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.

Friday, February 10, 2012

This and That, Books and Bowling Balls

Hey.  Long time, no blog.  For me anyway.  I have been doing some thrifting and my Valentine decorations are up.  Sadly, my camera has decided to stop working which is really putting a damper on my blogging and ebay listings.  It is still under warranty, but will have to be mailed in, repaired and then returned to me, so no telling how long it will be before I get it and am able to get back on the blogging and listing road.  So, I found a nice camera on Amazon that will be here next week.  It will fill in until mine is back in my hands.  Then I can keep the other one in my purse or in the car so I always have it.  I know I have the iPhone, but I can't get into using it for all my photo taking needs.  It takes great photos outside, but all my inside photos are washed out and not very good at all.
Here's a photo I took of my Valentine Tree - see how bad the color is?  But!  Did you notice?  I am using the PINK Evergleam tree.  It is lovely and fun to see in my living room all prettied up instead of siting on the shelf in the garage.  

(Photo taken from my iPhone.  It really does take lovely outdoor photos).

I have a new obsession:  Book folding.  Take an old book and fold the pages in different ways to create patterns.  Some people can do beautiful creations like this:










  


I opted for a much less stressed version created by The T Cozy.  
I used an old Nancy Drew book that I had and made this pattern that looks like a Chinese Lantern.  It's really sort of calming to do.  I cannot just sit and look at the TV - I have to have busy hands, so I always have a project going in the evenings.  This is great for that, I can watch American Idol or Survivor (it starts Wednesday Laurie!) and keep my hands busy while I watch the show.  I am working on a different pattern that I worked out myself now.  I have plans for a heart book too.  I stopped in the library today to pilfer through the FREE book bin and I found several with pretty colored covers and end pages.  Like I really need another project and another excuse to drag home more crap.  Books especially!  Yikes!


A few weeks ago, I said out of the blue..."It would be fun to have a fire pit in the back yard."  Well, The Bean grabbed a shovel and went to work.  

 If you don't know this about Arkansas, you should.  You cannot dig a hole in Arkansas.  The ground is solid rock.  And the dirt, if you are lucky enough to come across any, is bright red.  When they built all the houses on our block the land was located in a flood zone, so they brought in over a hundred dump trucks full of dirt and filled up the flood zone.  So, we have really good deep dark soil in our entire yard.  The Bean was able to dig and dig without any trouble.
He dug it our nice and round, smoothed it all out and made a really nice big hole.  Since then, we have added and and gravel to the bottom for air and some logs.  We haven't made a fire yet.  Funny thing is - I am allergic to smoke.  Ha.  But, I will tough it out one of these days and have myself a S'more.
We needed to put something around it for safety reasons.  We went to Lowe's and looked at landscaping bricks.  They were nice and they would work, but were they really us?  I mean we have a chippy pink glider and a fireplace mantle against the fence and wind chimes made out of tin cups and a six foot tall tin man in the corner and an old grocery cart full of plastic chickens and a lot of other weird things in our yard.  Store bought landscaping bricks just seemed a little bit too ordinary for this house and this family.  What could we use that we already own that would fit in?  Wait!  I think I've got it!
Bowling balls!  
What?  You don't have a dozen old bowling balls in a wheelbarrow in your backyard?  Huh.  I just assumed everyone did!  Now The Bean is troweling out little indents for each ball to sit in perfectly.  We need a few more bowling balls, but each of these have come to us along the way at thrifts and yard sales, so I know more will come along soon.  And, as odd as it sounds, bowling balls really are more us!  

7 comments:

  1. WAY COOL!! Too bad you didn't have a more common name (just this one time!) - then you could be on the lookout for 'monogrammed' bowling balls ;-)... Yes, I'm guilty. I've found them with both J and mine's names on them in various FREE piles and lugged them home to be ornaments in our gardens!! NO YARD is complete without a bowling ball or two - IS IT?!??

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  2. I like the folded books and have done a couple. Bean looks like he is digging to China. We have a fire pit that we enjoy so much. But no bowling balls just stone from our yard.
    Cathy

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  3. Actually, I do have lots of bowling balls in my backyard. lol If they weren't so darn heavy I would send you some to round out the pit. We love our fire pit too. And yes, the s'mores are so worth the smokey smell.
    Love the book folding too.

    Debra

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  4. Shara I love the bowling ball fire pit...perfect for you! That Bean is a good kid I must say!! The folded books are so pretty...(I am a Survivor fan and have watched every season...just sayin). I have to say the pink tree is my favorite! Hope you get a camera soon, not having one is like missing a family member...lol. Hugs, Linda

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  5. Good use for some bowling balls..I don't have a wheelbarrow full tho!!! Only YOU!
    Am excited for the new Survivor season...haven't missed one yet.

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  6. Thats so neat! I've used a bowling ball for a "gazing ball" on a stand before but i bet the border will look cool! You should give your lawn furniture some love too! (I know its a pain, i'll be re painting all 30 peice of mine next month!) Cant wait to see the finished pit!

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  7. The bowling balls are cracking me up. Great idea. I went to a church sale last year and they were selling the bowling balls (tons of them) for 50 cents each. Why I didn't pick up more of them I have no idea.

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