thrift store find, need help!

Brandon found this lovely platter/bowl at the thrift store last week. We love it even if it turns out to be cheap/new/whatever, but we're not sure who made it. We've both searched online for a few hours, and can't find ANYTHING. If you've seen these marks before (or if you've got a good book on silver hallmarks), help us out!

It looks like it says: VICTORIAN, then has three shields with letters that might be F, S, and T, then a rooster or bird head of some kind, then 4204 / S.

And yes, he paid the exorbitant price of $2.02! :)

before and after - back yard lawn

before and after - veggie garden

before and after - wisteria of evil

before and after - herb garden

Everybody loves before and after pictures. When used to watch those shows on HGTV (lies, all lies!), I only cared about the before and after. It's not as if they really showed the HOW of the work they did anyway. So, for your viewing pleasure, I present BEFORE and AFTER yard photos.

fresh veggies

Okay, so technically only one of our fresh veggies is ready to eat yet, but it's looking good! So far, the bunnies have kept away. Which is good, because although we are a peace-loving people, we are starting to understand the invention of the slingshot.

Enjoy!

what happened to june?

Somehow we seem to have moved directly into July or August. Ugh. Temperatures hitting 97 everyday is not letting Brandon get started on the projects he has planned for his summer break. We had a big yard sale last weekend and his mom came down to help us. It was extremely hot and we had a lot of stuff left over, but we had a lot of fun hanging out. We went to the Farmer's Market in Forest Park and she helped me pick out some plants for the front flower bed. It gets a lot of sun, and the snapdragons that were there were finally slowing down. Brandon and I tried to move the snapdragons but the cat next door keeps digging them up! That, combined with the extreme heat, has kept them from looking too good in the new spot.

A neighbor who is also a contractor is coming over sometime this week to help Brandon install some solar attic vents (hooray!) since cutting a hole in our house makes us nervous. Other summer projects include painting all the windows and trim outside in a more Craftsman color scheme. We have more privet and other scrub trees to cut down (actually, right now I am supposed to be outside helping Brandon haul limbs to the curb) but most of the big yard jobs have been done for now, at least the ones we can afford.

The centipede grass we planted is doing well, finally filling in and getting tall! Very exciting.

Was wondering if anyone had any experience with running ads on their houseblog? I know Google will add them, as well as Houseblogs.net...do they actually make any money? Maybe enough to pay for my domain name fee each year, or more, or less? Do you find them annoying as a blog reader or do you notice them? I've seen some that are more subtle than others.

I got my first edition of the neighborhood newsletter finished and to the printers, so it will come out this weekend. Turns out now that the entire board wants to step down, so not sure what's going to happen now.

Hope to post yard photos soon, and maybe attic vents. We've been so busy working there's no time to blog, and when there is, we're too tired. Same as everyone else in the houseblog boat, I'm sure.