A Loon of Another Color

First I want to welcome a new follower yea! I am at 20 please take time to visit some of them. This is the bread recipe ,I hope you can read this if not let me know and I will clear anything up. Since I am at a snails pace with my big rug I thought I would post some of my other finished rugs. This one is from a class I took with Bev Conway. She chose vibrant colors and I love them it was out side my color pallet so a nice stretch for me.

If you ever get a chance to take a class with her you should do it. She has a wonderful class on color.
I have had to go through some of my mothers things again. She passed away a little over a year and half ago. my step dad is moving and I am going over some things I didn't get to back when she passed away. No matter how old you are it is so hard to lose your mother.

I found this picture of her father 1918 he was in the first world war. Not sure where he went in the war, but I will say he had a small farm and he preferred to never leave that farm all the time I knew him. I guess there is no place like home.

I also found this deck of cards never opened. Not sure what I will do with them but to never have been opened is amazing.

I had to work on Sat so no yard sales. I have tomorrow off so I am off to my daughter's she has promised me a thrifty fix so I am all excited.

Thank you for your comments it is so exciting to see them. and to my followers old and new thank you, thank you.

Princess and the garbage?

Well after work I got a chance to hit a couple of thrift stores,I work again this Saturday but in trade I have Monday off. No yard sales on Monday and most of the thrift stores are closed so I guess I will have to do house work.
I got this fabric 4+ yards of fabric. the funny thing is my ottoman is on the left and the fabric is on the right. I feel a project coming on. Not sure what, but I am sure I will find something. I also got this cute vintage paper table cloth. I do believe there is a baby shower in my future.

This vintage S&P I think are headed for my booth. I also got magazines about 8 total spent 3.50

Then a trip to the dump I got this very vintage Christmas bulb I don't even care if it works I will put it in a bowl with my others at Christmas.

And also in the category of something you never knew you needed is a brookstone pasta "picker uper" but the handle has a little timer in it. put in type of pasta and how much you are cooking such as a l lb or 2lb and it will time it to medium or al dente. I tried to look it up but couldn't find it.

and while I was at the dump I saw this.

kinda like the princess and the pea thing. So if you sleep on it and feel the garbage under the mattresses does that mean you are the princess of the garbage pickers??? Well I do have my limits besides I am the queen!

Amateurs

Ok can you believe I have another new follower welcome, welcome I get so excited I still can't believe anyone would really want to read my blog! Does anyone else feel that way or do I have a major complex? It's cool and rainy here today. the rain is much needed but in all the weather the past week has been wonderful. My husband spotted this bird house or houses on the way to his sister's. I think he wants to make one this winter. It is cute but I could snazz it up a bit more. I had to work Sat so no yard sales boo hoo. I did get to a thrift store on Friday after work. I got this new bag of Cinnamon scented pine cones, great for fall decorating.

I got this hand quilted doll's quilt. Since I am having a grand baby girl I am going to dig out the doll bed that her great gramie use to play with and use this quilt on it.

The glasses are from Slovenia good drink glasses. I believe they are crystal.

A couple of weeks ago I got this string of lights for 1.00 now I had already put lights in this bird cage but I loved these so much I swapped it out. My husband would never admit it but I think he likes them too. He plugs them in when we are out on the porch.

In our Sunday paper there is an insert from the wall street journal. It has a title of " Ten money moves that will always pay off" So I skim down it and see credit cards blah blah insurance blah blah and THEN some thing I could sink my teeth into ha.

amateurs indeed! I bought my bread machine last year at a thrift store for 10.00 new never used. And since then I have seen them every where. Yard sales, thrift stores etc.

So I get out a bread machine book I picked up at a yard sale that is full of recipes.

and is it fate? I found New Hampshire White bread basic easy white bread. If you want it I will share it just leave me a comment.

I am in the middle of making pasta sauce and freezing my black berries on a cookie sheet and then putting them in a freezer bag so they won't be one big clump. Have a great week.

It's All About Free.

This is all about free today. First I dried my laundry for free. Then a young woman who I work with is pregnant and gave (free) my daughter things that she can not wear any more and some nice magazines to go with it.

I went to a favorite thrift store and they always have a free box on the porch on the way in. I found some great books free.

and all of these classics were in the box. I will give them to the store where I work there is always someone looking for the classics.

I went to the dump and there was two bags of kitty litter not opened which I snagged for my sadie.

Then I got thinking just how much free have I found or gotten in a life time? So I am on a new quest to save as much money as possible in the next year. I have two websites I look at often

www.frugalfocus.com

www.becentsable.net

Take a look and I will keep you up to date now and then on my progress. I will also fess up to splurges.

The 21st century

This blog post is coming from my new laptop computer. I am still in the learning curve but so far I love it. It feels nice to be in the 21st century.
We had a stopped up drain in the kitchen and worked on it and then the husband said leave it I will deal with it tomorrow. So off to bed we went then at 5am I sit up in bed and think Sadie! We have a 16year old cat that gets on the counter when we are not looking (at night) I did a major freak that she got her paws in the drain cleaner that may have been around that sink. I washed her feet with a wet towel and wiped and wiped her paws which she completely hated and hissed at me and bit me. Well she put my hand in her mouth but she couldn't bite me no matter how mad she was. So long story short she seems fine and I know for sure she was on the counter. I am totally driving her crazy but she is eating and drinking and seems her old self. Isn't this beautiful!!!

my tomatoes are coming fast and furious I picked these today and Sunday I made brochette(not sure of the spelling Italian yumm) or my version of it any way but it was so good my husband loved it. Good I think he may get it several more times.

Then I was out in the garden cutting things back and walking around. I knew we had blackberry bushes growing out of now where but I didn't think there was much of anything

for berries growing. But I was wrong.

I picked this bowl in just a few minutes now I need to find a great way to fix them.

I am feeling a bit under the weather today so I am home from work. I rarely take time off for sickness but it feels good to nap and rest. I love comments they make my day.

Faking It

It was antiques week in N.H. this past week and people from all over the country were here buying up wonderful things from big shows, that I could not even afford to look at. So I headed for the dump. I found 6 of these glasses, I believe they are crystal as they ring when you tap it with a finger nail. and you can tell they are hand blown from the bottom. But I broke one getting it to the car "grrr" I hate that. They have a very light green tint. I found these stamps at a yard sale for 1.00 I thought it was kind of cute and will sell them.

also at a yard sale I found a new pack and play to have at the house when our new grandchild arrives in December-ish for those of you out of baby mode that is a fold up play pen that they also sleep in. I have to say the yard sale competition is getting out of control. One girl told me she advertised 8 am and had people milling around her yard before 7am. I get that everyone wants the good stuff but come on have some manners about the whole thing! I would kick their sorry butts out of there if it was me. And last night the husband and I went to an auction. Things were going a bit high for my pocket. but I did get one thing. This quilt top. I don't know if I will finish it but I am thinking tree skirt. The colors are a bit brighter than they are in the picture.

I have Monday off and I am going to look/buy a lap top. I only have a desk top right now and I am so excited to move into the 21st century. I have no idea what the hell I am doing so I am going to fake it and hope it works out ok. My daughter and her husband are coaching me. I will let you know what happens.

Ohh How I Love Tea.

First I want to welcome second hand rose to my followers. When I open my blog and see a sweet new face looking back from the followers I get so excited. I tell everyone at work and in my family. She is from the UK and it just so happens I went on an amazing garden walk of an English garden right here in new England on Sunday. It was very zen like and beautiful. This stack of stones has to be at least 5 feet high. We are going to try it in our garden at some point. (another to do thing on the list) The gardens were amazing a mother and son have planted this garden through out 20 years and have opened it to the public. I think he said 32 acres. That's a lot of trees and plants.

They also have animals this is a Scottish cow?? I think that is what he said something Scottish. There were peacocks, chickens of all kinds, goats, ducks,donkeys, well you get the picture.

And then my favorite part was TEA! Oh how I love a tea in the garden. She baked everything that morning scones with clotted cream and black current jam. Little cookies that melt in your mouth, And lovely English tea. This was so much fun. Years ago when we were in Jamaica for 10 days there was tea at 4 every day. I was always there. Sweet little cucumber sandwiches ohhh how I love tea. I guess I already said that.

I planted 3 tomato plants and this is my first harvest. We already ate one for dinner. My husband made a tomato and cheese omelet. He never cooks and when he does I am in heaven.

Then on the way home from tea we stopped at a yard sale and I found these. Perfect for my next tea.

I hear thunder in the distance it is muggy again so I hope this clears it out. So I guess I will get off the computer before it gets to bad.

Cool, Clear, Perfect

I am going to start off with my favorite find. These animals are Iron I believe,they are so heavy.
I love them so much I may sell two and keep two. they were only .50 a piece. I got these from the thrift store. stay tuned I will show you later in the post what I did with the draft stopper. It is filled with balsam (but not any more) The pillow cases are in for a good soak.

These I plan to sell I got them cheap cheap cheap. The doll head is a bit creepy to me so I sure hope she sells

This is what I snagged at the dump. Now before you go all weird about the bath gel it was brand new and in original packaging. I like lily of the valley so I took it. The bag has new shoe laces, and there is a green metal fishing box. I have already sold one of these.

I got this light for .25 I like little lamps that can hang up, good for small places. The shade was from some where else and I like the cut and pierce look.

Ok now back to the draft stopper. I cut it open made little bags from the balsam and some muslin and then the hankies I have been buying lately I made into little envelopes stuffed the muslin bags inside and sealed it with a vintage button. Completely cute if you ask me and it smells wonderful. total price about .65 each. I am saving them for holiday gifts.

I got a couple of emails about my pizza on the grill. I started with frozen bread dough thawed out. (I use a charcoal grill and only a few lumps.) I grilled my veggies and then my dough I had stretched out. I put it on oiled foil first but after it cooked so it didn't stretch out any more I removed the foil and finished grilling it on both sides. Then I loaded it up with what I wanted, put the cover on the grill until my cheese melted and the sauce etc was hot. It was yum

The weather here is amazing cool clear perfect. So I got a few things done. Good night for a camp fire. I think I have a marshmallow or two to toast.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!

Today is my birthday I am now almost as old as dirt. We are having a cookout with friends and it is hot here again.
I had Monday off and I planned on lots of project getting done. Didn't happen. My husband was home so we went out to breakfast and then just wandered around the house looking for something to do. well I did my wash. Wicked cute huh.

I had some rice lights and wired a bird cage for my porch that has been hanging around the house.

I hug up these hooks I got at a church sale the beginning of the summer. The mirror is from the dump a long time ago. We reuse our towels at least 2 times before they hit the wash and this is in our room just out side the bathroom.

I oh and ahhed over my hydrangea bush. It is in the side yard and I don't see it everyday.

I made pizza on the grille. It came out great. I used the frozen bread dough for a lot of things but this was an experiment and it came out so good I will show you a picture next time. Not sure why it didn't make it in.

And today I had to work so I took the client I was supporting to the town beach and look how crowded it was! I have said before that I work mostly retail managing a used book store that I support developmentally disabled adults. I help them run the store with me. My clients five in all through out the week are very able to take care of themselves they just need some overseeing. The client I had today is my favorite she is up for anything and loves to go go go. we we walked 1.5 miles we had pizza in a little bistro, and we went to the town beach. she loves to swim. today is the only day we go out and about the rest of the time is in the store.
And I think this out and about will stop in the fall and I will back to the store.

So all in all a good day. This lake is where the movie on Golden pond was filmed. Super clean and clear. not a condo in sight, but a little camp would be 500,000. or more so no camp on squam for this family.