CLAMmering for COLLECTION...

SWEET!! - THAT "ESTATE"-SALE IS ON *AGAIN* THIS WEEKEND!! - [SEE 17AUG2013 POST]

And, YES! - I bought a Couple of MORE BOOKS... Smaller ONES, *this* Time! And, that are somewhat more "LITERARY". - [SEE BELOW] - Just a DOLLAR for BOTH.

However, TODAY's "COUP-DE-COLLECT"...

A FITZ & FLOYD "COQUILLE" TUREEN!

• Porcelain. And HEAVY!
• Made in JAPAN.
• The PLATTER - [14-Inches] - is Dated as 1982, while the REST is from 1981.
• oh, BTW... There's a *teeny-weeny* CHIP at the Top -- Which I'm sure I can *Mask* later.
• NOT that it "matters", AS I only PAID $10. for IT!! - [I found only ONE on EBAY. "Clean", but with NO LADDLE. Their "PRICE"... $249.99!!]
• And, have SEVERAL *OTHER* ITEMS to GO with IT!
• hmm.. I should *probably* LEARN how to MAKE "SOUP"!

MEANWHILE... For another DOLLAR-Each, I Added THIS AMETHYST GLASS LAMP CHIMNEY to My AMETHYST "COLLECTION"!



















Also, THIS Mini-FLAT-CHAIN-MAIL-'KERCHIEF.

Well, I need to "Wrap" THIS *UP* - BEFORE "DAWN"! - Sooo... MORE to SHOW, Tomorrow!

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*BOOKS!* *BOOKS!* *BOOKS!* Oooo! LOOK!! *MORE* BOOKS!!

GEEZ! AFTER 40-YEARS OF WORKING IN LIBRARIES, YOU'D THINK THAT I'D NEVER WANT TO SEE *ANOTHER* BOOK?! - huh?

-- a 14-Inch-High-35-*PLUS*-Pounds-*STACK*-of-16-"REFERENCE"-TOMES Later...

nuts! - I *hope* there aren't any DOUBLES..? -- I really DO *need* to make a "BIBLIO-LIST"... ugh! "Cataloguing"... crap!

okay. sooo... LONG-STORY-PROBABLY-NOT-SO-SHORT... There was an ESTATE-SALE in BEACON HILL. Again.

MOST of the "STUFF" was Outside. -- THEY were only letting in a Few-People at a Time *into* THE HOUSE - We never did bother... Besides, I probably would have just been *too* TEMPTED to SPEND *more* MONEY!!

Anyhoo... "The-HUSBAND" had Passed-Away a Few Years back - [apparently He had been a SCIENTIST who used to Work for the *same* Government-Department that I used to!] - and "The-WIFE", who was 89, had Recently moved into "A HOME"... "The-FAMILY" was DOWN-SIZING!

As it turns out, THEY had a somewhat LARGE "Informative" LIBRARY!

The Laneway held SEVERAL *FULL* Bookshelving-UNITS... The Majority of My "HAUL" was from ONE-Bottom-Shelf. -- THAT was My "FIRST-LOAD"! And, a bit of a struggle to handle... IT's been a WHILE... Of course, IT was a Foot-High-25-Pound-"BAD"-ARM-*FULL*!!

Not to mention, the rather lovely MILKGLASS VASE that I was Trying *NOT* to Drop!! -- I'll Post a Pic of That, Tomorrow... As well as, of the OTHER *COOL* STUFF that I GOT Today!

The "SECOND-LOAD" was about a third *less*..? -- whatever... The BACKSEAT of The CAR looked like the Interior of a BOOK-MOBILE!! -- hmm...

Meanwhile, for the MEAGER Investment of $16., I'm certain that I've Acquired a FORTUNE of KNOWLEDGEABLE BIBLIO-ness!! -- Now, I just HAVE to "Live" LONG enough to get *through* THEM ALL!!

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Leaving a Legacy of THRIFTY-*LOVING*!

*MANY* A TIME, IN MY "EXPERIENCE", the FINAL-Bargained-Down-Agreed-Upon-PRICE of a "THRIFTY-TREASURE" is *more* often than not, Achieved with My PROMISE that Said-OBJECT "...WILL be *LOVED*!" -- EVEN, if IT ends up being Packed-Away for DECADES!

AS usual, We didn't Leave until LATE! - [12:30!!] - There was that Large "Charity" YARD-SALE a few Streets over... I got a Few ITEMS. But, I'll save THEM for Tomorrow.

After, a Few Other Stops on Our Way to BEACON HILL around 2:30-ish, We got Lucky and found ONE *still* OPEN! -- A NICE-30s-SOMETHING-LADY and Her TEENAGED-DAUGHTERS...

Where, I picked up THIS "TOLL"-PAINTING for $2...

IT's been done on a WOOD-PLANK that was supposed to be atop of an UNfinished Bench... Since IT wasn't "attached", She KINDLY let Me have IT. - The PIECE, along with Several Other ONES had been Painted by Her MOTHER...

Personally, as Pleased as I am to *have* and Cherish IT, I find it Disconcerting that The-GIRLS wouldn't want to "Preserve" ANY of Their GRANDMOTHER's rather Skillful WORKS!? -- Doubtless, in a Couple of Decades from Now, They'll probably be Wishing that They HAD!

NEXT, We continued on a TRAIL of ORANGE "ESTATE SALE" SIGNS... And, the Day's "GOLD-MINE" of *TREASURES*!!

Although, the PLACE had been "picked-over", the Remaining Items still gave Evidence of a Home that had been - [mostly metaphorically] - RICH in ART and CULTURE. -- I came across a Formal NAVAL-OFFICER's Dinner Jacket in one of the open Closets. Which, explained the "Source" of many of the House's more "EXOTIC" Items and READING Material...

There were Lots and LOTS of BOOKS! And, SOMEONE was also a KNITTER - [I'll have "Stitchy"-Type Pics Tomorrow] - and a Lover of the NEEDLE ARTS...

As indicated by THIS *AWESOME* FOLIO BOX of *Actual Size* PATTERNS!! - IT's Dated from 1963. The Heavily-Papered Contents are in Excellent Condition! -- For ANYONE into Replicating AMERICAN "Historical" Needle and Textile Crafting, THIS is a MOTHER-LODE of INFO!

And, of course, MORE Additions to MY ART-"LIBRARY"!

Plus, THIS Addition to My "REFERENCE"-LIBRARY... The TOME literally contains a TON of Biological Knowledge, AND *WEIGHS* as much!!

So... And how MUCH was This STACK-of-STUFF..?? -- well... Along with MORE STUFF - [that I'll show Tomorrow] - IT *ALL* came to JUST "$5."!!

THEN, as I was Paying for IT, I noticed THIS PAINTING on the Wall...

Despite being Originally Priced at $18., and since the PLEASANT-ESTATE-AGENT-LADY Liked Me - [MOTHER had been Chatting Her up!] - an Offer of $9. was made... Which, "normally", I would have GLADLY Paid...

HOWEVER, I *REALLY* wanted to ADHERE to My LIMIT on My "$5.-and-Under"-THRIFTY-ORIGINAL-ART-COLLECTION... I "mentioned" Such, with the added Incentive, "...IT'll be LOVED..."

...By Me, and hopefully, ALL of YOU as well?!

Now, I just NEED to *FIND* some WALL "SPACE"... And/Or, PROGENY *willing* to Properly CONTINUE The LEGACY..?!

Speaking of My MUNCHKINS...

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEP-NEPH-PRETEEN**!!

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"KARMIC"--Gift-SHOPPING...

IT AMAZES ME, SOMETIMES, WHEN...

"THE" PERFECT *GIFT* for Someone just *suddenly* APPEARS in the Oddest of Places, at the Most UNexpected Times, in the Form of "SOMETHING" that wouldn't *normally* have come to mind!

So. We only went to TWO YARD-SALES Today. - The FIRST, just a Couple of Streets over... There were Several ITEMS of "Interest", however, a tad OVER-Priced for My *Continued*-INTEREST. -- At least *until*, I came across a Certain BOOK...

huh. -- I had no Idea that IT even "EXISTED"! Although, at $2., IT was a *bit* more than I would probably USUALLY "PAY"..? - *BUT*, there was NO Way that I could PASS on IT! To do so, would have likely TORN a HOLE into the "SPACE-TIME-CONTINUUM" or Whatever-ELSE *just* as "COSMIC"!

FATHER has a BIRTHDAY coming up in a Few Weeks...

I already have a GIFT "in mind", however, actually FINDING Said OBJECT could prove to be somewhat *Difficult*..? -- NO One really SELLS "THEM" any more..?!! -- Having a "BACK-UP" GIFT would be Good...

**THIS** BOOK, pretty much fulfilled THAT *Need*! -- yeah, yeah... I know! "WHAT" BOOK?!!

right. IT's on the "HISTORY" of *WHERE* He WORKED for over 30-Years. With Lots of Pics of FORMER-COLLEAGUES and FRIENDS... His "NAME" is even IN IT! -- Reason enough to Buy IT! -- And to think, IT was just a Few Blocks away for well over a Decade!!

Anyhoo, We decided to pop on over Back HOME again to Drop IT off to Him, before getting on with Our LONG Day of GROCERY-GETTING... And, other than the 25-Cent - rather COOL-Looking - ARTSY-ALPHABET-KIDS'-BOOK, the REST of the Day just WASN'T all *that* "Exciting"!

I'm "Supposing", that the YO-YO-COOL-WINDY-"..yeah. right. *GLOBAL-WARMING* - THAT's Happening!"-WEATHER contributed *Greatly*!

Meanwhile, FATHER spent MOST of His Day Enthralled by His "GIFT"!! -- Until, the HOCKEY GAME came ON anyway...

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"WHAT" was Bought THIS Week on *THE BLOOG*!

...BESIDES "GROCERIES"!

Overall, it's been a BUSY Week with COMINGS and GOINGS and PLANNINGS and TRYING to get *ANY*THING Worthwhile DONE!!

oh. yeah...

And, "apparently" there were a Couple of "Nearby" - [within 40-Miles] - EARTHQUAKES
This MORNING!! -- WHICH, I "apparently" **MISSED**!??! - sorta... I think *something* Woke Me up enough to just TURN-OVER..?

What can I Say? ONCE I'm Asleep, I'm usually a Heavy-Sleeper. Besides, a "5.2"..? oh, pul-leeze! The FURNACE Turning-ON probably clocks in at "4.5"!!

Anyway, My Bed is in a Semi-Basement Corner. The HOUSE has STEEL-Framing and We're on BEDROCK. Not to mention, NONE of My surrounding TOWERS-OF-PILED-*STUFF* moved either! - So. NO Probs!

HOWEVER though, MOTHER *did* FEEL IT and was just a tad Freaked over IT...

..seriously? - WHAT did She "Expect"? - The TEMPS just shot UP and The SUN was OUT!!
-- OF COURSE, THE PLANET is going to "REACT"!! - duh.

But, ENOUGH of Our "LOCAL" TERRESTRIAL-TREADMILL... ON to THIS Past Week's *PURCHASES*!

The TRAINYARDS-TOUR-de-TUESDAY garnered Me MORE of These GIANT-CLOTHES-PINS - [BELOW] -and JOURNALS from MICHAEL'S - [LEFT]

Most of Which, went to SISTER for *another* BRIDAL-SHOWER that She'll be doing Next Month! -- I Kept the GREEN PINS...

As to the Could-DO-with-Some-Paint-EXPANDING-RACK-that's-*Only*-Missing-a-"Hanging"-HOOK, I actually ended up getting IT for **FREE**!! - [psst! Don't tell MANAGER-DAVE!]

NEWER-CASHIER-GIRL had Entered a Wrong Amount - [as in over $40,000!!] - Corrected IT. Then, FORGOT to Enter the PRICE!

-- Granted, I was probably "Distracting" Her with My COUPONS..?

LATER, I headed over to VALUE-VILLAGE and Found This SET of THREE CHROME-WIRE-PAPER-TRAYS and a Never-Used CROSS-STITCH CANVAS. -- $1.99-EACH minus the TUESDAY-20%-OFF-"SENIORS'-DISCOUNT! - That I manage to Get *without* being the "Required"-AGE!

On SECOND THOUGHT, I'm not sure IF whether THAT's a "GOOD THING"..??!! -- Then again, to the CUTE-PERKY-Somewhat-MATH-CHALLENGED-*YOUNG*-CASHIER, I'm sure that *ANYONE*-Over-40 probably *fit* the Criteria!!

But hey, for "20%-OFF", I'll get "OVER" Myself!!

MEANWHILE...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY,

SISTER-S & MOUNTIE-MAN-S!!

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STITCH-Bound by the BOOKS From Inside "THE BOX" - Part 3...

"ONE" OF THESE DAYS, WE'RE GONNA *HAVE TO* OPEN UP A "CRAFTING"-LIBRARY!!

Because, between Us, MOTHER and I quite *Literally* have a TON of TOMES on ART, CRAFTS, SEWING, NEEDLEWORK, KNITTING, CROCHET, PAINTING, WOODWORK... And, in the Form of "HOW-TOs", Historicals, Exhibitions... A boundless Bibliographic LEGACY of LEARNING!!

So. Whilst MOTHER's "$2.-BOX" held Several Other varied BOOKS, These THREE were in MY "$5.-BOX"!!

Helen M. STEVENS' "EMBROIDERED BUTTERFLIES"

Better Homes and Gardens - "BEAUTIFUL CROSS-STITCH"

Joan FISHER - "The Creative Art of NEEDLEPOINT TAPESTRY"

Anyway, ALL are most Informative! -- "Needle"ss to say, I will Likely be Referring to THEM *When* and/or *IF*, I EVER get around to Tackling Yesterday's Featured "EMBROIDERY KITS"!!

MEANWHILE, a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to My Late PATERNAL-"GRANNY"! -- Although, She might not have been in the Same "CREATIVE"-League - [GARDENING was always more of Her "Thing"] - as My MATERNAL-GRANDMOTHER, I will always REMEMBER "GRANNY" for having a Profound *SKILL* for DARNING Socks!

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well-well.. Guess I'm Not the ONLY "STEWART"-STOCKER Out There!

APPARENTLY, IT'S "A GOOD THING" THAT I BOUGHT THAT YARN **WHEN** I DID!!

As it appears that Our MICHAEL'S Store had been SOLD-OUT of that ON-SALE
"MARTHA STEWART CRAFTS" YARNS!! -- Which, is a "TROUBLESOME THING" considering that IT'S suppose to be ON-SALE *again* for THIS WEEK! - I DO *HOPE* that THEY can RE-Stock by TUESDAY...

Meanwhile, MANAGER-DAVE wasn't "IN" Today, so I wasn't about to "Discuss" the LACK of SUPPLY... Instead, just got a Couple of BALLS of My *usual* PATONS YARN. And, did a RECON of WHAT-I'd-Like-to-BUY-With-My-"TUESDAY"-SENIORS'-DISCOUNT.

Sooo... EARLIER... When the SUN was OUT - We headed on over to BEACON HILL.
IT's been a Couple of Weeks...

Just found ONE YARD-SALE...

I'm pretty certain that We've been THERE before - [can't remember what I got though].

MOTHER was picking through a small box of Trinkets and came across These TWO 4-5cm CERAMIC BROOCHES...

$1.-each. -- NOT Something I would normally Purchase, however, THEY were "SIGNED"
- [Finely done in Pink just under the Glaze]. And, "ARTSY"...

I'm sure that We can Find *some* USE for THEM. -- Eventually...

As MOTHER continued with Her Explorations, I spotted This Cobalt DENBY "BOURNE"
One-Pound POT. Was $3. -- Just a tad "High" for My usual "BARGAIN"-Liking, BUT, the SALE-Proceeds were going to a CHARITY...

Not to Mention, I am such a PUSHOVER for BLUE STUFF!! Especially, "ENGLISH" POTTERY! - [IT really IS "IN-the-Blood"!]

MICHELANGELO - RUBENS
REMBRANDT - LEONARDO

I Found This ASSORTMENT of TIME-LIFE "LIBRARY OF ART" BOOKS just as We were Paying for MOTHER's Second-Round of STUFF... $10. -- Again, *more* than I usually Spend.
-- BUT, IT's "ART"!!

After a HALF-HOUR, I finally DRAGGED MOTHER *AWAY*!! -- She kinda got "hooked" on the PERUVIAN
"PIPE" MUSIC that was being Played. - COINCIDENTLY, I actually *have* THAT CD!!


ALAS, We reached the SALLY-ANN!!

The RENO looks FINISHED. Everything has been totally REARRANGED!! -- I'm still UNdecided on whether I
Like IT or Not...

Whatever... I only Bought This BUNCH of KNITTING NEEDLES for just Over a DOLLAR. -- Because, I can never do *without* TOO many "BARGAIN" METAL KNITTING NEEDLES!



AFTERWARD, We were off to a Particular nearby FOOD-Store, only to DISCOVER that THEY had *CLOSED* THAT Branch TWO WEEKS ago!?! -- Pooh!! -- Subsequently, We had to head over to the OTHER-ONE that was a bit "OUT-of-Our-WAY" for Today's TRIP-PLANNING!


hmm... No wonder IT began to get CLOUDY around THEN..?!! -- And, besides, WHAT's
"CRAZY-WEATHER" without a Jaunt over to MICHAEL'S, huh?! - [SEE ABOVE]

BY THIS POINT, We probably *should* have been HOME..? - yeah. right... We had ONE MORE "STOP" to Make!


LAST SATURDAY, We had run into a FAMILY that We'd recently MET and had gotten into
"CHATTING" with... For, a WHILE!

LONG-EPIC-doubtful-to-be-SHORT...

The VERY-SWEET-TEENAGED-DAUGHTER really wanted to LEARN-HOW-to-Use-a-SEWING-MACHINE - [She does rather good HAND-Sewing and other CRAFTING] - but THEY haven't been able to OPERATE the MANUAL-LESS-FREE-SECOND-HAND-GOOD-QUALITY-COMPUTERIZED-ONE that the Father, "BOB-The-BUYER", had Acquired... MOTHER had Mentioned that She had a "WORKING"-SIMPLE-"Yard-Sale-FIND"-MACHINE that She was willing to Part with - [She only has about FOUR Others!!]. -- We "DROPPED-BY" to GIVE IT to Her...

It was "suppose to be" a BRIEF VISIT..?? -- Needless to say, EVERYONE had Dinner LATE-ish...

Anyhoo, AS MOTHER was Giving Sewing-LESSONS, "BOB" was Showing Me, His rather Diverse Array of COLLECTIBLES... Some *NICE* "FINDS"!!

Amongst THEM, was This SET of SIX SHAKESPEAREAN PLAYS... 2nd to 5th Printings... DATING from 1895 to 1900!!

At some Point in the PAST, SOMEONE had placed a CLEAR Adhesive BOOK-COVER over the Original-BINDINGS that was probably already Deteriorating.

Most of the BOOKS have some rather serious Cover-Spine SEPARATION going on, otherwise, the Page-Bindings are Intact.

Despite the EDGE-ACIDIFICATION Damage, the MAJORITY of the PAGES are CLEAN.


"BOB" was KIND enough to OFFER THEM to Me for *What* He PAID for THEM -- $10.!! -- A *GOOD* DEAL in My "Book"! As well as EDUCATIONAL! - I've never gotten around to Reading most of THESE yet...

*SOMETHING* STILL to DO!!

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