Thrifting Catchup

This post about thrifting is brought to you by Ariel The Wonder Dog!

Ariel is probably wondering why she wound up in a post about thrifting. Well, besides the fact that she is cute as heck and very photogenic, as well as my faithful and devoted companion, she is a thrifted dog. Ariel was an abused and neglected dog rescued by an agency and adopted out to a friend of the family. She has some quirks, but things went along well until their family got two smaller dogs that she could bully. Things got out of hand, and she needed a new home. She and I hit it off, and I asked to adopt her. She's lived with me on the farm a good part of the summer, until I hurt my knee, and right now she is staying with my family at the old homestead while I recuperate. She should be back with me very soon, because I sure do miss her, and she misses me too. So yep, even my dog is thrifted.

Ariel weighs about 26 lbs and she is about the size of a beagle, the perfect size dog for me to walk. And we have fields all around the farm we can wander through. The perfect exercise for a busy writer chained to her keyboard most of the day.

Ah, but you came here to see my other thrifting finds didn't you? Shall we begin?

I didn't get out very often this summer. I spent most of my time here at the farm working in the garden and writing. But I made a couple of trips, and another one today. Had a blast, I was overdue for an outing.

These start with a trip to a local Salvation Army store back in July, the first one since we bought our farm. It was supposed to be just a quick stop to find a decent comforter for the bed I have here.  I found one in reasonably good shape, but for some reason, never took a picture of it. You're not missing much! 

That heavy old aluminum stockpot was the first thing I grabbed. It's in great shape. Aluminum is good for anything that is not acidic. The Corelle dinner plates I needed, I had hardly any dishes here at the time.  I'm splitting my stuff between two households and where I had a surplus, now we are always running short of things. Thrift stores give me usable items at a very low price, and I am long past the stage where I care what matches the decor! I have a happy chaos of household items. I like Corelle because it's tough and forgiving. I have a thing for the glass votive holders and anything celestial. The little wooden plaque looks good on the wall with all my copper molds, and not a week before I bought it, I took a picture of two cedar waxwings like that sitting in a pine tree above my garden. I ♥ the country!

I liked the upright shape of the little bowl, and didn't mind the interior scratches. I used it for apples and for onions, but once Ariel came into my life, it became her water bowl. It holds just enough to stay fresh all day long.

I've seen these waterers for the birds in catalogs for around $17. I saw one at Lowes today for $12. I paid $2.99, and had to clean some brown algae stains out of the base. I hung it all summer long next to the garden bird feeder and it was very popular. Some of the birds used it to wash their worms off in it, I would find bits of them in the water cells. I know, ewww! But at least they used it.

I didn't get to go again until September, but hit the same Salvation Army. Both trips I was careful not to overload myself with lots of stuff, since I have barely scratched the surface of moving my stuff over here yet. I was fussy what I bought. The Ikea plate, weird knife and big serving spoon were impulse buys, but I really needed the hot mats. The pasta book has recipes for homemade pasta. Roger said he was making his own, and I was inspired to buy it because of that. So it's really all his fault...

Anybody who reads my thrifting and shopping posts on a regular basis knows what a sucker I am for art and craft supplies. Getting them at a fraction of the original price is even better. I've seen rubber stamps that size and detail for ten dollars or more. That one set me back a whopping $1.99, and the beads were 99¢. I don't know why I wanted that tattered little box purse, but I own it now.

As I've said, I do love Corelle. These are what I would call salad plates, but most nights, that's the size I eat off of. They hold plenty. I got two of these blue ones...

...and three of these red ones. They are beat up, but cleaned nicely in the dishwasher. These seem to be old patterns, I've never seen them before.

I also got two flat pasta bowls, I love these!

I got three of these green line soup/cereal bowls. It was nice to have some extra dishes in the cupboards, which were looking pretty barren. I was able to send a few things back to the other house, where there are more people competing for them.

I'm a country girl at heart, always have been, always will be. I remember the 70s, with all the 'back to the land' emphasis. I loved my John Denver albums, the Foxfire books told you everything you needed to know, and Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening Magazine were favorite reads. Holly Hobbie was big back then, and I always loved her little poke bonnet, calico dress and patchwork apron with the big old workboots. That was me back then, and it's still me now, albeit I seldom wear dresses and don't have a poke bonnet. Got the aprons and workboots though! LOL The back loop on this one is shot, so I am looking for a small plate hanger or stand so I can display it. It's heavy for a small thing.

My Shabby Chic find of the summer, a lovely little painted chest missing one handle. The inside has a worn velvet lining. Not sure what I will do with it yet, but I do love it. 

Yeah, that wall behind the fridge needs painting and the floor looks mucky. All in due time...



Now we're starting today's thrifting finds. Today I was not concerned about economy or how much stuff I have to move. Today I decided life is short and I needed to get out and have some fun. I put money in my wallet that I could afford to spend, and out I went. Lee was my chauffeur and fellow bargain hunter. We did some necessary shopping first, and then hit the thrift store, the very same Salvation Army. And the Gods and Goddesses of Thrifting were with me...

I need kitchen chairs. Besides the fact that the few that were left here are in fair shape at best, I just found out the family wants to have Thanksgiving dinner here this year. Yikes! Where was I going to sit everyone? They said don't worry, we'll move the big old 2-leaf table over, but I have 4 chairs for that, and that's about it. Here I have 3 shaky wooden ones, an ugly and uncomfortable industrial metal chair, and a bench to go with the maple trestle kitchen table. Well anyway, I am walking up to the storefront, not thinking about chairs at all because I actually rationalized this trip because I need old saucers to put beneath plants. And these three old beauties were sitting out on the concrete walk outside. Stopped me right in my tracks, because I have big old Captain's chairs for my other table, similarly in need of refinishing, and these are in such good shape. So I look them over and I am all excited, because chairs like this at some used furniture places are generally $25 or more. The two end ones were stickered $9.99  and the more worn one in the middle was $6.99. While I am turning them upside down to check rungs and so on, Lee gets me a saleslady, and she says all furniture is 25% off today... So, $21 and change later, we have 3 chairs stuffed in the back seat of his car, and I have only made it in the door far enough to pay for them. I still needed to shop!

I bought a bunch of Corelle they had together for one price. I didn't need the cups or saucers, but it was a package deal. No dinner plates or the little dessert bowls I need, but I do have a few of the dessert plates now. This pattern I know is Woodland Brown, and I am very fond of it because back in 1981 I bought myself a box of 4 place settings for my first apartment. As I recall, it didn't have these cups but the uglier ones with the 'flap' handles. I kind of like these. The little cover on the sugar bowl is plastic, so they cheaped out on that. But I was happy to get more of them, most of my set is gone now. The aftermarket sellers get almost $3 for a small plate. I got the entire batch for $12.95. More than I usually spend on thrifted items, but I'm not complaining...

OK, some of these were impulse buys. The English willow ware is faded and it's not a big name like Royal, but it brings back memories of my grandmother and aunt, who loved it. The little square Pyrex dishes I have found out are called 'Fridgies'. Both of the lids have chips on the edge, most of my old Pyrex casserole lids have suffered the same fate. If you use them, they're going to get battered. I bought them anyway. The ceramic plats and saucers in the background are what I got for plants, to legitimize the trip. I might just use the saucers and eat off the plates, I haven't decided.

I will likely never buy another set of flatware. I'm having too much fun playing mix & match with my thrifting finds. Interestingly enough, any guest we've had eat with us usually comments favorably about how eclectic my flatware is. I go through bins and pick out stuff I find sturdy and useful, as well as unusual. Everyone in my household has favorite pieces that they covet. We all fight over the single stainless steel 'spork', so I smuggled it here to the farm. LOL

I bought a bunch of flatware again today because here I have like 3 of this, 5 of that, and sometimes have to pull dirty utensils from the dishwasher and hand wash so that I have something to eat with besides my fingers! Steak knives I will buy new because I want them sharp, but everything else is fair game, and the older, more solidly designed pieces are my favorite. It was good pickings today, and they all are in the dishwasher drying tonight, along with all the other pieces that didn't need to be hand washed only.

I have no idea where our old cast iron frying pan set went, but this one was brand new and unused so I grabbed it. It got a washing by hand tonight, and has been left out to dry completely. Now that I have my oven working and some shortening, it will get seasoned. I'm dying to make homefries or hash browns in the big one. Cast iron on a gas cooktop is going to make them nice and crusty.

I've been collecting copper molds like these for almost 30 years. I don't care if they're not collector's items, or whether they are for use or just decorative, though I have used a few over the years. I just love the shapes, the details, and the shine. I have about half of my collection up in the kitchen here at the farm now, and added these three today. All are in good condition, though the picture makes them look icky, and I hadn't washed any of them yet. I have one of those pineapple molds already, and a different kind of heart that is bigger with a basket weave effect. That fish is pretty large. My kind of wall art! I passed up a few more that were either too battered or similar to some I have and didn't want to repeat.

I'm a baker, so cookie cutters get my eye. I have tubs full now, but will likely pass some along to the kids. The latch hook and ivy stamp were a no brainer, I'm a crafter too. And I have new walls to decorate here...

I wandered through the clothing before we left, looking for another big comfy bathrobe. No such luck but I did find this kitty dorm shirt. Yeah, I'm short, but otherwise an armful of woman, so it's a 2X. Love the light gray color with the charming little print below. 

Lee is an enabler, I can't go anywhere with him without him feeding my addiction. He called me over because there was a rack with some yarn. Most of it I resisted, because I literally have big covered tubs full of this stuff stacked together at the other house, but this lonesome ombre begged to come home with me. How could I say no?



And that was my purchases for today. I spent more than I should have, but I have not been able to get out much lately. Between the house sitting, storms (how about a hurricane and then a freak snowstorm both knocking out your power twice in 2 months?), a torn something-or-other in my left knee, and endless writing; I was getting cabin fever. I have my holiday money set aside, my bills are paid, and today I bought important things for the house, like curtains, a clock, and a kitchen timer. The thrifting was for me, so once more I could have an outing with the thrill of the hunt. Tomorrow, I will have to put everything away that I washed, and then I will sit down and write like a fiend again, because I do have some deadlines to meet. But today was fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed running away from home and buying someone else's castoffs. It does help to know the money I spent will help other folks less fortunate this holiday season, and all year round.

One last thing here, because amongst all this country sweetness, there is always lurking inside me the soul of a writer. And what I love to write is pretty exotic compared to the way I live. So back in July, as I was ready to leave a craft store, I spotted the figurine below, and I just had to have her! 

This is Medusa, and she was sitting on a shelf along with a whole bunch of other fantasy collectibles. I had been picking over charms and beads and so on when I saw her, and she was very insistent that she must come home with me. She now is sitting pretty on the top of my PC tower in my writing corner of the dining room here at the farm, threatening to turn me to stone if I don't get something on the page. 

The average person is not going to find her particularly attractive. If you've made it this far down into this blog post, you already know I am far from average in my tastes and interests.

When I turned 50 about four and a half years ago, I stopped worrying about what people think of me. I do what I do because it pleases me. I display things that I enjoy because it says something to me about my life.

Today I wore a dark green tie dye tee shirt with dragons on it, and a bunch of mixed jewelry that I like regardless of the style differences. My hair is long and unruly, and shot with silver strands on the crown and temples. My eyes have crinkles around them because I work in the garden in the sun, and I love to laugh and crack jokes. No one seemed offended that a plump middle aged mother and grandmother was running around looking like she walked out of a fairy tale book with some of the pages stuck to her. Maybe because I don't care.

When I look in the mirror, or look around my home, I see myself everywhere, and I feel at peace in my house and in my own skin. I hear a song I love from back in the day, and I sing it out loud. I see things that remind me of the happy times, and I want to decorate my world with them. It's me being me, and that's a very good way to be.

You be an original too, there's no one out there quite like you. Carpe Diem! 
~Nancy

Did You Write? 11-14-11

Did You Write? 11-14-11

It is that time of the week again. Have you opened any work in progress or started something new? have you met your word count? have you written anything at all? If not, what is going on in your life that prevented you from your work. We always love to hear that.

As to what is writing, I give a long list each week but don't have time today. The main rule of thumb is that if you have to ask if it is writing, the answer is yes.

AS for me, Yes I did write. I got to the end of my re-write of my Spirit of Vengeance story. I greatly expanded the story with plenty of explanation and examples of what was going on. I had it nearly done and realized it needed something else. I added two short scenes that will need to be corrected, but I felt it changed the nature of the story a little. I think it is looking good.
I am now starting at the beginning and fixing writing errors but will fix scenes if needed. I got to page 13 of the 43 pages on my first edit session, then got to page three on my second edit session. It does need work. As it stands now, it is 43 pages with 22216 words.

On the story idea front, I have dug into the top of the compost pile a little, but added a few new ones along the way. It is running at 36 story ideas. I would rather have 60 story ideas, all good, but it is not doing bad.

I am making my Christmas ornaments for this year. I am making palm trees and seals so far but have to come up with two more new ideas. I have been doing this since 2003 so I have done quite a few different kinds. Last year, someone listed several dozen ideas to me and I had done most of them. I ended up seeing something in a couple magazines and used them.
I am also making some old Christmas ornaments that I ran out of, some I never made enough of. I have a lot of ornaments to make before the end of the month.

I have asked a couple times, "if you were put into the world you write about, as you are right this very instant, with your real practical knowledge and practical skills, and actual physical abilities, could you survive within your worlds?
when I first asked the question, the answer was absolutely not. Later, I mentioned that with as bad a carving I did, I would likely be creating magical figurines that would do wrong.
Now, I would have to say that if I survived the first month, I might be able to become useful to whatever society I was in. Not greatly useful, but I might eventually earn my keep. The first month would be unlikely, though.

AS to the question of the week, I can honestly say,

YES I DID WRITE!

DID YOU WRITE?

Week 681 Woodworking

Year 11, Week 44, Day One (week 618) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 11-12-11 Saturday
66 degrees early morning, 76 degrees in the afternoon, nice breeze, blue sky filled with cotton puffs, loads of sunshine. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

After breakfast, I went yard sailing. On my way to one yard sale, I missed my turn and saw what looked like a giant yard sale at an antique mall. I turned around and looked around. There were lots of stuff I would have gotten if I had the money and storage place including a pair of blacksmith tongs and an old time iron that you sat on the stove to heat up. I left empty handed.
I went to one yard sale that had a little bit of yarn, and some knitting needles. I picked that up. I don't need it but did not want to leave without it.

knitting collection I picked up. I have no idea what I will do with it since I don't knit, but will make use of it in some way.

At another yard sale, I picked up a coffee pump dispenser. It is a bigger one than the last one I broke. I got home and the elevator was out because they were doing pavement work in front of it. I lifted my wheeled basket that I carry stuff in and the coffee pump dispenser fell off and cracked the top. I glued it together but used the wrong glue. It will work, if the glue sets hard enough to be like plastic. I am not sure. I will see tomorrow.

coffee pump dispenser. Holds two pots of coffee. I broke and repaired it, I have some more work to do on the repair to make it presentable.


A friend picked up a cheap computer and needs a couple cables. I happen to have the cables. their computer came in a storage tub without a lid so she gave the tub to me.
I think I ended up hitting five yard sales and only spent four bucks. That is not bad.

A bin given to me

After petting the cat, which I petted about five times during the day, I dug out my stuff and got to work. I carved on three of my pole cats, cleaning up the cuts so they look somewhat finished. I then carved a fourth cat. Later, I painted the eyes, chest and paws. When I got home, I gave them a coat of varnish but will have a bit more detailing to do on them.

My pole cats as I had painted them.

I emptied out my carving basket and re-arranged it so I MIGHT be able to find things a bit easier. I now see that half the basket is filled with paint. There are a lot of pencils for pencil heads. I have several carving knives and a few chisels. A lot of what is left is just things that is nice to have once in a while, if I remember I have it.


My carvin basket. The whole left side is mostly paint.

I decided to test out an idea of making palm trees as ornaments. I mounted some two by twos on the lathe. I set them off center toward a corner and turned the center part round. I then did different things with each one, one I simply centered and worked the ends, another I set it off center to the opposite corner. that one had a weak spot and broke. I glued it together again. another I left the ends square except where the corners broke off because I did not use my parting tool to set a stop on the corners.\

blanks for palm trees, the center one broke on me
Because they are going to be carved, they don't have to be nice and clean. No surface will be left as it is.

I later sat down and carved on the two palm trees while the third dried. They came out pretty good. I made the top leaves sort of like a mushroom with the center indented a little, then carved lines between the fronds. I also worked the underside. Since the trunk was not rounded, I had a lot of carving to do, but the lathe removed enough wood to make it easy.
I then cut into the base to make it sort of like a rock. I painted the rock brown.
I put black paint in the grooves between the fronds, then painted the fronds green. I should add a light green on top but I don't think so on these.
I won't be able to do it this week, which is the turning club meeting, but I will glue beads on it to act as lights or ornaments on a Christmas tree. I picked up some eye hooks that I will add to them. I likely have several dozen packages worth of the hooks but am not sure where they are. they are at one of a dozen places. I will eventually find them when I need them most. I think I know where they are and just have to dig into it, which I will be doing soon to consolidate and store away that stuff.

Palm Tree ornaments

Last week, I had added some old filler into a seal blank I really messed up. the filler came apart and did not stick so I threw that blank away as I did not have time to mess with it. it would be easier to make a new blank than to save that one.

The main reason carvers make a blank is that it takes effort to remove the excess wood to get down to the basic shape. That can tire out one's hands very quickly. Using a machine of some kind to get the wood off saves time. When you are doing a good number of pieces such as with my ornaments, you don't want to spend time removing excess wood when you could be producing finished pieces.

Tomorrow, I need to make more seals and palm tree blanks. I found that my seals are not quite the right design, but the ones I did are good enough. I will make a bunch more of them with the right kind of tail. I might also make some walruses.
I hope to clean up some more carvings I already made and possibly carve a couple more. I don't have much time to get all these done. They are supposed to be ready for display at the end of the month. I still need to come up with two more brand new ornaments. I have no idea what they will be.
My brother might come up. That is sort of up in the air. If he does, I will do some machining on a block of aluminum he gave me last week. I will have the UniMat out to do that just in case I decide to do a little bit of that.
I had purchased two eight foot sticks of two by two white-wood. I am going to have to cut up the second stick. I might even stop and pick up a couple more sticks while they still have that batch of wood. it is really good, softer than other two by twos they get in.
I have two seals and two palm trees made. I have ten more of each to do, along with a bunch of other ornaments that I made last year that I am out of. I still need to make twelve each of ornaments I have not come up with.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.

Year 11, Week 44, Day Two (week 618) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 11-13-11 Sunday

80 degrees, light breeze, more clouds than yesterday and they were a bit heavier. This weather report was brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach Department of tourism.

On the way to Mom's house, I stopped and picked up two more sticks of eight foot long two by twos. I cut one up into sections. My band saw can cut twelve inch long maximum, so I cut the stick into eight pieces.

I saw two yard sales across from each other and I ended up picking up a pump/air tank assembly for air tools and a nail gun came with it for twenty five bucks. My brother checked it out later in the day and the pump was shot. He said we should come up with something to use the air tanks for. I will likely yard sail it. I will keep the nail gun and sell it for what I purchased it for.

air powered tool set. Pump is shot which was why they were selling it so cheap

I did some touch-up paint on the Palm trees and did some touch-up carving on the snow men. They are ready to paint. It dawned on me later that I forgot to carve the scarves on them. For these, I will just paint the scarves on.

I cut two blanks for seals. These are curved with the smaller tails of real seals.

Seal blanks to be carved next weekend.

Since my brother was coming up, I dug out the little lathe and set it up as a milling machine. I put that aluminum block on it and clamped it down. I then started machining the top surface flat.
My plan was to machine the top surface, and then flip it over and machine the bottom so that is flat. that will give me the true size of the block of metal as the bottom cups in. That was actually the top of the metal when it was poured, but since it is fairly even all the way around, I used that as the bottom to give me something to become parallel to.

Aluminum blank as I got it

The aluminum did not cut quite as easy as I expected. I found that spraying with WD-40 kept the bottom of the bit from sticking to the metal. I had other metal cutting bits but they were smaller in diameter than the one I was using.
Something I found was that I would cut one way, and then cut the opposite way and it would cut differently. the first few passes I ended up with uneven cuts. I found that I had to cut one way, then come back the other way to get a smooth clean surface.
I will work on this piece some other weekend. I will machine the bottom flat, then decide exactly how big the piece needs to be. The size of my cross slide is up in the air in reality. I would love to have it really long so I can make really long cuts. I will really make that decision once I get the work squared up and flat.

aluminum blank mounted in milling machine setup, you can see by the surface where I machined it. that is enough flat to work the bottom.


I will paint the carvings I have done during the week for the turning club meeting on Thursday. I have to dig out some seed-beads I have to glue them onto the palm trees.


Tree and cat ornaments after a coat of varnish.

Thursday I have the turning club meeting. I really don't have much to show that is actually turned but will show off what I have.
For the weekend, I must concentrate on making ornaments. I need to get the palm trees and seals done. I only have a few weekends left before I have to show them off. I need to come up with two more types of ornaments. I will have to explore some ideas on that. I will have even less time to get them ready.
I really need to get to that palm tree in my mom's back yard and trim it. It would only take an hour or two to do. Mom would be excited to see it done.

I will see what I actually do next week.