Sunshine after the rain

January has come and gone, with nary an organization post to be seen here in this little corner of the web. I actually had two weeks worth of posts planned, but between being sick and caring for sick people all month, those posts never saw the light of day. But that's okay- some other month I will pontificate on the joy of my home notebook and how it keeps me cleaning obscure areas on a monthly basis. Or about how my month of meal plans has simplified my life. It all seems a moo point now. (I'm embarrassed to know that sitcom quote, but obviously not ashamed to use it.)

I hope your year started off with a bang...a good, thankful-even-in-the-rough-patches kind of bang. It seems like everyone I know is sick, or getting sick, or getting over being sick. Or talking about how horrible it was to be sick. My smallest is still limping along with a nagging cough that I am praying will go away any day now. Poor guy.

In happier news, here are a few Goodwill finds that bring a little sunshine into the house during these mostly freezing cold days. (Today was an exception, and the kids went crazy running around the yard in the balmy 50 degree weather.)

A pot to hold an African Violet from my mother-in-law. It sat in it's original plastic container for months until I found this for $1. I love muted colors, but my life would be incomplete without yellow (and red, and orange...).

Some thoughtful woman packaged this shower curtain and the rings in a nice bag and labeled it for the Goodwill, and they priced it at $3! I'd been looking for a thrifted shower curtain to liven up the bathroom and tie in our multi-colored towels. The bathroom will get a huge facelift one day, but it's a fairly low priority.

 And last but not least, this orange partridge in a pear tree plate, which was a big purchase for me at a whopping $4. Ignore the empty frame- it was a stocking gift and I know it needs a picture.

Here's the email I sent to my Mom after I bought the plate:

Is this good, bad, ugly?

I found this plate at Goodwill, and I thought it was kind of cool and
it had all the right colors in it. I'm trying to decide if it's cool,
retro, or just something someone's grandmother got rid of because it
was too weird for even her old lady taste.

Thoughts?
Love,
Brite

Her response:

It's definitely cool. I love the way your house photographs :)

love, MOM

Sometimes, you just need your mom's vote of approval. 

You can see how it ties in with the orange, which isn't the easiest color in the world to coordinate/match. You can also see how we have yet to finish the staircase behind the piano, but it's hard to fit in all the home remodeling projects AND all the farm adventures. More on that soon...