Thrifty Days Sort of...

I love these sorts of posts almost as much as I love a good bargain! The following items are purchases I made when I went with my friend Julie to check out some thrift stores in Stratford, ON. Not all were "thrifty" as you will see...

The hat below is a Goodwill purchase of $1.50. This is a possible throw away item for when my brother and I go to Scotland in less than THREE weeks!! I like this hat, it fits well though I don't know what team it represents...nor do I care. I picked blue simply because my rain coat is blue so I'll be semi-coordinated on rainy days :) If I need to get rid of anything to make room somewhere in my suitcase or backpack when flying home and no longer want to wear a sweat-stained hat I can dispose of it and not feel any regret.

I popped into a shoe store in Stratford because I wanted a good quality product to keep my boots waterproof and supple. This should do the trick!

In no way could my boots be labelled a "thrifty purchase" but this just goes to show that I can occasionally make a more expensive purchase when need be. And good quality hiking boots are no place to try and save money! I have hiked in them and they feel good. Definitely worth $400+!!

Two books from the same Goodwill store - the first I bought for myself, the second Julie bought for me for my birthday and is an Oprah's Book Club book. It's a big fat book, they both are, and I am almost finished the Rohinton Mistry book - it's so good!! Don't remember the price but not much!

In another thrift store, Salvation Army I think...I found two excellent pairs of shoes. The runners are by Sketchers and something I've been looking for for awhile. I like a solid white shoe and they are not big clodhoppers that make my legs look like sticks...you know what I mean! They were clean and new and worth more than the $4.00 I paid for them.

I found some nice tops as well - this one appealed to my habit of buying grey/black and/or white with a nice patterned material, a cute peasant style neckline and...

...a really cute label hee hee! How could I resist?

This top below was the piece de resistance! And it looked like a million bucks when I tried it on. I love 3/4 length sleever (I have short arms), the neckline was flattering and I loved the colours and the fabric. It was $3 or $4 dollars.

Then we popped into the local Winners to check out the clearance racks. I found two tops - the tank top below with criss-cross back that looks awesome with...

...the sweet jacket/top I had just picked up for next to nothing.

Oops, I'm slightly out of order... here's the other fab pair of shoes I found - Aldo brand with the label stick stuck to the bottoms of the shoes, and again - so cute! I've been looking for flats so another box ticked!

Back to Winners...this was another top on the Clearance rack and it looked great when I tried it on. It's one of those tops that don't look like much on the hanger but when you put it on it's perfect! Hugged me in all the right places...

Gorgeous deep blue tie-dye sort of fabric.

And last but not least (for today) is a freebie: Julie bought this bathing suit top but it didn't fit her so she gave it to me. I've taken to wearing a "tankini" when at the beach - boy shorts and tank top = tankini. I definitely don't wear bikinis anymore and one piece suits are a pain in the washroom. It fits well and I already had the boy shorts - we have maybe one beach day left before Julie goes back to work (school teacher) but I'll be ready! 

Thriftiness while in Bracebridge coming next...

More on Books...The Big Reveal!

This bookcase with the clock now looks like...

....this... the clock has been moved and I was able to get a lot more fiction books onto it...

 This "book stool" has been disappeared with the books going upstairs to my bedroom/study.

This  dog's breakfast has been turned into...

...this...and will stay this way!! The old old cupboard was my grandma's - when I got it the stain was black and gummy so I refinished it. I'm ashamed I let it get covered up with a ton of stuff!

TOO MUCH STUFF!!

A neater and less cluttered table top now - my nature books and travel guides now reside in the book holder. Oh, by the way the two small plants have also been moved along with a few other things. My grandma made the crocheted table cloth.

The inside of my secretary now looks like...

this!! This is my small collection of history books.

This small bookcase was my mother's. I added a few more books to it and turned some sideways to maximize the space.

The rest of the fiction and reference books went on the two bookcases that are in my bedroom...

 It was pretty easy to shuffle some things around to make room...

After going through all of my books I ended up donating only TWO books to the Goodwill Bookstore and since they had a 50% off sale today I ended up purchasing six (new to me) books. Yeah, I bought more.

But I have an excuse awesome reason why!! 99% of the books I've read over the past couple of years have been e-books borrowed electronically from the London Library! And in addition I have purchased a number of books using the Kindle App. So for the next long while I've decided to go back (mostly) to paper books so that I can catch up with what's been given to me, keep the ones I love, and donate the rest.

I'm gonna be BUSY!!

Book Fiend

Yup, that's me! I learned how to read quite young as being a writer my mother kept the house chockablock with books. We also had a subscription to National Geographic and Reader's Digest.  I don't know if you remember these but Reader's Digest also used to send out hard-covered books containing condensed versions of fiction and non-fiction books. My brother can remember me at a very young age devouring these books.

As a result I became interested in many wide-ranging genres and would withdrew 4 books from our neighbourhood library 2 or 3 times a week. Our librarian was a wonder. When she would see me veering towards "young adult" or adult books, books by Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Hardy, D. H. Lawrence, gothic fiction, crime books etc, she would redirect me to shelves filled with more age-appropriate books! I read the "The Little House on the Prairie" books at least 10 times! The day when she stopped re-directing was a wonderful day indeed!

Anyhoo...the problem lies in storage of so many books. I sold/donated about 2/3's of my books when I was planning to move to PEI so that gave me some breathing room for awhile but they have gradually been filling up my shelves once again. I have a sister (in PEI) who saves books for me and sent some home with Kazi when she was visiting there last week. Two friends also give me their books when they are done with them. I always ask if they want them back after but they say no....

The other problem is my proximity to the Goodwill Bookstore. Whenever I go there I never leave without at least a dozen books!! I have come to the conclusion that I have too many topics that I am interested in. Just take a wee peek at my latest purchases and gifts and you'll see what I mean...

I am big on "life is a journey" type of books like "Passage to Juneau".

Anything to do with ancient maps...The Aran Islands where Annie and I went last year...a poetry book by Emily Dickinson entitled enticingly "I'm nobody! Who are you?" As an invisible 61 year old single woman I was drawn to her book!

"The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" is a fantastic "life is a journey travel book" which I will reread a number of times, I'm sure. I read "The Woodlanders" by Thomas Hardy while I was in B.C. (I am allowed to read Hardy's books now! :)

I'm always excited when I can find a P.D. James book I haven't read!! "The Great Hunger" is about the potato famine in Ireland in the mid 19th century. Annie and I walked the Famine Trail last year. "The Highland Clearances" is another devastating  story about people being separated from their land. "Go Tell it On the Mountain", a moving story of black families surviving in Harlem.

...books from my friend Julie

....books from my sister

 

Don't stop giving!!
I just have to find more room for them all! Because this is what my house looks like right now...
Hmmmmm, get rid of the clock and I have another shelf...

Non-fiction reference books - they belong in my bedroom/study....

 ...books holding up a lamp...

 ...this stool is going to give out soon!

Inside my secretary desk - it has a door that hides the mess inside including.....BOOKS!!

I see potential here...

.....I see a theme happening...

 A bit of room...

 Bleh... a dog's breakfast!!

 Another dog's breakfast...

It seems like I recently tidied up my study but you'd never know it! So I am going to sort this all out today so that I can join Lily outside...

Sorry - I need to learn to write shorter posts!! Who are the book lovers out there?

Tidy is as Tidy Does...

My house was neater when I worked. Obviously because I wasn't home enough to mess it up, not because I cleaned more.

Now I have become so fascinating that there are piles of books and binders and maps and travel guides and flash drives and electronic devices and sweaters (I never know which chair/couch I'm going to get cold on so every chair needs at least one!) and journals and pen holders and cords and....that's just my living room!

I think I need to put a sign on my front door - "A Fascinating Woman Lives Here" - so no one will mind the mess.  Well, they might mind but hopefully they'll shut up about it!

Who Knew?

Whoa - who knew the Finns had such a great hockey team??  The game is tied 1:1 with seconds to go in the 3rd period. Looks like overtime.

A friend recently recommended "Goodreads" to me on Facebook and I've been busy rating books and selecting those I want to read in the future. I also wrote a review for a book recently recommended to me by a reader of my blog. "Anon" thought I would enjoy a book called "The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism." I downloaded it to my iPad and read it last night in one go. I know I'll be re-reading it as well as taking it to my next staff meeting on Tuesday to share with the educational assistants. The insight I've gained is something I never thought possible. To get "inside this young man's head" and get answers to questions that have puzzled me for years is so amazing. Thank you thank you thank you Anon!! I hope you read this post! Down on my side bar is a Goodreads widget as well as a link to my review.

I've been doing a little "monkeying around" with my blog yesterday and today. I can't bear to look at the snow and ice anymore so decided to get some spring and summer into my blog.

(Oh, thank goodness, Canada just scored in overtime YAY YAY YAY!!!)

Well, now that the hockey game is over I think I'll head out to do some errands as tomorrow most places will be closed as we celebrate FAMILY DAY!!  Yes, it's a long weekend :) So much to celebrate as Kazi is safely home from her travels, the Olympics continue and I have more wonderful books to read.

What's on YOUR reading list?

March Break Begins...

in two more days!!  And I am preparing a list of things I want to get accomplished. For example, I plan to strip the old caulking from around the bathtub and re-caulk it. I'm going to clean the grout between the tiles in the bathroom with bleach. My daughter got a printer with her mactop and has never been able to hook it up to work wirelessly so yes, I'm going to solve that problem (maybe). I MUST get rolling on listing items for sale on Kijiji - that's only been on my TO DO List for a few months... ETC. ETC. I won't be twiddling my thumbs! If I get bored I have these to keep me occupied:

 Right now I'm reading a book on my Kindle AND I'm almost finished "The Introvert Advantage" (you can see my bookmark sticking out.  And Michael wants me to get started on "The Soul of Money" which a friend sent to him on his birthday - he's finished it and is raving about it. I'm really looking forward to being able to sit for a couple of hours and just read :)

Happily I am back on my bike and pedaling like MAD!! Only 120km from Philly (and no, I haven't forgotten about you Sluggy! I have a stubborn 3 pounds to lose to get to my 10 Pound Challenge goal and have (once again) renewed my efforts....sigh... Speaking of losing weight (not) I have my daughter's fave recipe baking away in the oven - it's called No Peeking Chicken (kind of a play on words of Peking Chicken just in case you didn't catch the reference!) It's the easiest recipe in the world!! You put a bunch of skinless chicken in the bottom of a roasting pan - I'm using thighs this time but any parts will do, and cover it with a mixture of a can of cream of celery soup, a can of mushroom soup, a can of water, some sour cream if you have it but that's optional (well, not optional for ME) and a cup full of either wild rice or brown rice. I had some celery stalks that were getting a little floppy so I cut them up and tossed them in too. Mushrooms are nice in this recipe too. Then sprinkle some onion soup mix on top. Put a lid on it and bake 2 hours in a 350 oven - and NO PEEKING because the steam needs to stay in the pot! Yum yum yum!! Course I'm having some chicken but only a teeny weeny bit of rice. Yeah, right!

Last night I worked on income tax as Kazi printed off the tuition forms from her university. I juggled numbers and got us both a very juicy refund. Hers will pay almost half of next year's tuition!! Plus she's mailed forms away for a tuition rebate from last year's tuition that our very in-debt gov't is offering (though probably not for long!) Mine will be put towards my line of credit though I might allow myself a new spring top as it was a robust 15c today with lots of sunshine. One of those days that are such a gift in early spring. So, tonight I file my taxes online and should see the $$ next week! Yippee!!

And finally - Today's Inspirational Moment:

Michael bought these flowers on Valentine's day and has gradually been removing the dead ones as they wilted, dried out and fell onto the table. Yesterday I took this other picture:

this is all that remains after 3 weeks. Michael's been going through a bit of a yucky time and we were inspired by how beautiful these perky little remnants looked floating around in a dish or water. They have no stems anymore and the petals are curling up but there is still a bit of life and loveliness left. Here is what we came up with after having a good long heart to heart talk:

"Even in the midst of our mess we can salvage something good." 


Whenever we go through a tough time we can ALWAYS take away something good. Whether is be a lesson learned, an inner discovery of our own strength or simply the satisfaction of knowing we did our best in a difficult situation there is always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

Here endeth the lesson.