Friday, November 14, 2014

Stuffing

A day of freezing rain yesterday did nothing to encourage folks to have sales this weekend. It wasn’t very kind to the neighborhood trees either. This is the one I see from our kitchen window.

poor broken tree

I decided to stay home and warm and cozy. Pets are good for that.

Snuggly dogs Noll on rug

But I still have last weekend’s finds to share. As is usual in November there weren’t many sales around here. Judy and I were most excited about the church rummage sale, but it didn’t start till noon. So I went to a couple of estate sales by myself first thing, then picked her up later for a good rummage.

The first thing I saw at my first stop was my favorite find of the day.

antique wheelbarrow 2antique wheelbarrow with leaves

As soon as I saw it I thought, oh, I bet someone’s already bought that. But no – and it was marked only $15. Which as you probably know is a chunk of change for me; my flinch point is just about a buck. But sometimes you just have to live large, you know? So I bought it. The young man having the sale helped me wrestle it into the back of the Civic. It weighs a ton.

antique wheelbarrow all metal

I asked if it had a story, but they didn’t know. They said the people who had lived in that house had simply abandoned everything and the real estate agent had hired them to clear the place. This puppy is old, possibly close to a hundred years, so I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find out more about it. It’s made entirely of metal, and perfectly balanced – still rolls along on that big old wheel like a champ. antique wheelbarrow wheelOne thing I know is that someone valued it…because it is patched! You can barely see it from the top

antique wheelbarrow invisible patch

but when you look underneath, there it is.

antique wheelbarrow patch

I’ve patched plenty of things with needle and thread and cloth, but never with iron!

I know it’s a total cliché, but I’ll probably plant flowers in it next spring. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy it as sculpture.

antique wheelbarrow

My other finds were much lighter weight! This candy dispenser just made me laugh.

Slinky Pal dogSlinky Pals dogSlinky Pals dog tail

My sister in law told me to be on the lookout for a cake dome for her, and I finally found one.

cake cover

The complete set in fact.

cake plate

And it’s not only a cake plate and cover, turn it over and it’s a punch bowl!

cake cover turned punch bowl

Couldn’t resist one of those crystal cubes with the laser sculpture inside – of Mr. Jeremy Fisher. Just like the Beatrix Potter illustration. He’ll be living in the children’s literature guest room.

Mr. Jeremy Fisher in crystal

And this vintage metal tray was a two dollar splurge. I like the handles, the heft,

vintage metal tray with pineconesvintage metal pinecones tray

the pinecones.

vintage tray decoration pineconestray, carafe, quilt - all from yard sales

The estate sale it came from was one of those run by the family instead of a company. The lady who had lived there had a thing for sewing machines. I should have taken pictures, they ran the gamut from old (as in treadle machine old) to a newish serger. When I paid for my tray I said to the seller, “This is quite a collection of sewing machines. I think I saw at least a dozen.” He bit his lip and closed his eyes for a moment before saying, “Forty.”

“Forty?” “Forty sewing machines,” he sighed. “They were everywhere.”

I think it’s the first time I’ve heard of a sewing machine hoarder!

At noon I picked up Judy and we headed for the church sale. At the door we were handed big paper bags. Five bucks a bag, unless an item was marked separately. We had a grand time poking and searching. Judy had armfuls, but went back through her finds for a second look and ended up with one firmly stuffed bag. There were two pairs of very nice shoes, sweaters, shirts, I can’t even remember everything. We put back what she’d decided not to take, and looked through my finds. Which after a second look, I weeded down to…

purple turtleneck

one purple turtleneck! And yes, we rolled it up tight and tucked it into Judy’s bag.

But in case you are thinking what cheapskates we are for our bag stuffing skills, we were talking to the church ladies, complimenting them on going to by-the-bag pricing. One of them laughed. “It has saved us HOURS of work, and we make more money than ever,” she told us. She looked approvingly at our bag. “Well stuffed.”

19 comments:

  1. Oh, the expressions on the dogs' faces tell quite the story!
    Mr. Cat has a magnificent set of whiskers.

    Your finds, as always are great. :)

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    1. I have a theory. The longer the whiskers, the higher the scamp index. At least, that's how it works at our house.

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  2. I love the cake plate/dome that turns into a punch bowl. I also think your tray is pretty. We luckily dodged all that ice being a little north of you and only had rain.

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    1. We're up on a hill too, gets colder up here. Tell your trees they were lucky!

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  3. Love the candy dispenser (hint, hint)!

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    1. You know I got it for you! Hope you guys have made it home by now.

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  4. I have an old wheel barrow just like that - I watched a very old man roll it out to the curb to be picked up on Clean Up day. I screeched on my brakes and loaded it up in my SUV. It is in the backyard and it is chock full of......wait for it.....bowling balls! All different colors and all engraved in great old names.

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    1. I love it. Did you find the bowling balls at yard sales? If anyone could it would be you. That's something I almost never see here.

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  5. Love your finds. That old wheel barrow has a history just imagine what stories it could tell. It will make a super planter.

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  6. I have a wheelbarrow like yours and astonishingly paid $15 for it! I usually replant a hanging basket type in it so the flowers spill out the sides. You found some neat things!

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  7. Sorry about the freezing rain; poor trees! Patching with metal has to mean it is old. When we cleaned out my parents' I was surprised to find 3 sewing machines: the one that I learned to sew on was the only one expected. We have some ideas about the other two but nothing is sure. 40 constitutes a collection, I believe!

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    1. Three is a collection. Forty is...I'm not sure what to call it!

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  8. I love that wheelbarrow and the sewing machine story.

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    1. I'm just glad I brought home one wheelbarrow and not 40 sewing machines!

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  9. As a novice sewing machine hoarder (only a dozen), yes, take pictures next time!

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    1. Do you sew with all of them? I only have one and can't find the perfect place in the house for that!

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I really love your comments. Thanks for coming along on my thrifty adventures!

 
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