Chaos

Many of my craft supplies are kept in units of plastic drawers. When they were moved it seems they were turned over as they were handled. One unit of eight drawers was even sitting in my studio upside down! The result was utter chaos. My drawers of thread looked like this.

After sorting you can see the result. This is only a small bit of the organizing the studio needs. My first effort was to get things out of boxes so there was room to move around. I stuffed everything willy-nilly onto shelves and into cabinets. Now I have to make sense of it all.


In the midst of the chaos, this guy sat quietly, not realizing THE HAND loomed!

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Tag Sale to Flea Market to Goodwill

After the tag sale in which there were lots of left overs, we decided to try the flea market. The largest flea market in Connecticut is only a few miles from our house. We left home at 6:30 am to sit in line to get into the drive-in where the flea market is held. You pay for a space and you can pay to rent a table. Six hours after the opening hour we packed up - only $30 ahead after the fees.

Goodwill here we come! This is a super nice Goodwill store and they have two lanes for unloading under a canopy. And they help you unload. I decided to take a quick look in the store. Geez, it looked like a regular department store! There were clothes from LL Bean and Coldwater Creek!

In housewares I found this lamp and didn't hesitate an instant. When I learned it was part of the 1/2 price sale I counted my money and realized I had the amount and even a penny extra! Mr. B ambled in at that point and asked if I needed any money but I told him I had it covered. A large, heavy brass lamp for $5!!!

It looks good here . . . . . .

And here.

For now I have left it in the entry. I like having a lamp there so I don't have to keep the chandelier on. I'm in the market for a planter for the plant here perched on the too tiny pot. Saw some nice things at HomeGoods.

Maybe a smaller version of this planter would work.

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Peaches Anyone?

Mr. B and I were driving down the road when I spotted a sign for a farm stand. "Turn there," I cried as we flew past it. So we turned around and went back and as we were going up a long lane we kept thinking, could the stand be this far off the road? The lane was bordered by a stone wall and tall trees made a tunnel. Suddenly things opened up and there was an orchard full of peach and apples trees. As you can see, the trees were loaded.

The rows were alternating, peach, then apple trees.

And in the barn were lots of vegetables, fruit and these lovely sunflowers. There was no one in sight. It was all on the honor system! You weighed your purchases and put the money in the box. How nice that things can still be done that way!

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Tag Sale

So I really did it! I made lots of decisions and that "Get Rid of Pile" I posted about (click here to see the photo) made it into my Tag Sale. Here is one of the signs we hung on the main road.

And here is what helped me get ready for the sale!

As you can see by the photo, I really did have a sale. The whole Pile was priced and put out in the driveway with the SIL's help. Mr. B was the cashier, I was the roving salesperson. Problem is, not much of it sold. I priced it low, even the furniture.


This is furniture left over from the store we closed. It is new, pine and is made in Pennsylvania. The corner cupboard was originally priced at $1,350 and in the tag sale at $225. But there was really no interest in the furniture. We did an ad in the paper explaining we had new furniture.


At the end of the day the whole pile moved back into the garage. Tag sales are not my favorite things. I don't mind the getting ready so much, but I hate people offering me 25 cents for my possessions no matter what price they are marked! As Janean of Old Sweetwater Cottage says, it is the bargaining that keeps her from doing sales. She would rather give items to a thrift shop! We really hoped to turn the items into cash to go into a special fund to buy Mr. B a larger TV, a desk and build shelves into the TV room closet to hold the TV.

Our tradition on yard sale day is to treat the "workers" to pizza out of the profits. It keeps morale up! So off we went to Willington Pizza where my SIL and I celebrated the completion of the sale and moving it back into the garage with a beer. I tried some Gorgonzola bread on my daughter's recommendation and it was mighty tasty! The cheese with herbs is on French bread and warmed.

There is a separate pile in the garage of boxes full of small antiques. We have attended an auction and it doesn't seem to be a good time to sell anything. There is another auction coming up Monday that we should attend to judge prices. I just no longer want so many small antiques on display like a copper kettle, an old rolling pin, vegetable choppers, crocks. And baskets! I unpacked at least three boxes of baskets and many of them are quite old.

Believe it or not, I still haven't unpacked all the boxes. More sorting to be done. Thank you all for your words of encouragement!

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Rockin' with Roy and Neil

As you know, we have just moved in and I am in my third (?) week or is it fourth week, of unpacking and sorting. Things were going into the discard boxes at a rapid rate. Then I had to drag all those boxes back in from the garage (up four steps - oh, my aching back!) and price them for the tag sale. I took a second look and decided to play some of the tapes I was thoughtlessly discarding. Well, I'm telling you, there was good music in those old tapes and I was having fun. I turned the volume to "loud" and got my exercise for the day by dancing. Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond never sounded so good.

Actually Neil Diamond sounded great at the concert I attended. I'd go again in a heartbeat if someone bought me tickets!


Our chadelier had six bulbs burned out. Wouldn't you know I couldn't match the bulbs. They were the chandelier type elongated bulbs. Since none of us liked the chandelier very much, Mr. B had the idea to switch to round bulbs for a more contemporary look.

This is the result. Doesn't it look great? We can all live with the fixture now and spend our money other places.

Next time I'll tell you about the tag sale!

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Lebanon, Connecticut

Mr. B and I love to explore. He has an excellent sense of direction and I'm a whiz at reading a map, so we just get in the car and go. It is exciting to have new territory to discover.

Only a few miles from us is the lovely, small rural town of Lebanon . There are a number of farms in town. Lebanon is know for its role in the Revolution. Its governor, Jonathan Trumbull, was the only British colonial governor to side with the American patriots. The Council of Safety, which managed the affairs of the Continental Army, met over 1,100 times. Most of the meetings were in Gov. Trumbull's home on the town green.

Lebanon has one of the largest town greens in the nation and it is still used for agricultural purposes as were all town greens originally. The day we were there hay was being raked on the green. There are several museums surrounding the green, including Gov. Trumbull's house. The walking path around the green is well used.

Top left photo is the Congregational Church
Top right is the path around the green
Bottom left must be for joggers going to the path
Bottom right is a stable (yes, a stable!) facing the green

Governor Jonathan Trumbull's House

We plan to go back and visit some of the museums.

Lebanon is going green and recently installed a wind turbine on a tower between two of its schools. It is also buying 40 % of its electric power which is produced by renewable energy sources.

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