Winners!

He won! Yes, thanks to your support, our Edward’s face is going to be on dog treats at our local pet store. How exciting is that? We really appreciate your votes and lovely comments. I believe Edward was the only entrant with votes from all over the U.S. and even other countries! Being the modest, unassuming fellow that he is, Edward is taking fame in his stride. I’m sure when the paparazzi show up, he’ll just ask them for treats and pose in a nice Sit. He’s that kind of boy. I’ll keep you posted when we get our hands on some of the dogs treats with his picture. Hmmm, I think my Christmas shopping is going to be easy this year!

I felt like just as big a winner as Edward this weekend. Yup, the garage sales have started in earnest with our lovely warm weather – and I scored practically an entire new wardrobe! I still can’t believe my luck. On Friday I headed first to an estate sale near home. I am still looking for a couple of mid century twin beds, so I always head straight to the bedrooms at an estate sale. No cool beds at this one, but I noticed that the closets in two rooms were completely stuffed with nice clothing. I peeked at a couple of pieces. They were MY SIZE. Since the sale had just started. clothes were priced at $3 for pants, $4 for tops, etc. Not bad, but even those prices add up. I picked out a few things, and when I paid, the cashier mentioned that prices would be half off on Saturday. She even said there was a bathroom that was closed off for the sale where I could try things on. I promised I’d be back the next day.

Went to a few more sales…and danged if I didn’t find another – a fundraiser for a youth group – with more clothes in my size. I picked up half a dozen pieces there. The rest of the morning yielded only a few small candles, but I went home happy and anticipating the next day.

I returned to the estate sale about two minutes after they opened on Saturday and headed straight for those closets. I could see that a few things had sold, but they were still packed with clothing. I started a pile, moved to the other room and added to it, then checked with the cashier to make sure it was okay to try items on. “Of course,” she said. “Use that back bathroom. We want you to be happy!” (I’d like her to give lessons in attitude to some other folks who run estate sales!)

I dragged my enormous pile of clothing into the bathroom, closed the door, and started in. About 10 pieces were weeded out for not being comfortable enough. I returned them to one of the closets for some other lucky lady to find, and went to pay for my goodies. I’m sure I was grinning ear to ear. I was excited on Friday over my finds, and to get more on Saturday for half price was the icing on the cake. I ended up spending a total of $72. See if you think I got my money’s worth:

four brand new pairs of Argyle socks (I’ve never owned any Argyles before!)

a nice selection of pants (Talbot’s, Coldwater Creek, Liz Claiborne)

shirts from Hawaii (you can still buy these…if you want to pay $95 each!)

a cotton eyelet overshirt, and two linen blouses

a couple of Ralph Lauren shirts

tees from Talbot’s, Coldwater Creek, Liz Claiborne

a traveller’s knit jacket (this style/brand currently retails for close to $120!)

 

and several sweaters. Three from an upscale store in Portland, knit of linen and rayon

one of fine gauge cotton, and a cashmere

a very pretty Christmas vest…I know these are no longer the fashion,

but this one is so nicely done, with its glittery trees on front and back

 

soft angora snow

and the fringe on the skater’s scarf and hat blowing in the breeze!

Last, a gorgeous hand knit wool sweater in a fine weight yarn.

This was made by a real expert. It has NO seams at all, so she knitted it in the round, with lovely details like a seed stitch bottom border and cables around the neckline and up the shoulder decreases.

I admit it…I keep walking into my closet and sighing with happiness! This garaging season is off to a fabulous start.

So Edward and I are both winners. But that’s not all. I found out this morning I won a cool blog giveaway! Ann over at All Things Paper showcases lots of fabulous paper art. A few days ago I left a comment saying since the giveaway drawing would be on our anniversary (number 41. No, I can’t believe it either.) she really ought to pick me. And she did!

I tell you, if I were the kind of person who buys lottery tickets, this would clearly be a good time. But if I did win some lottery money, I’d probably spend it on beautiful paper art, nice duds, and treats for Edward – and I’ve already got all that!

Mark Another Off the List!

One thing you don’t see too often on a driveway is a Cuisinart food processor. Or at least not in my price range. I still feel very happy every time I use mine, which I bought about 7 or 8 years ago (pre-blog!) for eight bucks. Brand new, still in its unopened box. The lady selling it told me she never cooks, that it had been a gift. And now she was getting married and was sure someone would give her another for a wedding present, even though she still didn’t cook and had no plans to begin. So she was happy to have it gone, and I was happy to get it.

A couple of years later I found a set of seven disks and a rack for another three bucks. And since we do cook, these puppies have gotten a workout over the years. So much so that the bowl that came with the processor wore out and had to be replaced. Cost over $30 just for that one piece…as you can imagine, I was appalled! So I added “Cuisinart for parts” to my search list. I’ve been searching diligently for probably three years now, but the only ones I saw were always held in too-high esteem by their owners. I know it would drive me nuts to pay three or four times as much for something to part out as I did for the original new-in-box machine.

I have certain standards to uphold, after all.

And then on Friday morning, there it was. A friendly little sale not far from home, but with nothing of interest. I moved along the tables of mugs and glassware and stuffed toys and a couple of DVDs of depressing movies all the way to where a little old lady was examining stuff at the back. I’ll never know what she was looking at, because she was standing near a box that held a food processor. I recognized a Cuisinart lid and bowl immediately. And I saw the green sticky dot with $5 written on it. A quick examination showed that everything seemed to be there, so I picked up the box and turned to the ladies having the sale.

“Any chance you’d take three for this if I give it a good home?” I asked, and as most people do, she laughed. “Sure. If you promise to love it!” I promised, and pointed out I was already hugging the box.

Three bucks changed hands and off I went, elated at the prospect of marking another item off my watch list, and amazed once again at the usefulness of offering to give something – anything! – a good home. This one phrase is probably the single most important tool in my bargaining arsenal. I’m sure it has saved me hundreds of dollars over the years. Try it and you’ll see – and I want a full report on your success!

Didn’t have time to do any garaging on Saturday. But I still ended up with some thrifty spending. We had a meeting in Eugene in the morning. Then we went to a lady’s house on the south side of town where she is simplifying her landscaping and dividing and selling a bunch of perennials. I found her via Craigslist, and we emailed back and forth during the week. Since we are relandscaping the entire yard, we need quite a few plants to get things rolling. We left her house with a huge clump of crocosmias,

clumps of shasta daisies and rudbeckias,

two or three kinds of coreopsis, some heucheras and more,

all for $45.

Naturally, I promised we’d give her plants a very good home!

One last reminder to vote for our Edward so he can be the Face on the Dog Treats at our local pet store. Voting ends this Tuesday night. Last time I looked he was number three, which is okay because they’ll use the top three vote getters. Huge thanks to all of you who have voted for him already. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your lovely comments too. I’m pretty sure he’s the only dog up there who is getting votes from all over the U.S. and even from other countries. But don’t worry, it hasn’t gone to his head. He’s still the same humble guy he’s always been, ready to give a friendly wag to anyone and everyone. And of course to relieve them of any treats they might have on them!

Vote Early! Vote Often!

As of this morning, Edward has slipped to 4th place in the voting for the honor of being the face on the dog treats. We need to be in the top three! If you have a Facebook account, please take a moment to click over to HERE and give his picture a ‘like.’ Then if you would be so kind, strong-arm encourage your friends, family, and acquaintances to do the same. Let me know if you’d like a flyer to post on the bulletin board at work or school, with little tear off tabs at the bottom with the URL. (Yeah, I made one up for the dog park bulletin board.)

After all, Edward is a very handsome boy. He was an adorable baby

 

a heartthrob as an adolescent

and is aging (he’s almost 11 now) with grace and dignity.

He’s unfailingly helpful around the house.

 

He was the best little brother that Lizzie could have had

and has been instrumental in civilizing Zoe.

He rarely does anything wrong, and if he does he’s sorry.

He is not above a friendly gossip session with his friends.

Edward is a friend to man

and beast.

 

Vote for Edward!

Vote for Edward!

Calling all Facebook users! Our local pet store is having a photo contest, the winners of which will have their picture on their new line of dog treats. They definitely need our Edward as their representative! If you’ve ever seen him at the dog park you know he is the biggest treat mooch in town. Besides being quite a handsome guy.

Here’s his picture that we entered:

Click over to their Facebook page here and give him a ‘like,’ would you? And have your friends and family vote for him too. Voting ends on April 30th at 11:59pm.

Vote for Edward! Vote for Edward! He’s the best!

Thanks!

Where the Heck ARE They?

It’s Spring. Definitely. Things blooming all over the place, including a zillion daffodils in my yard.

The Japanese maple has adorable baby leaves and the birdbath is full of pink cherry blossoms.

So where the heck are the yard sales?

Rain? You think the rain is still stopping things? I bet you’re right! And okay, I admit there have been sales in town, but so widely scattered I haven’t even been tempted. Not with gas prices the way they are. So it’s been strictly local, which for the past couple of weekends translates to two sales, and a total expenditure of six bucks. But again everything I found was on my look-for list. I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to wipe out that whole list this year…and what I’ll do if that happens! Actually, I know the answer to that. I will be the luckiest woman alive because I’ll have nothing left to want for, and can just spend the next forty years or so (yes, planning to live to a very ripe old age!) enjoying what I have. Now that’s a plan.

So what did I find at these two sales? Last weekend at a sale set up on the wide front porch of an old Craftsman house I picked up three cotton turtlenecks.

I had been thinking I might have to buy some in a store, because I wear turtlenecks constantly for about 7 months of the year, and two or three of my current supply are at least twenty years old. Guess it pays to buy good quality, huh. They’re tatty, but so soft and comfy, hard to give up. Now they can go to a well deserved rest in the rag bag.

Another fifty cents went for a set of fondue forks

to use with that Dansk fondue pot I found almost exactly a year ago.

Someday I hope to find some classy Dansk forks, but in the meantime this set should encourage increased fonduing. Fondueing? Fondue forking?

This Saturday we stopped at one sale on our way up to Portland (more on that in a moment). Her Craigslist ad said she had over-shopped and over-collected and was selling off her crafting stash. She also said she had “the usual garage sale stuff” which included tatting lace. To me the usual garage sale stuff is more along the lines of used candle stubs, stuffed toys, and a handful of rusty tools. Had to go to her sale just to find out what “tons more etc.” might entail. Sadly, either she’d already had a bunch o’ buyers by the time we arrived, or she overstated the merchandise a bit. No, a lot. Steven took one look around and decided that price-wise “she was dreaming.” However, even here I found something on my list, and it was fifty cents.

I decided last December when I was hand-cutting homemade dog biscuits  to give as Christmas treats to our dog park friends that I had to find a small cookie cutter or two. This should speed up production considerably. And with a bit of elbow grease I was able to remove most of the vintage price-tag goo.

The drive up to Portland was to attend this plant sale. Our relandscaping still requires quite a few plants, and we were able to make a dent in the list in this one place. Doesn’t look like all that many plants grouped in their boxes like this

but I’m very pleased with what we found, including Himalayan maidenhair ferns for under that Japanese maple,

three kinds of lavender, a couple of salvias and a penstemon, and several varieties of heuchera which will go around the birdbath to take over when the daffodils are finished. I can hardly wait to get everything in the ground.

But you know, I just realized that even when every item on my need-to-find list has been found and brought home, there will probably ALWAYS be another plant that I will want!