Weekend scores

We wandered out yesterday afternoon in between the Packers and Brewers games to run some errands and see if we couldn't find some fun Halloween decorations for our new house.  While we struck out on the Halloween decoration front except for some cute jack-o-lantern dish towels we managed to have great luck in other endeavors.

We found one of the pet gates that has a door in it on a clearance end cap at Target.  It's original price tag was $50 but was marked As-Is for just $3.  So we took that $3 gamble, and boy did it sure pay off!  Turns out the only thing that was damaged was the box, so now the stairs to the basement are secure and we don't have to worry about Wicket wandering down and getting into trouble.

We also found a much needed rug for the office on sale.  Now all we need for the office is a second chair for Richard's desk, since his last one went kaput prior to the move.

By the looks of it every photo I take around the house now has to include Wicket whether I like it or not.  Thankfully, I'm more than happy about it!

The Office: Lighting Set-Up

Recently I've been working on making our office a better place to work.  The major cleaning and organizing was the first step and the second was to put together a lighting set up so I could do product photos under the window and walk a few feet to the desk and load them onto the computer to work on.  It's not perfect yet, I have another bar to hang up for better light placement, but I've gotten a few photos done and I'm happy I've finally got a permanent set-up and it's out of the way.

The entire set-up wasn't very costly either.  We already had the table, and the floor lamps were once in our living room so I can't really tally those in the cost.

- White sheet - from Ikea $2

- Four clamp lamps - from the hardware store $5 each, but one of my was scavenaged

- Four light bulbs - I use the GE indoor flood natural lights which are $5 each but promise to last a long time, plus you can often find coupons so I only paid $3 each.

Grand Total: $34

But not having to wait until I've got good light coming in the window is priceless, and it means I can get clear and crisp shots any time I need.  Here are some more photos of a Salt Box I picked up while out thrifting recently.

Project 1: Organize Office Complete

I've taken a tip from Theresa on how to keep myself accountable using my blog.  I'll make a post or two every Thursday about what I've completed and what project I plan for the next week.  So here are the pictures of a rather clean and organized office and I will post later tonight on what I have planned for next week's project.

Save for the one broken remnant of the bed that hasn't quite made it to the dumpster yet, and will have to wait until the parking lot is less icy, the office is done!

You can probably tell from the pictures that we're big Apple computer geeks, and have a certain affinity to outdated technology.  For those of you keeping count at home that's six computers and two typewriters in the office, and each one is perfectly functional.

There may be just two people in this house, but there are three desks in our office.  (And yes, that's one of my photo lamps just hanging off the shelf there) The dark wood one is our most recent acquisition and when we move into a house (one day) the secretary's desk will go in the living room and the large corner desk will make its own way to Goodwill, but for now we make good use of every piece of furniture in the room.

The two bookshelves were the first pieces of furniture that my parents owned when they started out together. There is a third shelf that my father recently sanded and stained that now sits in their den.

It may look a little chaotic on the shelves, but things are certainly easier to find than they used to be.  Oh, and that little pink traincase on the bottom shelf is the most recent addition to my suitcase collection, a gift from my dear friend Jennie.