Flying Saucers, Half Price

First, I have to say thank you to everyone for your kind messages about our Noll kitty. We do miss him, but we’re doing okay. I think I may feel his loss the most whenever I open a door to the outside, and don’t have to rush to close it because he’s not right there trying to sneak out. I’m sure it’s fitting that I miss him trying to be a bad boy!

He would have so enjoyed checking out my garaging finds from last weekend and this. Judy and I went out this morning and we both found good stuff. For two bucks she got the perfect little storage bench for her breezeway. The top cushions need recovering but it’s just right to sit on to put shoes on and off. And that green cashmere sweater for a buck…yum!

We agreed that everyone seems to have given up quilting and scrapbooking. At least two-thirds of our stops had those supplies today. Didn’t seem like anyone was buying either. I resisted buying any yarn, but I was happy to find some knitting supplies I’ve been wanting – stitch markers and a gadget for measuring gauge and sizing needles, and a pair of needles in a brand I’ve wanted to try.

Those three things would have set me back around $20 in a store, and I paid a quarter each. And the garage sale gods must have heard me lamenting the lack of scissors on driveways, because at the same sale I picked up what seems to be a decent pair for a buck, with nicely shaped handles.

The other thrill of the morning was a baking stone for my SIL (we were talking about them just the other day)

and something I’ve always wanted to try: a baking peel.

We bake a lot of bread and pizza, and if I can learn to use this thing I won’t have to use up a piece of parchment paper each time. Both items were marked $1, but when I casually asked if she’d take a dollar for both, she seemed quite happy to say yes! Thus freeing up a dollar for a movie.

Last weekend had some good finds too. Went out on Saturday with SIL Linda and niece Kelsey. Our first stop was an estate sale, and I was bravely resisting the midcentury furniture items…until I saw this table. Twenty-five dollars. One of the voices in my head said, “No! You don’t have any place to put it!” and another cooed, “Ooooh, look at those legs!” Then the practical voice chimed in with, “It’s way nicer than the table in the family room and just about the same footprint. Put it there and sell the other one on Craigslist.” I know sense when I hear it, so a few minutes later the table was mine.

There wasn’t enough room in the car to take the table with us, so I went back later to pick it up. As we put it in the back of the car, I remembered something else I had seen and asked if it had sold yet. A Fifties electric skillet that looks like a copper and aluminum flying saucer.

      

She said it hadn’t, and I mentioned I’d probably stop by the next day when it would be half price. “If it’s still there, you can have it for half price today,” she said. And it was! So instead of a whopping five bucks, my flying saucer only cost $2.50. Even better, it seems to work, and didn’t burn down the house when I plugged it in.

That’s always a plus, isn’t it?