Miss Mabel has figured it out. If she licks the cats who want to sleep with her, they’ll go away!

I have a list of things to do today inside, since it is raining:

–Laundry (this means all the laundry I could possible do in one day, including quilts and rugs)
–Clean the kitchen (this means the entire kitchen)
–Clean/pick up the entry room (which is really the room we stick stuff in and it doesn’t have to be that way.)
–Clean off the dining room table
–Put away clean clothes
–Make curtain for kitchen door window, since I think I have fabric now that will work. (I have to buy the curtain hanger hardware for this, so I have to make 1 trip to the store.)
–Work on 1 doll. (Emeline or Lydia.)
–Write (Carrion, HD, or SYWTBAV, all depending.)

I am also going to reimplement the monthly list of 11, since I have a better idea of what I can actually get done in a month nowadays. And since May is tomorrow, I will post my list tomorrow morning for the month.

Okay, so I’ve gotten my exercise in this weekend. Definitely.

–2 1/2 hours riding on my bike around town.
–Mowed the grass in front and along the side (push mower.)
–Used the edger attachment on the Mantis to slice through the sod like butter where the big garden will be.
–dug up some of the sod to help get started.
–tilled two swipes (about 2 ft x 20 ft.)

And I only hit one root with the edger, which is a Good Thing!

And I have two blisters, too.

Now, of course, I am dying.

See, it’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. And I wasn’t tired at all after the bike ride, so I figured I’d do everything at once.

I don’t think I’ll be able to move tomorrow. I am not joking, either!

**collapse**

Yard sale weekend! After filling up the back of my car this morning (I’m not kidding) for $10, I rode my bike around town for 2 1/2 hours to visit the rest of the yard sales. I didn’t get much this afternoon (some old bottles and a really deep bundt pan (I think that’s what they’re called) but this morning, I hit paydirt.

AND I BEAT THE DEALERS! HAHAHAHA!

I had just filled up my gas can for the lawnmower when I decided to drive by/stop at a couple of yard sales on my way home. So I drove down a side street, saw a treadle sewing machine base, and had to turn around and stop.

Of course. Yes, I did buy another sewing machine. But a friend of Dad’s had just asked me to keep an eye out for a Singer treadle sewing machine (without the base) because he had just refinished one that he needed a sewing machine for. The sewing machine was only $5 anyway.

That was a bargain, but it wasn’t the real bargain. (As you can see, Mabel is not impressed.)

The real bargain was my new bathroom sink-to-be, which will replace the ugly pink one that is now dripping (I tried to stop it last night without any luck at all.)

The real bargain was this:

I am usually against doing this to poor, defenseless antiques. However, it’s cute, and in all honesty, I really like it. And it’s a great idea, because what if you do have a base without a sewing machine that you want to do something with? The hole is already there, after all!

As you can see, I have the other drawers that I can put back on it, and if I ever did want to replace the sewing machine, I could. But it’s sooooo cute! (Ack! I have been assimilated in the cuteness!)

So anyway, I drove past it and had to turn around. When I parked and jumped out of my car, I immediately thought the price tag was the wrong one, because there was no way in hell someone would sell this for what was on it. So I asked, and just as I asked, two dealers approached, also looking at the sewing machine and the base.

Well, the people told me it was the right price. I said very quickly that I would take it.

And that is how I ended up with a new bathroom sink for a whole $1.00.

I think it’s oak, so it will match the nice little oak cabinet I got for the bathroom at Burlington last year.

(I also bought two rugs and two tins from the same yard sale. Filled up the back of my car!)

I still can’t believe they only wanted $1.00 for it. The lady said it had been in her bathroom for years, but they had remodeled. It’s in really good shape.

I am so happy!

Flotsam is having a “Make-me-an-offer” sale until May 14th!

Send me a conversation with your offer for whatever item you’re interested in. If I accept your offer, I will lower the price and let you know so you can make a purchase.

No reasonable (and I do mean *reasonable*) offer will be refused!

However, I reserve the right to refuse an offer if I don’t feel that it is reasonable.

Questions? Just ask! (If you are asking on a weekday during the day, however, please be aware that I have a full-time job and cannot reply to coversations until I get home from work.)

http://flotsam.etsy.com

A little better picture of Mr. Edgar, who is going up on ebay in a moment here.

And then I’m going outside to de-grass the tiller, cut some of the long grass if my extension cord will stretch that far, and till some more! Mwahahaha!

I definitely got a workout tonight. After eating dinner with Mom and Dad, I came home and checked to see if the ground was dry enough to till. It was, so I broke out my Mantis and went to town. Literally!

It weighs 16 pounds, but you move it back and forth like a vacuum cleaner. And boy, do you feel it in your arms! I do have a blister, too, so I’ll probably wear gloves next time, but whew! It’s definitely a workout. I don’t think I need to worry about exercise anytime soon, especially since I have the big garden to till as well as the rest of the little garden.

The only issue was one I should have known already–if you use it in too tall of grass, the grass winds around the blades and the blades get stuck. I ran out of daylight to fix it tonight, so I will remove the rest of the grass tomorrow when I get home from work and mow the section that is left to till in the little garden so I can till it easier and don’t have the same problem again.

In about 45 minutes, I got the whole little garden tilled, including a 12″ x 5′ section of never-before-tilled part (where I ran out of steam last year. I can see me finishing the little garden tomorrow, if all goes well and my arms hold out.

Yay!

Today I also had a cool idea for a pretty simple little toy. Meaning one I can make rather simply, sell on ebay (hopefully) for a low starting bid, and have some fun as I do it. I am finishing the prototype now.

And he’s finished.

Here is Edgar, the very first Monster of Many Colors (MMC):

He is a Sweater Monster, made from a 100% wool sweater. His eyes are vintage buttons, and so are his teeth! (I’m going to have to find more of those. He is intended to be primitive in style. He is weighted on the bottom, so he stands just fine. He is about 6 inches tall. (Pardon the light; the left side button doesn’t show up very well at all. His mouth is fabric paint, although I think I might try yarn next time. I do like how he turned out, though.

I will get a better picture tomorrow.

Got something done that I’ve been wanting to do for weeks now: I updated my “About Me” page on ebay. Whew! At least I can say that’s done for a little while. I’m thinking I like the design now.

(Now watch Ebay get mad because I linked to my Etsy shop from there.)

Um. Let’s see.

Carrion is up to 14,410 words at the moment, which might sound okay, but really isn’t good at all. I left Gabriel and Emle in the midst of a conversation! So I’m trying to remedy that situation at the moment.

I think one of the other dolls-in-progress wants to be a witch. So that means I get to crochet a witch hat again, which was awfully fun with Mel. (For some reason I thought I had made more than one witch doll, but I can’t remember. It’s foggy, back then. I think I might have done a custom one, but I’m not positive, and I’ve seen no pictures.)

The next doll might go onto Ebay with a very low starting bid, because I really am curious as to how much to price them. I don’t think I’m pricing them too high (well, except for Meg, but she’s special) but I’m not sure. We’ll see how the Grey Lady Ghost doll does. If she doesn’t sell, she can sit on Etsy for a while. That’s one nice thing about Etsy; I don’t have to post weekly auctions. Although it’s awfully tempting to put up most of the rest of my ‘inventory’ from the craft show. (I did start to do that with the chokers I have left over.)

Anyway, I wanted to post an actual update. And now I must finish this scene and let Miss Mabel go to bed.

Awwwwwwwwww.
(Is it just me, or does Pooh look like he’s half Mabel’s size?!?)

The Grey Lady ghost doll.

Finit.

(Pardon the way my pictures are arranged–I quit! It’s nice outside and I want to plant the rest of my seeds!!)

Edit: And she’s now on ebay.

Almost done!