thrifted finds ~ and lots of news around here

I needed some groceries at Trader Joes today, so I ran into the nearby Goodwill

 and Savers. Found some cool stuff, including a MFK Fisher book (not shown).

 Anyone familiar with this awesome writer? She was an unsurpassed American

 food writer.

Up first is a set of vintage Godinger spoons and a set of new buttercream placemats

 from Kohls. 

{Speaking of Kohls, they have a great selection of table linens. They have given

me a code to pass along to my blogging friends through May 10. Just use

BLOGS10 when shopping online and you will receive a 10% discount!}

 Next is a vintage rolling pin (love the red handles!), a trio of frosted glass rabbit
 candle holders, and a tiny pitchfork that will be perfect in the fairy garden that
 I plan on creating once the weather warms up.

Couldn't resist this charming, vintage bunny with a fluffy tail.

Just need to get out the Goo Gone and remove the sticker residue off its body. 

Lastly, a pretty Fitz and Floyd butterfly candle trinket box...
 

 Well, I'm sure a lot of you have seen the news of all the floodings in

the Chicago area. And, as you know from my April 12th post, my basement

had flooded. You're not going to believe this, but Brian woke me up at 4:30 a.m.

again today, telling me that water was now pouring in through one of our window wells.

He was outside in the dark, scooping water, dead leaves, and debris from the window

well, while I was inside trying to sop up all the water with every towel in the house.

Long story short, the drain in the window well got clogged (another lesson learned the

hard way ~ clean out the window wells in the fall AND get new window well

covers), thus wasn't draining the water. We then used the wet/dry vac to suck up

all the rest of the water and set up fans. Thank God, we got it under control and

were able to clean up the water ourselves this time. Here's what my back yard

looked like this morning....

And here's a field down the road from me; this is what it looks like in all the low-lying land around here.

 On top of everything this past week, Tim's car has been nothing but trouble and

money - which, as a college student who delivers pizzas part-time, he doesn't have.

And we are only able to help him out financially so much. After shelling out another

$250 for repairs yesterday, his car was smoking today. Found out it's now the heater

core, which is very expensive. Since the car isn't worth that kind of expense,

the mechanic is just going to bypass the heater core, which will be a minimal

expense. Tim really needs a "new" car, but how? He doesn't have the money for

even a used car, and neither do we. I hate these dilemmas. 

I DO have some positive news. Brian, Tim, and I spent the entire day yesterday at

the college that Tim will attending in the fall. Tim had orientation and signed up

for his classes, and Brian and I attended the parent sessions. We then checked

out the house that my cousin's daughter rents with some other roommates.

They have an opening for another roommate and since this house is less than

1/2 mile down the street from the university, it would be a perfect place for

Tim to live. The house is old and a little dumpy ~ definitely has that "young people

live here" look! But it was clean(ish), has a big kitchen, original hardwood floors,

a big back yard - and a sweet dog named MoJo. My cousin's daughter said MoJo

loves to get in bed with someone in the morning and snuggle. Tim liked that,

as he will miss our three kitties. He's an animal lover like me. Sooo...if all goes

well with all this, Tim will be moving out July 1st. Brian and I will be empty nesters!

Big changes for all of us.