This is For the Birds!

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her (feathered) household

Have you missed me? Tell the truth, did you even notice that I've been absent from the blogosphere a lot lately?

I've had issues.

Not major , capital "I" Issues, but issues, never-the-less. Internet issues. Computer issues. Camera issues. Household issues. Dental issues. Issues issues.

And so I will suffice it to say, Life Happens.

One of pleasures I've re-discovered while all of this Life has been Happening, is feeding the wild critters in my yard.

I used to love feeding the birds and squirrels and watching them outside my kitchen door. Then we had a stray cat that moved into the barn next door, which I also fed. I couldn't help it, I'm a sucker for a stray. And before we turned around twice, we had multiple cats who happily amused themselves chasing the birds and squirrels. And catching them, too. So I quit feeding the birds and squirrels because I felt as though I was luring them to their deaths. "Come my little fine-feathered friends, and feast upon this wonderful bounty of seeds. Just try not to look at the cats crouching below and eagerly licking their lips."

Then we moved away and with no free hand-outs(and a few human efforts to discourage them), the stray cats have all but disappeared.

So now that I'm home for while, I put out a new bird feeder, the wildlife has been flocking around. They can feast in comparative safety, on the feeder....

...and even on the ground below.

My only issue now is keeping the squirrels from chewing through the cord that holds it all up--which I've now craftily replaced with wire.

This post is linked to:

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Until next time...

Dollar Store Decorating--Thrifty Spring Wreath

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She worketh willingly with her hands
• She maketh herself (and her home) coverings of tapestry

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Spring. Here in the Gulf South, we're starting to see wild violets and flowering fruit trees; greening grass with thick clumps of new clover; and birds that are beginning their spring migration back toward the north.

Wanting to "dress up" my front door in some spring finery, but on a dollar store budget, as always, I looked to see what I might already have that I could work with.

I didn't want to tear apart my thrifty fall wreath unless I had to, so I scrounged around in my spare room/junk room closet and found this once treasured wreath--circa 1988 or thereabouts, when everything in my house (and everyone elses too!) was country blue and dusty rose. As you can see, I leaned more toward the blue family, myself. Now dusty and past it's prime, I decided it was fair game for a make-over.

The next stop was Dollar Tree, where I was found inspiration in this dragonfly windchime, then added a stem of goldenrod (the only one like it I could find, or I would have gotten a couple of these) and a roll of ribbon in a bright blue and green retro-70's floral.

Total out-of-pocket cost: $3.00.

The first step was to denude the wreath--an easy task, since most of previous decorations were attached with hot-glue, they popped right off. One or two snips of the wire holding on the bow, and I had a perfect blank canvas to work with.

Step two was to snip apart the stem of golden rod and start playing...

...till I came up with a grouping I liked. I started off making a bow with the ribbon --a fun attempt, since I haven't made a bow in years--sorry, no picture of that (it's like riding a bicycle, it all comes back to you when you start twisting and fluffing!) I decided it didn't look right with the other things, so I straightened it out and wrapped it instead, then wired on the dragon fly with some twist-tie plastic wrapped wire pieces.

And Voila'!

"Tapestry" for my door!

It even chimes just a little when you swing open the door. I find myself smiling when I catch a glimpse of it, even from inside.

This post is linked to:

Make Your Home Sing at Mom's the Word

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Just Something I Whipped Up at the Girl Creative

Making the World Cuter Monday

Made By You Mondays at Skip to My Lou

Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented

DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land

Until next time...

Thrifty Thursday--Bake Sale and Freebie Find

• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar
• She looketh well to the ways of her household

I have a confession to make. This is the real reason I started thrifting last year. Backhome Collections, a thrift store in small town DeRidder, Louisiana, has a bake sale once a month. (This is the same store where I buy stone-ground cornmeal.) It lasts for three days, and runs the first full Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of each month. The ladies from the local Mennonite church do the cooking and baking. They offer everything from cream pies with real meringue, to cakes, cookies, breads, and even casseroles.

This past weekend, my thrifty finds were a wonderful chocolate cream pie; a small "sampler" size Italian cream cake; Amish cinnamon friendship bread; and half a dozen butterhorn rolls. It may have not been the thriftiest shopping I've ever done there, but it was surely among the most delicious!

But to balance out my "un-thrifty" choices, let me show you the latest "freebie" my husband found next to the dumpster at our apartment complex in Georgia...

This after my son unloaded it at home in Louisiana. It's not vintage...

...and it definitely needs some work...

...but doesn't it have potential?

For now it has a home out in the shed while I decide what to do with it and where to put it.

But now I have a question for you Do you trash pick? Dumpster dive? I don't think we've ever actually gotten into a dumpster, but one of the advantages of living in an apartment complex is that folks put things they don't need or want that may still have some "life" left in them, beside the dumpster instead of in it.

My husband travels a lot with his job. Not in the traditional "business trip" type of travel, because he often stays in one location for months at a time, and he usually lives in a furnished corporate apartment. Sometimes I get to go with him, sometimes not. Every apartment we've ever lived in has a different definition of what constitutes "furnished", so we frequently supplement with our own things, or things we buy.

Or trash pick.

When we were in Alaska, we trash-picked a small chest-of-drawers. There were two, one of which was completely in pieces. The other one needed a couple of nails and some wood glue and it was as good as new. We put it back out when we left, and someone else snatched it up.

My husband's co-worker trash-picked several bicycles, then combined them to make good little bikes that he gave to the neighborhood kids.

We've trash picked a queen sized bedframe where we are now. It was better than the "furnished" one we were sleeping on, so we took it down and use the trash-picked one for now. (When we leave, we're changing them back and taking the "found" one with us.)

And now we have a headboard and foot board to go with it. And I proudly stand and say--"My name is Charlene, and I'm a trash picker."

This post is linked to:

Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville

Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

Until next time...

Making My Home Sing

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household...

A while back I stumbled onto a bloggy meme (that's "theme" in the non-blog world. Don't ask me.) called "Making Your Home Sing Monday." I've only linked to it once, I think, but I bookmarked the site and I've been mulling that thought over in my head ever since.

This week I want to work on making my home sing. Isn't that a concept that's just bursting with promise and imagery? It can be applied on so many levels, from practical to poetic, physical to spiritual.

How will I attempt such a marvelous feat? For me, it starts with getting my house in order physically. When my house is in order, I feel calmer, more at peace as I go about my business. So I'm going to be doing some spring cleaning. Hey, it's the south, spring comes early here, and I want to be ready.

This morning I was up in the darktime to see my son off for another week away at college. Isn't there a verse for that? Oh, yes, "She rises while it is yet night." Ugh. I've already shared my struggle with this one. I'm a night owl at heart, I think, but I know from experience that I accomplish so much more when I get up even just a little earlier. And stay off the computer. And the phone. And leave the television off. So that's on my list for personal "singing". La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

As far as the house is concerned, my goals this week are to work on my kitchen/dining area, and my bedroom. And the bathroom. And the living room. Well, maybe just a general good cleaning and straightening is in order. Last week I cleaned off the dinner table and had it set with a tablecloth and centerpiece when my son got home from school for the week, and you should have seen his face. Our families notice these things, even when we think they don't care about them.

And so for this morning, I've started washing sheets and blankets and one load of what I call "wearing clothes". I've put the tablecloth away, but I dug out some cloth napkins. I've taken my stove top apart and cleaned underneath and have the drip pans soaking. I'm planning to purge old magazines and catalogs this afternoon, and spend some time getting my coupon binder updated. Later this week I'm going to tackle dusting and vacuuming in those places that never see the light of day. Double ugh. In the meantime, I think I can hear these old boards creaking just a little. La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Spiritually, I'm doing some fasting these week, seeking the Lord's will in some areas of my life. Spending some extra time in the Word. Praying for some folks that I haven't prayed for in a while. And in my spirit, I can already hear it starting...la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

It's the sound of my home. Singing.

What are you doing the make your home sing this week?

This post is linked to:

Making Your Home Sing Monday at Moms The Word

Until next time...

Who Can Find A Virtuous Woman

• Who can find a virtuous woman? (is she just nowhere to be found?)

Did you think I'd fallen off the face of the earth? My blogging has fallen sadly by the wayside the last couple of weeks, I agree. I guess you could say that "real life" has triumphed over cyber-living, can you believe it? ;0)

And it's all because:

1. The weather has been uncooperative
2. My husband has worked some extra hours
3. I've spent a lot of time cooped up alone inside
4. I've felt peculiarly unmotivated
5. I was trying to decide what clothes to pack for a trip home I had planned
6. I spent one whole day driving 625 miles all alone
7. I've been spending time with my college son who's out of school for a few days for winter break
8. I'm just a bit nervous about an upcoming speaking engagement, so I've been doing the un-virtuous thing and just avoided thinking about it or anything else.
9. I need new glasses
10. It snowed. In the south. And stayed on the ground for almost 4 hours.
11. I had to go the dentist
12. I don't have access to high speed internet when I'm at home unless I make a special trip to town or to my folks' house--and I hate to stay on the computer all of the time I'm there.

So I haven't been blogging, either here or on my food blog.

But I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

Just in case you wondered.

Valley Rescue Mission Thrift Store Finds

• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar
• She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy

(to see this or any of the pictures up close, you can click on the picture, then use the "back" arrow on your browser to come back here)

One of my favorite thrift stores in the Columbus Area is the Valley Rescue Mission Thrift Store. Besides having a wide variety of goodies to see and buy (and their merchandise has a pretty good turnover), I know the money I spend goes to support a good cause.

Living in a furnished corporate apartment while we're in Georgia, I certainly don't need any furniture, but that doesn't stop me from looking when I spot a pretty piece.

I thought I was in love with this dresser when I spotted it. It was in good shape for it's age--some of these old pieces look good until you open the drawers, then you can see the real wear and tear on them. I think it was around $100, and I was really hankering for it, until I saw these two pieces...
I have a dresser very similar to this at home, except that on mine the center area is more "dropped" than this. What I don't have at home though..

...is the matching chiffrobe, and in almost perfect condition.

The tall door swings open for hanging clothes, and it has a smaller "cubby" sized space on the right and three drawers underneath.

The inside was pretty clean, the dovetailing at the edges where the drawer fronts attach seemed to be all intact, and the handles and hardware appear to be original.

Somebody put the drawers back in wrong, one of these is for the left side, one is a right side, but that's easily fixed.

I love, love, love the curved edges on these art deco pieces...

As well as the detailing in the wood veneers. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say these are from the 1920's, pre-depression era.

There's some damage on the bottom inside of the dressing table...

But the price is right at $225 for both pieces.

If I had room for these, I would be taking them with me on my next trip home. A little Murphy's Oil Soap and some Old Enlish scratch cover, these two would be as good as new.

This post is linked to:

Vintage Thingie Thursday at Coloradolady

Thrifty Thursday at Tales of Bloggeritaville

What vintage and thrifty finds have you spotted lately?

Until next time...

Thrifty Wintertime Wreath

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She worketh willingly with her hands

Every since I reluctantly packed away my Christmas wreath, I've wanted something new to hang on the front door of our apartment. I've been seeing some cute winter decorations on some of the blogs I follow, but most of them have snow or a snowman theme--and winter time in the south is just not snowy--not in my neck of the woods, anyway, unless it's a freak thing that comes along once in a blue moon.

So I wanted something that looked a little bare--for winter in the south--but not barren, if you know what I mean. And of course it had to be something pretty thrifty, as well.

I found this grapevine wreath at JoAnn's for $3.99, along with three little berry sprays for $1.39 each. I had originally planned to take the sprays apart and work each little stem into the wreath separately.

Just for kicks before I started taking the sprays apart, I "fluffed" them a little and worked them into the wreath along one side. I really liked the look of this, but wanted just a touch more.



I remembered the larger berry sprays I had left from Christmas, and decided to add them, as well.


It's not quite as asymmetrical as I meant for it to be, but I can tweak that. It's definitely the "natural" look I was going for, but it still needs a little something. What do you think? A trip back to JoAnn's for more berries?

I'll let you know if I decided to add to this--it may turn into the incredible changing wreath!

This week I'm linking to a new-for-me meme called "Making Your Home Sing" Monday. Doesn't that help lift all those little tasks we do to make our homes clean, cozy, and attractive to a whole different plane?

This post is also linked to:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered
Making the World Cuter
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative


Until next time...