I made a plant trade with a neighbor . . .

. . . and she surprised me. I know I got the better end of the deal. 

Actually, my daughter brokered this trade for me. My daughter happened to be walking by the neighbor's house one day and mentioned how much I loved one of her plants. This lovely and sweet lady offered to trade me for one of mine.

The plan had been to trade primrose plants. I had the 3 primrose plants that I bought on Super Bowl Sunday, an orange-y, ruffly primrose. What she had that I wanted was a double blossom baby pink primrose. 

So I got my trade all potted up and ready. What she gave to our family was the primrose I wanted, plus a Japanese primrose, some salad burnet, plus some purple broccoli and parsley that she started from seed. I have to say, I'm embarrassed by my lack of generosity.

This neighbor is known for her fabulous flower, fruit and veggie, and perennial garden. My thumb is somewhere near the brownish end of the green spectrum in comparison. If she's willing to teach me, perhaps I could become a better gardener. In any case, it's always nice to get to know someone with whom I share a hobby.

Last Week's Thrift Store Mini-Haul

 

A 3-qt and a 1-qt classic stainless steel Farberware saucepans with lids. New these sell for $29.92 and $18.69 each, respectively, or $48.61 for the set of two on Amazon. I paid $5.94 and $4.54 for a total of $10.48 on Senior Day at Value Village (30% off).

Why does this matter so much to me that I would blog about it? Up until 2019, this was my set of saucepans:

a hand-me-down 3-qt Club Aluminum saucepan and lid without the handle, a hand-me-down, thin-bottom (everything scorches in it) 2-qt stainless steel saucepan without the lid (using an old lid from a previous hand-me-down small saucepan), and a free-pile saucepan with no lid. All of our cookware for our entire 37-year marriage has come to us second-hand in one way or another.

In 2019, I found this 2-qt stainless steel Farberware saucepan with matching lid at Value Village for $3.99. I was pleased with how this saucepan cooked, and it became a preferred saucepan in our household. At that point I decided that I would try to collect other classic stainless steel pieces by Farberware for our cookware. Then 2020 happened, and I had to delay adding pieces to our cookware. 

For the last 2 years, I've kept my eyes open for more Farberware at Value Village and Goodwill. It seems that the cookware section is now always picked over and looking rather sparse. Until this past week. It looked like someone donated an entire set of classic Farberware earlier that week. In addition to the 2 pieces I bought last week, there was also a 2-qt saucepan (which I didn't need) and a large skillet (again I didn't need, as we already have the Farberware skillet).

With the addition of a 3-qt and 1-qt saucepan, my collection of classic stainless steel Farberware saucepans is now complete. I now have the 3-qt, 2-qt, and 1-qt saucepans.

I also have the Farberware .625 qt butter warmer, bought second hand for $5.99 (retails for $12.99), a hand-me-down(from stepmom) Farberware 16-qt stockpot, a hand-me-down (from mother-in-law) 10-inch Farberware skillet, and a thrifted 7-inch Farberware skillet ($2.99 at Value Village a year ago). I'm on the look-out for the Farberware 4, 6, or 8-qt stockpot to complete my set of matching stainless steel cookware, all obtained thrifted, yard saled, or handed-down. Once I have that last stockpot, I tell you, I'll be so happy to look into my cookware cabinet and see an entire matching set. I think I'll celebrate with the purchase of a door-mount pot lid rack to keep my cabinet looking organized.