Last Saturday, I spent the day 'in town' ie, Pocatello with new friend Dixie Smith. About every 6-8 weeks or so we treat ourselves to day of browsing sans husbands, (who tend to stand nearby with hands in pockets or arms crossed, scowling). We enjoy just meandering through the many thrift stores in the area.
For me, thrift-store shopping is the ultimate in recycling. About three months ago I picked up two 'washable wool' sweaters for $1.00 each. The tag inside intrigued me "Pringles of Scotland." A little online research revealed that I'd scored two sweaters from a the oldest custom-knit clothing company in the United Kingdom, still in business, very upscale stuff. Check it out: www.pringlescotland.com.
About three weeks ago, I popped into the St. Vincent DePaul store. I love sweaters. Found myself six sweaters (four are wool), a pair of jeans, two shirts and one pair of pants for Miles, a table runner, and a light-up toy, all for $12!
Of course, I'm always on the look-out for things for Miles and have grabbed him some rather interesting Fisher-Price toys . . . there's the talking fire engine, the cootie-bug that plays six songs and lights up, and others.
The Friends of Marshall Public Library hosted their twice-annual used book sale, too. This time I found several from the 'toddler' collection, including one called The Saucepan Game. Of course, Miles and I need props to do justice to that book! So, we hauled out the ol' three-quart pan and lid plus a wooden spoon and went to town! Miles liked banging on the pan and lid, finding his stuffed puppy Carter hidden inside. Of course, we also tried out sitting on it like a stool, as shown in the picture above.
In other news, we are beginning to believe that spring is, indeed, springing as yesterday the temperature reached 70 degrees. Although the higher elevations still show pockets of snow outlining the north-faces of hills and mountains, what's left in our yard is pretty much reduced to the bits and pieces that spend all or part of the day in the shade. The pair of sandhill cranes continues to hang about and the Magpies are becoming more and more active. Despite the fact that we are looking forward to the change in seasons, spring will bring about a good deal of work for us (mostly Glenn).
We are not putting in any lawn, but the sloping side of our lot that was excavated for the house needs attention. We have ruts where rivulets of melting snow caused erosion and will need to plant some kind of ground cover. Glenn spoke with a couple of landscaping firms at the spring show; we're expecting them to call. Initial advice (and desire) is to put in native grasses and just let Mother Nature take her course. We may put some flower beds in the front along the porch rail, but we'll wait until the finishing touches are done out there -- pillars, sidewalk, etc. My goal is "maintenance free" flower beds, at least as much as possible, so I'm leaning toward sedums, Russian sage, etc.
Inside, Glenn wants to paint the garage walls and ceiling, then build shelves. We're holding off until we're guaranteed warmer weather and can keep the doors open down there. Once those two big projects are complete, we can begin organzing camping equipment and other sundry crap from the basement into the garage. Then, Glenn wants to paint the basement floor.
All of those projects and we are looking forward to getting Miles outdoors as well. We'll be washing off the wagon soon and think we'll be making some trips up and down the driveway with the ol' radio flyer in tow.
Spring also brings a significant milestone for us; on Saturday, April 11 we will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. No big hoopla planned; perhaps out to dinner . . . but 35 years!! Wow! Life sure speeds by fast! And to think, the saucepan Miles is sitting on I purchased before we got married. And people scoffed when I spent a huge (back then) $300 on a complete set of stainless steel, aluminum core, cookware -- at an average of less than $15 per piece -- with a traveling salesman! Scoff, indeed. . . . 35 years later and just look at where this saucepan has travelled!
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