DUCKS AND DOGS AND DEALS ON DRIVEWAYS

This was in the driveway next door to the first sale we stopped at:
Aren’t neighbors fun?

I was reminded of a simple yet profound truth Saturday morning: Happiness really is a warm puppy.
This is Lola. She is ten weeks old. I got to hold her and yes, it did make me happy! Is there anything like that puppy warmth?

Being a holiday weekend, the number of sales was down, but it was a good day for pets, including a pair of freckled cocker spaniels…
…cute little Maggie…
...and a handsome kitty boy whose name has complete left my brain. By now it feels normal not to be able to remember a person's name, but it makes me feel really old not to recall the name of a pet!
We also enjoyed visiting with a lady who has a pair of ducks living in her neighborhood. She felt they needed water, so she went to Big Lots to buy a large container that they could splash around in. Not only did she find one (which gets refilled every day because ducks are enthusiastic splashers), they also had bags of duck food! So Mr. & Mrs. Mallard are very much enjoying their stay in her neighborhood.
I enjoyed having my colleague Trish join me for this week’s garaging. Hopefully next time she comes along there will be many more sales, but we both managed to find some goodies. Trish’s loot included a book by one of her favorite authors, and a large glass bowl embossed with roses.

I spent $6. One find was a new roll of bender board for yard projects. Didn’t bother to take a picture of that! Also found some door prizes, including a new storage case for an iPod and accessories…
…and a brand new Folkmanis mouse puppet.
When Trish saw this she gave a squeal of excitement (she’s a former children’s librarian, and no matter how far into management we migrate, we still get excited over a good puppet!) then clapped her hands over her mouth, lest the sellers decide they should charge me more than a quarter for it.

This will probably be a door prize too, unless I become really good at using it—one of those juggling thingies called a diabolo.
The seller told me her daughter spent a whole bunch o’ money on it when they saw Cirque du Soleil and she was inspired by the performers there. Inspiration was not enough however and apparently you have to actually practice to acquire this skill! Realistically I know I will probably not practice enough either—but just the fantasy of dazzling friends and acquaintances is worth the fifty cents I paid. Actually, I just hope I turn out to be better at this than the marble labyrinth I bought a few weeks ago. Still haven’t managed to get past hole number 3. But then neither has my husband, and for some reason that makes me feel much better about it!

From the duck lady I bought a nifty little clip-on flashlight. I think I'll keep it in my purse, seems like the kind of thing that could be useful.
I'm always looking for garden inspiration…
Been hoping to find a chenille bedspread for my guest room. Haven’t yet, but thought I'd try this matelesse spread for now.
It's a tad formal for us, but heck, it was two bucks and included two pillow shams, and it's from Portugal and I don’t think I own anything else from Portugal. Used to have a spoon rest from there, but we broke it a few months ago. Don’t you think a person ought to have at least one thing in her home from Portugal?

The spread is heavy and I needed both hands to pick it up and check it out, so I stuck the two bottles of dog shampoo I was holding in my pocket. (Yes, my garaging pants have big pockets!) Almost forgot they were there but felt them bouncing around as I was leaving and went back to pay. The lady said just to take them; wasn’t that nice?
My last find was crammed into a plastic bag with a bunch of other linens. The colors called out to me…
…and when I pulled it out I found a round tablecloth. Pretty big, looked like it wanted to be on my patio table.
The price, when I inquired, was reasonable. Very reasonable. In the bag were matching napkins, and I got it all for a buck. I said they were reasonable!

When I got them home I discovered the set is by April Cornell, so the fabric quality is quite nice. Not only that, but two of what I thought were napkins are actually pillow covers, and would you believe her pillow covers are something like $39 each on her website? Tablecloths this size are $89, and 4 napkins are $18. So if you didn’t already know why I shop on driveways instead of stores…now you do!