Blue Dog

I’m not quite sure what it was about that woman at the first sale on Friday. It took her less than two minutes to have me gritting my teeth with irritation. I thought at first that she was a shopper because she had an adorable little long-haired dachshund on a leash following her around. But no, it was her sale, and she was dragging the poor pup hither and yon while she fussed with setting up. Then I started looking around and found ridiculous prices – on the things that even had prices. Evidently she was expecting people to make “reasonable offers” that she could reject. When I asked her what she considered reasonable for a piece of framed art, she thought that it could go for at least $300. You could feel a ripple of mirth around the single-car garage when she said that, and practically see a thought balloon over every shopper’s head:

We returned empty handed to KK’s car and I told her and Judy how annoyed I now felt. Turns out they both had gritted tee too. Grrrrr. Judy commented that everywhere she’d ever worked there was someone just like this woman that you had to get along with.

At least we could drive away. Hooray for yard sales – and retirement!

I wasn’t sure the next nearby address would be up and running yet, we were somewhat before their stated starting time. But they were ready, and turned out to be the perfect antidote to the first woman. Two sisters, probably in their early 70s. One had just moved into the house to live with the other, and they had boxes and boxes of unneeded stuff. “We grew up in this house,” one told me. Her sister ruefully added, “Can you believe I’m back in the same bedroom I started out in? At least we don’t have to share it anymore!” “Yeah,” the first sister said. “She was really mean to me!” They were a hoot. And they had sensible prices (yes, a lot of things were fifty cents or less!) I left them with $1.75 and took away a cutting mat

some large padded envelopes

and some nice yarn (future slippers).

The colors remind me of a wonderful hydrangea bush we saw somewhere along the way.

Judy and KK both found goodies as well, and we departed with expressions of mutual goodwill and feeling much soothed.

Whew!

The rest of the morning was pretty normal; friendly banter as we perused lots of stuff none of us needed or wanted, along with a few little buys. The sweetest stop had three-month-old twin boys watched over by their dad, who told us all about how they got their rather literary names (one was Sawyer, whom the dad affectionately called “Soybean”). Turns out dad is a high school English teacher. His students are lucky to have him!

I picked up some movies along the way

and some brand new jam jars – only one jar missing from the case, and only a buck for the other eleven.

We stopped for a yummy Thai lunch, then hit a last sale on the way home. I had low expectations since the sale had been going for hours, but found my favorite item of the day there, this adorable cotton rug.

It reminded me immediately of our Zoe. Not just the face

 

but because when we are downstairs watching movies in our home theatre (yes, there’s a projector, 10 foot wide screen, surround sound, it’s way cool) and you stop the film, the screen is lit up bright blue which reflects off her white coat, and we call her our Blue Dog. After I got home I realized it also reminds me of the dogs James Thurber used to draw

as well as a favorite figurine in my hodgepodge collection of Things I love.

The rug is small, only about 18” square, and I’m toying with the idea of trying to incorporate it into a jacket. Could work. Maybe. I’ll keep you posted.