While I Slumber

I hope you haven't given up on me, thinking I'm a slacker who has abandoned her blog. Not exactly. It's just that blogging takes time and if I want to get this place in any kind of shape by Thanksgiving, I have to keep at my projects every minute. After all, dirt, mold, yard growth, mail and other papers, broken items, plumbing leaks, trash, junk, weeds, ugly paint colors, poorly placed items, gifts that must be made, car breakdowns, hunger and cabinet and closet contents (to name a few) all multiply 24/7. Then there's me. I stop and take each night off to sleep. So these things have an unfair advantage, and I cannot seem to keep up with them. I certainly never get ahead.

Cheap and Free

I never got around to presenting all the goods I came home with for the past couple of weeks as I went hunting for junk. Take a look at what I snagged a couple of Saturdays ago. Forgive the poor image quality on this first shot. I've been trying to resize photos to fit more into the space I have left on my picasaweb account and the quality got sacrificed on this one, so it's coming to you in mini format.

The guy I got the green iron plant stand from said it was from the 20's or 30's. It can stand on either end and you can hang plants off each prong and place one in the middle.

Plumbing Isn't Pretty...

...so here are some slightly more inviting images that have nothing to do with plumbing for you to look at while I tell you my tale of "plumbing for genius".

These pretty pink periwinkles kept me company, making me happy even when the view under the kitchen sink wasn't quite so lovely.

The Masquerade

I'm no original thinker on this, (okay, okay, I confess, I'm a shameless copycat!) but after seeing Carlene's old photographs wearing masks at Organized Clutter, I knew I had to give it a try in my simple attempt to play along at Halloween.

Batman and Cat Woman?

It's Tough Out There!

The competition is getting fierce out there, and there is no place for "the indecisive" on the streets of my town.

Seeing as I have no place to put anything right now and way too many things to deal with, I really didn't need to be out scouring the streets last Wednesday night and Thursday morning (several times). It would make a lot of sense NOT to take to the hunt right now since I'm trying to finish other things up and clear things out.

But I did. Of course I did. Where for art thou, sense and reason?

Well, I just hate the thought of missing out on something fantastic just because there is junk aplenty lining the walls of my home already. Surely I would miss something amazing if I didn't go. Plus I figured I can always trade out good junk for bad; I could just look for small things and ignore the big...right?

If it's free, it's for me!

Sucker for a Friday Sale

I did a quick check of craigslist this morning at about 6:45 in case anyone was starting their yard sales today. Well, it turns out 2 people were, so I got dressed in a jiffy and took off. The first one was a bust, but the second one proved to be a boon!

Here's what I came home with for a total of $3.50:

Here, take a closer look at the goodies:

I've been needing the clock hands for some clock face projects I want to do! Woo hoo! 10 cents for the clock hands and the clock numerals combined. 

There are three types of cream trim. I got them all for 25 cents. Two of them are one yard pieces and one is just about 12 inches long. 

The bottle was 10 cents. Thought I'd paint it, maybe.

The ribbon and rick rack were 10 cents each.

50 cents for the cute silver bowl. It's much like the smaller one I got recently. Now I just need one more to have a set of three.

This trim was 25 cents. It's one long piece. A bit over 4 yards.

It all would have come to a bit more, but she let me have it for $3.50. She also told me to come back some day if I was interested in going through her stash of fabric. 

Hmmmm...

If I only had the time to sew... (and if I could actually reach my sewing machine - It's buried in a room full of junk.) I'll probably give my friend some of the trim and I like to use rick rack for cards and other projects and I always need ribbon for gift wrapping, etc.

There you go. Now it's time to go drop some big bucks on a washer and dryer. Wish me luck! I have been putting this off for a long time for many reasons, but it really must be done. I sure hope I don't pick a lemon. I don't want to have to deal with appliances for a long, long time again.

Happy Friday and happy hunting!

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch to Yours
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Mop it Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

The Little Stinker

At first there was just one. But one little stinker always seems to attract others until the whole place reeks of the startling scent of trouble. At least I'm learning to overcome that aspect of gleaning goods from the trash.

The good news is that I tried almost every remedy under the sun for eliminating furniture odor, and the fixes, along with the painting, seem to have finally done the trick. There is hope, for this Little Stinker and all those to come who will find their way to our doorstop in need of a new life.

When I first brought this guy home, he had been a chain smoker, apparently unaccustomed to using a coaster, and he seemed to have mistaken his top for an ashtray.

 Remember him? He had been badly burned and his wood was marred 

with all sorts of frightening sights.

The Evidence of Fall

Maybe you've heard me proclaim that we have no Fall here in South Florida. The weather doesn't cooperate with the calendar, and we're left with little to get excited about. No leaves changing, no cool air; it's pretty much life as usual. For the most part, Fall just isn't much of a sensory experience where we live.

But what was I thinking?! I forgot that we actually do have a way of telling when Fall has arrived.

But Wait, There's More!

Yesterday's post told only a portion of the tale of the "great stuff-shuffle". I dubbed it "great" because it was intense and so much "stuff" was involved. But wait, there's more, including a bit of this:


More on that in a minute...

The Great Stuff-Shuffle

The weekend began Friday night with a necessary mowing of the lawn and a clean up of all these pieces of wood.

I'm sure my neighbors must wonder about me.

Well, this had to be done. The trunk was fed up with all of these circles, cylinders and blocks inhabiting its space, and the only place for them to go from there was in the house, and they weren't coming in without a good cleaning first. They were caked with grit and grime.