more (tweaking)

In the spare bedroom, this time.

This shelf - an old box I'd been holding on to for a long time.

Found in the garage and now fastened into the wall.

A headboard.

More to come, but for now, as it appears above.

(I see by the photo I could have hung the box lower...)

Also in this room, a place for two extra chairs

(chairs being one of my soft spots along with pictures/paintings and books).

When it comes to accessories, lighting and even art I’m happy to muddle in flea market finds.
 Style has nothing to do with money! (Abigail Ahern)

tweaking

Saturday, I tweaked!

The sun porch in the back of our house had become the unloading dock

for most everything all winter long.

While trying to get it straightened a bit, 

I came across both the print AND the empty frame (above).

My husband took the frame to the local hardware store and had a glass cut to fit in,

cut in insert to cover the back and applied a hanger.

I have JUST the place for it!

THEN...

he stitched the binding that had begun to detach from one of the rug's (below) back sides.

When surveying the finished product, 

I realized there were roosters in each corner and the middle!

How could I not have realized this?

Having noticed that, the logical place to put it was in front of the faux mantel

in our dining area where the five roosters join

more roosters, swan, geese and a few other miscellaneous fowl.

All items seen in these photos were garage sale or thrift store purchases

or -in the case of the mantel, for example - curbside treasures!

splurging in february

My sister's deep dish pie plate

 It started with a $9+ marked-down piece of chuck roast (reluctantly bought, I confess).

It was a bit of a splurge for me.

It's not that we don't have money to spend...

it's more about how I spend it.

(Does that make sense?)

At any rate, it made a wonderful dinner one night

for the three of us--my husband, my father and me.

Crock pot style, complete with potatoes, carrots and onions.

The following day, the leftover meat made wonderful roast beef sandwiches

enjoyed by all.

But the crowning glory of that chuck roast leftover happened at a third meal.

I sauteed a chopped onion in a tiny bit of oil and added them and a handful of frozen peas to the shredded beef and leftover potatoes and carrots (chopped finer this time).

I googled "homemade pot pies" for baking time and temperatures

and placed the filling into store-bought refrigertor pie crusts.

I used a wonderful deep-dish pie plate one of my sisters had left the last time she was here,

and invited my other sister to share the pot pie with us!

Served with a tossed salad, it made a most delicious meal!

(And we have one piece leftover.)

Ten servings from that $9+ chuck roast makes me think that I should splurge again soon!

the problem with thrift store purchased puzzles

The problem with puzzles purchased at thrift stores is that
one never knows how many pieces may be missing...

and in this case, there was actually an EXTRA piece.

Go figure!

However, the price is right and a quarter buys many hours of entertainment.

enjoyable, inexpensive, productive

These.  Five of them for $1.00!

Odd number, to be sure,

but they fit in well with my blue and white dishes.

They're a great size and glass.

I'm not a fan of plastic glasses, so having extras around

allows for the inevitable breakage.

My husband also bought two wonderful pairs of shoes - $1 each.

I bought a black tee.  I wear them almost every single day,

so I like having an extra or two in the "wings".

Most importantly, the two hours spent were enjoyable, inexpensive, and productive!

Oh.  This, too.

I have a small collection of plaques like these....