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Weekend Happenings: Wide Angles

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YAY! We’ve made it to Wednesday or as I like to call it, Friday Eve Eve!

Even though I’m on the tail end of Wednesday, and well into the work week, I’ve still got the past weekend on my mind. In particular, a new toy that I received this weekend. It’s got me doing a little happy dance every time I think about it.

Amazon

A Sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6 Wide angle lens for Canon. It’s something that my Bubba and I have been wanting ever since we purchased our first SLR on e-Bay two years ago. Coincidentally, this lens was also purchased on everyone’s favorite auction site as well, and a pretty good deal if I do say so myself. When it finally arrived in the mail on Saturday I felt like Ralphie when he finally got his official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. And I would have slept with the lens too, if I hadn’t been afraid of rolling over on it and breaking my precious. Sorry honey, but I take my toys very seriously.

Once we both hurriedly opened the box to reveal our newest prize, I quickly hooked it up to my camera and took some random shots.

viewfromthecouch

Never mind my abnormally large leg and the wonky vents on the ugly wall heater, apparently this lens distorts  certain items that happen to be at the edge of the shot. Or things have gotten distorted through editing and sizing down the original photo. Or there’s a worm hole hidden in my living room that could cause a rip through time and space. Or maybe it’s time to cut back on the Doctor Who re-runs. Also, don’t judge me for still having my Christmas decorations out, it’s still Christmas in my heart. And another thing, this is real life folks, no fluffing of the nest going on in this shot. Hence, the pile of coats on the rocker and various other piles of clutter here and there. We pile in this house, it’s how we organize.

teenyannie

I love this lens, it makes my backyard look HUGE! It also makes Annie-dog look so small and alone. On a side note, I think pea gravel will need to be put under the tree this spring, my poor grass is barely making it thanks to all the dog traffic and shade.

dukecity

I’ve discovered the wide angle lens captures so much more when shooting landscape shots.

sandiafoothills

cactussandiamountains

I have also discovered that New Mexico is pretty brown and crunchy during the winter months. Actually, it’s pretty brown and crunchy during the summer months too, but at least the weeds and cacti have a little more color to them.

bubandgoldie

bubandann

Oh, and the wide angle is perfect for portraits, especially when you want to capture the setting. Ya know, because our couch is picturesque.

Have you gotten any new toys you’er especially proud of recently? Or are you still battling with the remaining Christmas cheer around the house?

Thrifting Thursday: Kooky Corner

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Wow, I can’t believe Christmas is passed and we are already in a new year! You won’t believe the amount of photos I took over the holidays, which really shouldn’t be all that surprising considering the holidays are so jam packed full of fun and celebration. It’s no wonder I couldn’t carve out the time to put a quick post together during the Christmas break!  But never fear, I’ll share those once I can get myself settled down enough to edit the 978,368 photos I snapped over the past couple of weeks.

But the holidays are over, and things are returning back to normal again, and according to my calendar, it’s Thursday, and everyone knows what Thursday means around these parts right? Well, OK guess I’m the only one playing that game, so I’ll explain. Every Thursday and sometimes on Friday if I’m not feeling the bloggy vibe, I do a post centered around thrifting, I’ve titled these thrift centered posts that tend to occur on Thursdays, Thrifting Thursdays. Clever right?  This week, I thought it might be fun to talk about how I store all of my thrifted goodness. Actually, it’s not much storing as it is displaying. Alright, it’s really not displaying it’s more a piling of vintage goods.

redbookcaseThis little nook in my kitchen is where I’ve placed some of my favorite breakables. Actually, it’s not a nook so much as it is a strange random cabinet that is set off by itself in the corner of the kitchen. I call it the “buffet” makes things sound so much more posh. Anyway, it’s getting a little crowded, so it might be time to thin the herd so to speak. But for now, I’ll leave it as is, since I’m currently doing a small remodel in my bedroom, more to dish at a later post. But on to the oldies but the goodies. Most of these items have been blogged about in the past, so I won’t bore you too much with the details. I think it’s pretty obvious Bubba (the Hubba) and I enjoy vintage cookware and I’ve got a bit of an addiction to ceramic woodland creatures  as well as an obsession with milk glass vases.

vintagesquirelsandpshakerI tried to make things a little more Christmas-y here by adding some peppermints. They will probably be there till Valentine’s Day. But don’t my little girl and boy squirrel salt and pepper shakers look cute nestled in the minty goodness?

vintageowltrivets2

And what collection is complete without a bazillion owls? I’ve collected these from various thrift stores, yard sales, and estate sales. My favorite is the Sandia Crest spoon rest, I think I blogged about him at some point in the past, but I can’t locate the post. And I’m too lazy to sift through all of my many owl posts.

vintagemilkglassbudvaseOh and speaking of fowl, the egg chickens got a little dose of peppermint as well. And see that lime green casserole dish? That’s something Bubba brought home a long time ago, it’s an Anchor Hocking/Fire King piece that gets used pretty often. Surprising considering it’s at the bottom of the pile.

All in all, I’d say this is my favorite little nook in the kitchen. Someday all of the breakables will be nestled in a nice china cabinet, but until that day comes a book shelf atop a weirdly placed piece of cabinetry will have to do.

Thrifting Thursday: A turtle and a gingerbread man walk into a bakery…

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What says Christmas more than a gingerbread man on a pretty plate, a glass turtle, one random Glade candle, and a dough bowl full of pumpkins and onions??

gingerbreadman

Not much I’d say. So far, this is my Christmas table. A little sad and so not very jolly, but at least there’s the lone gingerbread man. I named him Sam right before he met his fate with a glass of milk and my mouth. No, I didn’t bake him, I don’t have the kind of patience for gingerbread. I am still on the look out for a super easy and edible recipe. If you know of one, please share!

gingerbreadmanonpinkplate

But back to the cookie and the plate, mainly the plate. I love this plate, when I’m grabbing a snack I always grab for my pink ruffled plate. It kind of dresses up a not so fancy meal. Plus, it makes me happy.  Bubba picked the plate up at a nearby thrift store for less than a dollar, apparently it’s from Hazel Atlas and the pattern is called Pink Crinoline. This is the only piece I have from the collection, but if I ever come across more of the set, it’s certainly coming home with me.

anchorhockingturtle

And this turtle? My Bubba found him at the local Humane Society thrift store. He’s Anchor Hocking, and either from the late ’50’s or the late 70’s I couldn’t really tell from the patent I found online.

glassturtle

I think he’s meant to be a candy dish or similar, but I think he’d look cute as a trinket holder.

glassturtlebox

If I don’t get busy jolly-fying the house, I’ll be up chocolate creek without a popsicle stick! (Name that famous gingerbread man!)

Tablesetting Tuesday:Christmas Edition

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With Christmas less than a week away, I am FINALLY in the mood to think about all things holiday. Which is odd for me, usually the tree is trimmed and most of my Christmas shopping is done the week after Thanksgiving. Not this year, I don’t have one present picked out and the tree has only been trimmed a couple of days. In fact, I’ve been tripping over a ridiculous number of those ugly red and green bins the past week in the hopes that having to walk around and over those things would force me to open them up and pull out all the sparkly goodness. The plan didn’t work, just a few minutes ago I pulled out the “special” items and  finally put the bins away. I guess the rest will have to wait for another year.

All that to say, I shot a Christmas themed table setting for you. It was a warm day outside, and I wasn’t up to moving the ugly red and green bins in the kitchen to make things a bit more presentable. So, how about a holiday meal in my backyard? Also, I realize it’s Wednesday, but Tablesetting Wednesday doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

evergreeninmilkglass

The evergreen sprigs came from my Pinon tree out front, everything else I already had on hand. The vases I found at various thrift stores around town, the mercury glass candle holders came from a Joann’s that was shutting down, they were a quarter each. Now that’s something this sparkle loving cheapskate couldn’t resist.

christmasdinnerfortwoThe red and green plaid table cloth came from swanky Wal-Mart a few years ago after Christmas.

plaidchristmastableclothAgain, all dinnerware is pretty old, and came from several sources. I can’t really remember where it all came from. But I do remember the flatware and plates were Christmas gifts from my sweet Momma. Thanks Mom!

goldmercuryglassAnd another shot of my sparkle, also do you see someone photo bombing in the reflection? (How YOU doin’?)

So, how you fairing this holiday season? Is the tree up, have the stockings been hung with care?

Thrifting Thursday: Vacation Thrifting

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Oy vey, that’s all I can say after nearly two weeks of not posting. Let’s see what have I been up to, we took a week long vacation (don’t worry, you’ll be sick of seeing my vacation shots when I finally get them edited), then the holidays I think that’s enough said about that, and then of course, the week of catch up work that comes with taking a week off of work. But it was all totally worth it, the only thing I regret is not keeping up with the ol’ blog. I had planned on posting while I was out of town, but I only got one of the pre-prepared posts published, then it was all down hill from there.

But I’m not here to complain about my non-bloggyness, I’m here to talk about all things thrifted as today is Thrifting Thursday!! Aren’t you excited?! If you’re new around here, every Thursday (and sometimes on Friday when I’m too late for a Thursday post) I talk about items I’ve either thrift-ED or have deemed interesting enough to photograph and share with you here on the ol’ blog. The thrifting doesn’t necessarily happen on a Thursday, I just thought that TH-rifting went well with TH-ursday, besides is there a better way to celebrate Friday eve than enjoying all the thrifted goodness out there in the world?

So on this Thrifting Thursday I’ll be sharing some interesting items I found while sniffing around some shops on my vacation. Because, ya know, I can’t go a week without thrifting! And really, you can find some pretty awesome and unique souvenirs on the cheap at these places.

worshippictureframe

I know this isn’t that original as I’ve seen similar frames at Target, but this one was too funny not to photograph.

puppetfamily

Then there was this little puppet family. I really don’t know what to say about these guys, but doesn’t the father look like Gomez Adams? Maybe it’s just me.

goodmorningomlettemaker

I couldn’t resist not documenting this rooster omelet pan. I didn’t buy him, but isn’t he cheery?

vintagebeehive

Isn’t this little bee/honey comb cute? Yeah, I thought so too, that’s why I gleefully packed him away in my carry on luggage. After paying for him of course.

dontgetyourtinselinatangle

And finally, with all the Christmas busy-ness around us, here’s one thing to remember.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

How to Crochet the Lazy Girl Way

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Lately I’ve been trying to be a little craftier, apparently idle hands are the devils playground. At least that’s what my grandmother used to tell me. So, I’ve taken up crocheting in the evenings while I watch re-runs of Friends and impatiently wait for Season 7 of Doctor Who to arrive on Netflix. Because ya know, I can’t spend the $14 to buy 6 episodes of my most recent television obsession, that would be too easy. Anyways, during my TV time the past couple of months I’ve been making this:

pinkcrochetbabyblanket

A baby blanket, a WHOLE baby blanket. That’s like 20 scarves all put together! I’m a beginner when it comes to crocheting or crochet?? What would be the proper terminology here? See? I’m that new I don’t even know the proper verb or pronoun whatever the correct terminology one would use in this situation. But I digress, I’m new to this craft and have only really mastered the single crochet, so that’s how this blanket was woven together (and love, woven with lots of love, you can’t have a handmade item NOT contain love!). Nothing but single crochet stitches and the chunkiest and softest yarn I could find, Bernat Baby Blanket, in Baby Pink. I found the cheapest selection at Wal-Mart, it was $2.97 for a 3.5 oz skein. Certain colors can be purchased in a huge 10.5 oz skein, which is what I did with another blanket I’m currently working on, but that’s another story.

singlecrochetblanketI LOVED working with this yarn, it’s the perfect material for a beginner like me who tends to be a bit fumbly with the crochet needle. By the way, I used an N needle with this super chunky yarn, so the project was super easy and super fast. If I had worked on it for more than an hour or two at a sitting and if I were more nimble in the fiber arts I bet this could have been churned out in  a lot less than a month and a 1/2.

But the one caveat I have about using this yarn is that it tends to be a little knotty, and I don’t mean it stole grapes from the grocery store for “tasting”. There were random knots within the skein, like they had knotted two different skeins together. Maybe it was just that I purchased my yarn from Wal-Mart, which sometimes doesn’t have the best quality of merchandise or maybe it’s just the nature of the product. By the way, I’m not slamming Wal-mart. They do tend to have the best deals on certain products. And yes, I realize there are lots of people out there who are very anti-WalMart, I can be one of those people at times, but I also like a good deal. Either way, the knots kind of annoyed me because it made the final product look a little messy. Or maybe it was just me making it messy with my beginner crochet-er ways.

bernartbabyblanketyarn

But all in all I am happy with the final product, and have happily wrapped and shipped this handmade gift to a friend of mine who is happily awaiting the arrival of her new baby girl in just a few short weeks.

packedandready

Have you started up a new hobby? Or have you mastered an old hobby? Any crochet tips from the pros out there??

Thrifting Thursday: Pink and Cinnamon All Over

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Welcome to Thrifting Thursday, as the name implies, I’ll be talking about items I’ve either thrift-ED or have deemed interesting enough to photograph and share with you here on the ol’ blog. The thrifting doesn’t necessarily happen on a Thursday, I just thought that TH-rifting went well with TH-ursday, besides is there a better way to celebrate Friday eve than enjoying all the thrifted goodness out there in the world?

On this weeks edition of Thrifting Thursday, lets focus on the kitchen, shall we?

Mmm….yeah I know the cinnamon rolls aren’t vintage or thrifted, if they were that would be kind of gross. But on a non-second hand food note, notice the bowl these yummy and tight jeans inducing rolls are sitting in. That’s what we’re really talking about today.

I don’t remember exactly when, where, or how this sweet little pink dish entered my home, but she gets a lot of use. And she looks pretty cute too. Those sweet little flowers make me smile every time I pull her out for the next batch of cinnamon rolls or whatever else I deem her just the right size for. She’s a vintage Pyrex, I estimate probably from the 60’s or 70’s. We have a matching split casserole and small-ish rectangular casserole dish. So, it’s the beginnings of a matching set! Exciting stuff!

Now onto the good part, the cinnamon rolls. You didn’t think I’d leave you hanging on those did ya?

I can’t take credit for these confectionery delights, Bubba made these last Saturday early in morning, ya know before 11 am. So here’s the basic recipe:

Dough for Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

The dough is based off of a recipe for the Pecan Caramel Rolls found on the Betty Crocker website, you can find the exact recipe for those here.

31/2 to 4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages regular or quick active dry yeast

1 cup warm milk (120 to 130 degrees F)

1/3 cup margarine or butter softened

1 egg

Filling for Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

This came from one of Bubba’s old cook books, he couldn’t remember which one, but here’s an estimate of what was used:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

raisins and walnuts or pecans to taste

Happy thrifting and baking everyone!!!

Thanksgiving Recap

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So, here we are nearly a week after Thanksgiving and I haven’t provided a full and complete run down of my day of thanksgiving! Are you ready to be bombarded with too many pictures of pumpkin pie and faux gourds? No? Well sorry, you’re gonna have to endure this picture laden post, or not. This is the internet afterall, I can’t force you stay and watch my virtual slideshow as I detail each and every event that is documented within each and every photo. Maybe I should make some virtual queso so you’ll all stick around and listen to my babbling. (Can you name that Rotel commercial? Wait, I think I already did. Such a party pooper aren’t I?)

This Thanksgiving, much like every Thanksgiving, was spent at my mothers house. I got to pretty up the table.

I just used what Mom had around the house, nothing new here. The covered cake dish that I used for the base of my pumpkin extravaganza, was given to my mother for Christmas one year by me, her favorite child of course. The clear dishes have all been collected over the years from various garage sales and thrift stores. My mom has an even greater weakness for pretty glassware than I do.

The table linens were all purchased at Wal-Mart after the holidays many moon ago, at a pretty steep discount. That bargain hunting runs deep through my veins thanks to Momma. (Don’t you love how it’s all about me?)

And what Thanksgiving would be complete without the Thanksgiving fowl?  No, not the one in the oven, the fowl of the decor variety. The hen and rooster are usually floating around Mom’s kitchen somewhere, but that little turkey in the middle? She’s made her annual appearance for the past 4 or 5 years, no Thanksgiving is complete without her nearby.

And did I mention that Mom has a weakness for interesting and vintage glassware?? I love this piece, and it was in brand new condition. Apparently, it’s previous owner never used it. Mom was able to pick up a few pieces from the same household that were all equally unused, and in perfect condition. If only I had thought to take a picture of these stunning pieces, but alas, dinner was calling my name.

After we feasted on our roast beast and Who-pudding, it was the doggies turn for their Thanksgiving dinner. Let’s just say that didn’t sit around the table and talk about the things they were most grateful for before chowing down.

Pardon the fuzzy pictures, excited dogs are hard to photograph at dusk.

And the best part of this holiday, ya know, aside from the thankfulness and the spending time with family, the left overs.

Don’t they taste so much better the next day?

The Day After

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Today I’m recovering from cooking delicious food with my sweet mom, eating way too much corn bread dressing, and cleaning up from a lovely feast. So, no indepth post today, and no black Friday shopping, I’m not one for a crowd. Instead, I’m staying home and enjoying some delicious left overs.

And doing lots of this, granted I typically take my naps on the couch.

Once the leftovers are eaten and all naps have been taken I’ll be back with stories of thrifted treasures and

dog tales (tails!!)

Happy Thanksgiving

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With today being a day dedicated to giving thanks to all of the wonderful blessings the good Lord has bestowed upon us, I am forgoing the regularly scheduled Thrifting Thursday. Instead, this day of thanksgiving will be spent with my loved ones reflecting on those blessings too numerous to count, and also eating copious amounts of pumpkin pie.

“Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.”

1 Chronicles 16:8