When it comes to jigsaw puzzles, start with the edges.

Has it really been four months since my last post? How disgraceful. I'll not make excuses, but life has been complicated over the last 120 days. Much has changed, so, in my brain, the last post might as well have been written four years ago.

Imagine this scenario for a moment. It's cold outside, you're bored, and you're inexplicably struck with the urge to work on that 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle someone gave you as a stocking-stuffer 10 years ago. You sit down at a table with a glass of wine, you sort the pieces on the table, and you sort, meticulously setting the edges aside. The outline is finished in short order, and you feel like you're getting on a roll. 15 minutes pass, and you realize you haven't found two pieces that fit together. One more glass of wine, 30 minutes, and you still haven't found a pair that fits. Nothing is working, and instead of ruining your wine buzz, you leave the table, puzzle unfinished. The thoughts and ideas written in the "notes" app of my phone are those puzzle pieces. Given time and focus, they eventually fit together. Instead, the random thoughts are nothing more than powerless victims of my impatience, incompetence, and complete inability to focus.

I've written enough words over the last month to make an encyclopedia blush, but with very little coherence and even less cohesiveness, I've been loath to post anything. Even something as simple as a brief description of furniture has made me feel more lowly and inept than the most God-awful screenwriters of Mexican novellas. Frankly, and no longer privately, I've been embarrassed. This block is just not something to which I am accustomed. Something changed today. Suddenly, words are actually flowing with the thoughts. It's not a cosmic shift, but it's an improvement. Besides, I need to post something just to get these photos off my phone.

I like to reconcile. I like to finish a book before starting a new one. I like to close a door before opening another. In that vein, here are the pieces I purchased and completed during my last few months in Florida........

I don't have a before picture, but this chest was a freebie. Slapped on
some white paint, Mod-Podged some pages from Atlas Shrugged, y....

.....Voila!!

Overpaid for this china hutch, but.....

....it turned out nicely. Painted the outside cream, the inside teal, and
replaced the crappy plexi-glass with chicken wire.

Picked up this antique piano bench on the cheap......

......painted it mint green, and glued some Beethoven sheet music on the inside.

A storm was brewing, and I was down to the last 2 pieces in Florida

Overpaid for this antique secretary....loved it, and it was an emotional purchase..

...Painted the outside doily white, and the inside a celery-green. It
was an utter pain, and I will never refinish another secretary.

Paid hardly anything for this pub table set. It was in a really
bad part of town (Fort Walton Beach), and I was thrilled to escape
with this set and my life.

Turned out nicely.....I really liked the fabric. It never sold..donated it
to the Gestapo.

Then, my time in Florida was over. At just before high noon on a Saturday in late-September, I finished packing an already-mostly-packed car, and I left the Emerald Coast. I will definitely write more about that experience soon (I have a ton of notes to sift through), but I'm just now getting my writing bug back. With any diligence, I should be able to finish putting together the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle, if for no other reason than to delete this encyclopedia of notes.

Time Flies (and Drags)

Have you ever looked back a month (or in my case, 1.5 months) and think that five years have passed? Or looked at yesterday morning and wonder, "If I hadn't done that, this wouldn't have happened?" That's precisely how I feel about life since the last post. Perhaps if I wrote with more frequency, I wouldn't feel this way, but alas, life got in the way.

We bought quite a few pieces over the last 40-ish days, and as usual, I forgot to take some "before" pictures. My desire to start and complete a project always overwhelms the patience required to use 10 seconds to snap a photograph. I'm not including everything we purchased because this piece of crap blogger.com is having serious formatting issues, but I am including all of our interesting pieces and bargain buys.

Though this depression-era hutch was a really good addition, I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I overpaid a bit. I tend to lose some of my buying discipline when antiques are involved. The lady selling seemed anxious to sell, we had a good rapport, but I just paid the asking price. I didn't ask if she would take less. I felt like I had no bargaining power because she knew I had driven quite a distance for the hutch. 

$20 is nothing, but change the dollar-sign to a percentage-sign, the perceived overpay increases. That's how I think. I left 20% on the table.

Paid $100 for this lovely antique hutch

Finished product turned out nicely

Paid a whopping $22 for this pair of mid-century chairs. There were a couple
stains, so we had to paint them. In the end, they turned out nicely.

Sometimes I wonder how certain people have made it this far in life. Frankly, my thinking travels well beyond that, but there's no need to be ugly. A good buy is a good buy, and I shouldn't question the sense, or lack thereof, behind the seller's motivation.

Don't know how, but we paid $25 for this depression-era
Waterfall dresser. We earned it....the woman's house stunk,
but at least the dresser still smelled "antiquey."

One of my favorite pieces thus far.....it came out exactly
how we envisioned.

Paid $25 for this (sorry, forgot the before picture), and.....

.....paid $25 for this curio cabinet (again, no before photo)

Paid $20 for this 1951 cedar chest

Stripped some veneer, and painted it a neutral cream. Had we painted it
pink, it would already be gone. I'm still never buying pink paint.

For the most part, it was a productive and entertaining start to the summer, though not without days of severe high anxiety and stress. We are very much looking forward to finding more interesting junk during a calmer and more care-free back half of summer. 

Upon Us All A Little Rain Must Fall

Other than a monsoon that flooded the Florida Panhandle, April was a rather uneventful month. Baseball season began, and I feel like I'm batting .167.

Alas, life is pretty damn good despite a hitting slump, and I was able to take advantage of some Craigslist bargains. To continue the baseball metaphor, I had hits aplenty from the buy side, strikeouts and pop-ups on the sell side (one nice triple on a dining table and five chairs notwithstanding).

Senses of accomplishment are fine and dandy, and I do enjoy the journey, but for my impatient nature, I need the tangible reward to be completely fulfilled. After all, I don't buy and fix to hoard. I buy. I fix. I sell. I have fun in between. That's it. 

A review of the last month, starting with the one thing that did sell, and of course, I forgot to take photos.....

Paid $50 for this 48 inch round table, and......

.....$50 for 5 dining chairs (this is post-makeover)

Nice little bone white dining set

                                             

Picked up this six-drawer dresser for $60

Slapped on grey (or is it gray?) paint, and sprayed the hardware with an antique gold paint.

        

                 

Paid way too much for this dated, but sturdy china cabinet

Crappy photo, but elegant bone white (why does it look grey?)

And then I ventured into uncharted waters. For me, the world was still flat. I'm not  a carpenter, but I saw some benches made from headboards on Pinterest, so I decided to give it a try. Twice actually. I was pleased with the end results, and I did not fall through when I sat on them.

Paid $20 for this really nice headboard and footboard... 

Nice bone white (I bought a lot of that color) bench with stained seat

Paid $24 for this obscenely heavy headboard

Turned into turquoise and...wait for it....bone white bench

Strong enough to hold an overweight chihuahua

Florida is flooded, I am mired in a drought, and it's raining again.