Hello, and welcome to another rousing round of Saturday Steals, where what you get is what you see and what you see is cheap or free!

To participate, simply:

1) Steal a steal.

2) Write a post about it on your blog, mentioning that you’re participating in Saturday Steals (you can steal the above image if you so desire), and

3) Add the link to said post to the list at the bottom of this post.

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Maybe you caught on to the fact that my parents came to visit us here in Mayberry for ten days last month. Poor Kyle and I had an excellent time showing them all the greatest things  that Mayberry and the surrounding area {okay, pretty much ONLY the surrounding area} has to offer. It felt like we were constantly going the entire time they were here, which was great because it was the only holiday they had this summer and it’s important to make the most of your holiday if it’s to be your only one.

As busy as we were, though, we still had a few days with not much planned, and on just such a day my mom said to me while we were eating breakfast:

We want to buy some flowers and plant them in your front yard.

Truthfully, with as busy as I’ve been ever since school got out in April, I haven’t had even a moment to spare on yard work and beautification. Things at my house were in a pretty sorry state, horticulturally speaking, and I blushed while responding:

No way. I’m too busy with work this week to help you plant flowers in my front yard and there’s no way I’m going to let you do it if I can’t help.

Well, you can see the outcome of that argument below:

Isn’t it beautiful? My mom and dad spent hours working in a yard that wasn’t even theirs with flowers that they forked out their own hard-earned dough for and which they didn’t even get to see for more than a week. If I think about it too much I get a little choked up so I’d better stop there.

My mother-in-law also contributed (unwittingly) to the cause by going out of town for three weeks and bequeathing unto me two potted geraniums to tend while she was gone:

She never saw them again, of course.

And, for my own part, I’m not completely worthless (though I can see why you might think otherwise): after I got back from Europe in June I transplanted the little sproutlets I’d been growing on my windowsill for the past six months into bigger pots on my front steps, which sproutlets matured into full-fledged foliage right around the time my parents left:

I don’t know what this is called but it starts with an N and it came from a packet of seeds I bought at Dollarama two summers ago. At its peak I counted 26 blooms on the sucker. Not bad for like twelve cents.

Snow peas (crossing my fingers that they actually bear some delicious bounty before the summer ends).

Cilantro (because I’m a good Arizona girl).

Basil (because I fancy it).

And Marigolds (to keep bugs from chowing down my cilantro and basil).

So there you have it: one front yard looking 100% lovelier than it’s looked in ages, with my parents footing the majority of the bill and manual labour and only a teensy percentage of effort from myself.

I’ve even had comments from multiple neighbors expressing appreciation for the fact that our yard no longer makes our house look like a seedy meth lab.

And you can’t put a price on that kind of community good will.

So I call that a steal.

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Now it’s your turn! What have you stolen lately?

Add your steal to the link list below to share it with the world. The list will be open from now till Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

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