What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Flooding...Again

Yesterday it rained again enough to flood out our street and caused lots of flooding and damage to the area. My Dad lives out by the lake in the house where I grew up. He told me that the lake was the highest he had ever seen it in 35 years. Field Trip!

Our goal was to go back to the bluffs where I took this photo on Christmas Day a few months ago.
Those bluffs The Bean is sitting on are up this road. Past that water. Water I wasn't driving though. Not me. Those bluffs are now at least 40 feet into the water and at least 30 feet under water.

So, we went to the Swimming Area.

It's about 100 yards out there in the lake. There's a picnic table and a BBQ grill under that roof. You can't see it? Me neither. Those steps lead down to about six steps, then you walk past roof, down about ten more steps then you cross the sandy beachy area to get to the swimming area. Gone, baby, gone.
Oh the junk was in high supply today. Lots of pure junk and some treasures were floating in the lake and clogged up towards shore. Here you see The Bean and my Dad using two long pieces of cane chopstickstyle to snag an amber glass jar that was stuck in the muck. The water under that muck was about three feet deep, so we were being cautious. They got the jar. It was an amber glass Coffemate jar. Not an antique, but not new by any stretch. That junkin' just runs in the family.
This huge tire complete with huge metal rim had floated to the surface. This is a man-made lake that was formed in the 1960's. They bought all the land and just flooded it, houses, barns and all. Stuff has been under that lake for 40 years and it's popping up everywhere.
These Porta-Potty's are down by the Marina and are about to float away themselves.
Once upon a time, this was a fancy houseboat. It broke lose from who knows where and floated up about a year ago or so. Now it has a hole in it and it is going down with the weight of the water flooding inside. It's pretty sad - you can look right in and see the mirrors over the bar and the captain's chairs. You would think somebody where would have figured out their boat ws missing by now! (You can see my Dad's house up on that ridge). After the lake visit, we went to get some cuttings of some plants to take home. My Dad found this silly little frog hiding under his BBQ grill. The Bean got quite a kick out of him.
Seconds after I took this photo, I took one step backwards at the precise second that &^%$ frog squirted a giant pee right towards me. He missed. The Bean laughed very, very hard over that one.
~~~~~~~~

On the way home we passed right by a Thrift Store. What a co-inky-dink! Okay, so I went home a very specific way so we would have to drive right by it. It's the thrfit where I have never bought anything because thier prices are too high. But, then last year, I found the MacKenzie Childs dishes for $20.00 that I sold for $400.00. So, when I am near - I stop just hoping for another good score. I lucked out again today for something for me.

I have been on a vintage cupcake pick quest lately. Everyone in Blogland keeps finding them. I want some too! Today was my day!

I got this whole bag of old and not so old cake stuff for $3.00.
Funny vintage clown heads, a rooster and two bunny cupcake picks. Seriously - how cute are they?
Some funny St. Patrick's Day head and those bunnies and that rooster again.

I started to throw these candles out, but I think they are vintage as they are made thicker and heavier than the ones like it you can buy today. So, in the keep bag they went.

Doesn't everything usually go in the keep bag?

More rain coming on Wednesday. And Thursday. Did I mention Friday? Ho hum.

6 comments:

  1. Your town is looking like mine did last summer. I don't think I posted pics of our lake, but it is similar(man made) but w/o the boat slips.

    That frog would make a great science experiment. AHEM.

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  2. Oh boy. I grew up in a water frony community and just seeing those pictures brings back memories of some awful hurricanes and terrible flooding. :(

    You scored on your cupcake picks! I found a small stash last fell and even though they were Valentine and St Pattys did I use them? :( No. There need to be more cupcakes in my life.

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  3. It always seems when you don't want rain you get a ton of it. Flooding is never fun, be careful. What a great find on those cupcake picks. I love the little crayon! I have an irrational (or is it rational?) fear of clowns so they're a little scary but the other ones are really cute.

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  4. That is just amazing! I've never lived anywhere where we had to worry about flooding, so that's just incredible to me. Yikes.

    Love the picks & candles!

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  5. We are having a freaking ridiculous amount of rain here too. My damn sump pump is pumping it's little heart out, our yard is lake, and the weather man just said it is going to rain like this for the entire month of april.

    That makes me cry. Seriously. It's been such a long winter, and now all this rain.

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  6. Love the cake toppers!!!!

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