I am a junk junkie. A treasure hunter. A scavenger.

Last night, when the kids went to piano lessons, I jumped in my truck and headed up to Sprawlville, where one section of the main drag has not one... not two... but THREE thrift stores.  Oh boy. A Goodwill, a Value Village, and a Sevennationarmy.  Although the last one kinda smells weird and I'm usually shopped out after the first two.  I love the "Friff Store."  You really never know what you'll find there.

For example, maybe a nice old desk?  A fancy chair to go with it?

You should have seen the chair I found last night.  I didn't buy it.  I really don't have room in my little house for any more chunks of furniture, and also Jethro would probably freak right out if I dragged another object with questionable history into our home.  But seriously.  It called to me.  It squatted there among the plastic-veneered side tables and in its weedy imaginary voice asked to be put in the back of my truck and taken away.  

It was an armchair upholstered in an absolutely hideous flocked velour kind of vaguely floral green yellow and brown abomination of fabric.  Just wow.  It had carved wood on the arms and back, and little curved legs. Oh my gosh, now that I think of it, I didn't even check to see if it had claw feet.  You just know I'd love to have all furniture that could walk away.  Amazingly, the upholstery was in great shape, so maybe the crazy cat lady who owned it had successfully trained her cats not to sit in it or scratch it!  I sat in that thing.  If fit my little short body.  Oh bliss and it didn't even reek.  

But I left it there.  Partly for the above mentioned reasons but also because I wasn't sure of the price.  It was either $19.99 or $12.99 or $0.99 depending on which sticker you believed.  Covered in price stickers.  The Friff Store is a weird place.  Normally I love the weirdness but I couldn't deal with the sticker confusion... plus I was thinking the only place I could find room for it would be in Jethro's office and he'd die of eye rolling and groaning.  

I'm also casually looking for some nice, thick, rich looking curtains.  Preferably not polyester.  

Ooh, and tie backs, like those twisty ones with the big fat tassels on 'em.  Oh yeah.  Nothing subtle or understated.  Maybe I'll tie the rich fat luscious curtains back with twine string!  I have lots of twine string.  Can I get some fringe too?  That'd rock.

I have been known to cart some strange things home from the Friff Store.  

Like the little brass cauldron with three claw feet!  We keep the violin cases in it.  Last night when I went to buy myself a "new" pair of comfy running shoes (preferably not worn in real hard by the previous owner- score!) I came home with a few baskets for dog toys and gloves and hats and stuff, as well as a crazy black velvet and fuschia silk scarf-like thing.  I don't even know what I'm gonna do with it but it was only 3 bucks!

And I do get rid of stuff regularly.  If you bring objects home, you gotta get rid of more than you get.  Yet my house is still bursting at the seams.  Maybe I should just put things away.  Yeah.

When I was a kid, my Grandpa G had one of those cool ashtray stands.  I wish I had asked for it before they sold their house.  I would have put a little plant in it or something, y'know?

We've got a brown leather chair in our living room now, but I suspect it's actually "leather."  We got two for the studio and I begged for one at home too.  It's not as nice looking as these ones.  It's too new.  It looks really out of place in our house actually.  I hope it ages well.

I used to have a thing about collecting old bottles, but back then I didn't buy them.  I just found them in old cars. I think I kept them in the barn but I can't remember where.

I wonder what happened to them all. I had a really cool skull collection in the barn too and I can't find any of them. Hmmm....

Yeah, old things are amazing.  I'm not talking about antiques necessarily; while I do love them, they tend to be pricey and kind of elitist.  I like junk.  I got half of my furniture for free.  I have taken stuff off the side of the road on big garbage day and I am not ashamed of it.  Scrub it up with a little bit of Murphy's Oil Soap and some teak oil and you're good to go.  

I still think I should go back and nab that armchair.  There's a small possibility that some day I'll have some extra $ to sink into getting it reupholstered.  

...in RED!
Wait - what?  There's a chair in that picture?  What were we talking about?