Well, the desk has to stay outside (covered) because it's too big to fit through the narrow doors

in this house. I have a certain Art Deco wardrobe downstairs too, because nobody could fit it up the steep and narrow cattle chute stairs. Not complaining - several people told me they would've fought me at auction for this house except for those stairs, so I have reason to love them. Who needs a gym here?

Like you, I love experimenting. Necessity being the mother of invention, and all. Another fortunate double find one trash day was a crappy Art Deco desk with great hardware (I'm never w/o a screwdriver) that I took off, and on the other side of town miraculously the exact same desk in great shape except no hardware. I'm good at simple math.

I forgot to tell you about the set of 5 big deep wooden drawers from a missing chest that I also found last week. Three of them will go under the elevated bed upstairs and 2 will stay downstairs for dog beds. I'm tired of blankets scattered all over the living room floor.

Happy bargain hunting!

Well, dammit, I forgot to ask for some cake and ale.

Did you save me any?

I really enjoy my own bike although I understand why many wouldn't.

It's an old lady's bike with wide tires and coaster brakes, the kind I grew up with. 24" tires. Handlebars set so I can sit upright when pedaling. Heavy duty wire saddlebag baskets on back, big wire basket on front. You don't want to know how much cargo I can haul on that thing. I've even hung shopping bags from the handlebars. It's definitely the glue factory reject of the bike world. If I'm really lucky, I might be able to get an electric motor on it before I get too feeble to pedal, and some adult-size training wheels for stability.

Just thought I'd post that for comparison so real bike enthusiasts could feel fortunate by comparison.

So little time, so many books!

As it should be. I'd rather run out of time than books, w/o which the time would hang too heavy.

Thanks, they're on my want list.

One of those I bought at the last library sale (5 hardbacks per dollar even I can afford) is a collection of CS Lewis' letters. Seems he was quite intent on getting books at the library too when he could, in order to save $ for more books he wanted that they didn't have. It's really quite a lovely collection of letters.

Well, at least I was forewarned for this one and set down my coffee cup before indulging.

That's a real keeper. I trust you won't mind if I share it around, with due credit of course. Most people could use a good hysterical fit, depending on the type they choose.

You and Rug both can lift my spirits as few others do.

I use those myself. Not the oil. Just because

a stuffed chair or sofa doesn't look quite right to me w/o one.

Of course my grandparents had them and kept their furniture, which was old when they bought it. A great deal of it has been hauled hither and yon during my travels, too. Not everything I own is curbside vintage!

But absolutely the most beautiful house (to me) I was ever in belonged to the great grandmother of a childhood friend. This grand old lady never even succumbed to electricity of any kind although she did have gas lights on the walls to supplement her oil lamps. Some of her stuff predated the Civil War.

The one person who drove me to fleeting homicidal fantasy was a guy I met immediately after moving to an extremely rural area in California right after leaving L.A. He had just moved too and was having an estate sale after inheriting the place from his own great grandmother. I said I'd be there first call and asked if by any chance he had floor lamps for sale. He puffed out his chest and bragged that he'd already thrown out a lot of that 'old junk' in the trash, and there'd been several floor lamps but damnit none of them were even electric! All too quickly I realized trash day had already come and gone, and I wanted to leap for his philistine throat.

You owe me a new keyboard for that one!

Thanks. I'll certainly buy a new bathroom heater and

despite a bit of decision whiplash, be extremely alert to UNPLUG the heater after every use. Maybe even start setting a timer downstairs so when it goes off, I'll be reminded. So long as I don't get so ditsy I forget what the timer's supposed to remind me about.

Until that happy day when I actually have a working (improved) outlet for the new heater, I'll have to do one or the other about the percolator contents. At least a percolator won't create enough heat to evaporate the water very soon at all, especially with the lid on. Someone I know left a full 12-cup perc on for almost a week when they left on vacation. On return they had a slightly lowered level of sludge but no fire. As for motor oil, extra safety's one reason high-performance motor oil was recommended - the greater heat tolerance.

Thankfully I don't need to create too much extra heat. The downstairs plus the steam from an extra deep, extra hot tub already make the room almost tolerable. I only need another 5-10 degrees at most, and that in safe proximity.

Thanks. Bookmarked for ASAP.

I might have trouble affording a lot of other things, but I can usually squeeze out enough for another book. First I'll have to see if the library can get it for me, though. SOP. They're hoping in another 6 months or so to be able to get Piketty's 'Capital in the 21st Century' for me. Wish us luck.

The other book really sounds up my alley, too. Maybe I should be embarrassed to admit such nerdy reading tastes, but I also have one book on 16th Century clothing styles and another on various nun's habits through the years. Yes, I'll really sit there and read about different designs and materials used for buttons after they arrived on the scene. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Yes. Please see #7.

I certainly do value my precious percolators. That's the kind of coffee I prefer, damn near espresso and you won't get it from a dripolator. Can't afford a French press! Can't afford the new electric percs either, so I snap up every used one I find. Currently have 3 others waiting in the wings in addition to the gorgeous Art Deco I bought off eBay. Cotton covered cord and everything. If President Obama ever drops by for coffee, I'll take it down off the top of the frig and use it, but otherwise it stays put where it is. Beautiful thing. Carved wood handle, too.

Sometimes these old ones I find for $5 max will still last for years and years. I think impatient people buy them because they do make better coffee than a damn drip, but then most people aren't willing to wait 10-12 minutes either. That's probably one reason they ditch the percs.

Since you're one of my favorite thrifters, I'll share what I found curbside the last couple weeks. A like-new Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, and farther on, a giant mahogany office desk where someone had vacated the premises. Must've run out of room on the truck. I took out all the drawers so maybe nobody else would snatch it up before I could return with a truck and help. By evening it was in a far corner of my porch, well hidden from the street by tall spirea and 1/2" lattice. It now serves as a stand for all my potted shade plants, the restored drawers hold various tools etc, and the knee well would make a fine shelter if the dogs ever needed it in an emergency. Of course I covered the top with several layers of newspapers and a tarp, then pieces of leftover tub surround. Thing weighed way over 100 lbs before I put the drawers back and loaded it down with plants; hope the porch boards hold!