Another weekend on the boat - which had a shredded jib sail due to the winds of a week or so ago.  Luckily we had our posse at the clubhouse who alerted us to it before it was fit for the junk pile!

Hubby "jerry-rigged" (the origin of the term, I think) another sail for our jib for the time being & thinks the other one can be saved to be cut down if we can find the right person to sew it...

We got out early Sat. so that hubby could make a 10 AM rigging seminar - & with the sail problems, we needed that info! As usual, automated rigs are harder to maintain than manual ones.  (Now we are having trouble with an automatic window on the car, too, ugh.  I prefer plain old-fashioned crank handles! ) My motto is usually get something lower tech that is easier & cheaper to FIX.

While hubby was at the seminar, I took off for the local Dollar Tree dollar store - & wouldn't you know it, they had that eyelash yarn again - for $1/ball - whereas anywhere else it's $5-7 each! So, of course, I had to stock up and went over budget buying enuf yarn in different colors for several projects.  How could I resist? A lady I once knew called the Dollar Store the $30 store, as she always spent at least that much $ there...

But one can find good deals, and if you can stock up! There were more camisoles in different colors - and hand cream and so on...The ladies & I had great fun talking bargains as we sifted through the offerings there! (I also got MORE reading glasses - I have them scattered ALL over.) And I got some cute novelty ice trays with the shapes of shells & flowers - they stack four in the space of one regular tray, and will surely freeze quickly - an asset in the summer, although there is only enuf ice in a little tray for one drink.  But the shapes are so pretty, my inner child loves it!  Who need a party as an excuse?  I can use them every day if I want. [I read about proms deleting ice sculptures becaz of budget cuts - They used to have rubber MOLDS to make them in the frig.  I had a fish mold which I have lost track of...but there must be some out there & it could be diy.)

The girl at the bank was terribly nice when my ATM pin code didn't work at the ATM & she helped me reset it quickly & easily.  Suburban branches are so nice & quiet!

Then it was just reading away - and noodling on the laptop -

To go back to promo time.  The times of outrageous prom outlays are over.  Imagine spending $1000 on a crummy prom dress you will only wear once? I have had to bring out the formal attire here in Hollyweird and I scored designer duds at thrift shops and resale shops for less than $100!!! (which I wore several times...) Check out my www.associatedcontent.com article about Cheap Prom Dresses for more info.)

You can easily get evening bags at thrift shops - or borrow one from an elder.  (Ditto rhinestones.) - and just get Payless shoes for the one night...Frankly, teenage boys aren't going to know the difference & neither will anyone else for the single night's use.

And you better get used to doing your own hair! (Altho you could splurge in a comb out).  Up dos aren't really hard to do - and there are lots of instructions on the net.  (Ditto makeup.)

Sure, it's nice to feel pampered - but sometimes the profs don't end up giving you what you want anyway - and then you are STUCK with it. My wedding day hair was on the helmet hair side - but it was so HOT that was the only way it wouldn't fall in a wet mess...

Broke down & ordered some frownies from www.frownies.com - they are things you stick to your wrinkles to smooth them out - & they do work.  I used to use them a lot - but then they became hard to get & I switched over to the cheaper version - layers of transparent surgical tape over my brow wrinkle.  But it's gotten BAD again - so it's back to the big guns.  We will see how that goes...{Hubby was actually looking at it and saying botox?} I am glad that even Brooke Shields has admitted in MORE magazine that she doesn't like aging (she's 40 now).

I joke that I can look the way I always have - but it takes twice as much work! (Not to mention outlay - altho I AM a bargain queen - & even tho I continue to get hi-grade samples of moisturizers and such, the better drugstore brands are quite good, and will serve...& I have even scored nice facial products at the 99 Cent Store, where I stocked up...) Remember the price reflects the ad budget - so go GENERIC whenever possible!

That's all folks - how are you guys doin'?

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Still working on my newest shawl project - with the Jo-Anne's brush acrylic multi-color yarn  - I got one big ball for $6 on sale (blue) & the multi for $6. Hope it's enough! (But it's equal to about 4 reg. balls.)

Finished off the little fun fur shawl (dk. turquoise with "Impressionist" stripes of pink/yellow/mauve etc.) & repaired the holes! (with this stuff if you darn it - it doesn't show!) Was going to put some beading mounted on turquoise ribbon on the ends - but when I unrolled the package, it was so pretty by itself, that I decided to tie the ends & wear it as a necklace! (stylish this season).  This was for $2.79 - so if you are inclined - find some beaded fringe left over from the old trend of embellishing your pant hems!  My beading is faux plastic turquoise/silver - but everything else out there in the stores is plastic, too - so why pay thru the nose for it? (I saw plastic bangles for outrageous prices at my trip to Nordstom's!)

Also found my pink (the box reads "lilac") boat shoes which hubby bought me at the Boater's World closeout sale for $15 (down from $45).  These are Sperry Topsiders & will last for YEARS.  (I had a pair of off-white ones which unfortunately had a peeling surface - & hubby hated them - so now he scouts nice boat shoes for me!) Sporting goods stores of all sorts are often good for deals on everyday shoes on SALE. Hubby has also gotten nice, sturdy shoes at Big 5 from time to time.

Spent the week on social networking/marketing - I am on zannel.com/pamphyila and twitter.com/pamphyila and Facebook at facebook.com/pamelaruthmunro (another pamela munro got there first, I have several doppelgangers out there!) check me out for quips, including frugal ones.

I also signed up to be a wowOwow.com Virtual Exec. "intern" - which means that I will volunteer to help them spread the word about this great site for sophisticated women. (Candice Bergen & Whoppi Goldberg on on the site, to name a few.) Check out THEIR wowOwow Facebook page. If you are interested in the ABCs of social networking sites, look at their exposition for their interns - you might be interested, too.  If nothing else, the title wowOwow Virtual "Executive Intern" sounds fabulous! That's the sort of classy folks they are...

Getting more twitter folks becaz I signed up with gary yamazaki - who apparently has more twitter followers than anyone (fyi he's a tech head.) All this is fun, but I wish I had more to crow about than my bargain shopping sprees!  I am "resting" as they used to say about out-of-work theatrical folks - but I DID get a $30 residual check from my Unsolved Mysteries show - which has been "reshuffled" they say.  That show is immortal (becaz I was super, nah...) My brother's Scottish folk singing friends were actually impressed when he told them offhand that I was on that show...

Although I am mostly housebound - the drop in pollen levels from the red zone to yellow according to the Claritin online chart - has made me much more energetic.  No matter what you do, heavy allergy meds just tire you OUT, and the past few weeks have been dreadful. So back to walking & moving around.

Hubby asked me to go out to Pasadena with him.  He was going to the office there & I could browse around in the Sally shop (Sal. Army) there - which is a good one.  Whew, they were loaded with stuff! But it was the 2nd day of a 2-for-one sale for clothes & books - which ironically made it harder to find any good stuff, as it was already picked over.  I had an allotted amount - which I stuck to - and got 2 dresses - one which is more like a negligee and a yellow linen one for summer which will also look good on camera if the occasion arises. (I really don't have that many DRESSES.) And a found a lampshade for the Packer's lamp which hubby wants to give to his brother - and a love blooming artificial bonsai tree for $3.50 - and some paperback mysteries. 

The blooming bonsai was the real bargain.  I imagine it had graced the home of some Pasadena matron - but it was dusty and all askew.  But the leaves and blossoms are all wired, so you can coax it all back into place.  I washed it off in the bathtub (they get dusty) & fiddled with it & it looks lovely now on my windowsill. It's made with glass leaves and blossoms - and when the sun shines through they are really lovely - and I can put them in front of the fan next to my other flowering bonsai.  They sort of mask the window fan & don't really impede the wind flow.

I realize I now have FOUR artificial bonsai - 2 trees - and 2 flowering plants!  It's almost a collection! (all gleaned from thrift shops...) I have one of the pine tree bonsai which looks like a miniature garden with a Japanese musician figurine and gravel in front of the other window fan & when it's very hot, I put water in the shallow dish I put it in & it makes a tiny pond that the air flows over & it's a mini swamp cooler!

(0h, fyi "bonsai" prounounced bon- zi, long 'I") are a Japanese cultural tradition.  They cultivate minature trees and stunt them, growing them in small pots, and trimming their roots, and manipulating the branches with wiring - so they look like real trees a la a Japanese painting - but on a very small scale.  The real ones are VERY expensive!) It helps to have looked at Japanese painting to be able to manipulate the branches of the articifical ones into a pleasing shape. I am good at flower arranging, too - how this ever happened, I really don't KNOW.  Perhaps visiting all those great museums as a child had a side benefit!

Off to the boat tomorrow- I admit it, I have "boatitis'!

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Just wanted to post about this charming recycled project from www.countryliving.com/crafts - They have some really good ideas about making something out of nothing - including what to do with old RAKES.

This project is a sewing kit made out of an egg carton.

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Found myself going to a MALL on Sunday afternoon - as I wanted to mall walk - due to the heat & my allergies.  I thought it would be cooler -but their AC was struggling, it seemed - Had NO intention of shopping but we walked thru Sears & they were have a 75% off sale! So I went to the lowest markdown clothing racks & found some steals I couldn't resist - even in retail!

•  I got 2 pairs of navy knit pants - @ $7.99 apiece (one short,one cropped)
• And a pair of summer jeans for $4.99!
• And a filmy top for $4.99

Rock bottom bargains! And by looking at the tags, if I had paid retail, just the TOP would have cost $44??

So I totalled it up & got $130 worth of clothing for $30!! And my summer wardrobe has a boost.  It's hard to find those basic pants &  you always wear the heck out of them...

THEN after boasting to hubby, who was with me & astounded that I wanted to go to a MALL, as it is so out of character... I waltzed into Nordstroms - & said to him "Let me show you some REAL prices!"  There were $500 leather handbags and expensive jewelry - not unlike my bargains - Nice - but not a good deal in site. (Their crystal necklaces were $99 & mine is recycled & restrung from the 50's).

Then we went into the designer area & I showed him a Stella McCartney wood tank for over $1000 and a silver coat for $1500 or so.  He was shocked.  "Now, do you wonder why I grabbed that gold brocade obi material jacket up in Santa Barbara at a resale store for $80??"  You should have seen the look on his face! (I wore it to an event & they wanted to drag me on their red carpet!)

It was great fun, actually, looking at the luxurious merchandise & finding I had items very similar at HOME. (And bought for a LOT less!) I really have amassed a very nice wardrobe since I have been with hubby- all those Ventura Co. thrift shops!  And I took out my bright turquoisy blue suede mules for the shopping trip and an ethnic jacket I had gotten at a Hollywood yard sale - and cropped denim pants from a thrift shop - a plain blue tee - And mixed some grayish Hawaiian beads with my silver-toned key on a ball chain.  Quite chic. (I love the mixed necklace trend.)

All in all, I felt quite pleased with myself, showing off my thrift and how inexpensive a wife I really AM! And the fragrance department at Nordstroms was featuring the Versace perfume I had gotten at Xmas a year ago - (which hubby had bought at a CVS with a coupon!) - so I applauded his good taste! 

Speaking of thrift shops - hubby is getting quite good at it, too.  He somehow managed to pick up a beautiful tan leather overnight bag (Gladstone bag?) for $14 at the local Goodwill on Saturday. This is a miracle, because Goodwill & the Salvation Army usually pick over donations and sell the best elsewhere...Ergo the best deals have to be mistakes.  This leather is so fine, it would pass for vinyl unless you smell it - which is what hubby did. (I have taught him a trick or two.)

Presenting it to me as a gift, hubby said that it was worth $100 - "No, $300-400," I said! And we looked up the brand on the net - always fun - and found that I was right on the money.  It's so nice that I will have to work up the courage to USE it.  I do love fine leather goods - but not what you have to pay for them - so thrift shop steals are my alternative.

At the mall I also found my Meltonian shoe polish in the right reddish-brown shade to take care of my leather boat loafers.  They are perfectly fine, but need polishing & only Meltonian would have the right color.  Got it at a shoe repair shop - that is the only place you can usually get a range of their colors...

So - just walking in the mall was a bit dangerous - but I did get basics for the summer - so I am not a ragamuffin for hubby at home.  He does like it when I look nice.  And he had a husbandy pride in being able to take me shopping & also with me not breaking the bank. (So, see, I am a good wifey-wife, esp. in this field of endeavor.)

And it is girly & great fun.

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Went out to a Zannel party last nite - at an old country French restaurant I love-  on the border of Silverlake  - Frere Taix (pronouced "Tex") The place was popping - Glad to see they are doing so well! We had a REAL bartender/waiter.  There is a big difference from unemployed actor/children!

Zannel is a microblogging site a la twitter.com based in San Francisco - and I am there at www.zannel.com/pamphyila (also linked to www.twitter.com/pamphyila) where I do post quick tips and ideas.  There is an L.A. Stories section, which I am a part of - and these folks from S.F. believe in holding PARTIES for the bloggers!  Such fun.  The people are so interesting!  I do love parties where the drinks & food are provided! Check it out. 

I like to get out of the house and dressed up wkly or so - and this was my chance - so I wore my olive green polished cotton pants/a green tank I had gotten for $1 last wkend/and my brown silk jacket with the green/yellow embroidered and beaded pineapples on it (also from a thrift shop).  I added my gold fisherman sandals, which keep on coming in & out of fashion - and the great dangling gold-toned earrings I picked up in Ojai over Spring break - plus two of the long necklaces - and I finished restringing a vintage yellow crystal necklace I had been given, becaz the color was right - and piled all the necklaces on.  And Voila! 

Let's see how much that all was - $1 tank + $10 jacket + $5 shoes approx., hv hd those a long time + $7 pants + $2 earrings + gratis crystal nklace + $4 for other necklaces EQUALS Less than $30 for the very nice outfit! (you can add on the $1 gold barrette I wore to make it @ $30.)

And I spritzed on a new combo of 1/2 Jean Nate from my wkend find,with a pear cologne my hubby had given me (which had been a bit weak) and voila! again - made a nice light summery scent.  The Jean Nate is a great base for mixing colognes. (So is 4711 & I would have bought some, if I hadn't stumbled upon the great Jean Nate deal - a HUGE bottle for $4.)

Glamour is so good for the ego! I do like to clean myself up to show hubby that I still can.  And he finds it intriguing, too.  Good for marital bliss all around. 

So - see.  You CAN do it on a budget.  The whole evening only really cost $5 for parking!  Where can you find such a deal?  

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Yes, it does help to be in an area like the L.A. metro area,  where there is a lot of fashion turnover! But I also try to scope out thrift shops and only keep on going back to what I consider to be good ones. You can tell an awful lot about the regular contributors by looking over the stock.  (Ditto usual price range.) In town the Out of the Closet thrift shops are great as a rule - and up in Ventura there are church thrift shops and ones that seem to get things from retirees - so there's vintage in there for a good price if you look carefully.  I just got a silver bangle for $1 from one of those.

I suppose I have always lived in more or less trendy areas - so that would influence my field of selection!

It helps to keep an eye out on the current fashion (very easy now on the internet!) & pick up little things that are trendy - Like the $1 80's turquoise snakeskin cuff I snagged.  Whew - it's new equivalent would be $30-40!!

It is also useful to have a nodding acquaintance with luxury brands, so you recognize the names when you come across them.  If you are totally new at this, try window shopping at some high class establishments to train your eye.  Go to resale shops where you can feel the quality of better goods and come to recognize good workmanship and quality.

I just bought a woven leather/straw summer bag for $3!! It's right in fashion & looks as if it's 60's Italian - and primo workmanship/materials!  For that price, I can afford to have it in the closet & bring it out when needed to glam up!

The more you recognize good things when you see them at a good price - the better deals you can discover.  I got a Nicole Miller dress necklace with faux smoky quartz & diamonds for $6 - which would be $50?? in a store.  Take a look at costume jewelry in the stores sometimes.  Most of it is expensive & can't compare in quality to older pieces! (which also have some resale value....)

You can also put together your own jewelry easily these days with just a visit to a craft store like JoAnne or Michael's.  They have all sorts of beads and pieces to make jewelry out of these days! Or restring that crystal necklace that your mother or grandmother used to wear.  Crystals are in fashion & expensive! 

I have also found that I can get good deals by buying pieces that need minor repairs.  You can refinish a piece quickly with gold or silver nail polish! Or put together broken links, etc.

Scarves can also be easily MADE.  I got a pleated cotton scarf at a thrift store with a price tag of $10 - what, were they nuts? Now, in the thrift shop at $1 it made sense - but otherwise I would hunt down old cotton broomstick skirts and cut up a suitable length for a scarf! (if you had to seam it, seam it at the neck where it wouldn't show.)

If there is a dollar store around, there will be sunglasses - and not even for $10 each! (Altho there is a $10 sale now, I think, on Overstock.com). Look for clearances and bargains on the internet at amazon.com - and even HSN has a clearance site!  I subscribe to all sorts of sites for just this info, which is how I landed a dress for less than $15 online! There are some super bargains out there.

Is there anything like a garment district in your town or nearby city?  Check it out.  It's always best to get fashion before the markup demons hit it!  That also goes for discount chains like Ross and so on. (For me, best on sale...) If a store is within your radar - check it out regularly - and have an internal shopping list so you can get your staples - and never turn down deals on BLACK shoes! They live forever....

OK - are you motivated?  I admit that I sit here in my yellow sweatshirt and ultra baggy comfy jeans - but I am going out tonite - so watch out!

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I know why hubby thinks I am so expensive - because when we are out & about on wkends and holidays - like last week's spring break - I go shopping!  But then, I don't the REST of the time - and when I do shop, I get bargains....

OK - I have been collecting costume jewelry like a magpie lately - but so many good deals! (a few dollars) I have a VAST costume jewelry collection - One cannot wear all of it all of the time - but these things keep their value over time.  That consoles me.

There has been a lot of silver coming my way lately.  I found a $3 drawn silver choker in a thrift shop - plus a $1 !! wide bangle (looks Japanese)?  and a pair of $4 turquoise & silver screw-on earrings (they look Mexican - 50's??)  At those prices it's hard to go too wrong. Over the years I have found that silver has a distinct SMELL when oxidizing.  It has helped me identify blackened pieces of silver and silver plate - which I got for a song (another $1 silver bracelet - which would have cost $30-40 at least in a real store!)  That it is silver is important to me, because of my allergies to nickel and so on.  I can really only wear silver/gold/stainless steel next to my skin. (OK. platinum, but when does one run across platinum?)

I also pick up miscellaneous scarves - another item which is pricey if new - I just got a nice ORANGE net one.  They are so good to glam up t-shirts, and so on....I also look for visors - and got a paisley sort of one (a Liz Claiborne!) for $1 - They are great for when I have my hair up in the summer....& I like to coordinate the colors - but only pick them up when I see them for a dollar or so...

I do try to look nice for hubby...and also have hairbands to put in my hair, and casual jewelry - bracelets, necklaces, etc....He thinks I am terribly girly. 

It's funny what you find in the oddest places.  I scored a whole kit of skin care items - 9 in all - for $9.  That included 2 lip gloss sticks/moisturizer AM & PM/cleanser/shampoo/and more.  Looked it up on the net when I got home (that's a fun thing to do) & found that the jars were worth $10 each - so I probably got almost $100 worth of product for $9.... I also found a LARGE bottle of Jean Nate - which is a nice basic citrus cologne - for $4. (Worth $16 online & $30 reg. price!) Those finds - and the turquoise earrings were in what we call a junky & expensive thrift shop.  So you never can tell.

I also always pick up barrettes whenever I see them, as you never seem have enough.  The same thing seems to be true of reading glasses, sunglasses, eye glass cases and hair pins!  I am a much happier camper when I have those items in multiples around the house - and several pairs of sunglasses.  A screw came out of my favorite "lighter" pair last wkend - and one is always LOSIING them!   So when I see a deal , I am now in the habit of buying SEVERAL  - so I have backups and don't have to resort to regular prices ($20 for reading glasses?)

I watch fashion & realized that the turquoise snakeskin bangle was IN & a STEAL for $1 - even tho it was probably 80's - ditto the big necklaces I found...It's those touches that glam up a wardrobe for very little.  And it's scandalous how much even plastic bangles can be on CLEARANCE on the internet - $5 each?

Thought I had lost a makeup bag and actually managed to REPLACE most of the contents by poking around the 99 cent store I had got the lip stuff in!  (It was a weird color which I like - but doesn't suit everybody.)  And then I FOUND the bag - so now i am supplied! It's hard to turn down Revlon lipsticks and pots of lip color at 99 cents apiece!  Hubby has NO idea how much these things COULD cost. I HATE spending $7 for a lipstick! When I buy new, I get Wet N'Wild  in my favorite colors...(You have to match the numbers, as there are no names to shades...)

So I sound & feel very frivolous - also got more paperback mysteries and other reading material at $.50 a pop - Have to have a pile by my bed.

Hubby treated himself to a 12-string guitar for $80 from a pawn shop - which has been pronounced a good deal.

But then we go back to the daily grind and only seem to go to the pharmacy and the grocery store....

Looked for yarn, but couldn't find any - started a new project with what I have left...too narrow, I think, so tonite I tear it up & start over.

We sang & played for our suppers twice at the Deer Lodge (see pic).  Which was fun & economical, too.  All in all, we went to our usual haunts and got lots of sunshine (even if the allergies were sometimes on the rampage - there are a lot of health food stores up there, too!) Do you know you can actually ADD a benadryl capsule (25 mg.) to Zyrtec  if the Zyrtec isn't enough?  You get dingy, but it alleviates the symptoms...) And you can get generic benadryl at the dollar store, too! It's always the last resort when allergies loom...

So back to TV & movies and so on - not to mention the artistic job search.  Have a movie coming up soon - don't know when they will be shooting....a couple of character woman scenes....

Take care out there, you blog readers...

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The frugal lifestyle goes on - I read that unemployment is supposed to be 8.5% (not counting all those who have fallen off the charts) - we artistes are so used to being unemployed/semi-employed that we hardly notice!

Downloaded more great clipart from www.doverpublishing.com! And there are movie star pics gratis at www.tcm.com - even video clips!  Also downloaded free Threatfire - as a supplementary anti-virus program.  It runs in the background.  Seems that McAfee is finally straightened out...

Check out www.consumermom.com for a blog directed to pennypinching moms....

Oh, did I say I found FREE Irish lessons at www.bbc.com (look for learning - languages)  They have 36 languages there!

Allergies have abated, so no expensive Zyrtec today! (I use inexpensive generic loratadine & OpconA eyedrops when I can, instead of  Zyrtec (pricey) or Alaway eyedrops (very SMALL bottle). By the way, you can get free Zyrtec samples at www.walmart.com (samples). It does WORK.

Off for Spring Break - to the boat & beyond, altho we have also talked about going to "Club Mud" out by Temecula & maybe the casino? (Food is cheap at a casino!)

Sent a FREE real paper greeting card at www.hallmark.com by registering - and choosing papercard - personalizing - and then giving the code TRIAL at the checkout.  They even pay for postage! (ecards there, too)

Do you  know I am at www.twitter.com using pamphyila - and at www.zannel.com (also pamphyila)?? I report quick mental flashes there!

Have a great Spring Break/Easter everyone!

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Went to the drugstore w/hubby to get new prescription - and as everything was on SALE, I also picked out a few items like Vitamin C (2 for one) and a $1 off Calm-Forte - and even found Rite-Aid's own "advanced wrinkle corrector" creme next to a brand name for $11.99 on sale!  I like the cream, too - but  it almost re-surfaced my face!  (My skin is sensitive & I will probably use it only every other night) My husband has NO idea what all this COULD cost!   I had to remind him that there are creams selling for $30-$75 and MORE!! I am so frugal that he hasn't a CLUE. ( and I have nice expensive-looking skin, too...) I was going to buy cream at Avon again - but I missed the free shipping.)

Spent yesterday afternoon getting our McAfee Security Suite up and running on our main hard drive.  I had gotten a deal on it from a vendor - (and a $20 rebate) which had apparently confused McAfee Central about my licenses - but we finally got it all straightened out.  (The license is good for THREE computers!) It cleaned up my PC & found evil TROJANS!  Eek!  Glad they are out of the way. Wanted to be defended against that April Once virus...so far,so good...

Almost finished with my Mexican-colored rug shawl.  It certainly is colorful. I did see the eyelash yarn I had made one shrug with at Rite-Aid for $4!! (I had gotten mine for 99 cents...) Waved that in front of hubby, too - all because he had said that I was "High maintenance."  Maybe, but my thrift compensates for it, too.

Listening to the 3 New Agey CDs I picked up at the Dollar Tree over the weekend - very soothing.

All in all, hubby & I are doing OK - he even got himself taken out to lunch by a vendor - (a modest one, however, so perfectly kosher.)  But we appreciate free meals whenever we come across them!  If we were younger we could enjoy free alcohol, too - as they seem to be throwing around free booze of all kinds at clubs around Hollywood - but - ugh - it's the hard stuff - I have never been able to tolerate martinis, et al...No, I just drink n/a and lite beer (do you know that they are good when mixed together?) And for special occasions - champagne, of course!

Yum, the chocolate we got at the Dollar Tree seems to be fine. One never knows - so one buys on faith...

Substituted the cheaper generic allergy meds for the Zyrtec (much less costly) & it seems to be OK - also picked up some less expensive Op-Con A for my allergy eyes (2 for one!) - and saving the Alaway drops, which are good but come in itty-bitty bottles, for when I need the big guns. Due to our rains, everything is blooming & blossoming here - which is lovely - except for the tree pollen levels, which are very high! (Trees & grasses spew out massive amounts of pollen, as they have no way of attracting pollinators, as flowers do.)  So "rose fever" as they used to call it, is really a misnomer.

Felt very crafty when I fished out an old knitting project that hadn't gone as planned & recycled some of the yarn for my shawl! I am almost running out of my yarn stash - so I am looking around for what I can use for my next project - another shawl, I suppose.  Scarf season is over...Again, hubby has no idea what this all could cost....There I am in my armchair knitting in front of the tube - so domestic.

So life goes on - we are holding on - perhaps due to our modest demands...we have always thought on the cottage level rather than the mansion one...perhaps just as well...

How are you guys doing?

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