thrift thursday

we had about ten minutes before library story time to do a quick walk through my least favorite goodwill, located across the street from the library. this small haul is not particularly remarkable, but also not bad for ten minutes. the thing that gets me is the unintentional color theme. 

little pyrex baking dishes are always a good find, especially when they are under $1.

cords & a stripey shirt for the tot as autumn approaches, why yes!

i rarely pass up a mushroom. there was only one of these sweet bowl sized cups.

cute comfy skirt. and a brand new kinda cool dave matthews t-shirt. the hubs, not being a huge fan, will be appalled i'm guessing. but i don't mind me a little local dave, and frankly, quite enjoy his work. and this crafty t-shirt? love! it's kind of freaky that it even matches the skirt.

a decent ten minutes of orangey delights. i'd call that visit a win!

thing thursday: thrift

aside from a couple of great baby garments, my thrifting adventures brought in these odd items.

a stack of melamine plates. great for camping, me thinks.



i've been wanting a vinyl table cloth to use on occasion on our outdoor table or when we're having a rainy camping weekend (like last time). but i was hoping to find a unique one, or at least one that has a vintage quality. when i came across this i thought it pretty much fit the bill. and who could resist a table cover with a design of sewing notions! not me i guess. . .



but the plates and the table cloth together? i don't think so!

thing thursday

just a couple of things from the thrift store visit yesterday.

can you believe that i actually thought twice about purchasing this owl trivet? i can't. i'm so glad i gave in to the impulse.



and a splendid stripey romper for my boy. i love it when i find a piece of baby clothing that costs ten percent of its outrageous retail price (around $60! just to get pooped and spat on!).

thing thursday

yes, i am trying to have little themes here, to motivate me daily. alliteration is not required, but seems to crop up regardless. thursday has at times been thrift thursday. but thing thursday casts a wider net. a day to talk about, well, any:thing! this can include thrifted treasures, a favorite corner of my home, tashi's creations, beloved gifts, special books.

which leads me to a recent find, ritual of the hearth, an awesome hippy dippy cookbook i found at a used bookstore yesterday.



it features trippy line drawings and some of the oddest and most enticing recipes, like pearadise, oatmeal nectar, queen of mushroom soup, kumquat relish, celery hearts hurrah, sour cherry soup and crepes rhubarb. the recipes are seasonally arranged and menus are provided for a number of cosmic occasions, such as dawn of spirit, a moonlight picnic, feast of scorpio, and isolation.





another thing: tashi recently started a button collection. aunt sue alerted the masses, and nanna was the first to send in a deposit. the bag full of buttons was promptly emptied on to the rug, where we sat sorting them into piles of cloth buttons, metal buttons, christmas buttons, etc. when i was in sixth grade i collected beer cans. my daughter is doing so much better!

a whole lot of random blog

at week's end we embarked on our usual ritual of fridays after five, and this time ran into molly & john. it was such a pleasure as it's been a long time since we've seen molly & john!



in addition, we saw patricia and chris, who also seem to have a weekly fridays after five ritual. we are very excited for chris who had an art in place piece approved!

speaking of art, and not to belabor the point, but i have photos for sale in downtown charlottesville! vijay of sugar snap consignment (in york place on the downtown mall), thought some of my images would be appealing to parents setting up nurseries. but of course, anyone can buy them if they so desire.



and at long last, here are two prints by erica vess that i purchased from a hip little craft fair *** three *** years ago. yes, three. i wanted to have them professionally framed but kept putting it off, as framing is not on the top of the list of priorities when it comes to expenses. finally i decided to purchase two floating frames. they make me happy.





this week also brought a wee bit of thrifting success. i found this little treasure: a vintage suit for tristan. at first i thought it was a bit feminine, what with the lacy collar and all. but the fact of the matter is, there once was a time when little boys wore lace. the grandma looking through the bin with me was adamant that this outfit was indeed for a boy. we'll say gender neutral at least.



and i also found this sweet little tugboat suit.



which is just as cute from the back.



and for myself, two linen skirts and a couple of shirts. here i am standing on the edge of the bathtub modeling one thrifted shirt/skirt combo. you can't beat a linen skirt in perfect condition for $3, which when new would probably retail for $60 or more.



finally, i can't leave out a tribute to tashi. she has been so patient and helpful this summer. it won't go down as one of the most exciting summers in the history of her life, but it will be the summer of fond newborn brother memories. and lots of reading. and re-reading.



and boundless creativity. recently i came home with fresh corn on the cob from the farmer's market and my talented girl went right to work with the husks.

mulling over mullien and other tuesday morning pastimes

this morning molly & i took a nice walk on the stretch of rivanna trail near her house. we were first greeted by this sweet turtle.


we were next greeted by tall mullien.


we also found feathers, st. john's wort and a cicada. the poison ivy, i hope, kept to itself.

on my way home i decided to make a quick stop at the salvation army, 'cuz you never know what treasures might await you. for me there were some embroidered pillow cases. the fabric is a bit yellowed with age. any suggestions on how to whiten up the fabric whilst preserving the embroidery?


and an oh so sweet little vintage tea cup.


and a very cute skirt for tashi.


when i arrived home i said hello to a sunflower just waiting to show its colors.


and a bright little bunch of nasturtium planted in a broken tea pot.


the garden is wee, but happy.



as if i need to waste more time on the internet, i've been trying to beat my high score on

go go plant

thrift thursday (a day late)

yesterday i stopped by the spca thrift store which definitely is in the lead for kitschy finds. it is fun but a little sad to see the cats when you first enter the store. they are in cages, but a happy thought is that they are set free to roam the store at closing time.

i scored four vintage atomic snowflake bowls. i'm a sucker for the 50's atomic patterns.



and these cute cups. i like how they stack.




a whole bunch of wrapping paper for a buck, this being the nicest of the lot.



and a needlepoint kit, 100% linen placemats & napkins.



there were four of these in the store, unopened. the little black & gold sticker makes me think they are vintage, but perhaps that is a faulty premise. i think kits like these are a little funny, but why not!



update: i googled Lansburgh's, the name of the store on the price tag of the needlwork kit, and it is a long defunct family owned department store that was in washington, dc. so the kit is indeed an oldie.

may be

while dan was in another country with my camera, i was not able to post a photo of this marvelous shroom tray i found for a buck at the thrift store. i think it's marvelous anyway!



also while dan was away, our lawn grew knee high. our mower is way too heavy for me to haul out of our root cellar. not only that but, it intimidates me. so our lawn grew and grew, and once dan returned, it rained and rained so the lawn was too wet to mow. finally last night it seemed dry enough, so he mowed it down. the front lawn anyway. we kinda like it long with all the wildflowers and plantain, so we left the back lawn as is. it's more like a back meadow.



tashi loved having a long lawn and she was carving out little spaces in it. she also created this cute grass hut for the fairies.



and quite the delicious looking feast.



i made sure to gather up some of the plantain before it was mowed down. i should have made salve, but instead i made plantain ice cubes. first i made an infusion by soaking the chopped up leaves in hot water for 24 hours. then i strained the liquid. then i froze it in ice cube trays. plantain ice cubes are particularly soothing when rubbed on poison ivy. first there is the cold, which numbs the itch. and then there is the soothing plantain, good for the skin. it also cools the sun burn, or any rash. alternately, you can drop some plantain ice cubes into water or tea; it will cool your drink and infuse it with minerals. does anyone know about nature's band aid? got a mosquito bite? pick a plantain leaf, chew it a bit, and then place the masticated blob on your itchy. aaaaa, so soothing. plantain is good green friend. salve is probably best. but when you don't have time to make salve, plantain ice cubes are pretty cool.




two kinds of common plantain

the other day was mayfair at tashi's school. i was a tarot card/animal oracle reader and it was really fun. child after child was finding a familiar in the animal oracle. the earth dragon came up over and over again. all those earthy waldorf kids! and i did a few miraculous three card tarot readings for adults. it was very inspiring and i'm thinking about going into business (i once was in business doing tarot readings, but a busy life took me elsewhere for a while).



tashi's class did the maypole dance. it was really great! take a looksee!



happy may to you all. may your life make a pretty weave.

freecycle singer

oh how lovely. today i was gifted with an antique singer sewing machine, through the amazing freecycle program. to add to the fun, the giver was a fellow blogger. equally wonderful to receiving this amazing vintage sewing machine was meeting tracey and her precious baby girl, willa, on their beautiful sugar hollow property. i love it when the online world becomes onland.



i came home and before even unloading the groceries i plugged in the sewing machine and listened to its pretty hum. it works! it has a light! it's so solid and handsome.



i will have to find a manual to figure out how to thread it. hopefully then i will endeavor to make some special items on it. there is something so pleasing about it's purr! its ebony glean. the golden filigree. its iron years.



gazing at it i can't help but wonder whose hands originally worked it. was she a young girl? a grandma? was it given to her as a beloved gift, or did she work hard to pay for this tool herself? did she find peace and satisfaction in sewing garments for her children, cloths for her table? or was she weighed down with domestic demands, this being yet another shackle?



i am so fortunate to have been given this, simply, out of the blue. there are no demands on me to produce from it. with such freedom, its possibilities broaden. my enthusiam grows.

soon, happy machine, you will be threaded and singing your favorite song.