Stuff I Didn't Buy

I don't know why I do it.  Occasionally I look through the Craigslist listings, but I never buy anything.  I actually have a purpose.  I'm looking for an outdoor wooden table that has leaves that fold down so you can use it for two (most of the time) or four (when the kiddies are home or company is over).  I know it's out there somewhere.  And I don't mind refinishing it.  Or watching while The Husband refinishes it.  Mostly I don't find what I'm looking for.  But I always find what I didn't know I wanted.  Then I don't buy it.  Here is a sampling.

Is this adorable?  It's a wooden kitchen table in yellow and orange.  It's from the 1950s and is only $40!  Wish I bought it.  Didn't.

Equally adorable is this 1950s Hans Olsen table and chairs.  It's Dutch, and $600.  Bought it?  No.

Here is something else I didn't buy and I hope my sister doesn't read this blog before someone else snatches up this lovely guy.  It's a "large concrete bear lamp" and it's only $250.  You don't want it.  It's hideous.  But delicious.  And only two broken teeth.

I love this walnut drop leaf table.  Not for outdoors, of course.  But it's lovely.  $350.

Ironically, the only thing I was interested in had no pictures attached.  FYI, I have emailed for pictures.  But I probably won't be buying it.  I mostly think about buying things.  It's much more frugal.

And might I just say, it's APPALLING how many people misspell the word "dining."  Today is Sunday.  I have looked through the Sunday and only half the Saturday listings on Craigslist.  It's not because I'm tired of looking.  I'm quitting before I become more depressed about the state of our public schools.  Easily 20% of the people listing dining room tables on Craigslist this weekend forgot the two consonants/short vowel rule.  Or never learned it.  I'm not (much of) a spelling snob, but come on people.

Benicia to San Francisco

 Here is a view from the harbor yesterday. We walked down there hoping it would be a bit cooler.  It wasn't.  But it was very nice.  That's the Carquinez Bridge in the background

This is one of the doors in the back of City Hall, which used to be Benicia High School on East L Street.

Today I went to San Francisco to the Ferry Building with The Dot.  They have a Farmer's Market every weekend.  It was very crowded.  But beautiful weather and full of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Bought some nectarines and swiss chard in all the colors of the rainbow.  Except blue. 

Grass Valley, California

For The Dot's birthday outing she chose to go to Grass Valley, which is a two hour drive from Wellington.  We do a lot of day trips and after 24 years I guess Miranda was having a hard time finding someplace drivable that we hadn't been to.  But Grass Valley was a great pick. 

We started in the little town.  We looked around the shops then walked up some of the streets.  Very cute houses from the turn of the century.  One was a VRBO.

This one is a turn-of-the-century that is listed as an REO.

This is the VRBO.

Here is a little old Hotel.

After having lunch in town, we drove a couple of miles to the Empire Mines park where they used to mine gold.  After looking in the mine shafts and seeing all the old equipment and buildings, we walked over to the beautiful stone house that was the residence of the owner and his family.

It was gorgeous.

 It's a beautiful setting.  There was a wedding taking place while we were there.  The weather was perfect.

Treasure Island Flea Market

The Dot's birthday is this week, so we are celebrating this weekend.  And all through the week.  As much as possible.   Today The Dot and I went to the Treasure Island Flea Market on the island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.

It was the gorgeousest flea market I've ever attended.  I bought four succulents and a book.  The Dot bought two pots for her Pyrex collection.  Now her Pyrex collection consists of two pots.

This statue was pretty cool.

And there was a fabulous view of the city. 

Blackberry Scabiosa

 

The blackberry scabiosa is blooming again.  I just love these patches of dark red.

Dwell

I ran across this photo in Dwell.  It stimulated my dopamine center so I figured it deserved to be shoved on the blog.  I would never be brave enough to do something like this in my house, but I sure like to look at it in someone else's house.  I recognized the California hills beyond the windows.  Is this fabulous?  Yes! 

I don't like when people blog about not blogging.  I always figure it's better just to get on with it, or not.  Having said that, I am now going to blog about not blogging.  Sometimes life gets in the way and that's all there is to it.  As the dust settles, your little bloggy bits start popping up again and blogging happens.  I'm not the kind of person to force it.  I don't do a whole lot of things that I don't want to do.  Well, that's not true.  I guess I do a whole lot of things I don't want to do, so when it comes to something like BLOGGING which is supposed to be FUN and what I would call CATHARTIC except that word is OVERUSED, it's not a necessity so I'm not making myself do it.

Speaking of dopamine, don't try to artificially increase your dopamine levels.  Just look at the color blue.  Or listen to Tom Grant's rendition of Fantasy with your eyes closed.  Or exercise.  Or bury your face in a pile of line-dried laundry.  Or look at this picture.

Here's a link to Fantasy on youtube.  There.  Don't ever say I never did anything for you.

Evening at Wellington

A gorgeous evening at Wellington!