No, no, no. Yes, yes,YES!

No projects, no decor. That’s our current mantra at sales. So you probably already have a very good idea what I brought home this weekend.

Of course. Decor. And a project.

Judy and I hit an estate sale first thing Friday morning, run by the nice guys I’ve mentioned before. The house was in what is probably my second-favorite neighborhood in Salem (my own Candalaria neighborhood being first) where there are many midcentury houses for us to exclaim over. Our destination house had several cool original features, including a Dishmaster kitchen faucet.

Instinct drew me instantly to the back bedroom where vintage linens were piled under a sign that said “Make an offer.” Which is what I like about these guys sales – they’re way more relaxed about pricing than most of the other local companies.

What was interesting was that there was practically a line of ladies wanting to look at linens. We all agreed it’s a dangerous vice because vintage linens are fairly common, and quite irresistible. Fortunately they are also practical, so I felt no remorse at selecting some embroidered towels (don’t you love the Beet Lady’s expression? A Beet Lady’s work is never done, while Teacup Ladies just dance through life.)

and a heavy, never-used tea towel with a recipe for Baked Mushrooms - in Czech.

I also grabbed a pair of what I though were hand knit mittens

but when I got them home I realized the thumb is sewn in, so they are machine made. Note to self: pay more attention to details before you spend that fifty cents.

Then I spotted a large folded linen something.

You may have picked up that I love linen fabric. Love to wear it, love to dry dishes with it. Love it on my table. Give me linen. Don’t care that it wrinkles; wrinkles are part of life (as pretty much everyone my age has found out). So here was this humungous linen tablecloth (it’s about 6 feet wide by 9 feet long)

with (alas!) a major flaw.

Ink spots. But, I reasoned, the ink spots are all clustered in one corner, and this is great fabric. I could make something from this. And I got it for a buck. And took home another project. But I’ve already decided what I’ll be making!

Fleeing from the linens room, I spotted a small vase. Small enough to fit on the windowsill and become part of the collection of colored vases up there.

Still has its old label that says “Trelleborg” which seems to have been a Swedish glass company that stopped production in 1955, so this is an old piece. I love the little bubbles.

Judy scored a round vintage metal table that I believe matches my Homecrest rocking chairs. On the way back to the car we made a pact to put in our wills that I get the table if she goes first, and she gets the chairs if I go first.

It’s good to get these things settled.

Our last stop was a house on a busy street across town; fortunately there was room for several cars to park in the driveway (and a traffic light a block away that came in handy for giving us a chance to back out onto that busy street when we left!). The very first thing I saw was this vintage cake cover.

I picked it up. No base, just the cover. Dirty. Looked like rust on the back.

It was two bucks. It was decor. I bought it. I think it was the rooster, I just love him. So yes, another piece of decor, and considering the scrubbing needed also something of a project. But my trusty can of Bar Keepers Friend and some elbow grease did the trick.

Turned out that wasn’t rust on the back, just dirt. I do not want to know what kind, and it’s gone now.

This is apparently a Ransburg piece, hand painted and so made between the Thirties and the Fifties. I am sorry to know that there were canister sets that matched – just one more thing to want!

So yes, I brought home projects and decor. I will try to be stronger in future. However, the cutest, most wonderful thing I saw this weekend I did NOT bring home. (And not because I didn’t want to.) We had Sunday dinner at my niece’s house, which has a creek behind it where numerous water birds hang out. Including Canada geese, which had been absent for the past couple of weeks…and we found out why.

Babies! Most adorable things you ever saw. And Mom and Dad brought them by to show them off. We threw some seed out for them and Mom and the babies ate while Dad stood guard.            Now we can hardly wait for the ducks and mergansers to show up with their offspring. Isn’t spring wonderful? Flowering trees, cheerful bulbs, baby birds. And yard sales, where I will be trying very hard not to buy projects or decor!