Grails are the strangest things sometimes. . .

Today was a lot better. FIL came through on his invitation for Dearest Son to visit, so I finally got a few hours of ‘me’ time. Spent most of the morning with Beloved Hubby, too, as he needed a ladder and Lowe’s still has a nice 10% veteran’s discount. Saved enough scratch to take us to lunch, and while my Subway roast beef sandwich was good, it’s not Arby’s-level meat, sadly. No fear of developing meat sweats here.

After lunch, Beloved left for work, and I was free to do whatever I wanted until the ILs and Dearest got tired of each other. This would probably only last three or four more hours, max, so I had to get to it. First thrift was a wash, but I snagged a copy of the first Post Secret book, a pair of kitchen tongs (Dearest keeps stealing mine, so these are his), a simple wine carafe for later flower arrangements, and a ‘vintage’ jewelry organizer at the second.

You’re gonna laugh at me for that one, but I’ve searched for it for a long time. When I first got into dolls, it was sixth-scale ones, and I was always on the lookout for ‘real’ props. I often saw this old jewelry organizer in the background of others’ photos, as it looked much like an decorative coat rack. Seemed like they were for sale in every dime-store jewelry department for 20 years, until I decided to buy one. Given the amount of time I spend in second-hand venues, you’d think I’d have run across dozens over the years, even if they weren’t for sale, presenting jewelry in thrift store display cases, but I never even saw one. And my online searches never came up with precisely what I was looking for. Today, it popped up, fresh from a merchandise mover tub, and I grabbed the $2. prize.

Stopped by Family Dollar for cat food – they’re about the last place to sell the 9Lives cans Junior-kitty prefers – when I saw their markdowns on winter activewear. Snagged five pair of sweatpants and two sweatshirts, all for $2. each ! Beloved and I got the shirts, and we all got sweatpants. Even if we only wear ‘em around the house (since we didn’t really have a winter this year), that’s a great deal ! Plus, Junior’s well fed for a while.

Once home, I gleefully pulled the miniature brass coat rack from the bag – and it snapped in half. Well, (expletive deleted). I’ve glued it back together, and we’ll see if it takes. If not, I’ll find some tape, hopefully that’ll sort of match, or duct tape with paint. On the plus side, I found a bunch more of ‘em, under ‘miniature coat rack’ (I was searching for jewelry racks, hooks, holders, etc. ) – if I don’t mind payin’ about $20. with shipping.