A moral dilemna

Okay, so there is this house in our neighborhood that has been an eyesore for years. Recently, someone bought it to flip it, but then the economy tanked and all renovation work halted faster than you can say "Stimulus Package". The house is empty. M.T. Abandoned. In foreclosure.

Here's my quandary: I want the plants. Several months ago, someone made a half-hearted attempt to landscape, but it's just pathetic really. However, some of the plants were amazing this spring and now look at them!
Delphinuium...sad.

Lupine...very sad.

Japanese maple...so very sad.

And look! Another maple being crushed by a cheap Walmart trellis that toppled over...Extra sad.

My husband says I can't take them because it would be like stealing. I say it's more like adopting. In my care, they will be appreciated and nurtured. Left to their own devices, they will surely fade away. I asked my kids about it:

Me: "Hey guys, see those plants at that ABANDONED house? Do you think it would be wrong to take some of them?"
Kids (in unison): "Yes, Mom, that would be wrong. They don't belong to us."

So I thought: At least I raised my children right. It doesn't mean I won't be taking the plants; it just means I have instilled in them a sense of right and wrong.

What do you think? Please advise, dear readers!

Old Glory

It's Thursday, which means it's time for Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Lady.
Suzanne of VTT created this flag from her stash of vintage buttons...Glory-ous!
My recent fab finds are featured on my previous post...just scroll on down, girls!

If you don't ask, you'll never know

So I went back to the sale where I got this stuff to see if they brought out any more goodies. Uh, yeah. As I was checking out, I asked my new best friend Diana if she had any old wrapping paper. "Yeeesss..." she responds, not really understanding what particular form of insanity would prompt such a question. Down she takes me, into the basement, to the gift wrapping room. I'm like, who the hell are you, Candy Spelling?
Anywho, here's what I got:

Large stack of fab paper...mostly baby and kid genre.

Vintage stickers. Stacks of them.

Old velvet ribbon (black!) and a little plastic prison....

incarcerating these:

I love Diana. So then I ask: "Do you have any old greeting cards from the same era, I don't even care if they are signed..." She says: "Oh, I threw all those away." I hate Diana.

All Hail Regina Ortus Junkus!

My daughter Emma and I went on a garden tour in our neighborhood this weekend. The gardens were interesting; one guy's draw was that he harvests bees. Ten thousand swarming bees is not my idea of a good time, I don't care how pretty the flowers are. Emma was petrified. Anyway, we hightailed it outta there and headed to the next one on our list. Nancyland, the garden of my dreams.

Translation: My Garden Kicks Ass

Nancy, the Queen of Junk Horticulture

The hunt is over

I have been on the lookout for the quintessential vintage pencil sharpener for months. Last Friday, I am happy to report, my search ended at NE 111th St. and Halsey in Portland, Oregon. There he was, sitting on the shelf at the Adventist thrift store, alongside the flotsam & jetsam of leftover garage sale office supplies. My husband will be attaching him to the pantry door in the kitchen so I can keep my eye on him. Do you think I paid too much?

My favorite postcard

At a recent sale, on a Sunday ~ i.e. half price day ~ I spied a Nike shoe box full of vintage postcards. The price tag attached to the box read: $1.00 each. With the box in my hand, I turned to the guy running the sale and before I could even ask, he said, "5 bucks for the box". Oh Joy! There are old postcards from all kinds of delightful places, but when I came across this one, my heart jumped a little. It is just magnifique...lights on the Eiffel Tower, the old cars, the colors of the sky at dusk and the whisp of smoke rising...perhaps from a passing train? Love it!

A piece of history in my underwear drawer

In 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, I was working as a TV producer in New York. I so wanted to go and be a witness to it, but the network big cheeses chose another producer named Steve to make the trip. I asked Steve to bring me back a souvenir, and he outdid himself. He brought me back a piece of the wall. An actual piece of the Berlin wall, painted rust and pink and green, a symbol of a country made whole, families reunited and lives intertwined. Today I was scrounging around and found it in my lingerie. Well, not lingerie exactly, but my Hanes Her Ways.

Not long after the wall fell, some fabulously inspired person shipped 5 sections of it to New York (and to many other places around the country, I have since learned) where it was re-assembled in a public square off 5th Ave. @ 53rd St. During my lunch break, I used to sit there and slurp my Pasta Fagiole purchased from the soup cart guy around the corner. The square is one of my favorite places in New York. I hope you get a chance to see it someday.