……the tough go shopping….thrift shopping that is….my favorite hobby when much is weighing on my mind.

This weeks finds pretty much centered around my garden projects. Here are the treasures I hauled home with me this week.

Yes, everything in this photo is a thrift shop treasure from this week. The rack will be a focal point in one of my garden projects.

This is the “finished product” rack with all my finds (even the clay pots). Now to work on the surrounding garden area and to plant some lovely flowers in the planters.

This is a treasure I have been hunting for months!!! It was marked as $15.00 but I got it for $5.00. What am I doing with an old bike in my backyard leaning against a tree??? I hope to one day create a garden around it….perhaps like the one Tootsie Time has created.

I put the Mexican sun in my succulent garden.

As you can see, it is still a work in progress. I bought two more bags of stone today to spill into it. It is going to take at least 12 more bags. And then I can begin the happy task of filling all my containers with succulents!!

And what is a week of thrifting without picking up a few good books on the cheap:

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

In the Memory of the Forest by Charles T. Powers

The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Hope to do some seriously exquisite writing in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Although I have a post for the New Year rambling around in my head I thought that I would give you a preview of what’s on my mind for 2011. If you are curious just click on the images to right under “Just Saying”.

I know that what I am about to write here will undoubtedly fall on deaf  ”ears”. However, since working on my family history, I am beginning to believe that we as a nation are missing out on much of what is real and true about who we are.

I am forever grateful that my Aunt Mary was somewhat of a hoarder. Now many times this is thought of as an illness that finds the individual lost in their own home amongst piles of garbage. Thankfully, my aunt was not in that particular category. She was a hoarder. That much is true. But what she hoarded were the family “jewels”. Letters, documents, photos, poetry, postcards, and even receipt books from the family farm.

I am in the process of transcribing these:

These letters are accounts written home from my father and my uncles as they fought in WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. Several others included in this pile are from my parents during the span of my father’s military career. These letters are what should be included in our history courses, not the “politically correct” version of what our government would like to believe occurred.

There is a great book out there titled: Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam. For anybody that is homeschooling, I would recommend this book as required reading. But that is a whole ‘nother blog post entirely.

I digress.

With the advent of electronic mail we are losing not only our nation’s history but our personal history. Even blogging is playing a part in our losing such personal writings as journals and diaries into cyberspace, unless of course you make a hard copy of every post you have ever written which you should do (and just so you know – I have – four huge notebooks full).

Yet again, I digress…darn those run-on sentences.

I was always an avid letter writer. I have been blessed that there are individuals that have saved these letters and have since returned them to me. Wow! What a treasure trove of discovery they are!

Yet now, I would much rather click “send” on an email than even pick up the telephone. Thankfully, there is my blog to account for the days of our lives. In fact, Miss Sam has been badgering me (literally) to post another Daybook. She absolutely loves these…and of course I promised her one today…perhaps in a few hours after I get all this off my mind.

Again, I digress!

So as you click and read and click and reply today. Stop and think for a minute about all that is “you” that will end up in cyberspace. Perhaps you’ll pick up a pen and a notebook to journal…or a pen and some writing paper (WHAT is that!!????) and send a note to someone.

Just saying what’s on my mind today…that’s all.

Now that I have scanned every document in our family history that I have in my possession ~ I have now begun the project of scanning all the photos that have been scattered in too many boxes to count. Once all that is accomplished it will be a matter of putting together all of the puzzle pieces into an interesting and readable format. Not gonna happen this week.

Facebook has a great application called My Year in Status. It really is rather fun to read. Here is how mine read:

Danielle is….

• trying a new recipe while taking the fire alarm down so it won’t go off
• developing a catalog for my photo cards, drinking a cup of chai coffee and eating a valentine cookie
• finally decided on a new look and name for her blog
• is getting ready to make a run to Dominos for tonight’s dinner. Cooking at it’s best!!!
• I have a full day of clients today..and then some. Best take my meds before I head out (grin)
• If you are not clear about which spiders are poisonous, kill them all
• working on/updating handouts/syllabus/calendar etc. for Summer B and Fall 2009
• just finished a new blog post that drained me. Off to take a shower and make a yummy (don’t know what yet) lunch.
• just getting up from a nap, listening to the rain and thinking maybe I should clean the kitchen up…maybe. I love rainy days
• trying to crunch in some paperwork before heading out to the bigger city for classes
• back from a photo field trip with my bestest friend.

Glad to see I lead a balanced life.

So there we were taking a leisurely stroll through Gander Mountain. Looking at fishing rods, lures and “big fish” supplies. As we circle around the “light spinners” to the “medium spinners” we were met by a DOG!!!! A DOG!!!! Doggone-it!!!!!!

Not just ANY old dog. But a Pit Bull. Did y’all hear me??????? A PIT BULL!!!! Now I will concede that it was on a leash and the leash WAS attached to it’s owner. HOWEVER!!!!!

And this is NOT the first time I have encountered our furry friends in stores that are not marked as “animal friendly” such as PETSMART or PET Super Stores. I have literally tripped over them in Home Depot, in Lowe’s, and yes…….a PUBLIX Supermarket (now, I think that is TOTALLY illegal but being as it was in one of those fancy, schmancy dog carriers it was TOTALLY okay????? What if it peed on my cereal box?????).

You must know me by now. I LOVE animals (well….maybe not ferrets) but especially dogs. However, I don’t want to have to start learning to drive my shopping cart around their leashes dangling in the aisles…or their drooling tongues for that matter.

Is THIS absurdity happening in anyone else’s area??? Just curious if it’s a Florida lifestyle thing.

Organizing ALL my scrapbook crap essentials.

One of my favorite blogs to visit is April over at Whimsy. I positively drool whenever she comes home from her thrift shop excursions and uploads her fabulous finds!!

Now that it is summer, I made the time to stop by a few thrift shops of my own a few days ago. Although I did pick up quite a few “had to have” odds and ends ~ I thought I would give April a run for her money and post my favorite find:

A wonderful $8.00 concrete planter for my “Blue Daze” flowers for my ongoing backyard garden project.

What wonderful treasures have you uncovered at your favorite thrift shop?

So this morning I went about my usual summer routine.

Get up. Let the dogs out. Make coffee. Read a chapter from my Bible. Let the dogs in. Check my blog for new comments left overnight.

This is what I love about blogging…how one simple comment leads to many wonderful discoveries:

• Reconnecting with bloggers who “knew you when”. Such is the case of Sherry from Going Goofy. I have always enjoyed Sherry’s honesty and sense of humor but somehow we got disconnected (probably from my constantly changing blog formats/names). What a treasure/pleasure it was to click on over to her place today and read about her “being one fry short of a happy meal”. Needless to say I enjoyed my morning giggle as I thought about recent moments where I too was “one fry short”.
• Being able to relate wholeheartedly with posts written by other bloggers. Just like the one that Sherry wrote. It made me feel as though I am not alone with the search to locate parts of my mind that have gone MIA. This inspired me to write a post of similar experiences and I set off to find some Google images of being “one fry short” to bring interest to my post.
• Finding an image to “beautify” my post and discovering a book I want to read by someone who lives just a short distance away. While searching for my “one fry short” image I found a book titled: One Fry Short: A Journey Toward Self Discovery and Emotional Success by Tim Passmore.
  • Product Description (from Amazon)
    Are you a fry short? Some have been described as being “one fry short of a happy meal.” This is a common phrase used for those who are a little “off.” Dr. Tim Passmore knows what this means through personally experiencing the stress of unhealthy emotions. He has struggled with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Bipolar Type II Disorder since childhood. His journey has taken him through formal training in psychology, counseling, and treatment by medical professionals. The most significant influences in addressing his issues have come through his study of God’s Word and finding value through his personal relationship with Christ. Join him as he helps you discover who you are and influences you as you travel down the road which can lead to emotional success. Dr. Tim Passmore is pastor of Woodland – The Community Church in Bradenton, Florida.

This is what I love about blogging:

• an old friend stopped by to say hello and in the process of reconnecting I found an awesome book to add to my “to be read” pile. How cool is that.

Go and say hello to a blogging friend you haven’t “talked” with in awhile. You never know what wonderful events will follow.

Recently we went on a Sunday drive to Ozello, Florida to search out some boat ramps. We saw some interesting things along the way:

 Ozello is a coastal town and this is what you would ordinarily see:

And this is the boat ramp we found:

 John Brown Boat Ramp

Ozello Florida

What do you see on your Sunday Drives?