Lonely? Go Thrifting!

So people ask me all the time, “What do you do when Eric is away teaching?”

Honestly, my initial reaction is to try not to take offense to that since I believe it’s simply an innocent question. I don’t actually think that people believe I’m in a catatonic state without him. Nonetheless, I don’t want to sound insensitive either, because I really do miss Eric when he is away! Like this week. He is teaching at John C. Campbell and I stayed home so the dogs wouldn’t have to go into a kennel for seven days. And it has been even more quiet because we recently had our nephew and my Dad here all week and Eric left the next day after they flew out. So it went from people around all the time with lots of things going on to just me and the dogs.

So it was a little odd to have it abruptly quiet here. But I pretty much do what I normally do every day… work! I have a lot of freelance projects going on and I’ve been catching up on my lengthy “to do” list. But late afternoon, it gets pretty quiet. I am used to walking into the workshop and seeing what Eric is in the middle of. And majority of the times, I like doing something annoying if he’s in the other room with the planer on… like rearrange his neatly piled materials on his work table, or write a note in the middle of his job list… something like “I need to tell Lynne how fabulous she is.” I like to leave little reminders so he doesn’t forget about me! lol.

So what did I do the other day after I finished my work and there was no Mr. Basketmaker around for me to go visit? Go to the thrift store of course! I love thrifting. And this is what I came home with…

I love vintage textiles. And I was excited to find these two, sweet yellow ruffled pillow shams. The price? $1.99! How could I pass that up?  I couldn’t… Where am I going to use them? Don’t know yet. But I’m sure I’ll find something to do with them!

And this cute, abstract crochet doily! Love it! I was looking for over a year now for a little doily to sit under a gorgeous piece of pottery we got as a housewarming gift from very close friends of ours. We like to display the bowl in the middle of our dining table, which used to be Mr. Basketmaker’s grandmother’s table. And because we didn’t want it to get scratched, I folded up a quilted placeholder to sit underneath, knowing I would eventually find the perfect little “something” to sit under it.

And it is perfect! The bowl has dark greens and brown tones and when it sits on this, only little hints of red peek out and then the light gray yarn frames the bottom rim which creates a great contrast. We love mixing colors and patterns in our home.

That’s why I couldn’t pass up on this pillow. I love vintage patterns. I think Mr. Basketmaker will like the other two items I bought but I’m pretty sure he will say “do we really need another accent pillow”? Well, I don’t think he will use the word “accent.” But I got this for $2! Who could say “no” to that? Not me!

So what do I do when Eric is teaching out of town? I work, I organize the house, I miss him lots and of course, fit in a couple “thrifting” excursions. All of this makes the time go by really fast until he returns.

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