Good Friends

Last week I tried to get my friend Marcia to go garaging with me, but it didn’t work out. But I made a new friend on one of the driveways I shopped.

Her name is Sophie.

“Great cat,” I commented. The folks having the sale enthusiastically agreed. “And she’s not even our cat. She lives down the street. Anything that happens in the neighborhood, Sophie is there helping out.”

   

She helped me look at earrings. We decided not to buy any. The more I petted her the louder she purred, and the closer she got.

I admired her fancy toes.

Had to leave Sophie behind (they didn’t think the neighbors would take kindly to their selling her). So I got Marcia to go out with me this week. We were just starting out when we saw this tiny little woman, probably in her 70s, trying to hang these signs on the wall. We stopped to help. Well, Marcia helped. I took her picture.

We didn’t see much at their sale we wanted, but they did give us this book, by an author I like. Don’t judge this book by this cover, it is way better than it looks!

We ran across one sale where they were into merchandising.

I snuck a shot of this terrier while the owner and a couple of other folks were talking about all the local problems with coyotes.

One of them claimed that the coyotes in Huntington Beach are now grabbing small dogs on leash and running off with them (and not in the amorous sense). HB – it’s not all surfers anymore. Around the corner the terrier turned up again, and was immediately surrounded by an entire teenage fan club.

Marcia asked them why it was just kids running their sale. Turns out one of them (the one with teal blue hair that I didn’t get a picture of) is raising funds to go to Europe, where she is going to study cooking in London, France, Italy and Germany. We were suitably impressed, and bought some cookbooks from her.

I needed another baking book, yes? When we left she thanked us and said she was all energized about her trip again.

I don’t think the HB coyotes would stand a chance with Dexie.

She was really growling at us. The girl’s dad took her and we petted her a bit, a trifle gingerly on my part.

This sweetie was introduced as the security guard. Well, both sweeties, they were a team. The dog is blind, but the guy wasn’t missing a thing.

I picked up a vintage cartoon book and a couple of DVDs at another sale

 

and some bookplates and cards at another.

She had several boxes of these cards. “Yeah, I bought them when my twins were born thinking I’d send out pictures of them every few weeks, and they just had their ninth birthday, so I think it’s too late.”

My one other find of the morning is in the nature of a sentimental ending to my time in Orange County. I was so excited when they offered me the position here.  That weekend I went to a yard sale and found a Peter Rabbit needlepoint pillow, and I remember thinking as I bought it that oh, boy, I had an excuse to buy children’s literature stuff again. So it seems just right to buy one more Peter Rabbit, who will be part of the collection of children’s literature items I’ve found on the driveways of the OC.

Nope, I didn’t give them all away to my librarians, and am planning to decorate one of our guest rooms with them.

Marcia and I ended the morning by meeting up with my friend Linda for breakfast. Linda is literally one of the best things I’ve ever found on a driveway. Yup, we met at a yard sale, started talking, and that’s all it took.

This is my last weekend here; I’ll be heading up to Oregon later this week. I’m not sure how long it will be until I’m back online and will be able to post. But rest assured, the Queen of Fifty Cents has only retired from her day job. I’ll let you know how things are going and what the Salem yard sale scene looks like just as soon as I can!