same but different

Back before Halloween, the school I work at hit up the pumpkin patch with oodles of kiddos and parents in tow. There were all sorts of pumpkins and gourds. Some were quite large while others were quite small and it seemed our tots favored the wee ones. Those they could carry, not one, but TWO in their hot little hands. While we all traipsed about the rows and rows of almost overripe pumpkins, one of the kiddos spotted this awesome orb spider chillin' low to the ground. It was pretty big and at that time it was the largest orb spider I had seen being slightly larger than a quarter...

Cue Monday waffle night at the homestead where I was jibber-jabbing all about the ENORMOUS spider when the mama-a-go-go told me there was a pretty large one in the yard...

Oh my!

 Now this one is the largest orb I have ever seen. About the size of a fifty-cent piece. Fat, slightly furry and so happily full of stripes. She's a beauty. He? I don't know. Not long after that I saw a pretty large spider showing off its web in the setting sun as I drove home from the job-o number 2. I saw it from the car while chillin' at a stop sign. I saw it across the street it was that noticeable. I think this is the year of the orb spider...pretty cool.

goofing off

Last week was a pretty busy week. There was work and cleaning and more work and more cleaning but still we managed squeeze in a we bit o' thrifting, visiting and mucho bits o' fun. Here is an outtake from a family shindig...we a-go-gos are just a laugh riot. snort!

beware of falling {vintage} kitchen implements

You may have already surmised that we a-go-gos have a lot of stuff. Okay, okay, truthfully it is I who has accumulated the stuff. The mister is just along for the ride though, whenever I decide to purge, it seems the items I deem let-go-able, he had grown attached to. Aack! These vintage kitchen items were my mother's. They hung in her country turned Pee-Wee's Playhouse kitchen (courtesy of my brother) on a narrow wall paneled top to bottom in peg-board.

Everything on that peg board was used in some way. From baking to cooking to making dough ornaments for Christmas, our kitchen gadgetry dangled within reach for years only relocating from their spot when a new {old} gadget joined the family. Sometimes though, the gadgets fought back. We had a condo kitchen. It was tucked into the front of the condo but accessible from all around. There was a sliding door that could be closed to inhibit entry from the front hall and door but we only closed that on Halloween when we would fill the mirrored hallway with candles, my mother's doll collection and a hand-stuffed dummy or two. Otherwise, the kitchen could be circled through over and over again. It was a great place for chasing the cat, dog or each other but if you weren't too careful, you could collide with kitchen gadgets and get bit, pinched or slightly grated.

Being a person who carries her history on her sleeve, I really wanted my own swath of pegboard to display the kitchen gadgets I inherited. Wall-space and moolah not on our side, mister put together this blue board of happiness and in keeping with tradition, we have hung it up on the ledge between the kitchen and the living room, a perfectly precarious spot in a state prone to shakes, rattles and rolls. Just don't stand under in case of a seismic dance party (note that nifty chopper, blades pointed down), otherwise, you are free to roam.

eleven eleven eleven

no rain, yet.

but there was wind, cold wind.

juxtaposition

 

signs always make me happy.

11:11 on the 101

thrifting was involved.

a task all on its own.

rainy day work in progess which i began months ago...

thrift score: typewriter, fire king and more, oh my!

The mister & I have begun a thing where we spend Sunday mornings poking around the Goodwill Outlet store here in town. We've found much for the tiny casa there and sometimes I swing by when I have an urge to thrift but not much cash on hand. I scored this batch o' goodness more than a week ago for the lovely low price of $6.75. the typewriter even has its own case. I lurve it all!

the november bed

Yesterday's list never made it out of the noggin. It slumped there, halfway formed but kept fading like a puddle on a hot sidewalk. There were a great many things I should have done yesterday. Instead, I baked scones (from a mix), did laundry, wiped down the bathroom, sent in the application (position was already filled, grrr), pitched two new articles (success!), put away the STACK of picture books I had out, cleaned off the table, put an enormous stack of linens away, washed the dishes, made dinner, the bed, and a garland for the bed. Oh and I also watched a movie. Phew! That was a lot but none of it was really on the list. The BIG list, at least. That is, except for making the bed.

It is getting chillier up here on the central coast and thank goodness our heater now works, though I haven't turned it on yet, I just pile on the blankets and wear a sweater. It's not that cold but it gets cooler inside than outside so if I am not warm enough, I get lazy and resort to blanket lounging.So, since it is cool, we have been keeping the two quilts on the bed and I decided to stick with the ENORMOUS bedspread and added new pillowcases and a bottom sheet for contrast.

And, because I am all about dressing it up and garlands and a need for creating, I scrounged up a handful of origami paper from a large blue suitcase I have that holds my paper stash (it appears I am low on fun paper). All squares were the same size so I stacked them up, scalloped the bottoms and stitched them together with my sewing machine. Pretty, darn happy, no?

Oh, do you like the parasols? Getting those up an arranged just about drove the mister cuckoo but he persevered and put up with my hemming and hawing and now they look super happy. It helps that they also block out the too-bright overhead light and break up the expanse of white walls and ceiling.

Happy November and happy new bed!