It Must Be Summer!

Other people may be able to tell when summer has come by the calendar or the weather. But for me (and I bet for you), it’s when the neighborhood sales start—that glorious time of year when there are more yard sales than you can possibly get to. The trick is just to enjoy the ones you do attend, and not go thinking about what might have been at the ones you missed. No good ever comes from those might-have-beens!

And truly, my loot from last weekend was satisfying enough for any mortal. Started out on Thursday with a gigantic rummage sale at one of the downtown churches. It rivaled the one back in March  (not the Methodist sale, the other one!) for sheer insanity of number of items and people. And I was pretty unimpressed with their prices, though I understand they lowered them on Saturday. But this was Thursday. Call me old fashioned, but four bucks for a crappy used t-shirt? Nope. 

But I think I found the one genuine bargain in the place. I battled my way back to the corner with books, and noticed a box with a sign that said “Magazines - 5¢ Each.” I peeked, and saw a copy of Threads. (For you non-sewists, it's a sewing magazine from the same publisher as Fine Gardening, Fine Cooking, & Fine Woodworking. No, I do not know why they didn't name it Fine Sewing!) I started digging and pulled out a few copies, then a few more, then I pulled out several issues of something else and saw that the entire rest of the box wasThreads.

So I picked up the box…which weighed a ton! Sheesh, magazines are SO darned heavy. Had to wait in line, practically panting from holding that box. But I knew if I put it down I’d never get it picked up again. Finally got to the cashier, who blinked at the number of issues in the box. I started counting them and when I got to ten, she took a quick look at the size of that stack, pondered the rest of the box, and charged me three bucks for all of them. Then she found me a teenage boy to carry them to my car, which was even better than the good price. (He liked my convertible.)

When I got home I started counting and sorting—72 issues in all! They go from issue #3 (back in 1986) into 2008, and include many issues I've never seen before. Can't wait to dig in to all those articles!

Friday morning, KK and I headed down to Albany to be at the front of the line for an estate sale that promised art supplies (she’s an award winning painter and is always looking for reasonably priced supplies). Alas, the art stuff was way over priced, but I fell prey to the charms of this guy.

Poor baby apparently had an encounter with a puppy, but I'm planning to replace that ear. I believe he’s one of the reproductions they were importing from China back in the Eighties, but he’s still a mighty sweet bear.

He looks better already after a little cleaning and floofing. 

Fortunately, that estate sale was not the only game in town. There was also a neighborhood sale, so we made our way around that. There were a lot of participants but neither of us found much; I think a lot of annual sales get played out after a few years. But I did pick up a birthday gift 

still sporting its original price tag from back in (probably) the Seventies. I checked an inflation calculator and that would be about $66 today. (Bobs only become more valuable with the passage of time, right?) Found a couple of DVDs for the collection

and a baggie with bits of embellishment for a buck. 

Then behind a tent set up for shade on the driveway I spotted this.

 

Teak. Vintage—they purchased it in 1979 at the Scan Design store in Corvallis. And exactly what I was looking for. We’re finally fixing up our family room/home theatre and need something to put all the electronics on. I called the hubs and ascertained that the shelves are big enough for the DVD player etc., then handed over $50. I know, that’s a chunk o’ cash for me, but a really good deal on teak. And we were even able to get it into KK’s SUV for the trip home (after eating the best French fries I've ever had in my life at a local restaurant).

Saturday morning I had to take the hubs up to Portland to the airport, and checked Craigslist before I left to see if there were any sales in our neighborhood to cruise on my way home. Sure enough there were three. At the first I picked up some rainy day fun. 

The one on the street below my house yielded this darling little table. The wood is a close color match for our teak pieces, though I doubt that it's made of that. For $3 I'm fine with whatever kind of wood it is. 

And the sale on the street above my house (yes, we live on a hill!) gave me two things I absolutely love. First I found this vintage embroidery, which was a completed kit called “Girls, Girls.” 

Aren’t they wonderful? 

Then I spotted this 30” tall Christmas tree made of spools and little wooden ornaments.

I'm guessing it's from Germany. Every single figure is different! 

A few need to be glued back on. 

Including the skunk! 

They say money can't buy happiness, but oh yes it can, and it doesn’t even take much. Tree made of red wooden spools with little wooden figures including a tiny wooden skunk…for three dollars?

Made me happy! And if that's not enough, Mrs. Wilberforce loves the box!