Treasure Hunt

I love going to Goodwill.  It's always rather like a treasure hunt.  Some days you find nothing much, other days, treasure!

I primarily go for books.  I like to have a good selection of reading materials on hand and I've found a lot of good things over the years.  One of my more fun book finds was a signed copy of Hedda Hopper's autobiography.  ("Thanks, pal!  Hedda Hopper")

However, starting a couple of months ago, I found some REALLY good items.  Specifically, some lovely cut glass.  I was at the Goodwill store on Paseo del Norte.  I'd found some books and was waiting in line to check out.  I looked into the glass-front case at the cash register and spotted three bowls.  One was a large bowl, about 10 inches across and about 4 inches deep.  Here's a photo looking straight down into the bowl.

The other two were smaller bowls, each with a different design.  They're about 4 inches across and are about 1 inch deep.  Here are photos looking down at each bowl and a side view of one of the bowls.

This is a side view of the 2nd of the two small bowls.

I got all three bowls for an average price on the tag of about $15 to $30.

At that point in time, I thought woohoo!  And that I'd gotten three lovely cut glass bowls for a great deal.

Yesterday, I was at the Goodwill store on Coors.  Once again, I found several books that I wanted to buy.  There was a line at the cash register so I wandered around the store.  I checked out their glass-front case but there was nothing in there I wanted.  I then wandered through the glassware section.  I didn't see anything I wanted on the first set of shelves.  Then I turned around and while perusing a second set of shelves, there was a lovely little cut glass dish.  It's a smaller version of a larger, similar piece I bought 25+ years ago.  Here are a couple of shots, one looking down (with an odd reflection) and one from the side.

It's about 3 inches wide and about 6 inches long.  As with the first three pieces, it's in good condition.  Yesterday I got an even better deal since nobody at the second store apparently knew what it was.  It was priced in line with the regular glassware and was only $2.99.  I snatched it up and went to the cash register.  I checked out and it's now mine!

All in all, I'm definitely going to keep my eye out in the future when I'm at the Goodwill stores here in town.

Papillon

Winter's Last Gasp

A few years after I moved to the Albuquerque metro area, I learned the hard way that it's best not to plant any new outdoor plants before April's tax due date.

Today is a good example of why this is.  We are more than a week after Easter.  A cold front with rain moved through today.  As you can see, this left snow on the Sandias.

Tonight we'll be getting down to around freezing, possibly a bit below.  I'm just glad my heavy jacket was handy this morning.
Brrr!



Papillon

Spring Time

Since Spring has sprung so I decided it would be fun to go to the Botanic Garden.  152 photos later, my feet were telling me that the new sneakers I'd bought were not the best choice for an hour and a half of walking.  So I headed home.

In the meantime, here are some of the photos I took this morning.

Over the years, I've seen any number of photos that people have taken of closed doors.  I like open 'doorways' instead.  I rather like this archway with the flowers showing through.

Here are a couple of photos of some of the blooming flowers.  I do so like tulips and daffodils.

Not surprisingly, the Botanic Garden has a goodly population of water fowls.  They have some large ponds and they are close to the Rio Grande.  This is closest I've ever been to a Canada goose.

I do appreciate this male wood duck 'posing' for me.  He is a handsome lad.

The park has a small train that circles the park.  It used to run on a fixed schedule, but the schedule is now a bit more irregular because of budget cuts.  They're now operating on a 'volunteer' schedule.  I know in the second shot, it looks like I'm about to be run over by the train.  I'm not.  I'm actually standing off to one side and am in no danger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Papillon