A Little Holiday Fun

I started Presidents’ Day with a cup of coffee and a quick jaunt to the sale at my neighborhood thrift store. Thirty-five percent off is about as good as it gets here and that’s what they were offering from 8:00 to 11:00 am. But darn even before the doors opened there was a line of folks for this tiny store. You’ve heard me complain about this before but I find it rather irksome that this store has been “discovered.” Selfish of me I know!!

Afterwards I went home, took a shower and then my husband and I took off for the ocean just 30 minutes away. We headed first to the fabulous Fitzgerald Marine Reserve to look at starfish, but sadly it was closed due to recent storm damage. Nearby Pillar Point Bluff was our next stop and we were blessed finding a bench close to the edge. It’s both a great place to talk and not talk! When my husband left for a wee walk, I pulled out my journal to get down a few thoughts. So calming. Just for a bit the cares of the world fell away.

Next lunch. But it turned out to be no easy feat finding a coastal restaurant that didn’t have a line out the door! In the end we headed to a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant at a strip mall. Thankfully HMB Kebab didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t fancy, but the food was good. Overall a pleasant little outing.

---

And you may be asking, but what happened at the thrift store? Did I find anything? I did, but not much. I ended up putting four things in my basket and took two out. That’s how it is these days. Trying to be picky.

I liked this framed naive watercolor of Lake Palace in India. So charming. Signed by Arvind Saarma in 2000.

And this little broken tile art reminded me a Polish piece I acquired from a nun’s estate, though this piece has a definite Eastern flair. I thought it was both lovely and intriguing.

A Google image search brought up this similar picture from the caves at Mogao in Dunhuang, China.

So my little tile is related to Buddhism. (Not my usual religious find!) Next I goggled “Mogao cave souvenirs” and it brought up a number of these tiles complete with the little metal easel like mine. Apparently the image is a lithograph or oleograph, though mine also includes some hand-painted parts along the edge.

I haven’t found another one for sale online with the same image as mine…which is good!

So just the two things. I wanted to buy this small Osprey, London, leather crossbody purse, but all the corners were quite scuffed. I would need to buy purple shoe polish and hope to bring it back to life. In the end I decided it just wasn’t worth it to resell, though part of me thought this would have a been a great going-to-the-flea-market purse. But did I need another purse? No. I left it behind for someone else to find.

The day ended with a delightful surprise–UPS delivered a belated Valentine’s Day gift from a dear friend. Can’t wait to dip into it!!

All in all it was a lovely day.

Wishing you happy hunting,

Karen