Good Ideas

The nose dive in the economy certainly had a lot of ramifications. One that hit us was the disappearance of long skinny notepads left on our porch by local realtors, which we used to receive regularly. They were perfect for grocery lists. I know, I know, in the face of the devastation faced by many over the past few years, who cares about a few notepads? (Well, presumably the realtors whose disappearing livelihood caused the lack of notepads!) But people face up magnificently to real trouble. It’s the little niggling details that can get you down.

But I should be set for a while. I scored a new pack of 5 x 8” index cards on a driveway this weekend, which will be cut in half and made into pads with hot glue. Perfect for shopping lists, and sturdy as well. Whew!

I imagine a lot of people discovered shopping on driveways out of necessity in the past few years. It’s certainly one reason we can live well in retirement. And I know I can go on ad nauseum about how much one can get for how little, but it amazes me that week after week I can find such great deals. This week I spend $17.35 – an amount that should tell you two things: I found a big ticket item, and something else cost a dime! I’ll let you guess on the dime item. The big ticket? That charcoal grill I’ve had my eye out for all summer.

We like charcoal for grilling much better than gas; more flavor. Can’t wait to fire this puppy up…but some cleaning will be necessary first. It came with one of those chimney thingies for starting the coals, which we love. A couple of sheets of crumpled paper and a match and in ten minutes you have starter coals ready, with no smelly lighter fluid.

Dang, I’m getting hungry. We’ve got several ears of corn in the fridge from our CSA share this week that are just crying out to be grilled!

So that was the big ticket. The littler tickets? On Friday I found this gorgeous (and probably new) Talbot’s blazer to resell. (Size 12, chocolate brown, 100% linen…holler if you’re interested!)

Saturday’s finds included a Timberland shirt for me

a package of 100 mini baking cups (I’m thinking truffles at Christmas in their own little papers)

a fun DVD I’ve been wanting to see again

and a lovely vintage paint by numbers.

If the info on one like it for sale on eBay is accurate, this is from the late 40s and was one of the first paint by number kits. Whoever painted this one did a great job; I love the brush strokes.

Even the back is fun – the frame has this insert encouraging you to Be Your Own Decorator.

I love knowing that the salesgirl could give me valuable suggestions. Wonder if they would have had anything to do with picture arranging?

I was leaving the last sale of the morning when I spotted a couple of rugs that I had missed earlier. Walked over to check them out, but they turned out to be not something I could use, nor a price I would pay. But laying by them was a gray…something. Picked it up and saw it was a large thick pad, evidently for a twin bed…or for the back of the car to keep it clean when you carry dogs around all the time. Though this wasn’t the ten-cent item, the price was pretty darned good, so it came home with me too. And evidently I chose well. When I spread it on the sofa to snap a quick picture, Zoe was up there before I could blink.

I was going to get it into the laundry, but she wouldn’t get off. She settled in for a nice nap.

She’s a dog with really good ideas.