Thrifty Thursday!

Finally over the crud and was able to get out and about to few favorite GWilly's! I managed to pick up just a few things this week.

You know I've said before that I collect orphaned pottery? Yes...it's true...I can't believe someone would cast aside hand signed hand thrown clay! So I rescue it!

Well...I have another mission now apparently......lone widowed salt & pepper shakers....widowed, divorced, left without a mate? Come on home with me! LOL



Isn't it lovely? I searched and searched for the mate but it was not to be found. This is a great piece of Japanese porcelain...Nippon. I love the worn gilding...the birds....so elegant! Yes yes...come on home! You can join my other little friend I picked up a couple weeks ago....Jean Claude....he hails from France....



Okay okay...he doesn't REALLY hail from France, but he does have a blue toile appeal about him...don't you think? He's not marked but was all alone himself. Both have old old old cork in the bottom...and gosh darnit....partner or not, they deserve a home! So...I am opening a home for orphaned elegant S&P shakers! Oh joy! Another thing to collect on my jaunts! At least these are SMALL! And can't you just imagine them arranged on one of my platters?? Aaaah....or perhaps a silver tray...so many options!

Speaking of silver...or..er...silverplate even.....I picked this lovely sugar bowl up this evening



I'm sure it will clean up nicely, but you know what...I love the tarnish! I love tarnished silver! So...it may still show it's age by the time I'm done with it.

And....I was verrrry excited to find THIS



an African Bolga Basket! Hubby was along when I picked this up Monday evening....he looked at me like I was crazy. I explained..."Honey...it's a Bolga basket! I've been watching these on eBay....I've been wanting one to hold yarn by my chair! They're like $40!" But nope...not this one...



I know it looks floppy on one side, but...these just need to be wet down and reshaped! That's on my agenda this week! Reshape the $2 Bolga basket!

Honestly...I am amazed what things I find the GWilly's here in South Dakota! Maybe you can be amazed by finds in your area too! Such fun! Gotta love it!

Hope your week's been a smoooooth one!

*Peace!

Winding Down & Setting Up

Well..the weekend is winding down...but what a FINE weekend it was! The weather was unbelievable!! And so, even though there were tons of creative projects vying for my time and attention, the weather won out on Saturday and the day was spent running errands and just enjoying the 70 degree temps in November! Wonderful!!!

Today...so many quilts running thru my mind to start....but I decided to dive in to those yummy French General Rouenneries prints. So I cut the ribbon on the bundle....and started to unfold the lovelies.



Even the selvedge is lovely! I have had a project in mind for these beauties before they arrived...so I sorted. Some didn't make the cut...



Others most certainly did! Oh beautiful glorious reds and faded reds...how I love you!



I spent some quality time with David Gray via my iPod, and my iron and Best Press...and got down to business. Got them all pressed....and cut.



Setting up for the next project! It's ready to go!!! I hope it will be as lovely as I imagined...but I don't know if any pattern can go wrong with these fabrics!

And so...the weekend is winding down...the next quilt project is set up and ready for me to steal a minute or two or ten here and there working on it....and now I'm going to spend some time with this....



Sock knitting and Cowboys football on a Sunday night!! The only way it could get better is if I didn't have to go to work tomorrow, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

Hope you had a great weekend as well!

*Peace!

Thrifty Thursday!

No thrift shop visits yet this week, thanks to being sidelined with possibly the flu....but have no fear! I have pleeeenty of material for Thrifty Thursday posts from my previous jaunts!

Today I'll share pics of the platters I've been picking up. I dare say I have a collection....certainly was not my intent! But every time one falls in my path, the older, chipped and crazing, the better....the hubs will utter those words "Uh...don't we already HAVE some platters?"



But they're so lovely! I especially love the one there with the fruit motif.....



old...



colorful....



crackly crazed...



with a story to tell!



The two green floral ones are lovely as well....chips and all!



I paid no more than $3 for any of these...



The color ones are a nice addition....the yellow one was my latest find for two bucks...its verrrrry crazed.



No dear....we don't have too many platters already!



Why EVER would you think such a thing? ;o)

*Peace!

Hump Day Happenings

That title is probably misleading...there haven't been many 'happenings' this week around here. Seems I have been stricken with the crud. Sore throat, headache and so very tired tired tired. Which might explain the tiredness and fatigue that started late last week! Anyhooo...I have been holed up at home for the past two days....not feeling worth a crap and being ticked that I'm wasting days at home doing nothing but napping. I hate that! But I suppose...rest is best.

I have started a new pair of socks this past weekend and in to the week. Quite the change from my first pair, where I was using size 4 dpns and worsted weight wool...that seems like a cake walk compared to what I'm using for my second pair! Actual sock yarn and size 2 dpns



I feel like I'm working with toothpicks and string! I have pulled out this sock start I believe a total of 4 times and restarted and I think I am over the hump and it's starting to take shape.



I'm using some Berroco sock yarn that I picked up on my recent visit to Omaha. We (me, my blogless friend, Kimm, and Paulette ) enjoyed visiting String of Purls in Omaha and we were mesmerized and inspired by projects and yarns they had! I picked up this pattern...



This is some bag! They had the actual original bag there in the shop...it's huge..like Mary Poppins huge..my kinda bag! But off-white...eh...maybe not. I decided that when I do tackle this....I would like it in blues...to go with jeans! Wouldn't that be cool? I have since done a little yarn stash enhancement...and these are the yarns I have selected for the bag!



What do you think? I may need to add a few more in...as the pattern calls for 10 different yarns! EEEK! I am hoping to get by with less if they're bulkier. I've got them all sitting in a basket down in the 'studio' along with a couple new pair of Lantern Moon needles....it's taunting me! I need to be on the lookout for a fabulous funky button like is on the original too! But first....the sock.....after I take another nap.

*Peace!

The Gift of an Extra Hour!

I LOVE this time of year....when it seems we get the gift of an extra hour! I was up early....6:35 on a Sunday! Okay....so of course we play the little game "Well it's REALLY 7:35..." but still. You get the idea! It was a great day...full of sunshine, great temps, visits from the kids. And I even got some things done!

I whipped out some new Oooh-La-La vintage inspired French linen dishtowels!! In my French General order that arrived, I had a couple rolls of this great toweling!



Love! That red...oh it's yummy. Slightly faded looking....wonderful! And the natural...can't go wrong!

This stuff is wonderful! 16" off the roll and already hemmed along the long edges. You just cut to length and hem the ends!



Can't get much simpler! I had six sewn and in the washer in no time!



Of course as I'm sewing them I'm thinking I should have ordered an additional roll or two and I'd have some instant Christmas gifts! Everyone can use some new dish towels huh?



But I will keep what I have in my Ebay shop and share the love. Now...they came out of the dryer a little wrinkly so I thought I'd practice being a domestic diva and I did spend a little time steaming and pressing, but I'm certain this will not be an everyday occurrence! You can see some of my steam blobs still wet on the towels! LOL




I also cast on a new pair of socks....but you don't really want to see the beginning of THAT....not yet...not yet. I also brought quilt #2 up from the basement and placed it by my chair so I can work on binding this week.

While the hubs and Sam were out trying to flush some pheasants up from the fields...Emmitt and I soaked up the sun and enjoyed a leisurely stroll...we watched some football...tried to take a nap but it just didn't work...for me....he was all about the nap but I couldn't do it. Sorry, Emmitt!

And now here I sit....at 9:58PM. You'd think I would be tired...since it's REALLY 10:58...ah you know what I mean! Hope you enjoyed the gift of your extra hour this weekend!

*Peace!