Damn. Missed the good used hardwood

I saw on Craigslist that 1,000 sq ft of used Brazilian cherry in excellent condition came and instantly went (for $2 a sq ft, of course it would) at our local ReUse. I guess I'll have to volunteer there or something if I want to get an exotic hardwood floor. I won't buy one new, but I will buy one used.

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.

How real women prevent power tool rust.

Yes, I cover my power tools in lady products then put them in a garbage bag for the winter (workshop is in the garage). I suppose if I were a lot younger or older, I'd use diapers.

Free not-new mulch

I was able to get almost all of the pine needles I needed to mulch the beds with this year. My soil is alkaline, so the pine needles help give it the acidity it lacks. Plus, they are a lot lighter to lug around and they are free! The pooch seems to really like them (which could be a problem come Spring). You can also see the half-arsed repair job I did on a birdfeeder. I repaired broken glass, replacing some with acrylic from another too-old-and-broken to fix feeder. I still need to find a part to make the top fit better. Oh well...cost me nothing so far.

This pair of handknit wool socks only cost $1.29...

and 48 hours of my life, some (hopefully temporary) carpal tunnel syndrome, and several days of heightened arthritis pain in my hands. So, I might not be knitting another pair any time soon. I do have to say, I enjoyed the process and the fact that it kept me away from snacking. This pair is going to the homeless as I can't imagine putting up with all that discomfort for just silly old me.

The cheap hand-knit sock is too expensive for me.

I don't knit. Or, I didn't until I made this sock. I made it on a knitting loom, so I'm still not sure if that qualifies as knitting. Anyway, as near as I can figure out, it took me about 24 hours to make this ugly sock. It is 100% wool, so it is warm...and the yarn was on sale, so it only cost about $1, but it's that 24 hours I can't afford. Sure, those were hours that I wasn't snacking, but I did get carpal tunnel syndrome while "knitting." Perhaps, if I take it real slow and only do an hour of knitting a day, I might find the time easier to spare. But right now, I think my time would be better spent looking for someone else who only has one sock than to knit the mate to this.

The plot thickens.

I forgot to take a pic until after I started putting the plastic back on, but I think you can get the idea of how much dirt there is piled on my plot. I'd say a little less than half of the purported 10 cu. yds. is spread out over the approximately 220 sq. ft. I tried doing the math to figure out just how high that should be and I discovered that I can't perform math in 3 dimensions. I ran out and bought a bit more plastic to cover the plot and tried to secure it down as best I could, but I'm nervous. They are predicting torrential rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph tomorrow. I guess I'll see how it holds. (Probably shouldn't have bothered raking the leaves?)