ALARUMS & EXCURSIONS

Our poor Edward, who is a sensitive guy, had a terrible scare this morning.

The smoke alarm beeped.

No, it didn’t go off, it beeped. Evidently the battery was getting low, and when that happens it gives a short beep every five minutes or so. For some reason dogs find this terrifying. Lizzie always has, but she can no longer hear it. (One of the blessings of old age.) Once I figured out which alarm was the culprit I pulled it down and got the battery out. Left my husband a note so he could pick up a new battery

which he did. Edward survived the testing of the new battery (another beep—it was SO awful!) and we are once again fully smoke alarm compliant.

I suspect the dogs I met today are sensitive souls too. There was Jackson  and Lola and Lila, who felt it was her job to demonstrate every pillow in the huge pile they had for sale.Zero was walking by our last stop, and my friend Linda obliged by throwing the frisbee for him.Not sure how sensitive this guy was, but he certainly was a hoot. He had found a strip of fake fur and was modeling it for the amusement of his family (and me). 

I promised he wouldn’t end up on Youtube. Did not promise he wouldn’t go on my blog.

Met up with Linda by chance part way through the morning, so we followed each other after that. I let her lead for a while, until it turned out she was listening to someone talk on the radio instead of watch for yard sale signs. After she sailed past a large neon-green sign, I took over the lead position! So it happened that we both ended up at the sale where I bought a sofa.

Okay, there’s a story here. I saw this exact same sofa at a sale last year, and I could see that it would be easy to recover, but I wasn’t 100% sure about the style. (Turns out it’s an Ikea piece. Picture it without the little round pillow thingies.)

I called my husband and tried to describe it over the phone, thinking this kind of modern design might work in the retirement house. The seller even emailed him a quick picture of it. They were asking $100, and didn’t want to come down any, so we decide to pass it up. Literally a couple of days ago he mentioned he was kind of sorry we hadn’t gotten it. So this morning there was the same sofa on another driveway—and they wanted twenty bucks for it. Called the hubs again, and we decided to go for it if I could figure out a way to get it home. As it turned out, Linda has an SUV. It was full of stuff, but we put some of her stuff in the back of my car and got the sofa in. So now my garage has a bright orange modern sofa thingie in it.

True confession time: I’m having some buyer’s remorse. Not sure I’m going to love it even when it’s not orange. But if we decide not to keep it I imagine I can put it on Craigslist and get my twenty bucks back. I hope.

Other than the sofa, I spent $4.50 on five things, and I’m actually going to keep some of them this time. The giveaways are this dog jumping jack

which is going to be a hit at some library’s storytime, and this cast iron skilletwhich I know a friend’s husband has been looking for. It needs seasoning, but otherwise looks great.

I’m keeping this outdoor thermometer (still trying to spiff up the yard before the garden tour in the spring) and this nice piece of glass.Evidently I bought this by weight. The seller named a price, I tried for a lower price, she took it out of my hands and hefted it, then said no, her price stood. I just weighed it—it’s over 3.5 pounds, so probably less expensive per pound than potatoes!

Linda bought three little African violets and gave me one. She had to rescue them. They were the saddest plants you’ve ever seen. Don’t think they could have been watered for weeks.

We immediately grabbed my water bottle from the car and gave them a drink. This little guy already had perked up by the time I took its picture. And with the dead stuff cleared away it’s ready to grow. I figure anything that could survive that much neglect deserves another chance. And the cachepot it’s in is worth the quarter.

Speaking of clearing away…Steven tackled our poor storm-damaged gazebo this week and got the bent parts cleared off.We’re playing around with various ideas for what to do with it. (Thanks to those who made suggestions in your comments during the week!) I’m leaning toward growing annual vines up the posts and across the top, maybe on strings or wire. We’ll see.

Let me leave you with my favorite typo from the Craigslist ads this week—the one for a “huge Garga Sale.”