Tax refund: a few CDs, a circular jute rug (really cheap) (to make our living room look less rectangular), 3 patio chairs (plastic, from Home Depot), a tiny book easel (really cheap) to display a book as if it were a small painting, a second bath towel (more expensive than I thought), a hand towel, a bamboo thatch tack board to replace the kitchen cork board, and I scheduled a haircut & color.

One ineffective effort: some glittery rocks for our front walk’s rock area; a 20lb bag of glittery rocks would be needed to make an impact. To compensate for this bad purchase I won’t get any landscaping mulch this year. Update: I replaced some of the stones with more black glittery stones and now it looks “fabu”. It could use a couple more bags (handful sized bags), and maybe I will get them since they’re only $4 each. The intent is to create a glittery river of light alongside the walkway, in a space that is perpetually in deep shade.

My friend’s yard sale items added much more to the living room than anything else; I don’t think I blogged about that, but a couple weeks ago, before I knew she was planning to move, she sold me some of her stuff and that’s why our entryway (on the inside) looks so good now. We have a gord now. And a wall thingee. And this was the beginning of my Spring interest in improvements.

Photo: Gourd and wall thingee