magic of olive oil

I found these wooden beauties at the thrift store the other day.

I should have taken "before" shots of the scuffed condition they were in. It only makes the results of the olive oil polish that much cooler. Believe it. Olive oil.

M and I spent most of last Saturday cleaning the kitchen to scrub off grime and create more open spaces.

Then, I put all my tchotchkes on the newly cleared countertop.

is it a trivet?

or a bowl?

thumbs up - thrift stores of Fresno

I forgot to talk about my thrift store venture after our Yosemite trip. I haven't been to a thrift store since H's visit. It's just been that kind of busy around here.


We stopped off in Fresno on our way up to Yosemite and noticed a string of thrift stores in the downtown area. I have a friend who lives in Fresno and I remembered him telling me about some great finds in his local thrift stores. So of course I was curious to check it out for myself after the trip on our way home. I scored the above teacup at the last store I walked through. I really like the color.


And these stacking tulip shaped bowls (I love their little notches on the inside so that they stack perfectly). I have another dish from a different thrift store purchase that I think came from the same family. Same lines, same colors (slightly greener aqua, whereas this one has more powder blue in the aqua) but with a little partition in the middle. I can't figure out what these were originally intended for. Condiments? Sauces? For now, they are just stacked on a little shelf in my kitchen above my cookbooks and food mags.


Fresno thrift stores ROCK, by the way. Very well organized. LOTS of selection. Lots of variety of selection. It was bake-your-brains hot that day and none of the stores seemed to have AC, so it was a brief trip in and out of each one (I stopped into 4, the 5th was closed). I don't have too many occasions to be in Fresno, but if I ever am again a visit to their downtown is a must.

I would have perished as a bedouin

or: Sanch-teo: I can certainly commiserate.

Ahhhh.... stuff. I do love my stuff. I tried (I really really tried) to downsize and gave away or threw out a bunch of my stuff a few Octobers back. But then all this new stuff was out there tempting me no end.

I did attempt to keep my consumption of the practical and useful kind (functional - not just pretty, sturdy thrift store finds instead of cheaply mass-produced goods made in some overseas sweat factory with no labor regulations). Oh but then I kept finding so many pretty things that I just couldn't pass up. I've even begun collecting again. Oh dear.

From yesterday's rummagings:

A Blue glass mason jar?? Are you freaking kidding me?Who knew? And that wooden bowl is perfect as a sink-side catch-all for the soap pump and dish sponges. The blue ceramic container is actually from West Elm, but I loved the color and it felt plenty sturdy. And that green box has a hinged lid and a stamped motif on the bottom that I just couldn't pass up. I'm sure functions will be found for these guys soon.


From top to bottom: I've become fascinated with hand-embroidered or hand-appliquéd handkerchiefs. But it's a particular kind of hand-embroidery/appliqué that I just can't describe in words, but I know it when I see it.

Then there's this new thing with doilies. Circular hand-made ones. Again, who knew?? I used to mock my mom for her obsession with doilies. No lie, the woman covered EVERYTHING in doilies including electronics like the VCR and stereo speakers. But I've got sort of an art project in mind that I need these doilies for. More on that as progress warrants.

And that coil of white lace in the upper right hand corner? That's hand-crocheted lace. Holey-mazoley! Over two yards and I got it for like 2 bucks! That's such an amazing score I can barely speak of it.

And all of these lovelies are sitting atop vintage bedding that I can't stop scooping up either. Then there's the baby blue (it looks a little drab in the photo, but I assure you it is anything but drab) linen fabric all the way at the bottom. Kind of a coarse linen, but still quite nice.

And if that wasn't enough loot, I hit a hand-made apron goldmine. Unfortunately another woman zoomed in on my section of the thrift store which got me feeling all woozy and territorial. Fortunately she was a different size than me and picked up a few aprons that I probably would not have been able to comfortably wear. Unfortunately, they were really cute and I experienced covetous thoughts for the rest of my time browsing there. Fortunately it was my first stop so I felt better as the day went along and I kept finding so many cool deals. But here's what I ended up taking home:

Are you freaking kidding me?? A chicken apron?


And then a sweet little apron (possibly child's apron? but I think I could still wear it) with pockets (at top) and a little linen number with orange trim and orange embroidery. Whew.

Which brings us to the confession part of today's post. I'm embarrassed to to admit that I have been slowly starting a new collection (just two pieces so far) of... um, baby clothes.

Okay, what kind of weirdo collects baby clothes when she doesn't have any babies? Discuss.

It started with this guy down here in all it's amazing red and white hand knit glory. I knew I had no need for such a thing. So it didn't make sense to buy it. But I couldn't put it down. So I photographed it, thinking that I could always enjoy it by looking at the photograph. But then it came time to pay for my stuff and I hadn't put it down.

So I bought it.

Even though none of my friends have babies. Or have girl babies. Or have my sense of style and would put something like this on their kid. I'd thought I could save grace by putting it in a frame and hanging it up as decoration, but then that yellow jumpsuit + shirt number popped up yesterday and I knew I was doomed. To my weaknesses. Gods, I have no will-power. In my defense, I wasn't even shopping in the kids section (why would I?), these were hanging around in linens and lace. See? It's as though it was meant to be. Or at least that's what I told my husband.

thrift store score

Dudes. Check out what I picked up today:

That's right. It's a sleeve ironing board. Useful for easily ironing long sleeve shirts and any little corners of fabric.


But check out the fantastic craftsmanship! Here's the board with the top part swiveling into the "open position" See that wing nut there?


That wing nut says, give me a little twist to open'er up.


With the wing nut in the fully upright position, the sleeve ironing board can be completely opened.


But that's not all...


Twist that wing nut back to secure the open sleeve ironing board so that it stays put.


In the open and upright position, it's ready for all your sleeve ironing needs. Sorta looks like a bird ready to take flight to me...


And this, probably my favorite part. I wish more of it were intact so I could read what the clever graphic designers of yore had written.

It needs a new cover which I can easily whip up but I am pleased as punch with my thrifty purchase. I love the mechanics, the old instruction copy and that it's made of wood and metal. I actually got a sleeve ironing board at the same thrift store a few months back, a cast off Target model made of metal, particle board and plastic. I ripped off the cover since it was a little shabby but never got around to replacing it so I never used it. But also, it was a little wider and shorter than this one so I'll donate it to Goodwill and use my "new" sleeve ironing board.

at the risk of sounding (a lot) dorky

I have to share with you my newest acquisition:

(yes, it's a stapler)
check out what happens when I push this little knob to the right


ka-pow! it's got a built in staple-remover!


(dramatization)


(another dramatization)
and unlike my other spanky but not quite as functional stapler, I can swing it open to staple notes to my desk


possibly the coolest feature of all?


it carries a supply of staples ready to go


(for scale)

All for the low, low price of $1.08 from my local thrift store. What a score!