for a job, with no idea how rare days like these are. Even though it's spring, there isn't a lot blooming at our house so far this, since the things in pots are mostly succulents and Mr. B claims nothing can grow in the back because of lack of direct sun. 

Out front, we have this little cutie:

I think this was bought marked down at the end of summer from the grocery store and it having a bloom came as a total surprise.

We also have some pansies chugging along:

The color in this picture isn't great. They are really lavender and soft apricot. 

Pink oleander on the border between our neighbor's yard and ours. These are five bushes that were around 8'tall when the lady next door hacked them down even with the ground using a machete. Since then in less than a year they've grown nearly as tall as before and two of them are flowering. This is a pretty pale pink. The one next to it has white blossoms that vanished in the picture attempted, maybe because of the sun's glare.

Last, the one indestructible plant I knew would survive in the backyard, no matter what Mr. B predicted:

Porter weed has tiny blue sprigs on the tips of its branches which will increase as we move into summer. 

It's not much so far, but it's a start. What's blooming at your house?

Later, 

Michele

Using a time machine

Hello, all,

Yesterday a charity was going to pick up some discards, so those were set by the front door early in the day. It seemed like a good idea to see if there was anything else to add to the total, so I rummaged around. One thing I checked was a vintage suitcase with stuff stored in it. It provided a real walk down memory lane, as well as a minor mystery. 

There were plenty of papers, pictures, reports and the like done by youngest daughter Naomi. This was a fortuitous find since she and her husband are coming to visit on Easter. A big bundle is ready for her to take home. 

There were some odds and ends of the Huh? variety that were either dumped or went to a bag for donation, but most of the rest were baby clothes. 

This plaid wool blanket was bought before my oldest son was born, while I was working in downtown Houston. It was purchased at the Main Street Woolworth's store. At age 19 it seemed like a perfect layette necessity, with both pink and blue in the pattern. Yes, Virginia, there was a time when no one knew if their baby would be a boy or a girl.

 

This little cotton kimono also belonged to Cam. It has tiny sprigs of yellow flowers on a white background.

 Several of the children wore these yellow corduroy overalls.

And this batik dinosaur tee shirt from the Museum of Natural Sciences.

The younger girls loved this flowers gone wild wrap dress.

This little corduroy jumper got a lot of wear, too.

 

This pair of shorts was worn by all of my children, except our second son, plus my niece. Let me add Theo was left out because he was two when adopted, thus too large for the size.

 

Last but not least, this brightly embroidered dress worn by Naomi. With her black hair and bright eyes she looked adorable in it.

As for the mystery, it's the brown stains that appeared on several of the pieces while stored. The suitcase is leather with a satin lining. What causes random spots like that?  Nothing was wrapped in plastic or left anywhere near a leak of any kind. So, ????? 

With multiple moves made by us and the kids' father a bunch of things have been lost over the years. I'm glad these were saved. It is fun to see them again, even though it feels impossible that any of them were every that tiny now! 

Have a good rest of the day. 

Michele

More Household Haiku

Observations from everyday life:


An Unfamiliar Situation

Visitors are rare.
People are coming on Sunday.
Now what do I do?

The Appliance Dilemma

If bought by males are
PERFECT. All flaws must be due
to the wife's misuse.

The White Shirt Conundrum

Any new white shirt is
A magnet for spills and spots
The first day worn. How?

Don't Say It Out Loud

A great product is
Vulnerable and may be
Gone if bragged about.

Mr. B and DST

How do I hate thee?
Far too many ways to say.
A week of moping.


Have a good one!

Michele

No tempest, just tranquility here.

Hello, all.

A few days ago a friend sent me a link to a fairy garden made in a teacup. Our main fairy garden needs a major overhaul after being outside all winter, but one in a teacup seemed doable this afternoon. Don't get excited, it's not nearly as nice as this one:

http://seevanessacraft.com/2015/04/craft-teacup-fairy-garden/

I started with this, a sturdier version, but cute and colorful:

 added some of this:

and the end result is this:

Right now we have a little gnome visiting until a fairy shows up to stay. These can be personalized in a zillion different ways, so I hope to expand upon this simple beginning soon. 

Have a great evening!

Michele

Use what you have

Hi, folks,

Last week kind of derailed for me but let's hope this one is going to be better. In the words of the immortal Lauri Ward, it always a good plan to decorate by using what you have. Since this is the week before Easter, this is what's going on here:

The pussy willows got relocated to the library to make room for the fronds brought home from Sunday's service. They actually go well to continue the theme of the tropical greenery on the tall picture behind them. That's as much a project as I could come up with since the morning started with a fender bender, followed by four hours working at Manna.

May your week be off to a wonderful start.

Michele