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!

Snippets

I have so much to share, I don't know where to start.  I've been reading Money and ShopSmart ;), watching CNBC and HGTV, clearing my house and cataloguing the astonishing amount of things I'm rediscovering ... all because I decided (and want so badly) to win, earn, steal, inherit, and find that I stuffed myself to the max with information and experiences!

Cue background music ... or maybe the sound of typewriters furiously clacking ...

Money magazine this month reported on a slew of "most hated fees."  While there were worse ones (free checking accounts will be extinct soon), I liked "paying to use" your own accumulated frequent flier miles.  Now, since my miles were actually accumulated almost exclusively through a decade-long promotion at my local grocery store (spend a dollar get a mile) I wasn't surprised that I had trouble using them - but the level of frustration was astronomical, even for me.  I tried several years ago to use them on a ticket to see an old high school friend only to find I could only fly at 12 am with a layover overnight halfway, or on a Sunday evening on alternate months, when Aquarius was aligned with Pluto - back when it was a planet, or in and out in less than 24 hours.  A year passed, and I finally got everything perfect, only to find they'd upped the number I'd need for a ticket.  And then when I'd saved up that number finally (two months ago) they blacked me out because (the agent on the phone told me) I didn't have enough miles again, even though the web site said I did (they had two different numbers - he apologized, promised to check into it, and never called back).  Finally, I decided to donate them to someone with far more patience, or let them expire (which would show them!).  But, just in the nick of time, I found out from a different airline (on which I had some 2,000 miles) I could buy three magazine subscriptions (the eternal irony - where do you think I got Money?) and so revisted the other site.  Bingo!  I'd already paid for tickets and hotel (on Orbitz) for our Anchorage trip, but as I clicked on the "partners" tab in the redeem miles section - lo, and behold! - I found a car rental!  After a little experimentation, I ended up with 8 days of a full-sized auto ... and saved $385.47 (more than the ticket I wanted costs)!  What a way to steal, huh?

ShopSmart ;) magazine (yes, it has that icon in its title) is and has been one of my favorites for about a year - six issues ($18) with no advertising alone is worth its weight in gold, but add to that some tested and fantastic advice and tips, and it's just one of the best all-around for treasure hunters.  The June issue started me on what I think will be a permanent habit - once or twice a year, I will eschew grocery shopping (except for milk) and live from my cupboards for a week.  Now, before you think I'm crazy, remember I tend to stock up when something's on sale, so I'm doing it not just because I read it in this month's issue but because I have cleared my pantry of long-expired dry goods far too many times over the years.  Plus, I ... um ... was going through the chest freezer we bought a year ago March and found meat from ... uh ... a year ago March.  Luckily, it's a great chest freezer, though, (and I take great care in how I wrap).  So tonight I'm using half the 5-pound chuck roast I bought on sale (a year ago March) to make a brand-new recipe, with beef and tomatoes and olives of all things -  a Catalan stew I've wanted to try forever but hadn't had the guts.  I do, however, have the ingredients, many of which are teetering on the edge of ptomaine (a little heat kills anything, right?).  You don't have a recipe folder stuffed full of cheap eats?  Pull out the old standard - my grandmother's Mulligan stew - meat, browned, a couple cans of tomatoes, a splash of wine, and whatever vegetables are verging on compost.  It's fabulous!  (Or, of course, go to the Epicurious web site or to Allrecipes.com, punch in a few key ingredients and find a recipe that will fit what you have on hand.)

I'm also gearing up to get back to my online garage sale.  I am determined to clear my closets and earn more money for both treasure hunting and the renovations that my house is so desperate for.  I'll sell what I can, donate (not relist) what I can't, then make my office into a lab/Dragon-Bunny Den and my house into a warm, welcoming place - by reusing, repurposing, and recycling on the building end, too!  Because I realized this week, after talking to a friend of mine who downsized to a condo and is horrified at the thought of filling it up again that I don't think the scary-hoarder-organization shows are right.  It's not that we have too much stuff but that we have too much crappy stuff.

Well, no more, not this Bunny!  We can live well, and well within whatever budget we have!  It doesn't matter if it it's a stock I want, an Arts and Crafts end table, or a lanyard of Chanel "pearls" ... patience, educating myself, knowing where to prowl, even when to take a chance  - that's what treasure hunting is all about!

It's so good to be back!