Maybe you can’t go home again, BUT…

…you sure as heck can return to a sale you saw the day before! And if you’re lucky, the thing you went back for will still be there. Was it? Stay tuned…
Two days of garaging, one alone, the other with my husband. I do believe in Spring, I do believe in Spring! And when I tell you I spent a little over $40, you’ll know it was a good weekend indeed. Of course it always seems to be the case that the folks you enjoy talking to the most don’t have anything you want to buy. On Friday that would be the couple at the adorable mid-30s house I reached about halfway through the morning. You know the kind of house I mean, with the steep-pitched roof, and the arched doorway, something like this:     

Found this pic on an article about Sears kit houses, and actually their house might have been one. They told me it had been moved to its present location not long before they bought it…35 years ago. Anyway, I was admiring the house, and what I could see of the backyard, and the mister was eager to tell me more about the yard. Which was full of fruit trees – cherry and apples and pears and plums. No, make that prunes, he insisted that prunes and plums are different trees, while I have always clung to the belief that a prune is a dried plum. Though I’m willing to admit it’s probably a particular kind of plum. You will be proud of me for two reasons: I did not argue with this very nice man about prunes, and I did not break into the Prune Song, though I almost did. (“No matter how young a prune may be/It’s always full of wrinkles./A baby prune’s just like its dad/Though it’s not wrinkled half as bad…”) Besides all the fruit trees, there was a kid’s fort up on posts, something like a treehouse. He laughed and told me it used to be a foot or so higher. “We noticed the posts were starting to rot, and we couldn’t figure out why…until we realized they were 25 or 30 years old!”
Ah, yes, time does fly.
The first thing I bought on Friday was this jingle bell Christmas wreath.

The lady selling it tried to talk me out of it. “Are you SURE you want it? If you put it on a door you’re going to have to listen to it every time you go in or out.” Pretty clear why it was in her sale! But I persisted, because a) I like it, b) it was only a buck and c) if I put it on the front door we’ll be safe because we almost always use the side door. I was about to leave their driveway when I spotted another Christmas ornament, and fell pretty hard for it.

 

A wonky kitty tree topper! With stars hanging from his tail! Disapproving Angel Kitty will most likely refuse to be on the same tree. I tried to get Noll Baxter to wear it for a hat, and he disapproved too.

Made a few more stops, then found one more sale where I bought a few things. This nondescript black shirt was purchased solely for the cuffs! I have a jacket with sleeves that are too short, and these cuffs are going to fix that.

A Julia Roberts film, pretty much a no-brainer. I know I’ve seen it but have no memory whatsoever of the plot. Entertainment gets pretty darned easy once your memory starts to go.

A twin-size vintage wool blanket for one of the guest beds, or to use as an afghan. The tag says to dry clean, but that is SO not going to happen. In fact, it’s already been machine washed and air-dried and came out beautifully.

And, to make sure that the really nice weather we’re having this weekend will last, I bought a coat. There’s nothing like having a new coat that you’d like to wear for clearing away the last of winter.

It’s a Land’s End barn coat, a nice medium weight. It too has been washed and air-dried and will be ready next fall!
There was one other sale I stopped at yesterday, an estate sale, where I saw some nice stuff but I thought the prices were silly. However, it was one of those sales where prices go down the second day. I dithered over a Dansk fondue pot, but just couldn’t bring myself to fork out the asking price.

But dang, it haunted me. It was so MCM, so blue, so Dansk. So I put that sale back on today’s list, just in case no one had bought it. It was our second stop, and to my surprise they had not opened the doors yet when we arrived. Finally the guy running the sale came out and actually stood there and made a speech. Okay, his explaining that prices under X dollars were half today, and over X were 30% off made sense, though a sign to that effect would probably be more efficient. But he did like the sound of his voice. At last we were allowed inside, where I scurried to the kitchen counter where I had last seen my (MY!) fondue pot…and it wasn’t there. I heaved a sigh. But then I looked across the room, and there it was on a side table! I must have levitated over there, because I have no recollection of actually walking. I think I may have jostled another shopper just a bit, but I don’t really think she was looking at MY Dansk fondue pot. (No, really. She was getting something else.)

My pot! Half price! Woo hoo! It’s the feet on the stand. Don’t you just love those feet?
So now I could relax and look around to see if there was anything else we needed. Okay, wanted. First thing we found was this nice MCM coffee pot.

We passed on a very nice MCM credenza, since even at 30% off the price wasn’t tempting. But there in a corner was another MCM must-have: a pole lamp!

Sorry not to have a better picture; it needs cleaning up and new felt pads before we put it up. Which will probably be down in the family room somewhere. Stay tuned.
From there we headed out to the garage and scored again. Steven found pruners on an extension pole

and I found a box of wooden Christmas ornaments. Most are not really significant

but this guy makes me laugh

especially his profile

and I quite like these metal soldiers.

Although someone else does not.

We figured we’d better drop this stuff off at home, which fortunately wasn’t terribly far away. I almost asked Steven if he wanted to call it a day after that haul, but fortunately I didn’t. Because I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this cast iron maple leaf which may become part of the whirligig I’m planning to make

or a brand new can of tennis balls.

And for fifty cents I scored this wool sweater.

I’m only planning to wear the sleeves. Because you see little Miss Zoë got hold of one of my favorite sweaters the other day. I call it my Yeti sweater because it’s kind of hairy looking, but it’s cashmere, and I wear it (only!) around the house to keep warm, and I love it. (And it cost fifty cents!) But it’s not in very lovable condition at the moment.

So I’m going to trim off the tatters and graft on new sleeve ends. And then I really will only wear it in the house!
And then at our very last stop, after two non-existent sales, I found something I have never ever seen before at a garage sale. Not ever.

Sparklers! They were left over from a wedding. So we got them to help celebrate our big-number anniversary that’s coming up. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I held a sparkler in my hand? Definitely worth staying married to get to play with these babies!