I know a good trash can is a necessity in a kitchen – in ours, we need one that is really secure, since various critters fly inside our house during the summer months. We had one for years that was made by OXO and it was great; except for the lid, which had structural flaws in its design. Eventually, no matter how careful we were, the plastic portions would disintegrate and it wouldn’t work. OXO was very helpful, sending us replacement lids throughout the years. We must have had at least 6 different lids. But the flaw actually got worse, and the latest replacement fell apart in less than two months.
So we bit the bullet yesterday and bought a new one. Not the most exciting thing to buy, but a necessity. We rewarded ourselves by going out to breakfast and stopping at the bookstore.
I picked up Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty – a memoir by Diane Keaton (I am a huge fan) and then I got a discount copy of The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. I read her newest novel, Broken Monsters, a few months ago and really liked it.
I also ran into Michael’s to get some plastic storage bins for my minis – right now, they’re all over the place.
And I found this mini table – I like the color and the lines.
Then we came home. Driving up and down a busy highway full of stores and strip malls isn’t really our cup of tea. We were relieved when we got back to our little cottage.
All this running around meant I didn’t get the seeds planted in the Chicken Wire Fence Garden, so I’ll do that this morning. And by the time we got back home, I realized that I had to pick my health plan before the end of the day, so that became a priority.
But there was a little package waiting for me in our mailbox. It was from my pal, Linda.
Oooh! The egg cup on the left is Harlequin by Homer Laughlin (in my favorite color) and the egg coddler is a lovely one from Royal Worcester. Thank you, Linda! We both collect egg cups, by the way, so we are definitely enablers.
She also sent along three mini record albums for the TSP, but I am unable to get a good shot of them this morning. I’ll remedy that later in the day.
We might get more rain later in the day, so I’m going to attend to gardening and potting later this morning.
Happy Saturday.
Good Morning Claudia, At first I thought you were going to tell us about a trashy book! lol Have a great day.
I wondered if someone might think that!
I hate having to purchase such mundane items as trash cans, but they are essential. Finding one that suits us and works as we need can be hard. I can’t find one with a lid that works either. Oh trashy books would have been surprising! Love the new mini table. Yes we are enablers and I’m glad to do my part with your little gifts. I’m trying to slow down on the pottery buying right now. I have a busy day and I’m getting my hair cut and off my neck. I go crazy when it gets hot and my hair is long but not long enough for a pony tail! Happy Saturday.
hugs,
Linda
I dreamt last night that I was getting my hair cut! (Which I need to do soon!)
What a lovely gift! I especially like the colour and shape of the egg cup on the left. I think a set of those would make pretty serving dishes for ice cream. I’ll have to look for a copy of the Diane Keaton book – I admire her very much.
That’s called a double egg cup. It would the perfect size for a modest amount of ice cream – which, let’s face it, is better than too much ice cream!
At least you were able to turn a not so exciting errand into a fun time…especially with breakfast and books! Trashy books might have been fun for a change! I have both of Diane Keaton’s books….still TBR’d! Enjoy your day! ;)
I got the other one out of the library in Hartford, but I never got around to it. So I chose this one as my buy yesterday.
I’m a huge fan of plastic storage bins. My goal now is not to buy anymore and use up the supplies in the current bins. So my actual goal is not to buy any more crafting and sewing supplies unless I absolutely need them.
Gardening chores…while I’m out there weeding (I finished all the late spring/early summer heavy pruning yesterday), my daughter is testing out watering systems for the veggies in the raised beds, which are not hooked into my automatic irrigation system. My daughter insists on hand-watering them, but we are now booked for a 5-night get-away, and the beds should .watered at least twice while we’re gone. The finalists seem to be filling glass soda/wine bottles with water and sticking them upside down in the soil, filling gallon milk jugs with water and running a cotton wicking from said jug to the raised beds, or the “beg-a-neighbor” system. I told her we have plenty of neighbors who will trade a 20-minute chore for a bag of organic vegetables come harvest time!
I can only afford to buy a couple at a time, but I hope to fill them up ASAP!
If I was your neighbor, I would be more than willing to water in exchange for some organic veggies! Absolutely.
Oh please PLEASE tell me that one or both of you have met or worked with Diane Keaton!. Love her work!!
Oh, don’t I wish! No, neither of us have worked with her. Sob.
The new egg cups are so beautiful and appear to be very well made. I despair of never finding vintage egg cups for you. I see repros, but I know you prefer authentic/original. I would love to be able to send you a egg cup you’d love…I share your joy of collecting things…and I always feel it’s the least I could do for all the work you put into the blog and what you share with us, if I could just find a good egg cup!. I’m sure, some day, I’ll find the perfect egg cup. I don’t do eBay…never started it; I wouldn’t be able to avoid the temptations…so it’s not a resource for me. I also haven’t gotten into etsy although I am sorely, sorely tempted because of the beautiful, finely-crafted things I occasionally run into on that shopping site. I know this makes me sound like a dinosaur but, you know, a person’s gotta do what works for their particular weaknesses!
I know what you’re saying about a crush of road, traffic, stores…and, for me, crowds. It will feel good to get errands done…I try to be organized about it, so that I don’t backtrack and instead maximize my time (I abhor random shopping; it exhausts me…it wiped me out even when I was a kid with my mother)…but I can’t wait to pull off the freeway and take a less-traveled access road to get home, away from all the cars and busy-ness. There’s so much I like about a big city, but so much I don’t like about it. Of course, having lived in Southern California yourself, you know how crazy our freeways are out here. But, for me, it was worse when we lived in Houston…Texas’ big megatropolis, I really felt their freeways were worse than Los Angeles! Asphalt jungle, I was usually disoriented in terms of north-south-west-east…and my poor husband had to fight that cross-city traffic for an hour, both morning and evening, to get to his job. I look forward to him retiring and never having to continue to live so much of his adult work life in a car, commuting long distances; it’s no way to live. And it’s indeed how so many people live, all the time. I have people in my neighborhood who leave their homes at 5am to commute into the city. I always wonder if their jobs are worth it…but with all this ‘talk’ lately in the financial news, about us heading into another Recession, jobs are gold.
Off topic…in your NYC adventures, have you ever spent much time in Central Park? It always intrigues me. It seems so vast.
Oh, I can’t stand random shopping, either! It makes me tired, makes me irritable. I used to love to go to the mall when I was first working – my pal, Jackie, and I would spend time in the mall buying clothes, etc. We were both living back home and got bored. But now? Not on your life. I will do most anything to avoid shopping in malls and chain stores. I almost always do a lot of errands at once because I don’t want to have to go back out again.
People commute into NYC from here, and from even further north than us. The commute, whether by car, train or bus, takes at least 2 hours when you factor in driving to the train or bus station. I’ve done it occasionally when I’ve been working on a show. It ends up being a 12+ hour day. I don’t know how they do it. It seems as if the trade off for those commuters is life in the country. But I would think you’d only get to enjoy it on the weekends.
Yes, I’ve spent time in Central Park – I haven’t been in every area, but I’ve spent a lot of time there, including coaching Shakespeare in the Park/Public Theater, at the Delacorte Theater, which is up around W. 86th Street. I’ve spent time at Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon and lots of other areas. It’s gorgeous, with winding paths, benches, a zoo, you name it!
I love that red table! Just gorgeous, and it could be used so many places. A console table behind a sofa, in a entryway, even as a kitchen island! And so much fun to “do it up” for the holidays! Oh, also a full-size version – please – for my own house. ?
I love it, too. The lines are sort of Asian in influence. I was thinking of it as a table in a foyer or, as you said, a console table behind a sofa.
I would like a full-size version, too. Start looking online, Janet! Maybe we’ll find one!
Speaking of trash cans..I could use a new one here too..I would like to hear your review of The Shining Girls…I read Broken Monsters after you reviewed it and I really liked it but I thought the ending could have been a little better…Of course that is the thing with books…what one person may love another may hate…anyone who reads reviews knows that..By the way…I finished “I Let You Go” the other night..I highly recommended it to anyone who loves thrillers or mysteries..It is very well written and you will be amazed at the surprising twists…That is a cute little bench Claudia..and the pretty little gifts from Linda…She is such a sweetheart…I must pop over to see her new kitty…
Not her kitty, Nancy, but her good friend’s kitty. She’s taking care of him while her friend has to be away. He did the same for her when she was moving her mom from Texas.
possibly a dumb question but where do you find miniatures in michaels? I haven’t gone aisle by aisle yet but I have heard others say t hey found pieces at michaels . I haven’t seen any but I want to look again.
have a great weekend
I can’t remember what aisle they are in. But they’re hanging from hooks. They may be near the kids’ stuff. My own Michael’s has a much smaller selection, and this table was not offered. But when I went to this other Michaels, which is larger, there was the red table.
Morning! I haven’t been keeping up with your blog as much as I would like but yesterday’s was a meant to be read! I also am kitchen trashcan hunting–my giant Longaberger just isn’t working in my empty-nester home plus I want more space in that area. And better news yet, I want more space because we are going to downsize and yesterday we spent a huge chunk of the day in our destination town cruising and critiquing! We actually got to walk around a 1930 beauty because the back door was open! A great lesson was learned: don’t judge a book by its’ cover, there was a reason, or 10, that 2 deals in 5 months fell through. (Thank you Zillow) Anyhow, our dream of small home life is underway and our destination area confirmed. Now for the trashcan hunt…
Good luck, Betsy! It sounds like an exciting time for you!
Hi Claudia! Trash cans! Yep, we have to have them. I keep a tiny little one under my sink – it’s the only place for one. Thanks for telling us about those books. I love Diane Keaton and didn’t know she’d written one! I’ll look for it. Now…your little minis! For the past week I’ve been all over Pinterest looking at minis, not to mention your minis and few other bloggers. I’ve bit the dust and I’ve been sucked in. I don’t have a house but I’m making furniture! I’ll blog about it one day. I do appreciate you sharing your and all of the places you’ve found your little tinys! ;)
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Oh wonderful, Shelia! I’m so glad you’re making some minis! You will be well and truly hooked on miniatures – I guarantee it!