Is that all there is?

On Saturdays I usually hop in the car with my best two girlfriends and we go out junking.  (And, yes, sometimes we sing.  One of the girl's favorite new song is "Friday" by Rebecca Black.  Yeah, it's cute, but it gets tiresome.)

Anyway, we hit at least 9 or 10 sales and there was just NOTHING there.  Okay, there was stuff, but not stuff we wanted.  Here's my booty:

Bone china mug, reproduction Fire King Jadite mug (the price was right) and a willow cup from Syracuse China.  (The saucer was marked "Blatt Band" and "Made in Sweden" - and we know where the Syracuse cup was made, right?)

And though it wasn't a hot day, July is right around the corner.

We did enjoy each other's company and laughed and stuffed ourselves at lunch afterwards, and that was the best.

Did you find anything good this weekend?

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Reading for pleasure

I love to read. I'm sucker for books that nobody loves, too. So is it any wonder I rescued a book from a free box at one of the yard sales on Saturday. As if that wasn't bad enough, this had been a library discard. It's called Adopted Jane.

Here's the Amazon description: Jane Douglas has lived at an orphanage for long as she can remember. Reliable and sensible, she has watched other children come and go, but never once has any family wanted to adopt Jane. Then one magical summer Jane receives not one, but two, invitations to live in a real house with a real family for a month each. If only the summer could last forever.

I read it over the weekend and it's a sweet book. I think I'm going to keep it.

I also hit another sale and found a copy of Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle.

Of course, I probably would have NEVER bought it if I hadn't seen the movie Julie & Julia, which I've now seen at least ten times.  The woman who sold it to me said, "Someone's going to be cooking."  I said, "Not me.  I only want to page through it because I saw the movie."  She said, "I learned a lot from that movie."  I said, "I learned NOT to crowd the mushrooms!" and we both laughed.

I imagine I'll get an hour or two of pleasure flipping through this cookbook.  (The movie really intimidated me when it comes to trying any of the recipes.)

What books have you recently acquired?

What I found while junking . . .

Finally.  Going to yard sales is starting to become fun again.  Once again I scored some nice stuff for not much cash.

My first purchase as a lovely little china plate with roses.  Isn't it sweet?

Next up, I got a hand-painted china tray.  I guess it's a dresser tray ... I just love it.

Went to a sale put on my the local ambulance corp and found this sweet little cup with roses on it.  (Seeing a theme here?)  It was only a dime.  No saucer, but it looked lonely and I couldn't resist.

I love it's pedigree, too.

I got a few other things, but I'll save them for tomorrow.

So, what do you think?

Did The Money Pit Claim Another Life?

So there I was, checking to see if my stained doilies were bleaching out in the sun.  Soak them with lemon juice, hang them up to dry. Voila!  Pretty whites once more.  Only the stains on these were pretty bad.  (Had someone tried and failed to tea dye them?)

Then, feeling all Martha Stewarty, I decided to check on my new red climbing rose.  The first bloom!  It's gorgeous.

So as I was passing the money pit (in-ground pool), I notice a very tiny little swimmer, tiring fast.  Whoa!  A chipmunk.  "Hang on, little chipmunk!" I called (yes, I actually did), and ran for the net skimmer (with the million foot pole).  I scooped him out and he (well, it looked like a he), gratefully stopped paddling.  I carried him over to the ivy in the shade and he closed his little eyes and straightened out his little limbs.  I don't know if he was already dead, but I'm pretty sure I didn't find him in time.  I gently laid him on the ivy and he sank into it.

Sometimes they revive.  Sometimes they don't.  I always feel awful if I can't save whatever is drowning.  How frightening it must be to weigh about 8 ounces and be unable to get out of a 26,000 gallon pool.

I find myself looking out the window a lot more in the summer months, just because I try to look out for the creatures that go flying across the concrete and don't know there's an ocean in front of them hidden over a small rise of concrete.

I sure hope the little guy made it.

And now for something completely different

Today on the blog, I’m interviewing my long-time friend Tonya Thomas.  She’s a writer who has had some success writing about “women in complicated relationships.”  She’s pulled together five of her short stories and put them into one package, which is available on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords (which sells all e reader formats).

What made you write the stories contained in THE EDGE AND I?
I’ve wanted to be a novelist for most of my life, but getting published isn’t exactly easy.  I hoped to “break” into the business by writing short stories.  And I did it. 

Did you personally experience any of the events in your women’s fiction stories?
Yes.  But I won’t tell which story is semi-autobiographical.  But feel free to guess.

There's a lot of hardship in these stories.  My favorite was Trapped In An Abusive Relationship.  I've known women who've been in that kind of situation.
I write about strong women who don't always make the right decisions when it comes to relationships. But in the end, they manage to pull their lives together.  My deepest hope is that someone will read my stories and be inspired to change their own lives--or the lives of someone they know to be in a desperate situation.

Where did you get the title of your newest release?
LOL--my cover designer and I came up with it.  I tossed her a bunch of picture ideas and a bunch of titles and told her to choose something, since coming up with titles isn’t my forte.  She tweaked it and voila!  The Edge And I has a lovely cover.

Tonya and I often go to yard sales together.  Will you ever write about our junking expeditions?
Hmm…I never thought about it, but I suppose I could make it a mystery story.  I’ll think about it.

Of course, I’ll want to read that story first--just to make sure you get all the details right.
Of course.

What’s next on your writing agenda?
I’m working on a fantasy saga.  Right now I see at least six stories in the series.  I hope to have the first one completed before the end of the year.

Thanks for visiting today.
Thank you for having me.

Please visit Tonya at her blog (A Touch Of Tonya) or on Facebook.  (She’s also on Twitter as @TonyaThomas1)  And you can visit her Amazon store, too.

An Office Make-Over?

And so I have decided to do a make-over on my tiny office.

This sounds really easy, right?  Paint the walls.  Maybe get a new carpet remnant.  And add a few shelves.  Oh, and did I mention there's a slight money shortage?

The truth is I've been looking at yard sales for two years now, trying to find some bookshelves that will fit.  So far no good.  I did visit a thrift store the other day and there sat the perfect sized shelf. It had two very big problems.  Price ($20) and condition.  The thing was peeling paint like crazy.  I would bet that the shelf was built before 1969, which means it's probably got lead paint on it.  It would need a lot of sanding, and I really don't want to deal with lead dust.

I'm looking for something along these lines:

I don't want to buy a cheap chipboard shelf, either.  So ... my search will go on.

What's on your yard sale wish list?

Just stop it, Betty!

A few months ago I needed a recipe for cookies and I signed up on the Betty Crocker web site.  At the time I thought it was a good idea.  Okay, so I knew Betty would probably contact me periodically and try to sell me something.  It goes with the territory.

But now I'm getting emails a couple of times a week.  Betty is trying to knock me right off my diet.

She's sending me recipes for all kinds of good stuff that's bad for me.  Stuff like cakes and brownies and cookies.  Okay, I'm weak-willed, I want to not only MAKE all this stuff, but eat it, too.

So just cut it out, Betty.

Or else!

What's tempting you from YOUR diet?