Wizards and Trees and Pristine Type

Was it the shower rod…or the hat…or the handmade box that cost a quarter last week? You guys are good guessers – it was the hat, which actually got the most guesses! A week later I’m probably still most thrilled about the free curved shower curtain rod. Which is NOT installed yet, but you don’t want to hurry into these things. I did manage to get the vintage divided box cleaned up (and wow, was it ever dirty!) and put to use.

I lined the back of each area with related pieces of scrapbook paper (part of a score back in 2009, hundreds of sheets of fabulous scrapbooking paper for three bucks! Looks like it’s going to be a lifetime supply…) so the doggie things would show up better. I’m liking it on the display shelf over my desk. And should I happen to come across a few more very small dog things, they’ll have a place and I’ll be able to answer the “where are you planning to put it” question.

One of the things I learned during this weekend’s garaging is that Salem in not a very big town. Of course I’ve known that since a few days after we bought our house here. We literally knew maybe four people in Salem (our real estate agent, our contractor who was working on the house, and a couple of his carpenters). We went out to a movie on a dark, cold wintery Monday night, and a few seconds after some people sat down in the row behind us, we heard someone say, “Mr. and Mrs. Henegar?” And it was our contractor. So I wasn’t terribly surprised at the dog park last night when I saw a cute puppy, and realized it was this one I’d met at a sale last weekend.

And then this morning as I was leaving the first sale, I heard, “Hey, it’s the dog park lady!” And there was the owner of this puppy yet again. Don’t you wonder sometimes how many times your paths have crossed with someone’s before you became aware of each other?

I chatted a little with another lady at the first sale I stopped at on Friday, admiring her cute visor with the ladybugs printed on it. Saw her at a couple more sales during the morning. You know how that is, you’re chasing the same addresses. And I noticed she has a convertible like mine (but a different color). Then this morning at my last stop I heard someone say, “It’s me, without my hat!” and there she was. Gosh, I hope I’ve been minding my manners as I go along, there’s no place to hide in a town like this!

I only bought one thing this morning, but it occasioned my biggest laugh of the day. I’d been chatting with the lady having the sale about this and that. I was wearing my shirt with the chickens embroidered on it, and she makes embroidered clothes and liked my chickens. I noticed an issue of Threads magazine, which I always enjoy reading even though I don’t do much sewing.

We negotiated a price (fifty cents, what else) and she mentioned she’d ended up with two copies of the same edition. “So this one has virgin print in it!” she assured me. “My eyes will really appreciate that,” I said. And couldn’t help adding, “It’s been so long since they’ve seen anything virgin!” We both cracked up. I was kind of glad she’d told me her husband is a little hard of hearing – since this is such a small town!

Actually managed to spend a little more on Friday – a whopping $3.75. We’re getting the house painted later this month, and I think this mat will look nice by the front door.

These planter boxes came with adjustable brackets for hanging on the deck railing.

Hmmm, maybe I can use them for the sweet pea seeds my lovely friend Cathy G. sent me this week!

I was excited to replace my old VHS copy of The Wizard of Oz with this DVD.

And I’ll love using these two little wood-shaving trees at Christmastime…

…but what really made me pick them up was the adorable box!