Pianos

Several days ago, my children had an opportunity to play "lunch music" at a local nursing home. It was fun to see the smiles that it brought to the lovely people who live there. Little Pumpkin did her part by dancing to the blues pieces and swaying to the slower ones.

Just another way, Simply Music has blessed our lives. Love that program!!! We are so fortunate to have found a wonderful teacher in our area.

On the topic of piano's and yet totally and completely unrelated in any other way, I wanted to show you one of my favorite garage sale finds of the summer. This beautiful needlework was in a hideous frame and this frame housed a hideous picture so I bought them both and made things right. ☺ Guess where it happily hangs now. . . yep, right by the piano. Yeah, I'm clever like that.

Oh, and don't even ask about how Pumpkin's coat is going. . . Grrrrr. . . lets just say that I'll be headed back to JoAnn's soon for more corduroy. I will NOT let this project defeat me. ☺

Treasure in the Rough

Words cannot even describe how ugly this shelf was. It was a puky color of green smeared with brown and completely filthy. I found it at a garage sale for $3. The shelf is so ugly, but I liked the shape and it seemed perfect for my growing record collection that seems to have started all on its own.

Sometimes collections are like that you know. No planning necessary. They just grow and all of a sudden you realize you have a collection so that when you see more you have to commit and buy them. Anyway, this shelf had a small compartment on top that would be perfect for small children records with the read-along books and the larger shelf at the bottom looked like the larger Nat King Cole and Glenn Miller records that I like would fit if they leaned just a bit.

Hmmm . . . decisions, decisions . . . should I bring home this absolutely hideous piece of furniture??? Well, the lady running the sale noticed my indecision and came over and said she would be happy to sell it for a dollar. She absolutely did not want it coming back into the house with her (and who could blame her?) So I bought it. I had to, it was only a dollar. You understand, don't you???

I painted it the same color as our entry way (or Welcome room as Princess H. calls it). And look! There is still lots of room for more records. I'll have to try and find some more. ☺

A New Toy

I love to go to garage sales because you never know what you are going to find. This weekend, I hit the jackpot.

I have a soft spot for old machines. In another life, I was a history teacher. The history of other people and times always appeals to me. For example, we live in an old house and I like the history of our house . It's fun to think of other people living there, who they might have been, what they might have done, the crazy home repairs they made. . .but I digress. Its history gives our house character and we love that.

Old sewing machines are just built so strong and made to last. The machine I found is approx 60 years old and it is still faithfully chugging along. The best part is that it doesn't need electricity. Yep, this baby is a treadle. So fun to use. I'm hoping to use it to teach my kids to sew, but I can't wait to play on it too. I might have to learn how to quilt. It only has a straight stitch although you can buy an attachment for zigzagging. I usually just sew clothes because making a quilt seems so intimidating. Any easy patterns you can recommend?

That reminds me: I'm thoroughly confused about what a walking foot does. All quilters seem to say that if you are going to quilt a walking foot is helpful. What does it do? Do I really need one?

Long Live the Turntable

Last week we had several rainy days and the natives were getting restless at my house. So, I pulled out an old 1978 Fisher Price Record Player that I had found on a garage sale. When I was younger, we had a Holly Hobby record player that we loved with read-a-long book and record sets. The Holly Hobby record player no longer works which is very sad indeed, but my mom had kept all of the read-a-longs. I found this record player for $2 (He wanted $3, but bargaining for the lower price is the best part of going to garage sales isn't it???) The kids wanted to listen to the "big CD's" all afternoon. (Clearly they needed the 1970's cultural enrichment) Had I known what a treasure this record player would be to bring peace back to my house, I would have happily paid more. Just don't tell that to the man who sold it to me.