Sunday Morning Haiku

A sleepy gray day

I should be cleaning house

I snuggle with cat

My never ending project and other thrifty packrat ramblings

After a month of household disasters I am finally getting the house back in order.

I had a plumbing issue where they had to pull up the carpet and cut through the concrete to get at a pipe. This meant cleaning out my most cluttered room and putting everything into the garage until the work was finished.

I also had the shelf and my closet pole come off the wall in another room because I had too many items hanging and the weight pulled it off the wall. This forced me to take all of my clothes out of the closet and also put them in the garage for a few weeks. Thankfully I have a large department style clothing rack to hold it all. Each morning before work I would go into the cold garage and have to pick out my clothes for the day.

Part of the closet issue was that I hang my shoes. I don't have a classy closet so I get creative. I had no idea I had so many heavy shoes. I've decided to hang them in another room to take a little stress off. This of course means shifting and purging items from the second closet.

The new and improved shoe area.

While purging I found items that I had forgotten I had. Some good, some ridiculous. (see last post) I'm definitely a pack rat.

So yesterday my sister-in-law and I pulled together and had a joint garage sale. SIL is a great decorator and she re-decorates often so she had some fabulous decorative pieces to sell and I had some art and we both had clothes. We rocked the sale and people walked off with some awesome bargains.


I get a kick out of the garage sale buyers. Such an interesting lot. There are the folks who need inexpensive clothes and household goods. There are the re-sellers who love to talk about their deals and there are the more subtle re-sellers who buy and don't brag. I like them best. I also like when someone brings their children with them and I love to see what the children are interested in. I must say I am a sucker for the kids and many times just give them what they are looking at or sell it super cheap.


I think that thrift shopping with kids is an excellent way to teach them the value of a dollar. When my niece and nephew used to visit me when they were younger, they looked forward to a weekend of garage sales with their Auntie. They seemed to really enjoy it.


Being thrifty on some items is a passion for me. I'm not above buying retail I just prefer not to if I don't have to. I find tons of cool art at yard sales and some have become treasured pieces for me. One example is my small collection of masks. Rule #1 I have to really like the mask and have a certain feeling about it.

I like to buy items that speak to me. Or if I think it might make a unique gift for someone I know, I may buy it and save it for a gift giving occasions. (or no occasion at all). Yes, anyone who knows me knows that I am not above giving unusual pre-owned items as gifts. This is accepted in my family and we many times give each other interesting little gifts that may have been pre-owned.


Below is an example of some of my masks that I decorated my work office with. All of the masks, the basket and the framed art were pre-owned and bought for pennies on the dollar.

Do you ever buy pre-owned? What do you buy? Why? I'd like to hear about it.

Mostly Fugly but Oh So Decorative

Ok, so we had a disaster in my home office whereby the plumbers had to come and dig a hole in the concrete, fix some pipes, re-cement and then put the carpet back two weeks later. (whew, was that a sentence or what?)

This disaster forced me to take most of the furniture and items in my closet and move them to the garage. Today the carpet came back on the floor and we are done with the plumbing issue. So, this provides me with an opportunity to open boxes I have not opened since before we moved in the house. (hmmmm maybe 5 years).

I unearthed a box aptly labeled "ugly decanters". Yup.I don't now why I have these or even boxed them up. The one on the left has a body that does not match the head. The other is a musical hillbilly decanter.

Up for grabs ya'll.

I should put these on my other blog What I Did Not Buy Today, but obviously I bought these once when I may or may not have been drunk.

Cookies Now and Then

Christmas week is a time when I get my fill of sweets. I love chocolate and most sweets. This week I made my father-in-laws famous caramel corn. This may be a new tradition for me. It was not as good as his but I will keep working on it.

Those who know me know how much I love vintage items. This past month I founds some wonderful vintage cookie cutters in excellent condition. They reminded me of my childhood as these were the type that I remember us having at our home where I grew up. The Christmas cutters always featured a Santa, a bell, an angel and usually a reindeer.

Some of the older cutter sets also contained a camel. When was the last time you at a camel cookie?

I also happened upon a very nice vintage Betty Crocker Cookie book that brings back memories also. Now in the modern age I have a wonderful nephew who is becoming quite the cookie baker. His new Christmas cookies are called Ninja Bread cookies. I think they are adorable!

December - Life is Good

December - where did it go. Christmas is only a week away.

I've done a great job of staying out of the shopping mall and stores this past month. I've done some fabulous thrift shopping and have cut my shopping list in half. My husband and I agreed to a small gift for each other and we are calling it Christmas.

This year for my co-workers I made caramel corn. It was not fancy but I think it was better than some bogus trinket that would just be re-gifted.

I'm not sure when I became so disgusted with crazy consumerism. Again, maybe this is me just getting older and crankier. (God forbid). Not having a lot of extra cash has also made me look at consumption and waste. My husband and I are doing much better at not wasting food. I realize that we have been, and sometimes still are,very wasteful when it comes to food.

Instead of shopping I have been trying to read more and keep myself busy at home. You would think my house would be immaculate but I still need to work on that.

This was my 50th year on earth. It has certainly been a year of reflection for me. I have a lot to think about and a lot to be thankful for. As my 50th comes to an end this month I want to put it out there that life is good.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.
This year I am thankful for so many things. It's been a rough year but I am surviving. I feel very lucky. I'm thankful for friends and family. I'm thankful that I am employed. I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head and food on my table. I'm thankful for the beautiful Arizona weather.
Here's wishing everyone a Happy Happy Thanksgiving.

Beautiful Obit

When I sit down on Sundays to read the paper I usually take a look at the obituaries. I have not lived in this are a long enough to know too many people so the chances of me reading about someone I know are slim.

I like the obits with photos. I like the obits that have two photos, a young and old version of the deceased.

Today there was an obit for a woman named Dora. She was a rancher. She was an Aunt, like me. There was no mention of children (like me). Here's a bit of her life that was shared in the obit:

She spent most of her life on the Ranch. At the ranch, she supervised nieces and nephews; milked cows; jerked beef; rode; fed chickens; killed snakes; opened and closed gates; dug out the spring; scraped out the water tanks; watered the trees; picked fruit; peeled figs; chopped seasoned juniper & mesquite; filled the wood box; started the fire in the stove; ground corn; made enchiladas, tortillas, cakes and pie crusts; dressed in layers; took pictures; read; kept a diary; wrote letters; watched the night sky and bats; the butchering, barbecuing, and branding; and repaired the dirt road as required by her car. When visiting, Dora arrived serendipitously & left when she tired of company. She played marbles to win. Tia Dora could grab and twist an ear, pulling it & the disobedient child along behind her. She was a favorite aunt.

I've often wondered what my obituary would sound like. I don't think it would be nearly as interesting as Dora's. Her obit makes me think I need to get a move on and do something more interesting than just working in an office everyday and then coming home and going to bed.

Today I raise a glass to Dora, a woman I never met and just read about. You sound like my kind of woman. Rest in peace girl.