The Protection of the Garage Sale Gods

So on our New England trip, Linda and I drove into Maine. We were very excited, neither of us had ever been to Maine. We found our travel days were best when we had a single destination, and on that day it was to eat gelato in Portland. (Hey, you can go to all the museums you want when you travel. We wanted gelato, and it was worth the trip.)

Soon after we got into Maine we passed a collection of outlet stores, and we commented on the clothing store where we’ve both found good quality and well-fitting items in the past. A few miles further along we passed more outlets, including another branch of this store we liked. So we stopped. Turned out this particular small outlet didn’t have our sizes, but the lady working there told us about the bigger one a few miles past Portland where they had lots of stuff and a huge sale going on. She gave us directions.

We achieved our gelato mission, the day was still young. Let’s go see if we can score any bargains, we said. My rationale was that I had just weeded my closet of everything that wasn’t being used or didn’t fit, and my supply of pants had taken a hit. So off we went.

And could not find the place.

Even after we went online and ascertained the exact address and put it in the GPS, we never saw this outlet mall. Must have driven right past it. So Linda’s theory was that the garage sale gods didn’t want us to buy retail and had hidden the store from us. And I think she’s right because of what happened when I got home.

We returned on Thursday night, which meant that Judy and I could have what we call “Fun Friday.” Not many ads in Craigslist, but the Methodists were having a rummage sale, so we were off and rummaging. And what did my rummaging turn up?

Pants! Including some of the brand of the outlet we couldn’t find. Two pairs of black slacks, two pairs of linen,

a pair of Eddie Bauer jeans (sheesh, these retail for like $75)

plus a $200+ Norwegian sweater

and a beautiful linen blouse with pulled thread embroidery.

All for $14.

Hooray for the garage sale gods!

We managed Fun Friday again this week, even though the Oregon rains have begun in earnest. I spend fifty cents at an estate sale for one of those memory foam bath mats (sorry, it just did not make for a compelling picture!) AND this silicone pastry mat.

I’ll be interested to see how well it works. Looks just like the one on the King Arthur Flour site (minus their logo) where users were raving about them.

Then we headed to the only other sale on our side of town, advertised as a huge barn sale. And it was a fair sized sale in a barn, but the folks were under the impression it was an antique store and had priced accordingly. I think I got the only actual bargain in the place. This little guy

caught my eye. I mean, this is a seriously cute bunny, yes?

But the price tag on his foot – no.

So I asked the lady how much he was. “He couldn’t be that much, right?” I said, showing her the tag. She agreed, and suggested two dollars. I tentatively offered one…and a good home, and she said sure. So a dollar later the bunny was mine.

When I got home I started searching for more info on him. The price tag peeled off to reveal another. He’s a ‘real Erzgebirge’ bunny, most likely by Christian Ulbricht.

Didn’t find this exact one but similar ones share his darling shoes

and whiskers

and tail.

The current crop of these bunnies retail anywhere from $35 to $80. Yowza.

And he’s not only cute. He’s a natural born leader!