blue artichoke

We have had fantastic weather recently, the kind of weather that makes me want to throw off winter's lethargy and spruce things up a bit. Normally in the early days of spring, I like to shop for bright spring clothes, buy new plants for my front-porch container garden, highlight my hair and window-shop downtown. See a pattern here? I spend money in spring. Because that's not an option this spring, instead of highlights, I cut my hair. Instead of buying bright spring clothes, I'm appreciating all my old favorites and looking to my collection of earrings and necklaces to spruce up my wardrobe. There will be no new container garden on the front porch this year, so I'm redecorating with things I already have.

I woke up cranky and grumpy yesterday, so I forced myself outside to work in the sunshine. I started by washing off some filthy plastic lawn chairs and side table that live unused in the back yard. Once they were gleaming, I wanted to put them on the front porch. As often happens, the newly cleaned makes the old look dingy, so I took everything off the porch and swept and mopped the white concrete floor. It's a dirty job, but hard labor that produces immediate results is a mood-lifter. My neighbors stopped by to see what I was doing, and stayed to chat a bit. The porch dried quickly in the sunshine, so I created a nice little sitting area for future neighborhood gossip sessions. Last fall, I pulled up the daffodil bulbs from the patch of dirt in front of the house. Many were already sprouting, so I planted the bulbs in my empty flower pots and arranged them along the porch walls. There was so much junk stashed away on the porch; I brought in what was still useful and threw everything else away. Now, instead of heading out to shop, I can head out to the porch and enjoy the beautiful weather while heckling the barefoot hippies that walk by.

Yesterday's experience made me realize that I don't need to go shopping to spruce thing up. I can be even more creative by repurposing the tired, old boring things I already have. This Not Buying It project may become a permanent fixture!

Getting to Know All About You: What do you do to get rid of the grumps?