Quickie

Still hot.  Still trying to fix the aftermath of a big storm.  Still busy - classes and tutorials galore, training teachers in five different states via internet (which is screwing up royally for some reason).  Still trying to finish something, anything, but willing to settle because I just don't have the time or energy to do otherwise.

Here's the before.

And here's the after.

I still have issues with the driveway.  I still have to wait for my little seedlings to grow up ... assuming they survive.  I still have to edge and feed and fix the mulch.  But no matter what happens next, by next summer you won't recognize it as the same yard.  I don't recognize it now.

Of course, the inside looks like crap.

Next time - stories from the finding arm of my evil plan.

Treasure Tuesday

I intended to have pictures of the landscape.  I really did.  Trouble arrived in the form of record heat and torrential rain, however.  Migraines.  Stress.  Training new teachers via the internet (which hates my Windows Vista). Add to that my insane work schedule last week, and all I can say is I'm lucky to be this close to the end.  Maybe tomorrow, maybe this weekend, I don't know.  No peeking, though, until I have it actually finished.

Instead, I have pictures of a different sort.

Okay, they're all in Britain, but the two biggies were found by normal people like me ... well, people who actually got their metal detectors out and used them in the big, wide world.  And I'm not taking pictures of my landscape until I get my metal detectore obstacle course worked in.

Read 'em and drool!

"Busy Year For UK Treasure Hunters" is from 2007.  And it appears things got even better because ...

"GOLD HOARD PICTURES: Largest Anglo-Saxon Treasure Found" just two years later.  And then there was ...

"Amateur 'Stunned' After £1m Find", which happened mere weeks later.  And, of course, the latest ...

"Photos: Amateur Finds Ancient Treasure."

I want to go to Great Britain.

Half Baked

Things have been weird around here since I went back to my basic five tenets.  Finding has been good, but not screamin' red as it was a couple months ago (a gold watch in a thrift made me squeal, of course, but that's been my best find for weeks).  Winning has been too much of a time-consumer (the one commodity I don't have enough of).  Inheriting is only happening forward right now (thank God).  And though my subtle Stealing continues almost on its own (some 5% cash back from Discover here, a rise in the S&P 500 there) there hasn't been anything to write home about.

The focus this week has been all about Earning it.

Normally, I would say this is my least favorite way to treasure hunt - if only because it is so ... everyday, monotonous, mundane ... that there's just no reason to write about it (ho hum).  Add in the fact that my hours aren't nearly as hefty as they usually are (overall about half of last year, which was less than the year before) and you have a recipe for either boredom or a great, huge bout of tears.

But without any consumer debt to worry about, without the wall-to-wall craziness of schedule, I'm finding that "earning" has taken on an amazing couple of dimensions.  Barring the two days I spent in IPD (see last post), I've been busier than ever!

Firstly, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on, trying to learn more about (1) silver (jewelry, flatware, even plate), (2) major designers and brands (Faberge right now, Tiffany last week), (3) Arts and Crafts items (did I mention the Van Briggle pot I found in a thrift a month ago?), and (4) handbags (I've taken Vera Bradley as my own personal style ... for now).  In other words, I'm in full Dragon mode, and loving every minute of it - lusting over pieces, memorizing hallmarks, and trying to get a handle on what makes a great piece great.  Why these specifically?  (1)  Gold is still fun but silver is more affordable, and so more donated - and few people see beyond the sterling to the designer (hence a bracelet I found in a consignment store might be worth 10 times its purchase price).  (2) Those two jewelry designers are just so lush and so glamorous - duh! - they are the things dreams are made of.  (3)  I love things from the early part of the 20th century, and I dream of owning a Craftsman bungalow someday (and furnishing it with authentic pieces), but since I have a '60's rambler now I want to brings at least a piece of it into my life.  And (4) I forgot my phone one day and so wasn't able to look up the name that was on a particular purse I liked ($16) but wasn't willing to spend my allowance on - and the name was Bottega Veneta.  Now I want to avoid a mistake like that.

Secondly, I've been braving the heat and the storms (and the resulting mud), and investing some of the money I'm not spending on credit cards, to turn my house into ... well, not a showplace, but at least a homeplace.  I should've been done with the front yard by now, but I'm too old and creaky to work quickly.  Pictures next week, though - a little mulch, a few stepping stones, and then I'll just let it grow.

I never thought Earning could be so much fun!

Short and (Hopefully) Sweet

Every once in awhile I have days when my Big Lug just blinks and retreats to his basement bat-cave, muttering "don't meet her basilisk gaze," and something about throwing raw meat into the cage.

Yeah, it's kinda like that.  I need to stay away from the newspaper, CNBC, all talk of politics or religion ... heck, even HGTV got a rise from me today.  So I headed to Home Depot (I'm so sorry, Ms. Clerk!) and now am in the process of digging in 100-degree heat, pulling up the edge-grass for my planting beds and laying sandstone pavers that I'm hoping look better than my hormones think they do.  And I'm staying away from every controversial subject on the planet.  (Which, by the way, is any subject.)

So, in recognition of today's bout with Incendiary Personality Disorder, I will simply be a conduit for someone else's good ideas.

Clark Howard.  Not riveting television (and on very early on weekend mornings) but some crackerjack advice, especially when you're trying to repair your finances or find free- (or nearly-free-) -bies.  Give it a try.

And now ... run away!