Curbside find, free trees, plus the Dad & daughter dance

The hardwood floors in our living room need attention soon. A sanding and refinish need to be done, but their are lots of other things before it. The floor is also very cold and uncomfortable for the children to play on. I have priced rugs large enough to cover the space for the winter and protect the floor while it awaits a new preserving finish. What I liked was way out of the price range and the ones that were close to affordable were, well, ugly. Money that could be spent for that new wood burner for the basement.
So just this week as I was taking Lil' Man to preschool, I spotted a huge 9x20 rug rolled up on the curbside. I always stop and ask the home resident before taking and to inquire of any faults that may affect my decision. Needless to say, there were a few baby blue paint spot on the outside corner portion and a grey spot in the other. Nothing a good shampooing and goof- off could not handle, but I was not going to share that tidbit with them. No pets in the home so no "accident spots". Total SCORE! So I loaded this massive rolled up rug into My Vue and continued our way to drop Lil' man off.
(you can see the spots I mentioned in this pic before its shampooing- and the need to paint a finish coat over the white primer. get in line...) I got the rug inside and did notice a small corner was cut out which fit the fish tank table area. This rug fit perfectly in the space I needed. A powerful "shop vac" cleaning and Lysol spraying were applied and set to dry. It is so thick and springy to our feet- maybe due to hard wood floors under our feet, but it quickly became a favorite play spot for the children. Cars and dolls were brought out, followed by book reading the latest acquired American girls book (Josephina) with a blanket wrapped around shoulders. One woman's junk is another woman's treasure.
I desire more trees along our roadside to block view of our open side of land. The 1 acre that sits to our house side. I need a fast growing tree, with low branches but beautiful to look at and enticing to watch on a breezy summer day. While at my cousins home ( use to be my grandmother's house), I asked for permission to trim off a few thick branches. I read online that by cutting the branches of a willow tree and placing in water, they will root on their own. Of course their tree has few real thick branches, so I am experimenting with ones of a 3/4 inch diameter. These trees can grow 5 feet in one season! I am in love with willow trees. I could go on and on about why, but I will save that for a post about why the cuttings from that tree mean more to me then just any other.( I am experimenting with the apple side shoot branch in the willow water. Would like to see if it would take root or not.) I will keep you informed of any success.The annual Father Daughter dance at Panda's school took place last evening. She looks forward to going every year and hopefully will continue to go untill its end in the 6th grade. Their theme each year is Cinderella's Ball, and this year they added "carriage rides" for the girls and their escorts. I was excited for her, then the captain informed me when they returned it was nothing more then a wagon ride with 15-20 people. For $10 a couple! I understand time frames. I understand a need to make money for the PTO. But come' on! That was chintzy and wrong to have advertised it as a "carriage ride for the you and your escort". Obviously, I was rather perturbed about the whole portrayal of an actual carriage- and at that price I would not have thought otherwise. Maybe a short 5 minute jaunt to accomadate everyone befitting the price. But I certainly would not have thought it would be a hay wagon!
She enjoyed herself very much and danced the night away with her friends and her 2 escorts- grandpa and daddy. The escorts enjoyed themselves more so that they had each other to talk to while the girls ran around the gym together. The Ball was over by 9 (or as their clock struck midnight), so the 3 of them went to dinner before heading home.The princess fell fast asleep as soon as her precious head fell upon her pillow, forgetting to remove her crown....
sweet dreams, ~Tammie