Valerean

The Nike sneakers I thrifted for $12.99 arrived in pristine mint condition, with no wear marks or odor. They are very well made shoes and fit my guy perfectly. I think they were a display pair; I found a tiny scuff mark on one of the soles that suggested someone had maybe tried them on and walked around the store with them, but that's all. I can see someone paying $80.00 for them as they are now. Because new namebrand men's sneakers are so rare to be able to thrift, much less at the minimum bid, plus it took me months to find them, I'm going to call this my thrift of the year. The lot of Vera Bradley bags I thrifted for $9.99 proved to be in much better shape than suggested by the listing title (some stains and rips were mentioned.) I found some stains on the inside of one tote that barely show on the outside, and a single rip in the outer pocket of the big duffel bag that is an easy fix for me. The rest are in very good condition, with three in what I'd call...

Last month I had remarkable luck at thrifting what I wanted for the minimum bid with no challengers, like this lot of eight quilting and craft books for $9.99. That's $1.25 per book. I got this lot of seven Vera Bradley bags for $9.99, and no one bid against me. One bag as a minor rip in the side, and another has a stain on the inside, both easy fixes for me, but probably why the resellers skipped the listing. The price works out to $1.42 per bag. For months I've been trying to find a pair of new sneakers for my guy at a reasonable price. Men's shoes of any kind and size are very scarce on the auction, and he wears a 9 wide, which is even harder to find. I lucked out when a listing for a pair of new-looking Nike sneakers went up for auction with an incorrect listing on the size (9 instead of 9W.) That kept the 9W buyers from finding them, and the 9 buyers saw the 9W on the label and didn't bother to bid. Anyway, that's my theory as to why I was ...

Hurricane Helene roared through to the west of us, but we didn't have much in the way of rain until after the eye of the storm passed. The wind did get pretty nasty at times, resulting in some moderate tree damage in our neighborhood. My guy had just pruned all our trees so all we lost were two pine branches and a million or so thin branches and twigs. Some tree debris from the abandoned property behind us ended up in our yard. I filled the wheelbarrow up yesterday, and he packed a garbage can full with the debris, and that was just the front yard. I also walked out and moved the sharp broken branches on the road into our neighborhood so no one punctured a tire. For us prep is not just about making sure we're okay. Just before Helene hit we checked in with a neighbor who happened to be home alone during the storm, and helped her move some things around her house that might have otherwise gone flying. Her basketball hoop fell over during the highest of the winds. The ...

When Netflix acquired the first season of AMC's Mayfair Witches I was torn between knowing the novels (my favorite of Anne Rice's works is The Witching Hour , the first in the series, as it happens) were better and wanting to see how they handled it. Ultimately I caved in and watched it. I don't regret that, as I knew in advance the eight-episode series could never cover the entire story. This is a three-book series, and the first book is a huge unwieldy doorstopper of a novel that covers almost five hundred years of a supernaturally gifted/haunted family's complicated history. No way can you condense it down to eight hours. The three lead actors in the series are excellent, and carry the production and the rest of the cast on their skills. I thought visually Alexandra Daddario worked as Rowan, the neurosurgeon who learns that she is the heiress to the Mayfair legacy and a prophecy that scares the daylights out of me to this day. Her voice, however, grated on ...

I thrifted a 7 lbs. lot of yarn that arrived last month; let's see how I did. My reason for thrifting this particular lot was the evident quality as well as the colors, most of which I need for an upcoming winter project. This is my second favorite color of green, and after checking the label against retail I discovered that it's a wool rayon blend that retails for $7.99 a skein. Just this is about $40.00 worth of quality yarn. The quality of thrifted yarn can be sketchy, but this is pristine with no odor. I'd be comfortable pricing this at $5.00 a skein for resale, or $155.00. I paid ten bucks for the entire lot. Savings: $145.00.

I don't always have a plan in mind when I repair something; I repaired this crazy quilt piece (the first I ever attempted) just because I didn't hate it anymore. I was sure I'd find a project I could use it for in the future. Sure enough, later last month I bought this old dusty wooden hat box from a junk shop with the intention of refurbishing and redecorating it. The repaired crazy quilt piece was just big enough to cut into a top for the lid. I took my time (crazy quilted patchwork doesn't like to be cut up) and used low-loft batting and a piece of thin muslin to turn it into a circular quilt piece. To bind it I used a very flexible length of gold metallic fabric and a lot of pins. I also found a matching ribbon -- one I bought many years ago and was saving for the right project -- to tie around the sides. I still need to embroidery and embellish the crazy quilt piece, which is going to take a few months, and sew a proper lining (I'm ...

I often save vintage things I love that I want to make into something that can be reused. One beautiful little handkerchief I found in a thrifted lot had two little cutout ducks on it that I thought were just adorable. But really, what can you make from something as small as a handkerchief? Anyway, I saved it until an idea came to me. A handkerchief is just the right size to make a mini quilt to top a gift box. This will also encourage reuse, I hope. Who could throw away such a cute container?

We've another potentially major storm headed our way. Right now it looks like the big bend will get the worst of it; that really depends on how much the system strengthens before it makes landfall, and how far the storm shifts to the right east or west. We actually don't need anything, thanks to our emergency pantry and seasonal prep, but we're still going to do our regular shopping this morning. My guy and I will bring in everything like my potted plants that could blow away in the storm, and put the car in the garage, that's it. It's nice to be well-prepared. I have seven weeks of posts already written and scheduled to publish here on the blog, but I'll make another post about how we fared after the storm passes. If you're in the danger zone cone, be ready and stay safe.

One of the things I put together last month that was super fun was a journal made from a practice piece of embroidered and beaded linen, a tea towel and some pretty papers I had on hand. I had to look through the archives for a bit before I discovered that I made the practice piece three years ago to test using vintage linens as journal covers, which made me laugh. I really do have a one-track mind (and I save everything!) I've not made any journals in quite a few years as hand writing is becoming difficult for me. I decided to make this one a pocket journal that I could tuck things in. I can still write by computer, too, and print out my thoughts to include them.

We had a few tasks left that were involved with my Swedish Death Cleaning project this year, which was find a new attorney as our old one retired (found) and update our 20 year old wills (done), and make our final arrangements with a local funeral home (next on the list.) It's not what I'd call happy work, but it is necessary and long overdue for both of us. Also, I finally convinced my guy to commit to his arrangements, which he's never wanted to do before now. To illustrate our differing attitudes about death: He thinks we'll both live forever. I think he might live to be 100, but I'll be lucky to wake up tomorrow morning. The whole point of doing these difficult things now is to spare each other and/or our heirs the hassle and decision making in the time immediately after our deaths. I have very strong and unwavering sentiments about how I want to wrap up the end of my life and I want my wishes respected. Here's a grim fact: no one in the family ex...

Last month while my guy and I were checking out an Antique Mall we came to a booth where there were these framed art pieces made from vintage rhinestone jewelry and other objects. I have never seen anyone repurpose crosses to make art. All of the pieces were very well done. The pearl tree and the peacock were my favorites. Alas, they were beyond my budget to buy, but I might make some art with some pearls this way. We'll see . . . .

Many years ago I put together an inspiration box for myself filled with kimono scraps, sashiko threads, hand-dyed silk velvet and some mini patchwork blocks. I wanted to make something out of them, but nothing ever came to mind. So I packed them away for a time when I was feeling more creative (like last month!) Having beautiful materials to work with is always inspiring, but also a little intimidating. When I work with such precious things in the back of my mind I'm always thinking Don't waste it and Don't screw it up . This time, however, I was able to conquer those doubts. I started by making a foundation for a wall hanging out of one long piece of kimono silk, which I folded in half, batted and sewing together. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

I want to call the medical mystery C-drama series Forensic JD silly, because in many ways it is. Over-the-top, certainly. So obvious at times I knew exactly what was coming, too. The characters were often overblown, ridiculous little drama queens, not to mention self-destructive to an unbelievable degree. Despite all that I liked it (say thank you to lead actor Joseph Chang; he's mainly the reason.) The story follows an impaired forensic scientist/quasi detective Jane Doe (Charlene Choi), referred to as JD, as she uses her extraordinary forensic skills to solve a serial murder case from two decades ago. She has HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) syndrome and evidently has lost all her memories after being abandoned by her father as a child. She was also kidnapped at some point and ended up in an orphanage. Her backstory is so convoluted you might give up on figuring it out, but actually the whole series is about her past. There are some good aspects to the series. Lots ...

Our Meyer lemon tree, loaded with fruit. You might remember how sad I was last Christmas when I mentioned we'd lost our lemon, grapefruit and orange trees to citrus greening disease. My guy stopped watering and fertilizing them, and we faced the unhappy job of digging them up and burning them. Only we got busy and my guy kept putting it off, as he was hoping a treatment would be developed that we could use to try to save them. Our white grapefruit tree, also loaded with fruit. While we were busy, all the signs of citrus greening gradually disappeared. The trees thrived. The orange tree put out dozens of flowers for the first time in years. By the middle of summer all three trees had lots of fruit on them. Our Valencia orange tree, likewise loaded with tons of fruit (the most out of all three trees.) My guy did more research, and it's possible that what we thought was citrus greening was a reaction to him over-fertilizing and over-watering. It could also be an...

Last month when I got out a pack of 5" squares I promised myself I could keep if I made something out of them this summer (I like to keep promises to myself) I spread out all the squares to have a look at the colors and prints. I realized right away they weren't exactly my cup of tea anymore; I've been gravitating toward solids and hand-dyed art cloth for a long time now. I think I bought the pack at a quilt show back in 2008, and the line is probably out of print now -- all the more reason to make something out of it. This is how an idea comes to life: I play with the fabric, look at it and rearrange it. With the recent flare-up my hands haven't been too steady, so I knew I wanted to keep the cutting to the bare minimum. I also wanted to use as many of the squares as possible in one piece. So I turned everything en pointe, fiddled with the placements and then sewed it together on the machine. I focused on matching up and sewing the seams as perfectly as ...

I've been a supporter of National Novel Writing Month for the past twenty years, and in the beginning it was a wonderful resource for novelists and writers. I donated, bought their merch and promoted them on my old web sites. I was active in the forums and even joined a group one year to help cheer on my fellow writers. I wrote several first draft novels during the years I participated, and sold one to a major publisher, so I was one of their success stories. It was a great thing. Only then -- rather quickly, in fact -- it wasn't. I noticed the site began pushing for donations -- really pushing -- and they sent countless e-mails trying to wheedle more money out of yours truly. I made a decent donation every year without being asked up to that point. They also endorsing sketchy products and services that were geared more toward profiting off dreams than helping fulfill them. Proving that you actually wrote a novel during November was one of the important points for me...

I bid on a small lot of yarn, as it had a few colors I needed for a holiday project. I had a couple of challengers but in the end I won it for a little under my maximum bid. It arrived last month beautifully packaged in a very nice floral storage box. It came with an unfinished knitting project, ten expensive skeins of yarn in mint condition, some wool roving, very nice scissors, a collection of jumbo knitting needles, patterns and even some buttons. Everything is in excellent condition with no smell; the roving is absolutely gorgeous (I've always wanted to try working with that, and now here's my chance.) The Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn skeins are worth $3.00 each, and the Buttercream Alpaca skeins are $11.00 each; just those ten skeins of yarn are worth over $70.00. That's why I'm comfortable with pricing this lot for resale at $100.00. I paid $13.54 for everything. Savings: $86.46.

I bid on a couple of jewelry lots over the summer, and ended up winning a small collection of Napier pices. Let's see what I got for my minimum bid. For those not in the know, the Napier Co. has been in the costume jewelry business for a long time (since 1878, in fact.) They're the avant guard of fashion jewelry, and make everything. They also do it so well that they're highly collectible. My mother had a couple of their pieces. The bracelets in this lot are especially pretty. Napier's designs are quite distinctive. What caught my eye about this lot was that it included Napier's iconic silver-plated Clam Shell Charm Bracelet, which was designed by Eugene Bertolli. It debuted in the 1950's and was reissued in 1982. It currently sells for $200.00 in used condition on Poshmark and almost $400.00 with the matching earrings on Etsy (I didn't know all this off the top of my head; I looked it up.) I was surprised to see that one shell h...