Valerean

On the thrifting front I'm doing a little at the online auction. I have an urge to paint again (I don't know why; I'm terrible at it), but all the art supplies I had are either dried up or too old to use, so I put in a bid on this lot of supplies. There are actually 20 journals in this lot, which I plan to make covers for, embellish and then give as gifts. This little quilt has the most charming primitive applique work I've seen in a while, and I'd love to add it to my collection. Stay tuned to the blog to see if I win any or all of these.

Last week the first of the corn crop arrived at the local farm where we shop for veggies, so we made a trip to buy a bag. Although we can get corn cheaper at the supermarket, this is one of the times when we don't worry about the expense. The first trip to the farm for corn is kind of the unofficial start to spring for me. We'll be making trips out every few weeks to shop at the farm now until they close for the summer. Why don't we buy our veggies where we can get them cheaper? Supporting our local farmers is more important to us than saving money. I didn't take a photo, but we bought a bag with a half-dozen ears of corn and a big basket of baby cucumbers. It was ten dollars. I shared half of the cucumbers with our neighbor, who has her son and his family visiting them. There isn't much we can do about the economy, or stopping corporations from destroying family businesses like the farm. All we can do is show our support by spending our money whe...

While I was on my break my guy and I went to the Sunday farmer's market in Clermont, and stumbled upon a small car show in a parking lot there. This 1967 Impala was identical to mine back in the day. My first car was an ambulance in the military; this one was my second when I got home. Mom owned it and gave it to me. Imagine parallel parking this boat. There were a lot of people there so I couldn't get many pics, but it was fun. We love to look at cars. This Jag was my dream car when I was a teenager (it's even the same green color as the one I lusted after.) The wood dash nearly made me swoon. I knew I'd never get one (and I was right) but it was okay to dream. I went after and got the biggest dream of my life in 1998, so that made up for all the Jags I didn't get. :)

I didn't get to do too much on my vacation, so I indulged in a shopping trip last week to wrap it up on a positive note, and acquired this beauty from an antique mall for basically a song. It's gorgeous, the palette is unique and it just said "Take me home with you so I can live on your couch before some pinhead buys me and I end up with as a cat quilt and get torn to pieces." The flowers are hand-stitched. Sigh. How could I resist? She'll be much happier with me anyway. At the same antique mall I got a nice bundle of green scrap fabrics very cheap; these are also a contender for the next tote in my calendar project. Finally we stopped by the Russel Stover outlet so I could buy a little sugarfree candy, and I found these new chocolates which are absolutely delicious. Great way to end my vacation. :)

Last night I slept almost seven hours, which hasn't been the case for a while. The nighttime decongestant I took probably helped, but I can't resort to those every night to combat my insomnia. I use the last hours of the day to crochet and get myself in a meditative state, and that's helpful when it's time to go to bed, too. I'm just battling on top of everything else chronic pain, a hamster wheel-running mind, and that ever-present old age reality that if I go to sleep I am not guaranteed to wake up again. Sleep is absolutely important at this stage of the game, so I'm working on changing up my evening routine to calm my thoughts and manage the pain problems. Meditation is my first resort. It's helped me throughout my life, but I've gotten away from it in favor of repetitive mindless tasks like sewing and crochet. I'll be meditating for a few minutes before I go to bed and see if that improves the quality of my sleep. Dressing comfortabl...

While I was wrapping up the spring cleaning I found not one but two blind date with a books that I was unable to gift to the intended recipients. Since those two folks are now out of my life I could have donated them, but where's the fun in that? These became my reward from the Universe for finishing the spring cleaning. :) Here's the first one, which was the Christmas paper wrapped bline date. Bit of trivia: one of the first novels I wrote was set in a carnival, and like haunted house stories I've always liked them. So, definitely looks interesting. And the second -- now I understand the brown paper wrapping. :) I love a good farce, especially if it's spicy romance, so this one should be fun to read. Thank you for my surprises, Universe!