I need an intervention......

Yesterday I had to go and get pig feed. We are going to a couple sales this weekend and will hopefully have 4 pigs for the county fair by Sunday night.

Of course, I drove past my favorite junk store and had to stop!

This chair was sitting outside for $3....

And this wooden rocking chair was $5.....

This rocker was a very pretty green, but I found some black spray paint in the basement and painted it right up.

And this ladder was $13.....

Yes....it's laying on it's side in our living room as it's too tall to stand upright in the corner like I had wanted. I should have known that might be a problem when it had to fit in my Durango from front windsield clear to the back window:) Todd says he can cut it down so it will fit.....

The metal chair is already in place on the deck. I do have this metal chair which is similar to it, and am going to paint both chairs the same color. Any suggestions? I was thinking black or red....

Of course, after I got done at the Junk Store, I had to take my finds home before I could actually go get pig feed. sigh. But it was a gorgeous day for a drive seeing as how it was in the low 80's!

Once I finally made it home, I put the wooden rocker on our walk-out patio. And then decided that I really should paint the table and chairs that are down there now. So the table and chairs now have 1 coat of black paint.... I've had the new umbrella for the table for a while now, so that came out as well:

Ignore the flowerbed behind the table which I haven't cleaned out yet.... and the siding hanging down off of the house.... It was all ripped off of the house in a big windstorm that we had in March - the contractor is supposed to be coming this week or next to put new siding on that end of the house...

Slowly but surely I am getting my flowerbeds in order. Last fall I killed a bunch of my flowerbeds...they were getting too overgrown and too messy. On Sunday we worked outside all. day. long. I cleaned out flowerbeds and mowed the yard while Todd helped me with the heavier stuff (like edging the flowerbeds) and hauling manure...And I'm about half done:

The chicken coop:

One of my beds along the driveway going back to the hay barn:

The first flowerbed I ever put in: This shed was the only thing on the property when we moved in (except for the house) and one of the first things I did was this flowerbed:

We had 5 yards of mulch delivered on Tuesday night....I'm sad to say it's all gone and I'm probably going to have to order about 5 more yards.....the skidloader is EXCELLENT for hauling mulch though....not very much shoveling by hand at all.....you can see in the one picture of the chicken coop the ruts that I put in the ground with the skidloader spreading mulch....I'm just so very thankful I didn't TIP the skidder.....guess when the ground is wet you can't turn very sharp....lol

And my deck.....with the hanging basket the kids brought me for Mother's Day!

So the rest of the week? We'll spend it finishing up the flowerbeds and getting ready for more 4-h pigs.....and I am determined not to go back to the junk store for the bench I saw there....but had no room in my Durango for:)

work

Due to the nice weather, and the new puppy, knitting has sort of taken a backseat. But I'm still flying through test knitting this sweater (this picture was a few days ago - I've got the back, the right front and half of the left front done):


I love it. I love the yarn, love the construction but am not sure that I will like seaming it up when the knitting is done.


And I FINALLY remembered to take a picture of my medicine cabinet. Which will be painted white on Thursday afternoon and hung in our bathroom.



We've been spending a lot of time in the barn with Punxs. Who is very, very hairy. We try to give him a bath every day (no soap) and blow dry him. The drying takes about an hour and a half to get him good and dry. Jessie's first show of the year is April 11th so we've really got to get moving.

Barlie supervises from whatever comfy spot she can find - in this case Jessie's sock drawer.

I hope everyone is enjoying a sunny day - it's supposed to be in the high 70's the rest of the week here. I. cannot. wait.

Kris

Thrifty finds

Yesterday I had to leave work early for Jessie's recorder/choir concert. And I had to drive almost to my favorite junk store to drop some papers off at somebody's house. So I had to stop in there.

Nothing really caught my eye until I saw this (which will be turned upside down to make a table out of):


And then I saw this:

And thought they would be perfect on our deck. I'm putting up the gazebo tomorrow (it is supposed to be in the high 50's and sunny, so I'm ignoring all that white stuff for the moment) so that we will be all ready to enjoy the warm weather. In years past I've put a table and chairs out there so we can eat, but it's rather cramped. So this year, I'm putting out chairs and a glider just to sit. Of course, I need to find another chair and the glider but.....I will. And if the chair is $12.00, I cannot leave it sit, right?

Then, as I was getting ready to walk out the door, I saw the most PERFECT thing for me. And it only had a price tag on it of $15.00. It has a couple small tears but nothing that can't be fixed. And the binding is rather frayed. But I'm thinking to set out on the deck - it's just perfect.

Jessie already tried to hijack the quilt for her bed. Which may still happen. If I'm feeling generous. Maybe.

It was the best $32.00 I've spent in a looonnnngggggggggg time.

And I've decided I'm going back there today or tomorrow. When you see a wooden medicine cabinet (with a mirrored front) and don't think anything of it, even though the price tag is only $5.00, and the sucker is HEAVY, and then you have a dream about that medicine cabinet in your bathroom, that is a sign, right????????

Hope everyone has a sunny weekend
Kris

Fast and Furious!

Between shopping (I thought I was doing good.....until I made a list):

this is MY christmas present*. I lost the picture of the marathon shopping session I did on Saturday that I had to text to Todd when he asked me what in the heck I did all day. The kids were lucky they were able to squeeze into the Durango among all the packages and bags and didn't have to ride in the luggage rack.

Basketball practices:

believe me, 8:30 a.m. practices are no fun. But that two hours is nice to myself:)

And some furious knitting:

a back and one front side of Jessie's Central Park Hoodie. I still have to attach 1 side and the sleeves, and put on the hood and the button band ribbing. All is knit but the button band, the hood and 1 sleeve......

I just may pull it all off. I'm sure I'll be burning the midnight oil tonight and tomorrow night, but....

It will be so worth it come tomorrow night and Christmas morning and day.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Kris

*yes, I buy my own Christmas presents. Thank you junk stores.....Saves us a lot of fights and headaches. This ancient wood cabinet will grace my kitchen, which will out of necessity get demolished sometime this coming spring.....

Something Old

Yesterday, I had to go to a town about 20 min. away to get one single ingredient for the feed that Todd is going to make for our cows this weekend. He thought I would complain (I am one that when I am done working, just want to go home. Do not stop anywhere, do not do anything. Just. Go. Home).

Oh no - because I would drive right by my favorite junk store - Useful Junk. Actually, more importantly, it should be called Cheap Useful Junk.

A few weeks ago I found there some old Pyrex baking dishes and mixing bowls there. And I LOVE them. I have plastic ones, but that just doesn't cut it for dumping the mashed potatoes into for Sunday dinner and sitting on the table.

I went back and snagged these beauties for $8.00. Yes, all 3 of them for $8. I'm hoping that was a good deal. The 8x8 dish already has been put to use for dinner last night (venison pot pie), and the large mixing bowl in the back is the perfect size to hold Tyler's popcorn snack at night. I have another one from my last trip the same size, which holds Jessie's popcorn.

Have a good weekend everyone! I have to work tomorrow:( but Sunday will be a day of fun - cleaning out my sewing/computer room. I think I'm getting the bug to sew again..........

Kris

A finish

My lady sweater is done. Except for blocking and weaving in the ends. I broke down and tried it on last night as soon as I finished - hopefully blocking it will relax it a little longer:)

And I have something in mind for a new project for a friend. The first one I tried for her I didn't like the color....

I found this little shelf at a junk store. Seriously, the store is called "usefull junk". Todd needs to cut about 2" off the tops of the 4 corners so it will slide right up against my cabinet. And paint it- I know I want a yellow and red kitchen, but this is a little too red. But for $3, I'm happy:) And the little pyrex casserole dish? 50 cents.....

And the saddle? More than likely sold. They just want to make sure it fits their horse, which will happen this weekend.

My coat turned into a purse is coming - I have to wait for Todd to hammer on the gromets. We won't talk about the ding I put in the kitchen counter when I tried to use the hammer to put them on:) Hopefully this weekend. I now know why the directions said to do this on something really hard, like concrete.......

Vintage Sheet Love

How bout a little vintage sheet love to brighten everyone’s day???

These:

Or these:

Or this, which looks suspiciously like a set of sheets that my sister and I had growing up (the one on the right), which is why I brought them at Goodwill for on Jessie’s bed…….

Since one of her sets of sheets was looking like this:

All of these were picked up at the Goodwill in Ashland, Ohio for the grand total of $19.22 - and one of the employees saw me coming in and said "here comes the sheet lady again." But seriously - can you find such cool looking sheets in the stores nowadays?

Sad that I didn't even make it through half of the rack of sheets before I had my arms full (and I have a policy with myself.....when my arms are full - I stop). But I'll go back here the first of April for some more....

Uses for Vintage Sheets

Several of you had asked about the Vintage Sheet Quilt.

I find my old sheets everywhere, second hand stores, Goodwill, yard sales, my grandmother's attic. They are out there, you just need to look very, very closely. I will typically go into our local Goodwill in Ashland and Wooster once a month, more or less. And I will buy any sheet that looks remotely like it will work for something (as you can tell by my "sheet stash"):

I picked this sheet up (double bed size) for $2 today at Goodwill:

For the quilt, I cut up 6 different sheets into 10 1/2" squares. I cut the whole sheet up. I have 71 squares left (I used 54 squares on the quilt - so I have enough cut already to do 1 more quilt). The sheets were all various sizes. I backed this quilt in a sheet, and used a lightweight poly-cotton batting. I bound it in cotton, using strips from different fat quarters. All the sheets in this quilt were either $1 or $2 from Goodwill.

As you can see, it would work perfectly on Jessie's bed right now as is. But, she is a child who is not a quiet sleeper (note her current flip flop quilt laying beside the bed. So I think I want it 1 row wider so there is hopefully more to cover her with.

I made 2 for the kids as Christmas presents, here and here. These are both backed in flannel, with cotton binding. They are lap size and already both have seen lots of use.

The sheets have an added bonus, they can be made into pj pants. Jessie suffers from horrible eczema - to the point where her legs are an oozing mess. She cannot sleep in flannel pjs, fleece pjs or anything heavy. The sheets are perfect to make lounge pants, they don't stick to her legs when she sweats and I think they are helping us through these cold winter months with her eczema.

The sheet that I picked up today, I'm going to use it to back a sheet quilt for Jessie's bed, and then hopefully it will be big enough to make matching pillowcases for her bed. I'm on the hunt now for a fitted and flat sheet in the same floral color scheme for her bedding too. Somehow, it seems to me that the sheets I buy now, she will rip and shred while she sleeps, but the older ones will stand up to her tossing and turning (all her sheets for her bed - and I have 3 sets for both her and Tyler - have rips, tears and holes in them).

And yes, Warren, old superhero sheets would make a fantastic quilt (at least in my opinion) - a great reminder of days gone by......hehehe

Kris

It's ALL Todd's fault

Sounds good....doesn't it???

Last night at 10:00 I'm looking through the fat quarters I'm going to send for the Vintage Sheet Swap - I have 20 cut, and I thought that was a good amount to send (the number you send is how many you will receive). I can send up to 50.

And he asks me if that is enough since I pretty well depleted my supply of vintage sheets...

So I had to go to Goodwill while at lunch today and get these:

I think the one above is is actually a duvet cover made of sheeting - it will work for me!

17 sheets. All for $22. And all so I can make quilts for my kids for next summer like this and this. And pajama pants. Plus put a few more fat quarters in the ones I want to swap.

See how I rationalize - the quilts I have made both of them end up on the floor for the hot summer nights - if they have quilts made out of sheets, they should be cooler and will actually keep them on their beds.....

Excellent thrifting = one happy momma. And yes, Sara, I know you will say ICK - but this is such fun..... quilts on a budget without buying quilt quality fabric....

Kris