odds and ends

 It was a beautiful day today.

I'd read about garage sales in a nearby small town,

so my husband and I decided to take a drive and check them out.

We counted our walk from sale to sale as our therapy walks prescribed post-surgery.

The Madeline books above were one of my purchases.  I can't pass them up!

 The door knob was in a "free box"!

It cleaned up beautifully.

And how about these pedestals?

And there was MORE!

curbside

Who SAYS you don't find anything curbside these days????

(Oops.  That would be me.)

Well, yesterday, the tide turned and we found THIS enroute home from

a Memorial Day visit with our son and his family. 

sell or keep?

 The price was right on this little Mersman table

we found at a garage sale Friday.

 I'm trying to decide what color to paint it...

I think this shell design will show up so well!

The size of the table makes it quite versatile

Wonder if we'll sell it or keep it???

free

A "moving sale"... I found this tin in the free box.

It came home with me and joins my collection of similar ones in a similar color family.

a tisket a tasket

 The thrift store side of my life has been neglected of late!

 However!  Yesterday we stopped at one of my favorites on the way to visit my parents.

I found the sweet white basket.  Thirty-five cents.

It joins a sewing basket that I picked up a few day ago.

Before I totally get my groove back,

I need to make a purging sweep through our back porch!

Have you purchased a charming basket lately?
***

And what's a tisket?

What's a tasket?

art at the park(view)

The cardiac unit at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne has been my tromping ground the past few days.  (My husband had quadruple bypass surgery on Wednesday.)  As I wait and walk about, I have appreciated the various art works scattered strategically throughout the halls and waiting rooms.

If the photos I took are any indication, it appears that the rural scenes are my favorites--although the colors in the floral above caught my eye, too...

These are only a few of the paintings that invite a silent look; 

a peaceful pause in the long hours that pass so slowly.

In addition to the paintings, there are large, photographic pieces and a few abstract paintings.  

It would be interesting to take an art tour here one day under less stressful circumstances...

room for one more

 We were there when the doors opened at 5:00 p.m. last night

for our favorite Church Rummage.

 Usually I wait until Saturday's $5/bag sale,

but I'm sure glad I didn't this time!

Priced at only $3, I'm positive this rug runner would not have been left.

 It now joins two other patterned rugs in our kitchen/dining area.

It is an absolutely gorgeous accessory on our dark laminate floor.

well...

Well!  This turned out well!

silent sentinel

Rather worn and ragged,

 it uncomplainingly stands beside my makeshift bed,

 handsome, sturdy, useful.

Pulled into temporary service, 

it has stood as silent sentinel to pain and

holder of all and any things necessary for recovery.

I'm thankful it caught my eye one day at a thrift store or garage sale.

Details escape me.

getting back into the groove

My husband had actually finished the vintage sewing cabinet (above)

before my accident.

Today he went out to the garage and worked to repair the sides

of this vanity that we found at a Goodwill Store.

He's stripping one of the drawers to see what it might look like to have the top and drawers "natural"

and the rest painted white and distressed.

I ♥ the maple leaf in the center, don't you?

 Yes, indeed!  This will work.

my hospital 'do

This is a simple post about a simple axiom:

Appear as you are. Be as you appear.
(Posted by annie s. on Twitter)

It truly makes life simpler.

I'm currently in the hospital rehabbing after slipping and falling on ice last Saturday.

I got new hip parts in an early Sunday morning surgery.

I was already overdue for a haircut when it happened.

Now the trick is to do SOMEthing with my "bed head"...

This seems to be the simplest.  

Maybe I'll get used to it.

evening shadows

 ...evening shadows in our kitchen

 have a way of exposing flaws

 while at the same time

 comforting and covering the cares and stresses of the day.

 Patterns and wood grains blend

and sleep sends its subtle invitation.

(Everything here had a life with someone else before coming to us...
usage and years add character and a patina
that cannot be achieved overnight.)

puzzling

 We didn't put in a jigsaw puzzle all winter....

Now, just as spring is about to descend (optimistic here),

we completed one and are starting on another.

Both were thrift store purchases.

Always risky when buying puzzles, I know.

The first one was all here!

And we're well into the next!

Its 3 foot width just barely fits on the wing of our table!

It's puzzling to me how both happened to be MAP puzzles!
Besides being a bit addictive,  these are turning out to be
quite the educational endeavors.

Update:  Done!