Sweet Little Treasures

Thought I would share a few of the teeny sweet goodies I’ve picked up here and there in the last few months.

Acorny Bird
This little birdy came from Bazaar Del Mundo in Old Town.

He is cast in resin or ceramic or something – not the carved wood I usually prefer, but the hat!  I love his little acorn hat!  So sweet.  He makes me happy.

Hammered Heart
Continuing the bird theme, this two-sided hammered brass and decoupaged heart is also from Bazaar Del Mundo.  It was part of an after Christmas sale, but it’s really rather perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Cigar Box
I bought this cigar box at a Salvation Army thrift store.

When I first saw it, I picked it up and examined it for a long time.  There was nothing wrong with it and the price was right, but what would I do with it?  I put it back on the shelf.  Such a mistake.  When I spied it in someone else’s basket a few minutes later, I felt really disappointed.  😦

I even briefly stalked watched the other shopper browsing ahead of me and I thought about the Mary Randolph Carter book I recently received from my mom-in-law:

I had stopped to think about the cigar box.  Shopping fail.  Fortunately, the other guy changed his mind and plopped it onto a shelf near the registers.  I scooped it up and felt lucky for the second chance.  After the 50%-off-day discount, I paid a meager $0.75!  Ha!

That Book
And speaking of that book above, it’s great.  It’s really fun to learn about other people’s collections and obsessions.  The pictures are true eye candy and the writing is very engaging and thoughtful.  Over all, it’s a delight to read or just browse through.  It’s a large, thick, heavy, well constructed coffee table volume that I am eager to share, but will likely never give away.  I am enjoying it so much!  It’s a keeper.  Thank you, Jenifer!

Bundting Baby
I also added another fabulous large Nordic Ware specialty bundt pan to my collection.

These things are generally $20 to $40 in stores or online, so I always snap them up when I find them.  This one was pristine and only cost me about $5 at the local Goodwill bookstore.  It’s called the Fairytale Cottage Bundt Pan.  It holds 10 cups of batter.

I actually put this one to use right away with a cream cheese pound cake recipe.  The cake was good and it helped me to learn a few things about using the pan.  That said, I’m not as concerned with function, as I am with form, when I buy these bundt babies.  I just like the way they look and feel and I enjoy putting them on the wall or stacking them in my kitchen as decoration.  I have a lot of them…you know?  A lot of them.  🙂

Kokeshi Dolls
And last, but not least, here are pictures of something I’ve been hiding away for over a year.

I got this collection of kokeshi dolls from my sweet friend, Leighann.  As part of a spontaneous cross country move, Leighann and her family shed half their belongings a year and a half ago.

They uprooted their entire lives and trekked thousands of miles with two kids, two dogs and a u-haul in less time than it has taken me to display these kokeshis!  And really, I’m not done with this.  The wall will eventually be painted and the shelves rearranged with a few more items, but you get the idea.

The real reason I think of this as a recently discovered treasure, is the fact that those two little minis in front were a surprise to me this week.  They were stored inside the two mamas on the right and left and I didn’t even know!  Such a sweet discovery, from a sweet friend.  Thank you, Leighann!

♥

That’s all for now.

Happy Sunday!

♥

P.S. What little treasures have you added to your collections this season?

♥♥

 

It’s officially a collection.

I bought another Bundt pan.

That’s two in two days.

This one is more modern than the others.

It’s non-stick, silver, heavy, and made by Wilton instead of Nordic Ware.

And it’s beautiful.

See?

It’s already on the wall with my red and blacks pans.

Yesterday, I raised my eyebrows in wonder and slight disgust over the condition of the chippy yellow pan I bought on Sunday.  Someone was mean to it.

This one, on the contrary, was treated like the beauty she is.

The pan has clearly been used, but it was basically clean, and the previous owner had even kept the flimsy plastic insert to protect the pan’s interior.  Amazing.

You can see some dust on the plastic piece – this is after I washed it with warm soapy water.

It was really gross, but the pan beneath it was happy and safe.

Now, I just need an occasion for popping these pans into the oven.

Send me your favorite Bundt cake recipes.

♥

I also bought a few more children’s books and a teeny patchwork pumpkin.

A few days ago, I swapped out all the books on my son’s display rack.

We now have enough Halloween books to read a different one every day in October.

Our Thanksgiving titles are in shorter supply though, so I was happy to find a few at the thrift store today.

The display rack is mostly for seasonal titles.

He has a couple of tall bookcases in his room for other books and some of his toys.

Heh heh.  I just noticed that Wreck-it Ralph is in the hospital.

Brundibar is a Maurice Sendak book that I’ve had on my wish list for a while.

It’s always nice to find a $20 hardback picture book in perfect shape and marked just $2 at Goodwill!

Can’t beat that!

I can’t really imagine paying full price for a children’s book – not when Goodwill actually has its own bookstores.

Unless you’re looking for a new release or a specific hard-to-find item, it pays to go second-hand.

My favorite place to buy books is the DAV thrift store on Elkelton in Spring Valley.  They seem to have a permanent half-off sale – all books and magazines too.

And their prices are low before the discount.

Anyhoo, here is a close-up of my little patchwork pumpkin.

I am really quite ready to usher in the Fall.

In fact, I can’t wait to see miniature pumpkins at the grocery store.

They make me happy.  🙂

♥

That’s all.

Well…except for here’s my kid and my messy house:

Happy Tuesday!

♥♥

Chocolate Book Collection & The Gilded Bee

Chocolate Cookbook Collection

If you recall that I am a cookbook collector and that I have recently resolved to focus only on books about chocolate, then you will understand my shock and awe and utter joy over the Christmas present I just received from my brother.

He brought over a big box today and all of these were inside:

Amazingly, I had only one of them already in my collection and it was a paperback in poor condition.  The new one is a hardcover.  A nice hardcover.

My brother is far more skilled and patient in preservation than I, so he swaddled each one of these in a clear cover for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much, Billy!

I love you for doing this.

You rock!

♥

The Gilded Bee

Remember that pretty ribbon I found last week?

It comes in other dreamy colors.  Swoon.

I like that it’s called Chess Pie Ribbon.  So charming.

The minute I found it and browsed the rest of The Gilded Bee’s etsy shop, I caved to frilly, girly weakness and ordered this and this too.

Happy.  Smiley.  Ribbony.  Lovely.

♥

And then there’s this:

Have a great weekend!

♥♥

Long Beach Flea Market

I don’t know how often I can come on here and say the same things.

Life is hard.  And easy.  And ugly.  And beautiful.

♥

Life is hard…

because my autistic son needs everything to be a certain way and, despite the good intentions of everyone in my life, very few really understand how insanely difficult it is to parent him.

He seems so incredibly normal – whatever the hell “normal” is.  He is beautiful.  He is smart.  He is talkative and cheerful.  He is happy and animated and very cooperative.  Until he isn’t.

Over the two-week break, he hit me a few times.  😦  He pushed me too.  On one of the days he had a meltdown like I can’t even describe.  He screamed, he broke things.  The usual.

He yells about everything.  “No take the plate to the kitchen!”  “No mama say!”  “No mama singing!”  “No music!”  “No.  No.  No!”

And then there’s the OCD stuff…

He has a thing about the pantry door.  He has to close it a certain way, at a certain time, repeatedly.  He chants his little chants, he swings it shut and pulls it open and swings it shut and pulls it open and swings it shut and pulls it open and SLAMS it closed.  And all of the things that hang from the inside of the door go crashing to the tile below.  LOUD.  LOUD.  LOUD.

And the bathroom door.  He closes and opens it too.  All the time.  Just because.

He writes math problems for himself every night.  He leaves the papers all over the table.  He does this when I am in the pit of the day’s fatigue.  Consequently, his math papers never get picked up.  Our house is an overwhelming wreck.  It depresses me.  I am tired and life is hard.

♥

Life is easy…

because I have three fabulous moms and a good friend who listen to all of it.  Life is easy because husband knows how it is and he’s here everyday seeing it, feeling it, and being in it with me.  And when he isn’t here to make it easier on me, he’s out there to make it easier on me.  He works so that I can take care of our kid.  And our house.  And our laundry.  Our never ending, steaming mountains of laundry.

♥

Life is ugly…

because of stupid, evil, mean people who make me sick with worry for my son…and his future…and the potential dangers that await him.

♣

Life is beautiful…

because the yelling, pushing, screaming, toy throwing little boy is also sweet and kind and funny and he makes up songs about silly things like my jiggly arms.  😀  I love him.

Life is beautiful because I get to see my good friend every few months and we always have a great day together somewhere.  On Sunday, we went to the Long Beach Flea Market and I bought a water fountain.  It’s perfect for our little yard, but it weighs a gazillion pounds.

Life is beautiful because the vendor wanted $75 and we talked him down to $50.

Life is beautiful because my friend carried the dirty top part of the fountain a great distance to my car for me.

Life is beautiful because there is ibuprofen to ease the pain and stupidity of carrying the lower section of the fountain by myself.  Day four and I am still achy breaky.

Life is beautiful because we had a very pleasant lunch at Bono’s Long Beach with the best creme brulee I have ever tasted in my life.  The portion was HUGE and my friend didn’t want any.  🙂  Thank you, silly friend.

Life is beautiful because I also found a book for my brother, a liquid timer for my son, and some Bit-O-Honey candy at Powell’s (best old timey candy store ever) for my husband.

I got these guys for me:

Their bodies are hinged so you can sway their little legs back and forth if you want to.  I know you want to.  🙂

♥

Life is life.

Happy Wednesday!

♥♥

Best Magazine Ever!

When Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion magazine called it quits a few years ago, it broke my heart.

Those lovely pages were such a sweet delight in my humble little life.

I guess the decision broke a few other hearts too, because now Mary and the gang have decided to try again!  Yippee!!

I hope they don’t mind that I am sharing the graphic from their e-mail blast today.

Click on this link to find out more!  😀

Happy Friday!

♥

P.S.  Just one more day of the little boy’s Fall break from school and then I will start mending my wounded routine.  Look for more posts soon!  😀

♥♥

Animals I Love

The Mellowest Cat Ever

I love him because he playfully grabbed my fingers and purred at me like we were old friends, just sitting on the floor of our living room.

But we were at Home Depot, he was in a shopping cart, and I was a stranger.

I might have stolen him…

if his owner hadn’t been so sweet and funny and obviously smitten with her little feline friend.  She told me that Kitty is easier to shop with than her children were when they were young.

Good Kitty!

♥

Llamas & Rabbits

My son and I love the Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney.

We have three and can’t wait to get the others.

Dewdney’s latest is on the right – Llama Llama Home With Mama.

Here is a sneak peek at one of her charming new illustrations – hope I don’t get in trouble for sharing!

You can’t read this title online as yet, but you can peruse the others with this link to wegivebooks.org.

This site offers a great way to donate books to children who need them, but you don’t have to donate just to look.  Don’t worry if a donation message pops up.  Just click the “x” to finish.  Unless you want to donate!  🙂

While you’re there, check out Nobunny’s Perfect too!  We have only read it online and it’s already another of our favorites.  The bunnies have a few behavioral issues in common with my son.  😐

♥

A Sly Squirrel

I don’t remember where I got this little fellow – maybe a gift from the lovely mom-in-law??

Every year, I forget that he’s in the closet, waiting patiently with the other decorations.

When I open the box and find him inside, I always feel like I’ve bumped into an old friend.

He is my favorite little bit of Fall.  🙂

♥

Happy Monday!

♥

P.S.  Someday soon I’ll post more pictures of the things my son tapes to the walls in our house.  He does it so often that we almost don’t notice anymore.  Almost.

This thing was taped up across from the laundry doors for over a week.  😐  It was really in the way and we never understood exactly what it was, but we left it alone.

What can I say?  The boy loves paper and tape and weird little stuff (just like his mama) and he does everything with such purpose.  If he thinks it needs to be on our wall, then it’s pretty much gonna be on our wall.

♥♥

Early Saturday

The boy and I made a schedule for the weekend.

Today we were up at 6:00 a.m. and out the door for Crispy’s Donuts (not Krispy Kreme!) in less than twenty minutes.  That’s what the boy wanted, so that’s what we did.

I tried to exercise a little more restraint this time.  We still got the whole pink box, but I only nibbled on small chunks instead of inhaling half the dozen like it was my very last meal.

I did eat most of a croissant.  I had to.  Crispy’s makes the best croissants around.  Don’t argue.  That’s the flat out truth.  You can’t just buy one and leave it in the box.

The boy mowed the glaze off of his selections and threw the carcasses in the trash, as usual.

He did that for lunch and snack time too.

♥

By 8:15, we were at the park.

Clearly, a couple of tweenage girls had been there too.

Do girls still just love to write their idols’ names and draw hearts and stuff, or is there some bigger picture here?

Does Justin Bieber actually ♥ Justin Timberlake?  I’m so out of the loop.

Maybe the girls were a little goofy on birthday fumes.  Not sure what to make of that monkey.

Though it may explain this:

Really, piggy park users?  There’s a trash bin less than twenty feet from here.  😡

♥

The boy was in a funny mood today.  His very purposeful stare was cracking me up.

 

After sliding, the boy wanted a push on the swing.  I hung the camera around my neck and turned it off.  Or so I thought.

 

We had a good time.  😀

♥

Now it’s almost 2:00 p.m. and the little boy is at the table, cutting out nouns from a workbook and stapling them onto a paper he made.  He loves to do schoolwork and will design it himself if there is nothing more to finish from his teacher.  We have a pile of workbooks that he has dismantled and rearranged and learned from in the last several months.  He’s such a smart little boy.

And now he is asking me to help him with his fluency time, so I have to wrap this up!

Happy Saturday!

♥

P.S.  I’m going to see The Help tonight.  I can’t wait.  The book was sooo good.  Have you read it?  Have you seen the movie?  What did you think?

♥♥

Rose Bowl Flea Market Purchases

I buy ribbon and rickrack everywhere I go.  This pile of generous bundles cost only $10 total.  I love the blue with the red and white.  They’re kind of fitting for the season, don’t you think?  😀

I also buy Little Golden Books.  I got these three and the colorful little book below for a total of $3.00.

The Little Small Red Hen book was wrapped in a plastic bag when I saw it, so I knew it was probably badly damaged inside.  I was right.  There are pages missing and others torn, but I love the colorful cover and there are a few additional color plates inside that charm me anyway.  And really, the title is so sweet.

I’m not sure I know what to say about these next items.  I collect buttons and dominoes, but the buttons aren’t the greatest specimens and those two dominoes are all I got – not a set.  Don’t know what I was thinking.  Guess I don’t care since it only took $2.00 from me.

Arthur Burdett Frost’s Br’er Rabbit has been in my dreams for months.  I saw these twin reproduction art plaques of him at the market in January and have been wanting them ever since.  Now, they’re mine!  I’m glad they were near the exit.  Once I had these heavy boys to carry, I turned into a complaining nightmare.  “Oh, my aching back!”

I bought this bag to put them in and it made a big difference!

This bag is HUGE and made of super lightweight fabric.  I wish I had bought more than one.  😐

I also bought our initials.  Each ten-inch letter is cut from thin metal, then painted.  I’m not sure where I’m going to put them yet, but I am sure I will buy another letter or two every time I go to the market.  The guy who makes them just tosses them all on the ground and people walk on them and kick them aside to find the colors and letters they want.  All that rough handling gives the letters a good scruffy salvage look to them.  He makes smaller and larger versions and there are also numbers and some funky three-dimensional flowers too.

I can’t wait to add more to my collection.  I feel an art installation brewing, maybe for the wall to the right of my stained glass window??  You know, this wall:

Can’t you just picture it with a sea of letters swirling about like the curly waves in the window?  I can!

Last, but not least, here is the teeny bird I bought at Goldbug.  He’s very sweet, but extremely difficult to photograph.  My friend got one just like him, but with less of the green patina.  I love him.

I feel like I’ve forgotten something.  I will check my treasures and let you know!

Oh, I also bought four magazines on this trip.  Four.  Because this was MY weekend and I like magazines.  Woohoooo!

Happy Monday!

♥

P.S. I forgot to mention that I also went to Mignon Chocolates.  I have to confess, I am a diehard See’s Candies loyalist, but I would happily eat another of Mignon’s Amaretto truffles if I had to.  😀

♥

P.P.S.  The little boy seems pleased with my one and only purchase from Lula Mae this time:

♥♥

Days Of Our Lives

Friday and Strange Men

There are men in my house.  Two of them.

They’re putting new vinyl in my upstairs bathroom.

They are loud and animated, speaking Spanish at lightning speed.  I can barely keep up.  My Spanish is rusty.

I have yawned about thirty times since they arrived at 9:15.  They were over an hour late.

I waited to eat.

As I listened patiently to the compulsory explanation of lost phone messages and misplaced directions, I just wanted to pour the milk over my cereal and sit down.

Whatever, dudes!   Please do the work and GET OUT of here!

And just like that, they were gone.

Vinyl installed.

Baseboards ruined, but nailed back anyway?!  What the heck?

He did mention that one of them had swollen from moisture…

“Maybe your cat has peed in that corner?”

Um…no…but my son has, repeatedly.

Laughter.

Flushed cheeks.  Why did I tell them that?!

My embarrassment may have motivated a thoughtless answer to facilitate a hasty exit.  Did I actually tell him to nail the swollen baseboards back to the wall?

Maybe I did.  How inconvenient of me to request such a thing.  😐

The contractor will have to fix them next week.

And the plumber will drop by this evening to install the new toilet.

It’s taller.  It’s a grown-up toilet, because we are grown-ups.

The vinyl feels good to the tootsies.  It’s thicker and squishier than the builder grade crap that was in there before.

Thicker and squishier is better for my freaked-up feet.

Don’t ever get tile, you know?  It’s unforgiving.  And by that, I mean that your feet will never forgive you.

♥

Saturday and Upset

The little boy had a three-hour, house-destroying tantrum tonight.

He smacked the computer monitor in anger, he got a warning, then he smacked it again.

So I shut it off.  And he lost his mind.

LOST.

HIS.

MIND.

The husband had to follow him around to be sure he didn’t break anything of value.  That angered him more.  He really just wanted to rage through the house as he pleased.  I guess he thought that would get us to turn on the computer again.  It didn’t.  But it did make me cry.

He finally tuckered out and fell asleep, but not before breaking a couple of toys, putting fresh gouges in his bedroom wall, busting a small chair to pieces, and further destroying his window screen and curtain rod.  It was a long night for all of us.

I must exercise first thing tomorrow.  It will help me to deal with another trying day, if we are meant to have one.

♥

Sunday and Familiar Men

I woke to find the husband and the boy in the kitchen making pumpkin bread this morning.

We only had one really large can of pumpkin in the cupboard, so husband almost doubled the recipe.  Almost.

He employed some impressive mathematics to get the measurements right for the rest of the ingredients.  I admired his painstaking care, but suggested he throw out half the can of pumpkin next time.  I hope there is a next time.

We ended up with two small loaves, two big loaves, and a bundt pan full of batter.  We have lots of bread.  Lots of really delicious, oh-geez-how-will-I-ever-lose-weight, warm, cinnamon-scented loaves of yummy.

I love these familiar men in my kitchen.

The little one has basically recovered from his upset and is actually very huggy.  Sweet pea.

We stayed in our jammies all day long, except for twenty minutes this morning when I followed through on my exercise vow and took a brisk walk through the neighborhood.

It was a good day.

♥

Monday – Exercise & Veggie Burgers

I walked again.  Twenty minutes of cardio.  Yea!

Then the husband and I took the little boy to the popper fountains.

He loved it.  He always loves it.

He’s always hungry after playing in the water, so we actually got to go to Island’s and enjoy a meal without pancakes for a change.

He ate some fries and an entire chicken strip.

For him, that’s a LOT.

♥

Tuesday and We’re Back to Square One

The boy didn’t want to go to school this morning.

I think that Friday tired him out.

His class spent two hours at the new little park adjacent to the campus – sort of a treat for being good this year.

Unfortunately, it opened a whole new can of anxiety for him.

He likes clouds and there really weren’t any, so he was in the sun for two hours.

We sent him to school with sunscreen, but he won’t wear glasses or a hat.

He just doesn’t like to be out in the open with the sun in his eyes for that long.

It’s sort of the intersection of all of his sensory issues.

I explained this morning that today was a regular school day and there would be no extended time in the shadeless play structures of the park.

He calmed enough to go, but even the regular schedule proved too much for him. He came home with a yellow card.

Yellow is just a cut above red and way below the much coveted purple.  He hates yellow cards.

The aide explained that he doesn’t like to wait, so he pushes the little girl in front of him quite forcefully if she stops in line.  Not good.  The line stops frequently.

I just had a conversation with him about this, but I don’t know if it will make a difference.

As I type, I can hear him freaking out in the other room.  He’s on the computer and not exercising the greatest restraint when it comes to displaying his frustration.

Husband is sitting next to him, so today I am deferring to his judgment and closer proximity.

I’m drained this afternoon.  Don’t know why, really.

Perhaps a diet of pumpkin bread and stress?

Just heard a more chipper, musical sound from the little boy.

Maybe it’s safe to venture back out there after all.

Are you still here?

This is a long damn post.

Happy Tuesday!

♥

P.S.  What are you reading this week?  I just started The Help.  So far, sooo good!

♥♥

#15 – Things I sorta already knew…

but learned again this week:

1. Accidentally cracking off a chunk of your tooth kinda hurts and immediately makes you feel anxious, paranoid and kind of depressed.
2. Sometimes a little humiliation is the best motivator for getting a project finished.  😳  You know, like when the air conditioning guy comes to your house and tells you he has to go into the attic and you suddenly realize that he’ll have to stand on your sewing table in the hallway to get up there and you remember that you started cleaning up your sewing stuff, but you never finished and your stuff is sitting in piles all over the table and the floor and the nearby counter?  You know, that kind of humiliation.  “Oh, sorry Mr. Air Conditioning Guy, don’t mind the mess.  I’m sorting my sewing area this week.  Sorting…you know…present tense.  Because I was definitely gonna finish.  I mean, who leaves piles of crap like this everywhere?”
3. I am tall.  And heavy.  And I have bad feet.  I can NOT wear cute shoes.
4. The little boy likes to rip things into tiny pieces.  Hey, Grammy and Grandpa Bud, do remember all of those cardboard blocks you assembled on Christmas morning?  Yep.  Shredded.  😐
5. If I buy a new packet of sewing needles every time I reach for one and can’t find it quickly, then I will eventually have enough sewing needles to last 100 lifetimes.  And if my mom does the same thing in her sewing years and then she gives all of her sewing stuff to me, then I will have enough needles to last 200 lifetimes.  Maybe more.  Seriously?  What were we thinking?  Anybody need some sewing needles?  Or elastic?  How about some elastic?
6. The slim price mint chip ice cream sandwiches are really good.  😀  Really.  Good.
7. Fear of the knife gets you stabbed by the fork.  And sometimes the grapefruit spoon.  Grrrr.
8. Ribbon makes me happy.  Organizing all of it brought me immense joy this week.  It also taught me that I never need to buy any gold ribbon again.  Ever.
9. I actually do like blue cheese.
10. I am in denial over the teeny hole in the back of my favorite purple t-shirt.
11. I am very interested in the royal wedding, but you would have to pay me an awful lot of money to make me watch it live at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.  Seriously?  I’m asleep then.  I love my DVR.
12. While my interest in general cookbooks is waning, my passion for books about chocolate is growing in exponential proportions.  Next on my wish/hit list is Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.  I was all set to join the The Good Cook again, but they don’t seem to carry this title anymore.  Double drat!  Might join anyway…
13. Biscuits from a cardboard tube will do in a pinch (like when you break your tooth and don’t want anything crunchy), but then you mostly just want to barf them up and start your food day over.  😐
14. When properly fed, the little boy lives in a world of joy, surrounded by interesting shapes and fascinating colors and remarkable sounds.  He jumps and squeals and laughs and TALKS and sings and enjoys life more than I ever knew to.  He is the cheeriest creature I know.
15. Our oldest cat does not do well without us, even for a few nights, even with visiting friends seeing to her needs.  Really, it’s flattering, even kind of reassuring to some of my mothering doubts, but I worry about her.  She’s old, you know?  How many more times can we leave her before her little nervous system just can’t take it anymore?  Pretty puddy.
16. There is no substitute for a chat with an old friend.  Nothing calms, energizes, inspires, challenges, comforts, or fits quite as well.

Happy Thursday!

♥♥