Musings on a Small Life

I think it's Tuesday; the long weekend has thrown me off more than I typically would be! Derry's tail, snapped in July. Love the cute curve. No "tales", really, just a bit of a mish-mash. It was a good thrift store weekend, especially at Value Village. I haven't been into ours more than two or three times since the pandemic started, and I lucked in this time by finding ten books (mysteries), eight tops for the fall/winter, and a sweet fabric shower curtain as a spare for the new bathroom. (The shower curtain is old, but very pretty and girly, my kind of thing. I think it will become my spring/summer one.) Derry on Saturday, checking out the new shower curtain. Derry got a new cat tree a couple of weekends ago, mostly because he wasn't using the larger one. So I found a small one at Pet Valu and moved the big one up to the guest room, where he can get to it via the bed. I've been looking at cat trees online, particularly on Wayfair.ca, because they have a f...

It's half price at Value Village today for super-saver members, in advance of the general public sale tomorrow. I spent what I consider to be a fortune (average of $4 per item, with tax) and came home with 15 sweaters, 4 pj/lounge bottoms, a brand new scarf that matches perfectly with my maroon winter coat, and a terrific tote bag (Denver Hayes). Everything is great except for three sweaters and three pj bottoms that will go back next weekend, for exchange. But I'm keeping the cat.  :-) Peace.

Okay, I'm not really a shopaholic, and my budget doesn't allow for anything high end, but I certainly can't pass up a half-price sale at Value Village! I went yesterday (Sunday) for their pre-50% off sale (for "members"), with the public sale being today. I had an awesome thrift-store jaunt! Two cardigans One fleece pullover One zip-up light "jacket" for indoor or outdoor wear (the navy, far left on the couch) One homemade tote bag (far right, back of couch) Two pretty scarves Nine tops (mostly long-sleeved, one was short-sleeved), one of which I knew would be touch and go for fit and did turn out to be too tight for my fat muscular upper arms One pair of pj bottoms Two pretty floral mugs One brushed nickel over-the-door rack (being used in my bedroom now) Two nice wicker baskets (OMC, I need a basket intervention!) The baskets and the door rack were not on sale, being "housewares", but everything else was 50% off. ...

Brrr, our sub-zero temps continue -- too cold, too early! I missed a few days at work this past week, sick. Not the flu, just whatever nasty cold virus has been going around. I was home Wednesday, went in on Thursday but lasted only two hours, then was home Friday too. I'm still coughing and congested, but I'm sick (ha) and tired of lying around on the couch all day, doing nothing, so I'll be going to work this week. I have a few things I'd like to take care of anyway, before we're off for the holidays. I'll just pack up my "pharmacy" and take it all with me.  Being home part of this week did give me an opportunity to take a few snapshots of the boys, enjoying the sunshine.   Nicki in the sunbeam in the hall. Derry enjoying the warmth. I had to lighten the snapshot quite a bit, though, taking it into the sun as I was. (I know, a no-no.)   Nicki on one of the faux fur mats I ordered from Ikea (on my bed).  Derry draped over the ...

"...try, try again." Twenty-five times . Because that's how many pairs of pants it took me trying on today, in five different stores, before I found one-- one --pair that would fit my short, increasingly round, middle-aged body. Value Village, Sears, The Bay, Northern Reflections...all wash-outs. Finally, in the Alia/TanJay/Nygard store in the mall I found a pair that fit me. It was depressing and demoralizing. And made me long to eat a piece of cake just for comfort. Which I didn't do, but only because I wasn't near a supply of good cake. I did, however, find a pretty blouse at Value Village, along with a tote bag and two pretty plates. Nicki checks out the blouse...will he approve?  It has a subtle shimmery look to it, because of the tiny silver dots. One of the two plates. Nothing special, I just thought they were pretty, and they were 2 for $1.99, so not exactly a huge expenditure. I'd been to Value Village last Sunday, ...

First, the coffee table I ordered from Bed, Bath and Beyond: I do have to return it to the store, the "ivory" has too much of a yellow undertone to go with the rest of my (Ikea) stuff, unfortunately. Really too bad, as it's a well-made table, has a solid wood top (very heavy!) and was a good price (less than $200 CAD). So I will keep my eye out for something that will be more suitable.  Nicki had fun eating the outer shipping box!   Anyway, to the subject line of the post: I was running my usual Saturday AM errands and had gone to PetSmart to pick up cat food. When I came out of the store I saw "hoards" of people streaming in and out of Jysk, just further down the sidewalk (it's part of a huge big box store complex in the west end of our city). By "hoards" I mean about a dozen people or so, just after 9 AM. Very strange, as the store doesn't even open until 9:30. So I popped over and it turned out that they were celebrating their 20...

Fifty percent off at Value Village today for card members, in advance of the general sale tomorrow. I hemmed and hawed, but decided to go and am glad I did! Seven short-sleeved tops for the warmer weather (I didn't try them on, but any that don't fit well enough for work can be worn on weekends or with pj bottoms), a small cushion with a removable cover (the only way I'll buy a pillow second hand is if it had a removable/washable cover), a textured fabric shower curtain and a table runner, for less than $31 including tax. Woohoo! The most expensive item was the shower curtain at $4 (regularly $8). Cute little pillow for $3.   Nicki approves of the shower curtain.   Close up of the shower curtain. Nicki's not so sure about the table runner. It was $1, so I don't care if I have his approval.   He fixated on the shower curtain. LOL.   All the great finds!   As for Nicki himself, he was feeling perky enough this morning to scratc...