A Sneak Peek at My Best Ever Goodwill Find
You know I wouldn't vacation without hitting at least one thrift store.
I'm not going to do a full reveal today, but I will share this tag reading "Blue Upholstered Chair." Likely my best thrift find ever. My white whale.
See you tomorrow!
Quite a tease! 🙂
Having seen your instagram post (whoot!!) my only question is: will you keep these or resell? Holy crumoly this is a find and a half, well done Katy!
1. Picked yet more arugula from the volunteers in the big greenhouse. We are slowly replacing the 'weeds' with chosen plants – tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cucumber – however we have been willing to let the sections as-yet-unplanted to continue to flourish as arugula beds. I think we are almost done.
#2 son wanted to make a salad as he saw I had cooked up some lentils. YES PLEASE! He used a lot of arugula, and I taught him how to make a simple dressing with lemon zest, juice and olive oil (plus a bit of pomegranate molasses since I had it). So nice to see him choosing that as a meal option, and it was delicious.
2. My hand physio gave me exercises to strengthen my broken arm – and I already had the (thrifted) 2 pound weights I needed. Trying to do the exercises every day, which is a bit of a challenge however I am persisting.
3. As we clear off the outside raised beds, which were covered in maple leaves for the winter, we are moving the leaves onto the rototilled field, starting with where we have already planted things. We are covering the raised beds with chopped straw as we plant them, partially as an indicator to each other as there are several people using the garden, and partially because the straw is less 'smothery' than the leaves. Reusing our mulches this way, rather than just putting them into the compost pile, is the most efficient way to add carbon to the soil, IMHO.
4. Wonder James helped me to plant 6 blueberry and 6 Haskap (Honeyberry) plants in the tilled field. To reduce the weed load we used a scrounged Lumber Wrap tarp (our local hardware store offers these for free, and they are a sturdy large alternative to purchased tarps. We currently have a big collection because I scored big time on my last visit to the store). We covered the tarp and around the bushes with a thick layer of chopped straw, which will keep the tarp in place and hopefully smother any weeds that want to grow beside the plants.
James collected a big lawn-tractor trailer load of chicken manure from a coop currently not in use – so it is well matured. We fed the bushes well with this free fertilizer (as well as some other amendments). It is great to be using what we have on the property.
5. #2 Son passed his PHD candidacy, so now he is a PHD candidate. It wasn't a surprise that he passed, yet it is a big relief for him as he has been preparing for the last 6 weeks, with multiple interuptions from his colleagues in the lab who have needed his help on their many projects. The great news is that he will get enough of a stipend that there won't be a need for student loans.
As part of his work, he gets to present his current work at a conference in Lyon, France, in August. He is wisely planning to extend the trip with a visit to Italy with a colleague, accompanying a former exchange student who is from Italy and who wants to visit family near Venice (!!). I am so excited for him for all of those opportunities.
In addition, he and his girlfriend have signed a lease on an apartment and he will be leaving the barn loft in the next month or so (Sob). This is the right move for both of them and will save him 10 hours a week of commuting time (along with the gas). He will, however, have a higher food bill without access to Mom's Kitchen with his current frequency.