Manhole+Dandelion+Tornado=KY Winter

 

Yesterday, on January 29, I found this little guy in my front yard. Of course, the warm temps and freshly blooming dandelion made me think about seed starting, urban gardening, and sunshine!

 

 

However, I must remember, we are still in the middle of winter and this manhole cover reminds me that the pipes in my old 1900 Shotgun can and did freeze just one week earlier on January 22. The temperature fell rapidly into the lower teens and I awoke to no running water. Incredibly, I had no damage and have since insulated the cellar just a wee bit better.

 

And, today, all of this climate confusion came barrelling to a head in the pre-dawn hours. I was jerked from my sleep by a sound of sirens. It took me a few minutes to realize it was the neighborhood tornado alarm. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the dog, and raced to a lower level closet. Apparently, 125 feet above me was the spiraling winds of a tornado. I waited awhile, then slowly crept back to bed. Then, I thought, today is January 30.

Blue Monday Candy #1

 

 

It's been some time since I shared any thrift shop finds, but thrift I do (although, I have myself on a nasty budget for the time being and I won't be able to be as free to pack the cart). Most of this was thrifted between October and December either in Indiana or Kentucky. Some of the photographs and the silver vase in the background came out of a great barn estate sale I got to "pick" in early December. Sadly, my first trip to the barn was with my mom who took one look and said, "I'm not going in there..." I went back the next day and still found many, many treasures. I'll be sharing them throughout the year (and I'll try to remember to note they were from the barn) as many are slated to be projects for the rehab house.

 

Left to right: Photos from late 1800-1915 (same family); postcard holder; butcher scraping block (I actually thrifted this a long time ago, but it was perfect for the photos); Virgin Mary; silver vase; old books.

 

In other news, an old friend of mine (my bff from my teens and twenties) is moving to Louisville from Chicago. He actually is my thrifting mentor. He is in desparate need of a fresh start and I have this big, old Victorian and an extra room, so he'll be here for a bit. He's a designer and I'm sure he can help me overcome my inability to pick wall colors that don't look like a bottle of Tums.