...a 'Spark of Joy' interruption

We interrupt the regularly scheduled 'ABCs' post with an acknowledgement of 'JOY'!

This time of the year, the web is FULL of articles on "THANKFUL JOURNALS" and LIVING IN THE NOW! While I have never actually formalized this practice by picking up a pen and notebook, I have been trying to make a mental list each morning.  It has been helping me to be more in 'the moment'.  It has also made me aware of how many of the 'SPARKS JOY' (thank you KonMari!) items I currently have are compliments of 'saling'!!

 One of my personal favorite 'guilty- pleasures' is handcrafted or specialty soaps & lotions. Although this could probably be reclassified as a 'non-guilty-pleasure', since it is the rare occasion that I splurge on a FULL Price purchase of this type for myself! 
THANKFULLY, Garage sales provide me with enough of this stock!!!  Now, before you get all 'sceeved' out, and start judging me...  I'm talking 'new', 'clean', & 'sealed', products from 'nice home' sales-  not from the sketchy totes found at  Flea Markets, where the contents have been schlepped around all season and have sat in the HOT sun for days, weathered rainy downpours, and are covered in a layer of dust... (wow, this could be a post for the letter 'S'... sceeved, sketchy, sealed & schlepped!!) NO! 

 I'm talking about: 

 The 'gift set' that somebody received and deemed to be 'saved for a special occasion' ~
( that special day ended up being a Garage Sale!)

~OR~

The Dealer, leaving the business, who has a spare room FULL of samples to get rid of

~OR~

The person who received it as a gift, can't stand the smell and just wants it GONE!  

(Yes!... Believe it or not, these are NOT gifts that everyone appreciates.  For this I am THANKFUL!)

It is no secret as to my love of 'herbies' - growing, studying & using.  So I'm sure my adoration of Patchouli Goat Milk lotion, and everything 'Essential Oils' comes as no surprise.

It is an added bonus that handcrafted soaps and sealed/unused bottles of oils are filtering into the 'saling' scene.  Not only does it make them affordable for 'everyday', but it allows 'dipping your toes in the water' - you know, trying out different scents, without making it a Major Commitment!  Nothing worse than spending $15. on a bar of soap, only to discover you have an asthmatic reaction to it or it leaves you in hives!  If only .25¢ was spent on something, it is MUCH easier to toss it and try another!

~AND~

These products usually have the most adorable packaging!!

What is your 'guilty' 'not-so-guilty' pleasures??

en JOY

& 

Be WELL!

...new man in my life...

...or should I say "new Man in my Garden!"?

compliments of my two favorite men - My Daddy (design & construction) and J (finishing paint job and installation!)  THANKS GUYS!!! My new-to-me ScareCrow Centerpiece for my Herbie Bed puts a smile on my face every time I see him!!

Made of old saw-blades and repurposed 'parts'...

I can foresee lots of change-outs
to his 'buckets'... and maybe some
'hats' in his future!!

((BIG SMILE!))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some other men/boys came into our household this weekend... YES - I actually went to a Rummage Sale!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE on the Purge for the BIG Garage Sale:

Found a box of 'childhood momentos' in the attic...  REALLY?!??
I think it's safe to part with these toddler clothes now! (J had a good laugh that I ever wore this!!)  Size 5T, circa 1960's at it's finest.

...'DIRT TRUMPS SALING'

BEFORE:
The deep freeze caused HAVOC on the poor Herb Bed Wine Bottle border...

HAPPINESS! OH HAPPINESS!  Saturday was in the 60's and SUNNY.  Sunday was in the High 70's and SUNNY!

As much as I crave the first sales of the Season - after this LONG WINTER I have a N.E.E.D. to be in the SUN with my hands in the dirt even more!! 

AFTER:
The 'beds' still need some T.L.C., but the Borders are standing
Tall and Proud B-)

 Several gardens were cleaned of their Winter debris, and the HERB Garden wine bottle border was straightened, and pounded back in securely.

OH yes, this was a Good workout on those 'Bingo-Wings'!!

Okay... so maybe, Saturday afternoon,  we did make ourselves 'public presentable' long enough to briefly stop by this Estate Sale before it closed - just long enough to swoop in and pick up this immaculate blue Train Case with insert (are we starting to notice a sickness developing here??) and unscrew this Waxed Paper/Paper Towel/Alum Foil dispenser from the wall (coming soon to ETSY) !!

As daylight hours are getting longer, STUDIO TIME is getting shorting (YEH!!!), but there are still a couple of projects I have rambling around in the back of my head...

Like plans for this necklace that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the Rummage sale...

and working on my soldering, which still needs LOTS of PRACTICE!!

Maybe learn how to combine the two?
I always have GREAT VISIONS that I dream up as I lie awake about 3:30am...

Now, I just have to learn how to get these ideas to fruition in a presentable form!!

Or else, just not let the rest of the world look to close B-) !!


HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A WONDERFUL WEEK!
BE WELL.

...Daddy's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

 HAEGER 2012 #1 ($5) 

(Is that right? Can you believe that I made it SIX Freakin' months, and JUST.NOW broke and brought home my First piece of HAEGER?!  I'm blamin' Mom!  We saw it at a sale last weekend, It was LOVE at first site - but I was trying to be strong and I walked away from it once, the people having the sale thought it was because of the price, so they knocked 50% off, it was C.H.E.A.P. originally, then @ 50% off it couldn't be left there... Mom gave it to J and I as "an early anniversary gift" 8-) 

(NO, the 'Pink' isn't part of it.  it is an upside down planter that I am currently using as a 'pedestal for it!  Yes, it is secure by Museum adhesive.)

...and

The verdict is in on the ' GARLIC SCAPES'...

We tried them four different ways...

1. Straight from the garden - VERY strong garlic flavored!!!  Be warned!
2. Made into a Pesto, no Basil used - on bread (far left) YUMMY!
3. Made into a Marinade in food processor with a bit of Soy Sauce for Pork (Center) - Garlic flavor definitely mellows when cooked!
4. Sauted whole with fresh Asparagus with a bit of EVOO - tasty, but again, hardly any Garlic flavor.

Overall SCAPES are a Keeper!!  Best added at the end of cooking if you like the flavor of garlic - which we LOVE!  Anybody out there ever had any experience with them???

Have a GREAT DAY!

...scapes!

Things have been 'a-bustle' around 'Chez-SVELTE' with graduation parties, the annual family garage sale and the MANY preparations for summer...  so needless to say, 'STUFFING-IT' has been a low priority item! 

I did get out to a few sales with my parents during their visit last weekend.  This sweet basket (with original contents!)followed us home.  It put me in a 'MARKET' frame of mind.

Was it any wonder that I HAD to do a 'U-turn' on my way to work yesterday when I spotted signs for my favorite Summertime Farmers Market?!

 

 Now, this is a small market, and they don't have anything amazing... it's open every Wednesday... in the town next to where I work.  Why do I like it? I'm not sure.  Yes, it has LOTS of Yummy Mennonite Baked goods, but that's not it.  I think that it is because of it's close proximity to the canal, and how relaxing and peaceful the park that it is held in is... (and the baked goods don't hurt!)

 While I was there perusing the stands, I noticed people scooping up bags of these 'curled greens'.  I went in for a closer look. GARLIC SCAPES. I had seen these before on the plants in my garden - but never 'FOR SALE'!?!!  I HAD to ask 'Why?' 'What for?'  The Gardener/Vendor was more than happy to go into detail about how to prepare, saute' in a stir fry w/ terriyaki or make into a pesto sauce...  Hmmmmm

So after work, off I went to our garden...

...and there are PLENTY more where these came from if we decide to try other recipes!!

...a DECADE. ...Really?!

T.E.N. years ago, this Fall, 2 vehicles FULL of my favorite gal-pals gathered to celebrate my upcoming wedding...

In lieu of one of my personally despised 'stuffy sit-down traditional bridal showers', they took me on a wonderful Autumn in the FingerLakes Winery excursion with many 'twists'! It was a Beautiful Day that I shall never forget!

I think of that day, and the many friends that made the day special, often when I'm out in my Herb Garden. Today was one of those days! You see, one special lady gifted me with a few herbies that day -

a couple of which were the perennials TARRAGON and LOVAGE. Hearty, strong herbs that have been the center pieces to my herb bed (above to the right of the stump) for TEN FREAKIN' YEARS NOW!!

The Tarragon grows TALL, and requires pruning often - when left to it's own accord it will completely cover the stump, so it keeps the 'memories fresh' 8-)

THANKS 'C'!

...maybe, just maybe, nope!....

I keep thinking that if I just stick with it...
That I AM going to get it figured out!
That I WILL get it down to a science!

... but each year this 50 mile GARAGE SALE is just plain Frustrating !

(and at the end of the day, I tell myself 'I'm just NOT going to bother another year', but of course I ALWAYS do!!)

We were out of the house at 6:44 am (we live about 30 minutes from either end of the Route, and HAD to allow time for a QUICK diner B-fast!!)... I like stopping in towns so that we can do more walking without the constant parking and reparking. In the first town, after breakfast, we stopped at a 'HUGE' church yard sale and I scored a VERA scarf (2010 #21), ECHO scarf and a pair of screw back earring that match a sweater clip I bought last week - all for a $1 .

Many... many... many... many... many... many.. many... many... (getting the idea that it was a pretty BLAH day of saling??) stops later in another small town (?) I did stumble upon a lady with a case of jewelry, and after MUCH digging and untangling I managed to pull out a few fun pieces - don't know that they were really $1 ea. worth of 'fun', but at this point, they came home with me - and I was happy with the sweater clip (2010 #14).


There are a few stops along the Route that seem to NEVER fail, and I make a point of stopping at. One house in particular. It sits alone. LOVELY, shaded gardens. Has an 'actual' Garage out back with stuff in it for sale (what a novel concept for a 'Garage Sale'!). They are just home owners, who purge 'junk' (albeit 'cool' junk) every year! The highlights of their sale this year were TONS of Off-beat clothes (not my size...), $1.50 pots of Butterfly Bushes (I bought 2!), funky jewelry (which I forgot to photo!), and hankies/scarves 10¢ea! They had T.O.N.S of other stuff, but those were the main things that took my eye..

Look at this VERA scarf (2010 #22) I found there - have you ever seen anything like it???


I also picked up this Micro-mosaic cross for $1. to join this pin that I found last week for .10¢

Thee B.E.S.T. find of the day?

Royal Haeger cigarette box.

$5.

(2010 #19)

DH found it actually. His one and ONLY purchase of the entire day. Yes, he was quite proud of himself!!

We didn't do the FULL 50 miles - only 45 miles. We got home at 4:18 pm absolutely BEAT!! It was one LONG DAY!! I don't like ((RUSHING)) when I'm saling (which is what you have to do if you are going to get all 50 miles in and get to the GOOD stuff before other people!!). Why do these people start closing up their sales at noon?? Good Grief Folks!!!! Just how much can I rush through in 4 hours??? (3hrs when some of you don't even open up until 9am!) ARGH!

I guess it was a Good day. We did end up with a Tri-fecta, and we had a lot of fun together. I got to go to a place I had never eaten for lunch, and looking back and I come home with some good STUFF!

Now, after a day of COMPLETE PLAY, the zucchini from the garden would like to be made into something yummy and the herbs that I have had drying would like to be bottled, so time to be productive!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!

...gloves are off!

All Summer long I basically L.I.V.E. in my thick, leather gardening gloves. Okay, I better clarify that statement... I don't wear them when on the hunt for 'stuff' (although often I should!). When I'm working in the yard though, I always have gloves on. **EXCEPT** when it comes to harvest time. Especially when I'm gathering the herbs!! Oh -that fragance!!!

Yes, it would be much cheaper and MUCH less time consuming to buy those little bottles at the Dollar Store (as DH often informs me!!) - but my herbies are completely about the 'Journey', and the 'Destination' is just an added benefit!

CHIVES! DILL! OREGANO! BASIL! ...How I love thee.

(Now, I'm off to go pop in the shower, 'cause I'm sure not everyone appreciates me walking around smelling like a pizza!!)

... It's Coming!

"IT'S IN THE TREES

IT'S COMING"

(HOUNDS OF LOVE; Kate Bush)

This morning I stepped out on the back porch to find it a refreshing 54°, the sun was just coming up over the hill and hitting the herb bed... It's almost here! We are on the edge of Fall - 'Fall Eve', so to speak!

(insert Deep Breath, exhale, add Big Smile)

With Fall comes 'Last Hurrahs'... State Fair, farmer's markets of pumpkins and squash, festivals, and Bazaar/rummage sales.... I am preparing to participate in a local church 'Tail gate Sale' this weekend, so the back porch is in total chaos as I gear up for a 'release program'!!

Yes. The temps are supposed to get up to the high 80's today, so no lightweight sweaters/jeans yet - but it's all GOOD!

IT's COMING!!

...'HAVE FUN'

My heart hasn't really been into it this weekend, but these two Coconut Heads (yes, newer; $1 for pair) followed me home on Friday and made me smile.

I also stopped at a small greenhouse to pick up some Basil (been craving pesto in a BIG Way), and to check out what they had along the lines of 'different herbies. Their herbs all looked great and they had FIVE different kinds of Basil!!!