sometimes it's perfect

keith's father don is almost 80. he's full of energy. part of his daily routine is shopping for bargains. during the week it's the thrift stores. on the weekends it's flea markets and yard sales. florence has banished his purchases to their basement. we can't leave his house without being given a "gift". mostly it's nic-nacs. friday it was a plaque reading "a house is not a home without a dog". i try explaining that my house is full. i have no more wall space. no more shelves. i find it oppressive. keith has sentimental attachment to all the items because they are given with a big heart. and don notices when things are not displayed. my solution is to have an area of the house for don's items. as one comes in, another goes (to the basement - i can't even give the items to yard sales because it's a small town and don hits every one of them!) sometimes we do need something and i let don know (chenille bedspreads for my children's clothing line, used windows that i hope to use for the greenhouse i want to build this spring). and this weekend it was a magazine rack for the bathroom. we've never had one and just put the newspapers and magazines on the radiator. yesterday don showed up with this one. it is absolutely perfect. i had been scouting on ebay and hadn't seen one i wanted. this was $2.00 at salvation army. don took it home and sanded off the rusty parts. i love the 1950's feel to it. i couldn't imagine a better fit. way to go don!