Theodor Seuss Geisel

 

March 02, 1904-September 24, 1991

 

It's no secret that I have a huge crush on the late, great Theodor. In fact, in every single home I have had as an adult, I've kept a framed photo of my Ted. I believe I cut it from a magazine article I read about him the year he died (1991). I remember I was quite sad to hear of his passing; I'd been a fan since I was three.

 

Shortly after I read that he had died, I read his biography. Turns out for such a magically gifted artist, Ted experience his share of sorrow and mistakes. For example, he had an affair while married to his first wife (with the woman who became his second wife) and she killed herself (she was also mentally ill and had cancer). I also, around that time of obsession, found a book featuring some of his more adult art. It included these wonderful photographs of some of his carved fantastical taxidermy. Oh, how I wanted one! You know how some people fantasize about how they would spend a million lottery dollars? Well, mine always includes buying an original Dr. Seuss!

 

 

Like so many homes with children (OK, some without too!), Dr. Seuss is a favorite author around here. He was truly an original soul. We even celebrate his birthday like a proper holiday. The festivities begin with green eggs and ham (for the boys) and end with a wonky cake. We read a few favorite books and then watch a movie or two.

 

My favorite Dr. Seuss book is probably The Lorax. When I was pregnant with my first son, I dreamt I bought a copy at a bookstore. In my dream, I held a blond son. At that point in my pregnancy, I had had at least two ultrasounds (due to high-risk issues) and both had assured I was having a girl. Lily. I hadn't even bothered to pick out a male name. Fast forward a few months and out came a blond boy. See, the Lorax knew.

 

Two of my favorite Seussian quotes:

 

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR TED!

Thrift Share: $1 Bag Sale

"Elf, Glamor Elf, Jolly Snowman, and a Wooden Santa walk into a bar..."

I mentioned on Sunday that by happenstance, the boys and I wandered into a Salvation Army $1 a bag clean-up sale (cleaning up the old building they moved out of recently). I thought I would share a little more that made it into the bag. The elf on the left has a present for a body and is a 'Made in Japan" sort of elf (my favorite kind!)

Santa Face!

We had a bunch of these when I was a punk in the '70's. Not the cool type punk (that was retro 80's), but the brat type (I'm not that old, although the dreaded 1-step from 40 is tomorrow. I still feel, hmm, 33-I've raised it a bit from last year). My youngest (4) spotted this classic and said, "Can we get the noodle face Santa?"

(Alabama score!)

OK, this was one of those things where I looked at the box a couple of times before the second thrift spider sense kicked in and said, "Gina, open the box..." Ninety-nine cents later Box was mine!

Yep, a complete Trout Fly Tying kit! Everything, including feathers of all sorts, is included and never used. Did I hear you ask if I fly fish? Um, no, but like a lot of your super thrift sellers, I would love to have a booth at one of the fabulous KY junk malls and I think this would be a super seller!

Thanks for looking! Check out other wonderful scores over at Apron Thrift Girl (and a bit of a shout out at the Extreme Thrifter who hit Louisville this past weekend-apparently I need to stay in KY on the weekends a bit more!) Oh, and one more shout out to all the followers and commentors I have here at the blog. You all mean so much to me!

Thrift Share Monday: All Seasons

This weekend as I pulled items from a box of recently thrifted knick-knacks, I suddenly realized that I had almost all of the seasons and holidays represented in one box o'crap. I found examples of spring (with a bonus Valentine's Day item), summer, and fall (I am leaving out winter although I have plenty of that kitsch too-I am just tired of the season and don't even want to consider it tonight!)All of these items have been gathered since Christmas in various towns and sources east of the Mississippi.

Spring: bunnies (of course) are represented by the Avon candle holder (love it) and the vintage cookie cutter; the little girl is carrying a basket and possibly an egg; the egg houses are a collection my boys and I have been gathering at yard sales and such (easier to find than Xmas village stuff and cheap!); I almost thought I had nothing for St. Patty's day until I discovered the Irish Coffee towel among my treasures. Can you spot the St. Valentine's Day representation?


Summer: June wedding month (I plan to remove the vintage cake topper and use the wedding bell jar in some other way); NIP Homer Simpson chia head (Ok, it seems summer-y to me); the pig cookie cutter (perfect for a Southern style BBQ event); the Dutch boy cookie cutter (hmmm, maybe he should be with spring since I think tulips with Holland); a bi-centennial storage jar; and an Annual from 1959 depicting camping girlies (this book has great illustrations in it).



Autumn: My favorite time of year and what better represents the return of cooler nights? Owls, of course! I found 8 of these cute glasses at a thrift near Cincinnati (50c each); I also found the Great Tales of Terror book for 50c recently; a darling set of ABC cards with vintage French illustrations (reproduction); and last, another ubiquitous cookie cutter (I thrifted all of the cookie cutters together if you can't tell)-this one, of course, represents that #1 fall-ish fellow Jack!


There you have it-a year of thrift in only a few short weeks of (cold, dank, miserable) winter!

Join the thrifting fun at Apron Thrift Girl and Her Library Adventures!

Earthquakes, Fiber-optics and Other Unrelated Things

I awoke early this morning, made my coffee and started to clean the tornado-magnitude mess of a kitchen. Minutes later I felt a rumble, vibrations and heard the dogs barking. It lasted a few seconds and one part of my brain reasoned that a large truck was in the driveway, but the other thought, "Hmm, earthquake...?"

Yes, we had a 3.8 mag earthquake in Indiana today. This happens infrequently, but it is thought the central Midwest will one day experience the "big one". I am now closer to it in KY, but I felt one today in Northern IN.

My mom called this morning and was excited because a heavy holiday village piece she found at the Sal Army earlier this week (on a thrift shopping spree we did together) for 75% is a fiber-optic spectacular holiday show. She had found a plug on the bottom and tried a cord from another village building and found the whole thing is lights and action. She said our shopping trip was the most fun she had shopping in a long while. I converted her to thrift shopping back when I was in high school. She now goes on her own (or with a friend) and loves it.

I have a much larger post to finish about my master bedroom make-over. I just need to stop being lazy and upload the photos.

Thrifty Monday: Blue Christmas Rendition

(Complete and unused bridge set)

Sigh. It is 9:18 already and I feel like I have done nothing at all today. OK, so I went to work today, finished last minutes gift-buying at the Liquor Barn (can't go wrong with Kentucky bourbon), and spent way too much money at the Goodwill across from the L-Barn, but, really, where does the time go?

This time of year is so hard for me. I can't stand the race of Christmas and the darkness gets to me. It is one of the reasons I celebrate Winter Solstice is that I so welcome the return of the light and feeling like my day has some length to it. Yes, the hours are the same (and in fact we "Fall back" right?), but the darkness makes me yearn for my (thrifted) gnome pajama bottoms and a warm bed starting at 5:30 pm!

And, back to the holiday race, why do we not gift all year long? I can't sit on gifts and it is why I am never organized enough to space my Xmas shopping out all year long. It is always on the resolution list, but never happens. I was stressing because three stores were out of something that goes with a gift for my mother, but then I thought how ridiculous my panic was considering the piece is not a "sale" item and will be available in the weeks following the holiday.

Both my husband and I received work bonuses this year (something that has not happened in three years). We indulged partly because we had this unbudgeted money and partly because I feel so much guilt at being away from my boys during the week (I will be so happy when we are together this again...hopefully this spring/early summer). I miss my kids so much. It was stupid, I know, but the sad thing is I feel we got so much less than when we used a smaller budget (is it me or is everything more expensive this year???)

So, with the New Year goal list making season almost on top of us (suffocating us, no doubt), I plan to tighten the belt, be more organized and get my family moved down to KY as soon as humanly possible. I'll post the list next week with the specifics. Sadly, one of the items will be less thrifting for me (with a side goal of selling off lots of my "junk") at least until some of the bills are paid off. It will be good to purge since we plan to rent a smaller place while we try to sell the Northern house and land. We will buy a new house only when the bills are tidy and manageable.

OK, enough with the downer talk. Seems a lot of us out there are thinking about new years and new goals. Here is some thrifty fluff from tonight's scores:

(Cheese plate and dome)

(Set of 8 7 Tab glasses...dropped one in parking lot)

(Ok, so the Spotted Dick Pudding wasn't a thrifty find [container under it was], but I had to snatch it up for a friend last week at a Irish gift shop. It's a long story, but suffice to say it will have meaning to my dear friend...hopefully shared with a sense of humor! ;)