It has now, officially been an entire year of nothing new!

It started as a sort of whim/challenge and has ended as a lifestyle. I am solidly entrenched in repairing, repurposing and generally trying to always buy used rather than new. I may go back to shopping the clothing clearance racks, but only because I am so good at it that I feel I was getting better bargains new than used (and it's not like I buy that many clothes anyway). Plus, I think there are so many women shopping the thrift stores so effectively that you have to be a rather cut-throat early and frequent shopper to get the best stuff...and I am just not that into expending that kind of energy on clothes shopping. That said, two of my favorite clothing items were purchased used. But, consider that during these 365 days, my "cheating" on buying new clothes added up to a total of $75 for 2 pairs of pants, 5 tops and a dressy hoodie, I did pretty good value-wise. I'm still looking for a not-new engineered hardwood floor. I know I'll find one. Can't wait.

Difficult to resist new stuff that's cheaper than used stuff. #Kohls

Last week I purchased a several items for the offspring at Kohl's. He is seldom in the mood to shop and even less often agreeable to used stuff so a couple shirts and pairs of pants at good sale prices (and with a coupon and a discount) ended up being an efficient, affordable, much needed (really how many days in a row can you wear the same outfit before it walks away on its own?) shopping trip.

Of course the trouble with Kohl's is the Kohls Cash. I got a $30 certificate to use the next week. The offspring was no longer in the mood to shop and it was too early to shop for Christmas, so that left shopping for me. Another $10 coupon in my email had me heading to Kohl's. I do need jeans and they carry the jeans I like, which makes shopping fast and easy. I bought two pair for what ended up being $3 a pair...that's about half the price of jeans at Goodwill. I also ended up buying a very nice flag-themed t-shirt on clearance for $4...a little pricey, but I always feel bad when I don't have anything patriotic looking on the 4th of July. I know buying "new" defeats my recycling mission, but some bargains are offers I can't refuse.

Will Etsy.com rescue me?

I am a sucker for beautiful glass. I've been collecting art glass and making art out of glass all my adult life. So, when "not newing" exposed me to all the out-of-fashion vintage glass that looked like it might end up in a landfill, I had to rescue it. I've been making garden flowers, but really don't have any place to sell them. The craft fair I participated in was ill-attended and a pain in the butt. I'm hoping maybe Etsy will work: https://www.etsy.com/listing/247515142/art-glass-garden-flower-white-cobalt?ref=shop_home_active_1

I hope so, I have no room for all this bulky, heavy, fragile stuff. I should not let my heart overrule my head. Sigh.

Got the $70 suitcase I've been lusting after for $15.

I've been lusting after the new, ultralightweight luggage because I hate to pay baggage fees on airlines. The less pounds my bag weighs, the more pounds of clothes I can pack. I can lift this suitcase with my pinkie finger. Never thought I'd find one "not new" because they are so new to the market. But I found this at TJ Maxx. It was obviously a return (the bags are guaranteed for several years). It has a small rip in the fabric (look closely about midway up the left edge). It was obviously used (so I left it in my hot car for three days in case of bedbugs...I am a safety nutcase). The logo has been removed (big deal). Pretty sure I can repair the tear satisfactorily. Thrilled to get a "not new" bargain at TJ Maxx.

Actually found some "not new" glasses...or, at least, close to it.

I found these on craigslist for $15 and they fit well enough so I bought them. They aren't used, but I'm guessing they've been through at least two sellers, so close enough. The offspring says the glasses make me look like a goofball. I told him they were designer (Aquaswiss) glasses and the goofball look is in. I was a bit disappointed as I had to pay $51 for prescription lenses at Value Vision. When I went there a few years back you could get cheap plastic lenses for $25. Perhaps they don't carry those anymore. Perhaps I should have thought to ask.

$9 Bose speakers at Goodwill. Pays to search the whole store.

Sorry that life has been keeping me from posting, but it has also been keeping me from doing any "not new" stuff, so there hasn't been much of interest to post about. I did get out to Goodwill to pick up a pair of shorts (Elizabeth brand, which is Liz Clairborne's fat lady division), a pair of jeans and the Bose speakers.

Was I shopping for speakers? No. Am I delighted to have them? Yes. It pays to search the entire store over as long as you are there. The speakers aren't wireless, but that's just fine with me. Maybe now I'll get more music and Science Friday in my life. If I ever get around to hooking them up.

I could have a nice hardwood floor if I were younger.

Sorry for my absence. I needed to concentrate on a lot of work and I haven't been doing much "not new" shopping. But today, I did finally get back to craigslist and found a perfect "not new" oak hardwood floor...if I were younger.

It's an 80 year old floor and there is going to be over 500 sq. ft., so it would fit my needs exactly if I had the strength to put i in myself. But, those days are past me. And even though the floor is nearby and only $200 total (what a bargain!), I'd have to pay someone to install and refinish it and that would be quite a bit of change (still has some nails in many of the boards...I don't even think I could pull those out efficiently). Wish I had come up with this going "not new" idea a long time ago...I could have a really nice bank account by now, not to mention how much I'd be saving old Mother Earth. Oh, well...maybe someone younger will read this and learn.

Sometimes you get what you pay for (the saga of the pawn shop miter saw).

While the miter saw has been working okay, it was not performing when I needed some really straight cuts. On closer inspection, the (solid metal?) guide was snapped completely in two and askew. (Same saw came without a blade guard...I have to call and order one, hope it's not over $10...can't find one used.) Fortunately, I seem to have been able to epoxy the parts together. Meant not getting done what I needed to get done the day I wanted to do it. Sigh. (Was pretty proud of myself for getting that durn clamp on...the epoxy was supposed to set in 5 minutes...NOT!)

Free, "not new" hostas...hopefully.

I split my hostas all the time, but this time I got very aggressive and very lazy. I'm hoping these will take, but if they don't, I probably spent less than 3 hours on them, so not too big a waste. I dug up two of my hostas and cut them into very small divisions, laid then on the ground, threw a shovel of compost on top, then threw some chopped leaf mulch on. When I was done, I worried the plants couldn't take the stress, so I cut off the leaves (woulda been easier to do that BEFORE putting them down, oh well). I'm hoping these babies will root themselves. I'm also hoping I'm not creating a maintenance nightmare for myself (the hostas will block the grass/weeds right?) Doing this mainly to try to help out my neighbor--on the other side of the fence--whose dog barks when he sees my dog in the yard. Hoping the hostas will block his under-fence vision.

"Free" safflower? Will I get what I paid for?

There appears to be a forest of safflower taking root under my bird feeder. In my creaky old age, I am inclined to let it be and see if it amounts to anything interesting. The images of safflower on the Internet look attractive enough, but I can't imagine this will bloom in the shady spot where it exists. I figure if I let it grow a bit, I at least won't have to reach down so far to pull it up. Or am I just tempting fate with a root system that will break me?

Love my "not new" wet saw from craigslist.

One of my favorite craigslist finds, perhaps because I decided I needed it, found it right away and bought it (neaby, even!) the next day. This wet saw goes for $99 or more new. I purchased it for $40. The seller said it was very lightly used. He bought a pallet of them to resell. He does a lot of stuff like that as he is handy and can fix broken stuff to resell (but only one broken one in the lot he got). We are both guessing as to why anyone would have a pallet of slightly used wet saws. A very interesting guy (another bonus to the purchase). Can't wait to try out the saw.

A kinda "not new" greenhouse...that may turn into a kite.

I made this from new materials, rather than buying a greenhouse kit, so it's on-the-line when it comes to being "not new." Trouble was, it was hot as Hades out there today while I was constructing it, so it's not as well done (think "tight") as it should be. Which I didn't think would be a problem since I"m only going to have it up for 2-3 weeks (then put away for reuse in the fall or next spring. But, as I was driving to my class immediately after building the dang thing, I heard a high-wind warning on the radio: 50 mph winds predicted at 10 am tomorrow. Sooo....when I got home tonight, I installed as many weights around the perimeter as I could manage. I think it may hold. Cross your fingers for me.

Finishing projects eliminates waste. Today: necklace.

I am guilty of starting things and not finishing them. To have an unusable item sitting there, taking up space is silly. I finished stringing this necklace. I really like the flower I embroidered with beads, though I'm not as happy with the way everything strung together. But, at least it's wearable now.

No more raised veggie garden bed in the front yard.

I heard a neighbor was very upset with the raised bed I was putting in my front yard, so I nixed it. Far be it from me to ruin someone's life with my garden. I did not discard the idea of a veggie garden altogether, though. I am putting in a regular bed instead. I don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference between my flower garden and my veggie garden once it's done (thought the raised bed woulda looked okay, too, had it been given the chance). Probably won't get a huge yield this year as I don't have enough planning/time to till the soil. I'm hoping a week or so of the black plastic will kill some of the grass, then I will just plunk the veggies down with lots of compost. Next year should be much better.

Finally getting a little somewhere on the raised bed...and full disclosure of new purchases.

Well, here's the garden bed starting to take shape. Doesn't look like much, but it has exhausted me to get this far. Was going to make soup and do laundry tonight, but instead I will take some aspirin and go to my own bed. I put down newspaper under where the garden will be. It was no small task as even though there didn't seem to be a breeze, there was one about every 3 or 4 minutes. But, I got the paper down, put plastic over it and secured the plastic around the edges so (hopefully), nothing will be able to blow away.

The plastic extends about a foot beyond the garden. I'm going to mulch that area so the lawn guy can mow right over it and not have to use the edge trimmer around the bed. Hopefully, the plastic will last a few years and keep the grass from growing there. I will cut the plastic out from the bed itself once I get dirt to put in there. I'm hoping to have everything done but the dirt tomorrow, but at the rate I've been breaking down, that may be optimistic.

Full disclosure: I bought a new pair of garden gloves. Mine had such holes that it was rather fruitless to continue wearing them. Also, I'm thinking about purchasing a $59 pop-up roof thingie (they call it a tent, but it has no sides) at Ollies. I am planning to do a couple craft shows this summer. I wasn't going to bother with a tent as I'm not sure I'll be successful enough to continue, but the Ollies tent is a good deal and you can never count on anything being at Ollies from week to week. I doubt I will find a pop-up-type tent used...they only started making them recently and I am so old and decrepit, I need the convenience of a pop-up.

Full disclosure: I had to buy a couple "new" things.

I could not find a "not new" soaker hose, so I bought one for $7 for the raised garden bed I am building. I understand that water on leaves can lead to problems. Also, I walked by a display of $5 t-shirts and picked up three. I needed some that look good for when I have to dress nice and finding a crisp t-shirt used is a difficult task, so I gave in.

My "new" dryer vent isn't working out.

Not only did the idiot who built our house position the dryer so that the ductwork has to go down one floor and across half the basement before it exits the house...they then built a deck right over the vent exit. Needless to say, it's about impossible to access the vent outlet. And the cheap plastic on dryer vents doesn't last 20 years.

Worse, the new dryer vents they are selling seem to have been redesigned to save the manufacturer money on plastic. There are now 3 louvers instead of 4 and they are about 1/4" shorter. Soooo...I had to buy two new vent covers to jerry-rig 4 louvers. Unfortunately, when I slipped them on, they seemed too heavy to blow open (the dryer is actually running in that last photo with the louvers closed...the bottom one is only open slightly because I found I could get it to stick that way). Grrrr! I suppose my only option is to get a square of hardware cloth or some other type of grid and try to tack it over the vent somehow and hope no insects try to build a nest there. If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears.

My "not new" bubble wrap almost killed me.

I was exiting the thruway when an approximately 20'sheet of bubble wrap (shown in my back seat) flew across my windshield. I assume it was from the construction they were doing on the exit...construction that left no shoulder to pull off on. I had about a two-inch "window" to look through, which kept shifting. There were a string of cars behind me which would quickly backup up onto the thruway and cause a hazard, so I continued on, knowing there would be place to stop ahead.

I nearly had a heart attack when I stopped and got out of the car as there was a car to the left, just inches from my bumper, which I had not seen. Phew! Someone up there was watching out for me. So, I gathered up the bubble wrap, which looks like new. I really needed bubble wrap, just would have preferred not to risk my life to get it.

Free "not new" mulch is actually better than the stuff you pay for

The pine needles and chopped leaves (both shown) make a terrific mulch, as do grass clippings (not shown as no one has mowed their lawns here yet). The pine needles will help acidify my soil (needs it). You have to be careful not to put the leaves or clippings on too deep (and the leaves need to be chopped up...mow them if you have no other way to do it). These will "feed" the soil much better and faster than wood chips and similar expensive mulches bought at the store. If you are lucky, you can find the pine needles already raked into a nice pile at the curb for you. The first mow of the year makes nice mulch as the grass tends to be longer, untreated and has no seed heads in it yet. Since I get the leaves from my own yard, it's a lot less lugging, too!

Hoping my "not new" celery can last until I get my greenhouse up.

I read about regrowing celery, so I thought I'd give it a try. cut the stalks off and put the bottom in some water. It is growing very nicely, but the butt end is getting a bit slimy in the water. It should be transplanted, but our weather is still rotten and I likely won't have my raised garden bed and greenhouse done for at least a week (maybe two, depending on the wind). I suppose "not new" celery is best done in the summer...but I am looking forward to getting at least "two for one" with this technique through the warm weather.