Welcome to the Puzzlehouse

My Little One is fond of puzzles. Very fond. Extremely fond. Thankfully, she can be entertained for hours putting a puzzle together. Usually her puzzles are anywhere in the 250 to 500 piece range, but this time she decided to try 1000.

And danged if she didn’t do most of it!

No flowers or butterflies for her, either. That is The Elements, based on the book by the same name by Theodore Gray. Unlike most times when you do the edges first, it was easier to start with the inner pieces, since the outer ones were solid black.

As you can tell, the elements were represented by real-world items, in this case, Hydrogen was represented by the Pillars of Creation. Carbon was a diamond, Iron was a horseshoe, etc. Several are represented by their namesakes, like Einsteinium. All in all, it was a challenge to put together.

It will be a pity to take apart 😉

Things That Make You Go “Hmmm…”

Well, as y’all have heard, Borders Bookstores are going out of business. This is a bit hard for me, because I enjoyed the convenience of driving ten minutes to the store, instead of ordering from Amazon and waiting a few days or weeks for your order to get to you. There are Barnes & Noble around the area, but 1) the traffic is prohibitive at two locations, and 2) the drive is long to the third. But I adapt well to changing situations.

One thing I had wanted was a Lego set they were selling at the local Borders. Yes, for me, not for one of my kids. STOP JUDGING ME!!! Anyway, they had several sets from the Architecture Series, one of which I want like burning: Fallingwater, by Frank Lloyd Wright.

But they carried it for $124.95, and the Lego website carried it for $99.99, when they had it in stock, so I decided to wait, because I may want it like burning, but I can’t justify $125 for building blocks. And then today I was at Barnes & Noble, and saw this:

THAT is the price for Fallingwater at B&N!! The price difference is stark. I guess now we know why Borders is going out of business. Their concept of “sale pricing” left a lot to be desired.

UPDATE:

A friend just called and told me stuff at Borders is now 20-40% off. I may be able to score this set after all 😀

Calm Before the Storm

As if! We were expecting this monster of a rainstorm around here, thanks to Tropical Storm Don, and of course, it never came to pass. Which means I will have to scrub the fence outside from last weekend’s debacle birthday bash. And did I mention there is still paint on the bath walls that needs to be scraped off? Yeah, my day is shaping up to be a storm of cleaning fumes.

But before that storm hits, I am going to enjoy the calm, and sip my coffee, and maybe do a little shopping from the comfort of my chair. I do have a talent for that, you know. And sometimes I do find the neatest stuff!

Can you imagine the PTA’s face when I show up wearing this?? Totally worth it!!!

Ok, time to get moving here. Hope y’all enjoy your Saturday!!

Dangerous Liasons

My friend The Nomstress is here for a quick visit, planning to take Son for a week. And when she is in town, bad things happen to my checkbook:

These are Trollbeads, and they are addictive. Hubby will attest I have….a few. And yesterday eldest got her very own bracelet for her birthday, composed of the Chakhra beads, which I had been collecting for over eight months. Anyway, Nomstress tells me she needs to go to the Trollbeads store to exchange a leather bracelet.

Best laid plans, and all that rot.

They had just received a huge lot of “universal uniques”, which will fit other brands of bracelets, as well. And they were sooo pretty!!! So I caved. And it didn’t help matters having Eldest and Nomstress cheering me on, either.

Sigh….. 😉

 

300th Comment!!

And the honor goes to….

MITCHELL!!

And thankfully, he didn’t put a link to a shopping site when he commented. Though he did mention Shang Tea, which, coincidentally, is where my friend Nicole got the wonderful white tea that Hubby prefers, and by “prefer” I mean “will kill for.”

I guess I’m going Yorling again….sigh…..

Bad Influences

We all have them. We all enjoy them. You know you do, so don’t try to say you don’t! Everyone of us has a friend that’s a bad influence. The one that says another slice of cake won’t hurt, or that you need that new dress, or that those shoes are absolutely fabulous and you must get them.

I have one of those friends, too. His name is Mitchell, and he is dangerous. Oh, we’ve never met, and he would die before going dress shopping with me. But when it comes to art and the kitchen, he is mandragora. He is the reason several bloggers came up with a new name for shopping: going a-yorling, after his former blogging name. A couple of days ago he posted some lovely kitchen canisters that he purchased as a housewarming gift for his mom. Not only lovely, but handmade here in the USA. You can guess what happened next:

Yep, I got the complete canister set from Crosby & Taylor. In my defense it was a fabulous deal, and considering I had been using two basket canisters for the longest time, I felt I was due for an upgrade. Right?? All I know is that now I need the matching garlic pot and soap dispenser. And when I say “need”, I mean WANT LIKE BURNING!!

If Mitchell ever has a garage sale, I’m sunk 😉

Sithy Frippery

Well, today’s letter was to someone to whom I want or should give a second chance. Seeing as I give everyone and everything a second chance (yes, even menudo, both the band and the stew), I decided to do something more frivolous here.

It’s my blog and I post what I like 😀

A friend of mine happens to be addicted to shoes. And by “addicted”, I mean ADDICTED!! There is not a day that goes by without her checking out Jimmy Choo and Louboutin, and whatever shoe designer she comes across. And it had me thinking…. I quite like shoes, too. Not to the extent of paying $400 for a pair, you understand. But I do like a nice pair of heels!

And if you think I just get them for looks, think again. That heel can do some serious damage 😉

Redneck With Class

Last month I was shopping for Christmas gifts when I ran across the funniest thing to ever scream “BUY ME!!!!”:

Yep, I ended up buying a few for gifts as well. And before y’all ask, no I didn’t drink wine from a box last night.

It was bottled, with a screw top 😉