you would buy too if it happened to you

 We were just going for a ride through the country.  

Passing through a small town, we soon realized 

we'd run into town-wide garage sales. 

 Weather was threatening and it was nearing the noon hour.
People were eager to sell, it seemed....

We made an offer on this little table, and it was accepted.

 It's going to be a sweetheart after it's painted!

(I plan to get back on the wagon next week.
See previous post if you wonder what I mean.)

falling off the wagon

I know I'm downsizing.  And I really HAVE been staying clear of thrift stores and garage sales.

Until today.

Driving through a small neighboring town on my way to visit my parents,

I stopped at a garage sale in the parking lot of the local Senior Center.

I am a sucker for prints and paintings.

That's all I'm going to say.

Items weren't priced.  Payment was on a donation basis.

I don't like those arrangements and generally walk away, but this time I didn't.
I couldn't resist the sweet, muted turquoise and yellow colors.

what's gone?

 What's gone?

Well, in addition to the odds and ends on the table above

(and a few more I hauled out when I flipped the sign to say "free"),

 this piece that we remodeled to serve as a kitchen island or work space,

 the half-round sofa table my husband fashioned from a free furniture piece,

and four of these chairs with plenty of life left in them!

The furniture pieces were sold via local facebook sales sites.

I'm making progress.

Slowly,

but surely!

new favorite

 A quick look around our house may explain why

The French Tangerine is a new favorite blog of mine.
Click on it to go check it out for yourself!

 I couldn't begin to match its sophisticated content,

 but that doesn't keep me from admiring what I see there.

Meanwhile I continue to enjoy the tangerine (and turquoise)

I've gathered from my favorite thrift stores in the past.

(Yes, you read that right - "the past"!

I've radically curtailed my excursions until I can edit 

my current collections...)

with admiration

...with admiration for all who are downsizing so successfully!

As I said on my facebook page:

Too many pillows here! All of them "speak" of another time and place...

Living well in the present means letting go of MANY things!

My challenge is compounded by the fact that I'm too lazy to have a garage sale

AND too lazy to gather it all together to give away.

It's not so much the larger, furniture pieces as the little miscellaneous stuff

I've accumulated since moving the last time over 12 years ago.

I'm open to suggestions.

simple, thrifty and refreshing - a great combination

Not all Thrifty Style here involves thrifted "treasures".  Thrifty Style includes simplicity at many levels--including food.

Now sometimes it is simpler to go out to eat, but that's not exactly thrifty.  However, our evening snack tonight is both Simple AND Thrifty.  It's one of my favorite combinations - pineapple, oranges and bananas.

When I shop, I notice what's on sale in the produce department and try to incorporate it into meals.  This week, it was fresh pineapple!  Soon I hope to be enjoying another favorite combination - green grapes, cantaloupe and pineapple.

Do you have a favorite fruit combination?

lilac-love

 

When art imitates life....

Both the painting and the white box were thrifted.

The lilacs grow beautifully free
outside our kitchen window

a little blue

 In the process of not simply de-cluttering but de-owning,

 I emptied (and sold) two small hanging spice racks (with doors, etc.).

 Inside one were these miniature bottles.

 They are awaiting my decision about whether to de-clutter or de-own them.

This is HARD!