What A Mess!

I just love blogs that show pretty houses. Beautiful houses with architecture, shutters, siding, a roof, you know the luxuries in life. Here's some photos you won't see on any other blog but mine. Hold onto your hat. They are some doozies.

We wanted guttering. Our house was built without guttering or an overhang. Stupid, I know. But, what can you do about a house you already bought but fix it. Really, the only reason we thought we needed it was that it was a nuisance to try and leave the porch in the rain because it was just a constant waterfall down the front of the house. So, I called our Handyman friend and he came over to give us an estimate on the guttering. Except he discovered that the front and back walls of the house had basically soaked up all the rain the past 15 years and were pretty much rotten inside. Oh, happy, happy, joy, joy.

So, off came the siding. And the particle board and part of the roof and oh, my, what a fright. My poor, sad naked little house.
Luckily, it was only the side part of the front and the back and not the two huge very tall sides or we would be in the poorhouse right now. There's a big bay window to the left of Handyman. Our house isn't very big, but this photo makes it look teeny.
Here's my sad house without part of the roof and a straight shot into the attic. Oh, we were the talk of the neighborhood, I tell you. "What are you doing?" they all came to ask. Children knocked at the door asking, "Are you tearing down your house?"
So sad. But, then it got fixed and all put together better than new with all white trim and sparkling new white guttering. And it looked nice for a week. Then, handyman came and ripped apart the back of the house Now, it's all fixed and looking good now.

Guttering! Already in need of cleaning. A new job for the Breadman.

The garage door is white now. Thanks to me and my handy-dandy painting skills. I still have to put the second coat on. The front door will get a coat of charcoal gray paint.

Back together and believe it or not, I already trimmed the tree. It is a huge tree, but we love it wouldn't have it any other way.

It's very disconcerting when the outside of your house is a wreck for the neighbors to see. I have plenty of horrors in the house, but no one can see those. Those are my dirty little secrets. You know - I mean my thrifting piles.

So, on to the latest acquisitions. Last week at the Super Cheap Thrift, I found an old Stenographers machine. It was priced $10.00, but with an Make an Offer sticker on it. I didn't want to pay $10.00 not knowing what it was worth, so I left it behind. When I got home, I looked it up and it sells for about $60.00, plus that one had the paper, cleaning kit, manual, book and lots of extras. I went back Saturday, but I only had fifteen minutes to spare to buy it. There were 19 people in line. I've never even seen 19 people in the entire thrift before! So, I left it again. Yesterday I ran back out to see if it was still there and it was. I talked the ladies into letting me have it for $5.00. I do not have a clue how anyone could use this machine. They keys are unmarked and there's not enough and there are three "S" keys (I learned this reading the manual). It came with the original shipping slip from 1969.
I found this little sugar bowl or jam pot or whatever it might be and knew I had seen it on lots of blogs lately. Apparently this is the pattern choice of the thrifting community lately. (If anyone is interested, leave a comment - it's for sale).
Two old handmade potholders with a corn motif. A sweet little scarecrow pin and a jolly pumpkin pin. 75¢ total for everything. Happy Fall, Ya'll.
An old vintage Rook game for 35¢. I love Crow stuff, so this was a neat find. I think the cards will be great in altered art, not to mention the whole Raven/13 thing for Halloween.
Three sweet vintage aprons. Love the pink gingham one and the purple one with it's funny pockets. But, I'm not so sure what I think about the groovy 1960's number. They were 25¢ each, so I grabbed all three of them.

I suppose now would be a good time to mention some upcoming news. I am in the process of opening my own store here on my blog. I have it all set up, but I am still adding goodies to it. I want to pass on the goodies that I find at good prices to people that will really appreciate them. Like YOU! Stay tuned!

And, lastly. Heidi posted a photo of a star made out of an old folding ruler and I loved it so much that I had to go copy her thatverysecond.

Love it! I've been lucky enough to find three of these old rulers for $1.00 each, so to find a use for one is awesome. I just threw it up on the old window and the big iron key for now. I have to do things when the idea is fresh or it just leaves my old noggin.

Thanks Heidi for the Junkreating idea!