SNOW AND FIGURINES

Hollyhocks and Petunias

It snowed last night! October 27th! The temp went down to below freezing; it was 30F/-1C this morning. It was only an inch but, still, it was frozen to the truck and I had to scrape with a kitchen spatula (vintage, mind you) and pour water over the windshield because the defroster wouldn't kick in fast enough!

Even here in Massachusetts, we rarely get snow in November, let alone October. The earliest that I remember snow was about 16 years ago when it snowed on my birthday, November 13. We're expected to get 2-5" more tomorrow night (Saturday). This is unheard of . . . and I won't stand for it! (I better go lay down.)

I'm glad I took cuttings on Monday, although these geraniums surprisingly made it through the night. The tall one in the back still has a blossom on it!


Now, for the pleasantries of vintage figurines that came from the auction last weekend.

I'll be selling these pretty pink Made-in-Japan candlesticks on Etsy soon. The angels will be added to my Christmas figurine collection.

All of these ones are Lefton. The feather wings on the February angel are in perfect condition, and I was so excited to get a November angel! The birds and choirboys will go on Etsy, also.

Now, this pretty little "tussie-mussie" is only about 1-1/2" across and so old-fashioned. This was in that suitcase of doll clothes.

And, finally, this armillary, which was my most expensive single item ($15). It stands about 24" tall and, when I went to pick up my items at the end of the auction, I found out it had a Home Goods sticker on the bottom - on clearance for $22! Oh, well, I've always wanted one. Mister will polyurethane it for outdoors next Spring.

All in all, I spent about $45 at the auction - the suitcase with doll clothes was $5, a box of vintage Fisher Price toys (that I'll show on Rednesday) was $4, some tin cans were $4, and the armillary $15. At the end, the auctioneer said that all the leftover items could be taken for a donation. I gave $15 for all the figurines, a vintage child's stepstool, a vintage cookie jar, the vintage handkerchiefs, and a vintage 60's full first aid kit. Pretty good haul this time around!

That's making me feel a little bit better about the snow! . . . NOT!

I'm linking this post to Pink Saturday this week!

REDNESDAY - SECRETS!

Can you keep a secret? Sure, you can! We all have harmless secrets that we keep from our spouse, family, best friends, etc. I have a secret - it's called my blog! It's a secret that Mister and my family know nothing about, except for my 18-yr-old (she could care less).

Why keep it a secret? It's like a diary, it's very personal to me. I can express myself anyway I want to here without criticism. Mister knows I read blogs and have blog friends, and win blog giveaways occasionally. He thinks that's wonderful - but he doesn't know I have my very own blog! ;) Of course, I don't write anything bad about him or others.

So, Monday he comes home with some stuff that was left on the curb after a weekend yard sale. I wanted to take pics of the great vintage graphics on some of them, so I used the excuse that I would look them up online to see if they were worth anything!

Aren't these fab?

This lid has got to be the best!

Not red, but the lettering is just too cool not to show!

I stole this one from him!

This is awesome! Why would anyone just leave this? He said this is his third vintage suitcase. Uh oh! An official collection!

Now, over to an unrelated pic (sort of). Mister picked up this drink tub with stand last year. It has a hole in the bottom for ice drainage. I knew that filling it with potting soil would be too heavy, so I cut a thick piece of styrofoam to fit most of the bottom half of the tub. Then went the potting soil and Impatiens that I grew from seed.
The cats enjoy laying underneath it, on the well cover! See that pile of mulch in the background? Another freebie! The house across the street from my mo-in-law is for sale and they were sprucing up the yard. This left-over mulch was in the driveway with a free sign, so of course Mister filled up the pick-up (one and a half times) and brought it home! Yay!

REDNESDAY - RED HOT SUMMER!

Well, as I mentioned last week, Global Warming, I mean Summer, has hit New England! Thursday and Friday this week are supposed to be 96F/36C, which is mega-hot for us. Thursday's description on the news station says "blazing heat"! But just think how boring life would be if we didn't have weather to complain about!

Last week I went with Katherine and her friends to see the Transformers movie - awesome!

Yesterday we went to Toys R Us to buy My Little Ponies - she collects everything! It's amazing the seriousness of figure and action figure collectors. She was telling me that most Pony collectors are adults and that Hasbro actually listens to the collectors about which ponies should or shouldn't be in the new show or in their line of toys!

Also last week, Mister cleaned all the green mildewy stuff off the north side of the house, which happens to be our main entrance on the deck. He scrubbed the deck clean and re-stained it. Got rid of the cat "house" and built a new one. Then he repainted this funky retro metal couch that he picked up last year. I'd say the deck's looking pretty good now!
I've always been forgetting to take a snapshot of my cutesy S&P cabins - one with a red roof and one with a blue roof.

I picked up this garden flag at the end of the season last year. I needed a flag holder for it and had this plastic hanger that is split in the middle of the bottom - voila! A temporary (if not permanent) solution!

REDNESDAY IN MAY

I hope you all had a wonderfully royal weekend! And I'm SO happy that bin Laden was found!

I have a delightful old house to show you this week. This house and barn sits in the center of my town. It is so quintessentially New England! (Say hi to Conrad, my red truck that Teen named!) Isn't it cool that they painted the fence black? I love it!


But, that's not the only cool thing about it. Let me walk across the street and take a closer shot of the fence. Enlarge the photo to look at the decorative display of black-painted garden implements! It might be a gate. Great idea!

But, there's something even more delightful when you turn to the right and look up at the porch . . . isn't this a fantastic arrangement of crocks and pots? I drive by this house twice a day when I take Becky to school - it makes me so happy!

Across the street, a few houses down, is this beautiful display of tulips. The flower bed wraps around the right side of the house, too.

What reds have you got to share this week?

Oh, by the way, if you need me this Spring and Summer . . .

MY LITTLE PATIO

I have a little "patio" that I made with (free) bricks a few months back. It's just a small part of my dream patio behind the house (technically the side yard, but we call it the back yard).

With our (very) modest income, I try to do the best I can with what I have - the "shed" was made by Mister from two large shipping crates, sided with two small windows. All free materials, it stands about 5 feet tall.
On the left of the shed is this fabulous cedar arch that came from a yard sale. It has a pot of trailing gloxinias behind it so the flowers climb on it. Those are pink Four O'Clocks and white Cosmos in front.

These plastic chairs just won't die! We've had them for about 10 or 12 years. Pillar free (side of road), trellis $2 at yard sale - supporting a Morning Glory.

Mister picked up this arch/bench/trellis new-in-box at a yard sale four years ago. We've moved it around the yard a few times. The white trellis piece was free, I think. Pillow cushions are from an old sofa and the two smaller pillows were a gift from Dawn of Cottage State of Mind. (Dawn, I sprayed them with a UV protectant so they won't fade!) I'm growing Morning Glories and Thunbergia up the sides, and a planter of Coleus underneath.

The umbrella was free from a neighbor down the street who decided she didn't want to drill holes in her deck to secure it. I've always wanted one of these side-arm umbrellas - Mister had some sort of long (very long!) screws or something, and just put it into the ground. Even when it's windy it doesn't wobble! The planter (free from a friend) at the bottom of the stairs has two Sweet Potato Vines in it. The blue lawn chairs were free when my sister moved to an apartment.


Originally, when we put up the (prefab) house, it had a window where the blue door is, but I had them change it to a door. I'm glad I did, we use it all the time! (It goes into my craft/laundry room). We wanted to put in a large cement or paver patio here, but as time went on and funds got low, it never materialized. Grass has slowly grown into a lot of this sandy area. Thursday, on Freecycle, I saw a listing for 50 free large patio pavers, so I sent the guy an email saying I definitely wanted them. I haven't heard back yet, even though I sent a second email practically begging for them! I'm hoping he just went away for the weekend and will contact me tomorrow.

Here's the view looking out from the door. Nice and relaxing! (Except for the noisy kids on the other side of the trees who always hit foul balls into my yard!) Mister built the stone walls from rocks on our property and made the steps from the foundation stones of our old (old!) house.
So, you see, my little patio area has lots of potential - where are Yard Crashers when you need them!

REDNESDAY - DR. WHO?

Okay, so - I am so totally late for Rednesday this week! Why, you ask? Well . . . Teen and I have been watching a marathon of Dr. Who to get caught up on the past few seasons with David Tennant. So we finished tonight at 8:30. Awesome series! If you're not familiar with it yet, it's a sci-fi series on BBC America. (Thank goodness I found a photo with red in it!) Dr. Who is from a RED planet with RED grass - my kind of living!

Of course, I'm never without reds - here's a shot inside my garden shed with a few red handles and a red vintage watering can with a dwarf on it!

Why, I even have a "gardening" kaleidescope with a red wheelbarrow on it!

It even has red inside it!

My apologies to all of you whose blog I didn't visit last Rednesday. With an average of 45 - 50 participants each week, it's difficult getting around - I think this was the first week I haven't completed the list. One reason is that I now watch my friend's 6-yr-old on Wednesdays and Thursdays because my friend is recently divorced and has to work for a living. So I help her out by watching her daughter for free - two long days (I thought I was done with kids!), but I know it's what the Lord would have me do. So I'll do my best to get through the list each week - I hate missing out on your posts!

NEW PLANTER IDEA

I was blog hopping this morning, and ran across Deborah Jean's Dandelion House blog. She's a fellow Bay Stater and has one gorgeous garden! I just had to share this planter idea of hers - I think it's so unique, and thrifty!
Look at that beautiful black organic soil!

Now, get to work and see what kind of containers this inspires you to use! And, by all means, go visit Deborah Jean!

REDNESDAY -

Welcome to the first Rednesday of May! Now I don't have any sexy red high heels to show off, but I do have my red sneakers! (Better than nothin'!)

. . . and this red plastic-coated wire shelf that I usually put my seedlings on.

Have you ever seen this type of scissors before? They're for shredding paper/documents without the big machine, but I use them for fringing. They're fun!

I hope this is enough red to hold you until next week. No? Okay, one more - my Hen and Chicks and a red mushroom! (sorry it's a bit bright; mid-day sun!)


The sun was covered over with rain clouds late this afternoon, so brighten my life with your reds!

A FEW FLOWERS AND A FREEBIE

It's Spring, and I can't help but show off my blooms - I love flowers so much!

Grape Hyacinths

Primroses and Hyacinths

Johnny Jump Ups

Pulmonaria (Raspberry Splash)

I tell ya - Mister is a "freebie magnet"! This is what he picked up for me the other day - a 26" (66cm) pillar! Not too heavy, I can even lug it around!
I'll have fun choosing where to put it, and which plant to put on top of it!


See you tonight/tomorrow for Rednesday!