What Are the Odds…

…that you would walk up to a sale, peek into a box of miscellaneous books – and see one by someone you once knew? Okay, I suppose if you are a literary agent or a publicist for Random House, the odds would be pretty fair. But I was a bit surprised when it happened to me!

This book was written by one of my grad school professors. In fact, I was her student assistant for a semester. There was nothing else in the box of a similar nature. Just seemed odd. Of course, if I someday spot one of my own books for sale at a yard sale, I will know I have arrived as an author! 

Perhaps it was the surprise that addled my brain enough that I picked up an item I thought maybe just might be something I could resell, even though I recently resolved NOT to buy anything else that I wasn’t positive I could use myself or definitely resell. Which turned out to have no resell value at all that I can see.

I’m not going to kick myself too hard though, since I only spent a dime! And my loss is the kitty thrift store’s gain.

I was rather guided by whim this weekend. It’s the only explanation for purchasing a Fisher Price chime ball.

Its chime is just delightful though. It rang merrily the whole time it was riding in my car. So many toys that make noise are jarring and annoying. This is what a noisy toy should sound like. Wish I could think of some way to make it into a garden chime.

Another whim was this springerle rolling pin.

Will I ever make springerle? No idea. I had a vision of imprinting shortbread dough, but I’m not sure the imprint wouldn’t bake out. Guess I was seduced by the cute carvings of a bunny

and a trio of mushrooms

and a little bunch of cherries.

Just for the record, I did not succumb to every whim. For about two seconds I thought these figures might be funny in my garden.

We could go for that popular ninja-nun look. Then I saw the price tags. So much for that. But what really cracked me up was the juxtaposition of these guys next to another item for sale.

I did enjoy their cat.

Found another wool blanket for a guest bed, same brand and similar to one from last year. When I tossed it on the bed to take a picture, I expected Zoe to remove herself. But she wouldn’t.

She really likes this blanket. Hopefully she will refrain from eating it.

I expect to have better luck reselling some other finds.

And one item turned out to be fairly rare.

I doubt that I’ll start building my own MCM furniture, though I kind of like this coffee table.

Apparently the author was Bauhaus-connected, and sold prefab furniture way before Ikea came along. But what I really like is the carpenter, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth in some pictures, and his stocking feet. Hope he didn’t step on those nails.

Lots of shots show his hair in disarray.

Kind of wanted to look for a disclaimer along the lines of “No professional models were used in the making of this book.”

Those were my Friday finds. On Saturday I headed off towards Molalla (about 35 miles away) for an event at one of the country nurseries out there, garaging as I went. Just before I headed out of Salem, I found a sale that didn’t look like much, but there were some bins of free stuff by the curb.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Not just free stuff. Free vintage linens. Some are not in the best condition, but might be good candidates for repurposing. I ended up spending a dollar for about a yard and a half of vintage-inspired fabric

and this arts & craft style vintage table runner.

Couldn’t figure out how they decided what to charge for, and what to put in the free stuff, because this was all free.

This bridge table cloth has some marks in the middle

but doesn’t it look like it could be used as the yoke and sleeves for something?

I haven’t embroidered anything for a long time, and I love this free pillowcase.

But here’s my question for you all: I think an oxy soak will take out most of the stains, but will it remove the embroidery pattern too?

And my question for me is, did I keep that stash of embroidery threads and hoops, or did I donate them to the thrift store in my last binge of purging?