GOOD WILL HUNTING

In browsing through all these wonderfully inspiring blogs, I come across people who have the most gorgeous items from Goodwill.  I haven't been in a Goodwill store in ages, mainly because I never seem to have any luck bargain hunting there.  But I was motivated to do a quick run into the one on my way home from work.  I was for the most part disappointed, and amazed. Am I truly the only one who feels like their prices are more often than not, not bargains?  So many of the objects, many of them just shabby, as one would expect in a second hand shop, are priced at full price.  I know when one goes into these places, it's to hunt for bargains, and its a matter of a good eye, a number of visits, and just plain luck.

But I did find this bill organizer.  No, not that bill organizer at the top of my post, I didn't buy the one I was looking at. And it was a bargain, $3!  It was white, in a shabby chic glaze, it needed some cleaning, but it had a lovely glass drawer pull and beadboard siding, and was very substantial.  Why didn't I get it?  Because I always second guess everything with 'Where will I put this?'  I don't have my own ladies' desk, tho it's on my list of things to get, a tiny corner table for when I finally have my own computer in my bedroom, but I couldn't imagine both this bill organizer and a computer monitor on the table small enough to fit in the corner available. Plus, since the slots are intended for bills and to-dos, I didn't see a real reason for me to utilize it.

Then I drove away.  And thought about it. Thought about how these creative ladies on these blogs would have figured out what to do with those slots. I thought if I was into sewing, I could maybe file patterns in them. Thought if I was into card making or stamping I could keep different papers and finished products in the slots. The slots were too deep for pictures and postcards, but wait, couldn't I stuff the bottom of the slots to shorten that depth?  Or couldn't I even pleat a continuous piece of cloth into each slot, lining it halfway down, and store pictures, postcards, and the occasional notecard in there?

Tomorrow, I am going back and if, God willing, that organizer is still there, it is mine!

Trying to make it all fit.

Because I live in a condo with what would be considered a generous side patio, but a patio nonetheless, I have to be considerate about how much garden art and potted plants I can feasibly fit out there.  Right now I have some good sized plantings, but they've reached a point where we struggle to fit my family of four around the patio table.  Liz squeezes past the sago palm and gets scratched by it, Jen pulls out her chair and about breaks off the fuschia branches behind her.  My husband has to duck around the finally lushly flowering jasmine to do his barbecuing, and I bat back honeysuckle vines as gently as possible working towards the garden hose.

New Garden Arch

My husband bought me this wonderful arch for Mother's Day.  I'd wanted one for a long time, and we just happened to come across one when shopping, and guess what - it was on sale!  I'm coaxing my climbing roses up one side, and hoping my honeysuckle on the other side gets really serious about it's vining.  So now what to do about the poor little shabby bench underneath.  I like the bench, cheap plastic thing that it is, but I am dreaming of making a romantic ruffled cover for it, such as those I've seen on some of the other ladies blogs.  How to put together one that will take getting wet and being subjected to the sun and dust on a regular basis?  Anything I put there I'm sure the cats will use a lot more often than me, but I do imagine myself out there.  Let's see what progresses.