Wednesday, June 17, 2009

No More Surprises



John and the boys have been busy the past few weeks building this fence and rose arbor. I think John should start his own blog and call it Crafty Dude. He amazes me with his self taught abilities.

I know that I didn't marry a carpenter. The first year of our marriage we lived in a little basement apartment with little shelf and storage space. He's a problem solver and bought the supplies and a few tools {that a poor college student/husband could afford} to build shelves for our school books and sweaters. He worked all day and into the night. This was the first time I heard what he sounded like when he got frustrated. I learned quickly to leave him alone in these situations and not ask questions. He finished and we had new shelf space above our bed, the only wall space for shelves we had. I was impressed with my husband and he was proud of his new found skills.

The next day while we were eating Sunday dinner we heard a loud crash. Then I heard the newly familiar sounds of frustration again...##!!*@##!! Our newly constructed shelves had collapsed. I remember being relieved that it didn't happen while we were sleeping because of those heavy text books.

Now, 18 years and 11 months later, he has turned out to be quite the fix-it, build it, all around handyman. I love the rose arbor. I can even image the red fragrant roses that will be climbing up the sides of it next year.

Notice the Boy's job: they are testers of the finish project. They get to try it out to see if it will stand up to Boog, the {gentle} giant. Only Boog doesn't know that he's supposed to be gentle. The other problem and hence the reason for the new fence around the garden...Boog has left little, okay giant size, surprises in the potato plot. All I can say is that we won't be harvesting and eating the potatoes this year. They are going straight to the compost bin.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

It's timeless



These make me happy. Silly but practical glass jars. My little job on Saturday mornings. Garage sale shopping; finding deals for everyday necessities, scratching the collecting itch, and rescuing the timeless artifacts of my childhood and the pre-plastic era.


Today's finds:
* one very adorable whimsical glass elephant jar with original tin cap: .50 cents
{it so turns out that it was made in the 1950's and is being sold on eBay for $50.} It actually has a slot in the cap that makes the jar turn into a penny bank. Love it! That just makes me want to save my pennies.

*a pair of Ugg look alikes for Meag & Addie to fight over {Peter likes them too}: $2

*6 or 7 embroidery hoops of all sizes: $2

*8 light green linen napkins in perfect condition. Classy. Can't wait to use them for Christmas or something girly: $1

*a small Longaberger basket -collector's edition {i love it when people don't know what Longaberger is so i can steal it, i mean buy it cheap from them}don't expect this to happen often: .50 cents

Last week's find was a nice buttermilk yellow oval Fiesta platter, flawless for $1. Now, that was a rescue. What would have happened to that sweet platter if I hadn't found it? It hurts just thinking about it. I used it this week when me and the girls made double battered buttermilk/breadcrumb fried zucchini from our garden. Yum. I love that platter.

I love Saturday mornings. See you out there.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

More on Memorial Day Weekend



Eating breakfast at the Malone's Oak Glen Apple Dumplings Restaurant on Memorial Day is a new family tradition. We took Dad & Corinne up there for a good country, mountain breakfast. So good. And then stopped in at their bakery and couldn't resist the pastries. Yum. Don't you just love that store front picture?

I loved the soft snikerdoodle cookies. We all did.