Monday, December 16, 2019

Unexpected Treasures


Wasn’t going out on Friday, only two estate sales in town that looked meh and Judy and I both decided housework could take precedence. Then KK ended up with Friday off, so she and I checked out the estate sales. Which turned out to be…meh. And both involved climbing stairs, and both houses were, um, somewhat smelly. The first had been inhabited by smokers (lovely collection of ashtrays for sale in the garage), the second by mildew and infrequently changed cat boxes.

And I admit that stairs are not my favorite thing. The new knee is doing just fine, but we're still slow on stairs. I really appreciated the lady going up in front of me who commented, "You know, I have always hated climbing stairs!" Someone who understands me!

I managed to spend four bucks at the first sale. The family was probably Swedish; among other things there were numerous Christmas ornaments made of the traditional straw. I was a bit tempted, but my rambunctious cat Millie would have made short work of them. But I loved this hand embroidered (all in chain stitch) bell pull, 



and Millie highly approves of the bunny tea cloth I brought home.


I love the bunnies, don't they look like they are conversing?



On Saturday, KK and I headed off to Portland. We were lunching with Linda, then getting KK’s car serviced at the dealer. When we reached Linda’s house we found she had ducked out to run a quick errand that of course took longer than expected, but we had seen an ‘estate sale’ sign around the corner so of course we had to check it out. Turned out to be further away than expected, but on the way to our lunch spot.

Everyone else in Portland must have been at a mall, because this very nice estate sale was practically deserted. And luckily Linda soon texted, and joined us. KK found several things (sorry, can't remember what!) and Linda went back the next day to buy the mirror she fell in love with – at
half price.


I hit the jackpot before I even went in the house – found a large Japanese aralia (fatsia japonica) for only ten bucks. (If you buy plants you know that’s a steal!) It was one possibility I've been considering for a part of my yard I'm developing because of its imposing appearance and shade tolerance.



 Inside I picked up a pair of fifty cent earrings,


two lovely blue ramekins (fifty cents each),



and a handmade tote bag that I just love.


Needs a bit of mending, but hey, I like to mend!


Out in the garage I found another holiday bell pull, this one of Swedish hardanger embroidery on linen.



I guess it was Swedish weekend, since we had to go by IKEA while we were in Portland as well. But the little glow we felt from finding this completely unexpected estate sale carried us through the retail encounter. Which on a Saturday afternoon, ten days before Christmas, we certainly needed!

4 comments:

  1. Love reading about your treasures! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another great post! Vicarious pleasure...
    (again from Meredith Brody, Bay Area...longtime reader!)

    ReplyDelete

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

 
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