Good Busy

Today was the day that I begin to winterize the house.
That involves finding places for all the furniture taken outside for the summer and rearranging the living room furniture for good fireplace views.
I also had to find a new home for Auction Score of yesterday.
Couldn't put it too near the fireplace and risk drying out the wicker so it found a happy spot at the foot of the stairs. A convenient spot for putting on/off shoes and parking purses and a convenient pull in an extra chair location when the room gets needy for seats. It's happy there, don't you think?
Crazy Dee's expecting her Seventh Grandchild soon. There will be a baby shower this weekend and the 2G's Mama and I are working on a good group gift; a little registry and a little homemade makes a good balance. Homemade spit up cloths are fun and personal to the baby of the day. Little Jonathan Blair will be quite proud of his initials on his very own spit up cloths!
Fun, fun stuff!

Long (Good) Day at the Auction!

As soon as I walked in, I saw it. Even with this older gentleman parked in it the whole day, I still really wanted to take it home. If I had to take the older gentleman in the deal, then so be it. It's not like I haven't cared for an elder gentlemen before. When Hubby gave me the okay to bid up to a certain amount, I was ready. Even if we had to wait FIVE hours whilst the auctioneer had to auction off an INORDINATE amount of knives of ALL kinds! I kept checking with hubby, making sure he still wanted to stay and he affirmed that he was just dandy. We were both bereft that we did not own a large truck and a large storage unit. The wonderful furniture at this sale, went for sinfully low, low prices. If I thought I'd see the day, Child of Oak Furniture Regime, that a 48 inch solid oak table from the 30's would sell for 25.00, I would have called you crazy. That's what it was like all day...Hubby and I staring at each other in disbelief at the quality of furniture going, literally, out the door.
But this little sweetie came home with me...(sans the nice gentleman!)




One drawback to the trade off of our Cash for Clunkers...
Sharky, the Hyundai was a little put out having to go to auction. We finally convinced her that she looked buff carrying around furniture. One good umph and my new wicker acquisition was in the back seat! Did I mention that it has springs? And that there has only been one paint job in many, many years? And that it has CRYSTAL CLAW FEET? Never in all my Wicker Collecting, have I seen claw feet on an item! Tomorrow, I will show you where it got located....


(P.S. This lovely woman had the nerve to sit in front of me and taunt me with her beautiful hair! Quite a bit of coveting going on today....! Had to take a photo of it and put in my Things I Must Do Before I Get Put In The Casket. Grow amazingly long red hair?? Good luck Deb.....:D!)

Porch Time

Nothing I like better than some porch time.
Been that way since I was very young and my grandmother had this tiny, tiny house that had one awesome front porch. She had this mission oak type porch furniture, and to this day I can still smell the summer that clung to the chintz cushions on that lovely furniture. Sitting in this shaded, screen covered room, with huge hydrangea bushes on both sides, I would sip on my 7 up sherbet float that she made just for me and dream, perhaps, of the day when I would have my own wonderful Porch World.

Since that time, I have accumulated porches and memories along the way.
Even our first apartment has an enclosed porch that I immediately wanted to set up like Grandmas. Our first house had a nice little porch with a swing that brought my first two babies bliss on hot summer days.

Our second house was the porch that remains in my children's memories. A small screened in porch became host to innumerable visitors. Every space was covered with a comfy spot to perch with a neighboring table to lay the inevitable snacks brought out to entice guests to stay longer. The porch evolved and had themes each year. New paint, a ceiling fan, small lamps, many cushions. Lots of naps. How in the world could such a small area host such memories, I have no idea, but I can still picture myself with friends, laughing till way late, while our children played kick the can or flashlight tag.

Now I have my grown up porch. Wide and comfortable, it can accommodate the size of my growing children. We do not have to stumble over each other's feet or risk walking on someone to get around. Wicker collected from many years, finds a home on my porch. I have a wicker porch swing from many years ago thanks to an auction, a rocker from a garage sale, and a small dining set from an estate sale. The one thing my heart has always longed for, wicker-wise, was a chaise lounge. People do not usually let go of those things. They keep them till they are done or they end up in an antique store, out of my range.

Then this happened:
Baby Girl's Mother in law asked me if I wanted a wicker ottoman. I NEVER say no to anything wicker. I gave her an affirmative and a few weeks later, she showed up in her truck with her amazing chaise lounge! The look on my face had to have startled her because she told me quickly, if you don't want it, you don't have to take it! She mistook my awe with crazed disgust. (I'll have to check to see how similar those looks are! :D)
I was speechless.
She had no room for it in her recent downsizing and knew I owned a home for Unwed Wicker. She knew where to take it. Even if she had trouble with it's name, it mattered not....I was going to own a wicker chaise lounge..For my grown up porch!

Last Friday, Faithful Friend, tried it out and proclaimed it very adequate and terribly addictive and stayed till way late while a storm raged outside of the porch.

I love porches.