WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

I'm sure some of you have been wondering, "What's up with Sue?", as I haven't blogged since June 1st. No, I haven't died and fallen off the planet!

To be honest, I just haven't felt like it. No particular reason, but here I am! No vacations this summer, just staying home with my regular routine. My next-door neighbors put in a swimming pool . . . and a nice tall fence. They did all kinds of fancy stone work and, boy, am I glad that's done - the stone saw was killing us!

The weather here in mid-to-eastern Massachusetts was extremely dry all summer and cooler than normal, which was fine by me. Western MA, in particular, got all kinds of intense thunderstorms but not us. We're supposed to get some rain in a few days and I'll certainly be glad for it.

I'm just glad it's Fall and it's football season again!

I've been doing some thrifting. Here are a few selections. I'm not sure if this is a chocolate pot or not, it's about 8-1/2" tall, and it only cost $7.00! I love it.

I was so thrilled to find this footstool with a bowl of cherries on it!

This bowl is really cool, in my opinion. Love the flowers on the handles. Unfortunately, no lid came with it but that's okay. And, yes, it is Hall's!

The tall brownish vase in the center is my most recent acquisition. Another no-namer.

My father-in-law brought this dirty, cobwebby, ugly dresser up from Florida last month. I was about to tell him to chuck it in the dump when he showed me the drawer that turns into a desk!

He said it was store-bought, I thought hand-made. He was right, there's a plate inside the top drawer:

I looked it up online and found only a few pieces of furniture by them. Must have been a small company. I absolutely hate the drawer pulls and might replace them at some point, but saving the originals. Here's a full view of it, housing some of my craft supplies:

And there you have it. See you next time around!

NEW TABLE

We've acquired yet another "new" kitchen table! This came from my aunt's estate; she passed in January. My sister and cousin have been cleaning the house and this was the only item left that no one else wanted. I was so surprised because it was my aunt's husband's dad's, then they inherited it. My earliest recollection is of it being in the same dining room in the same house in the early 60's up until the present. So I have no idea how old it really is. Mister can't tell if it's mahogany or not, and it's about 54 inches across.

Obviously, Mister hasn't had time to put it together yet - where do I put all my clutter until then? LOL!

RECENT FINDS

First, I feel the need to apologize for not blogging much. I may have mentioned before that my 21-yr-old daughter has severe anxiety issues and doesn't work, so I let her use the computer most of the time.

Now, here are a few of my recent thrift store finds, along with a few nice freebies from down the street! I'll start with this very sturdy Bakelite handled utensil spoon.

Next is a pretty red teacup. A little bit beat up, but so beautiful! I'm in love with the inside rim. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

This grouping is just a few odds-and-ends. Sometimes the little things are the best!

Now, for the freebies: This nice wicker rocking chair was out with the trash just two doors down. I knocked and asked if it was broken or anything, and carted it on home!

This laundry sink was also out with the trash on another week, and about ten houses down. I'm thinking maybe I could use it gardening somehow. It was too good to just leave there so, of course, I made Mister drive down and retrieve it!

See the large light fixtures behind it? Mister brings these home from the plant he works at. When they go to replace them and throw them away, he asks for them. They'll probably spend a lifetime in the barn but, hey, they're free!

A FREEBIE AND A BARGAIN

I'm coming off of Vacation Bible School week! Jade went, and Katherine volunteered this year.

As you know, Mister is "the King of the Freebies", and here's his latest find - a chiminea! Quite rusted. I hope he finds the time to sand it down and paint it. What fun it would be to sit outside in the evenings!

He stopped by the thrift store last week just as they were loading this table off a truck to put in the store. The guy said he was going to ask $65 for it, but he'd give it to Lee for $20 so they wouldn't have to lug it in! Gotta love a bargain! Now, where to put it . . .

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!