New Year, Old Stuff!

FINALLY… got to go to a sale last weekend!

Turned out not to be a very good sale. Lots and lots and lots of stuff, and to my eyes 99% of it just crap. It was an estate sale, and seemed to be the estate of a hoarder. From the ad on Craigslist, that appeared to be the opinion of the estate sale company as well, because after noon on Sunday they were giving away anything that was left. Which said to me they were expecting a lot of stuff to be left. I've known regular folks to give away anything and everything at the end of a garage sale, but never an estate sale company.

I was there on Saturday, which was their half-price day. Usually the first day is packed with people, but they had neglected to get their ad up on Craigslist on Friday. So we all showed up for half price stuff.

 When I went in one of the bedrooms, another gray-haired lady was contemplating one of those all-enveloping garments from 30 years ago you were supposed to wear to be cozy on the couch. “The trouble with those,” I commented, “was it made it so hard to get to the bathroom.” She laughed and laid the thing down. “I sure don't need anything that would do that!” she told me. Then she recounted to me a family trip she’d been on when she and her six-year-old granddaughter had shared a room. She giggled. “She saw my Depends when we went to bed, and told everyone the next morning that she wanted some fluffy underpants like mine!”

I managed to spend 75¢. Found an unopened package of this glue I've heard is good for securing glass.

I've long wanted to try making one of those garden sculptures out of old vases and plates. Something along these lines:

[https://libler.blogspot.com/2012/09/garden-totems-recycled-glass.html]

Now I'll have to actually look at all the discarded glassware when I'm garaging. I no longer own any vases, because my cat Millie demolishes any plant material that she can get her teeth on. (Don’t get me started about the vet bill after she sampled a dieffenbachia at the ex’s house…) But I'm hopeful I'll be able to find some inexpensive pieces to play with. Starting with 25¢ glue makes me willing to experiment!

My other buy was a bar of soap. Pretty, isn't it? 

It seems to be quite an old bar of soap. When I got home I googled it to get an approximate retail price for my spreadsheet. The company still exists – online only – but the only hits I got on this kind of soap were on eBay. Imagine my surprise to see that all the completed auctions for this soap sold – for as much as $20.

Why yes, I am going to put this on eBay. At the rate this year is going, twenty bucks could support months of garaging!

I did resist one other item, and I'm not sorry – but it was hard. You know that pull you feel just because something is just so cool? That’s how I felt when I uncovered this sewing machine.

I was gob smacked by the design of it. Looked it up when I got home – it's a Singer Model 500A, also know as the Rocketeer. 

It dates to the space age Sixties, and was the last of the great Singer models. The review I read said it's of all-metal construction; after the Rocketeer the company started using plastic in their machines.

I really thought about going back on Sunday to see if it was still there. But I already have three sewing machines, so I forbade myself to do it. But…it sure was cool!

She Shoots! She Scores!

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure the dreaded 2020 is not over yet – 2021 seems to be channeling the spirit of its predecessor quite nicely, thank you. I actually wrote this post over three weeks ago, but I dawdled a bit on posting it…which was a mistake.

The first glitch was that we had an ice storm. From what long-time residents tell me, this was an ice storm like no one had seen here before. If there are Hundred Year Floods, then this was the Hundred Year Ice Storm. First it rained, then the rain got colder and colder, and turned to liquid ice, and coated everything. Everything. Salem is known for our beautiful trees, and every tree had an inch or more of glittering ice on it. Which weighed them all down, trees were bent to the ground. And then – they started to break.

Huge limbs started falling in the night. Whole trees split down the middle. Birches and oaks were especially hard hit, and a lot of huge oaks were completely uprooted. Power lines, tangled in the huge street trees, started coming down. And transformers began to explode. I heard four or five in the area around my house go before there was one more large bang – and the lights went out.

My electricity was out for five days. My gas furnace needs electricity to ignite, so no heat. I was able to manually light burners on the stove to cook, which is a very weird experience in the pitch dark. Thank heavens for my headlamp I bought for early morning trips to the dog park. It got colder and colder. After the second night, I begged a bed from my ex (his apartment had only a brief power outage) and the dogs and I slept over there. When they crews finally came and reconnected my block, I went out and clapped and cheered for the guys. I hope I never take heat and light and convenience for granted again.

However, the fun was not yet over. The city looked like a war zone – in fact, the WWII memorial downtown looked like a battle had just taken place there. Cleanup crews were out immediately, and it's only the last few days that the sound of chain saws and wood chippers has not been constant. Part of the collateral damage was that the Internet was knocked out. And even when it showed they had fixed the storm outage in my area, I still had no WiFi. I'm not particularly proud of the fact I was more fretful over not having any Internet for three weeks than I was about not having power. It's a little scary, how much of our daily lives depends on the Web. It didn’t help when they failed to show up for the repair appointment I had a week ago, and I had to wait five more days for another appointment. In fact I was in a right old snit about it. I send out huge thanks to my friends who listened to me whine during that week!

We are more or less back to normal, and Spring is getting closer; in fact, there are daffodils blooming in my yard. Perhaps it was 2020’s last hurrah. Let’s hope so!

With that explanation for the delay, let me take you now to the post I wrote in those more-innocent days of three weeks ago…

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Driving home from the dog park Thursday morning I noticed a big Estate Sale sign leading into my neighborhood. Even though it was early, barely eight o’clock (we hit the dog park at first light), naturally I followed the sign, which led me to a street 3 blocks from mine. I went on home with Zoë and after feeding the gang, checked Craigslist for more info on the sale. Sure enough it was there, along with a listing for another sale back in my old neighborhood, and that one had a Picture of Interest.

Back in October when I had knee surgery and Marcia was staying with me, I put my queen size bed in the guest room and moved the twin bed for me to use. Much easier to get in and out of than the larger and higher one. I liked having the bigger bed in the guest room, so I decided to part ways with the pair of twin beds in there and get a double or queen instead. That room has a rather large closet – in fact it is just about the size of a twin bed, and so I put a bed in there. 

It was quite cozy and I enjoyed sleeping in there from time to time, but as I've gotten older and creakier it got harder to do things like change the sheets. So I moved the bed out of the closet and have now turned it into my cozy reading nook.

So…I have been looking for a different bed since fall. Saved a search on Craigslist so I see all the new listings, and let me tell you, there are a lot of ugly beds out there! I looked at that estate sale listing and saw a possible candidate, so I headed out, all masked up and keeping my social distance.

When I got to the sale, I chatted with one of the workers while I looked at a few things on the driveway, and I noticed a footboard and side rails for a bed. Asked her if they went with the headboard I'd seen in the picture and she said she didn’t know for sure, her boss at the estate sale company handled the furniture. “He’s the one who knows about that, things like what kind of feet are worth more,” she said. My heart sank a little, sounded like he might actually be an expert, and when I went inside I saw that some things were pretty pricey. Couldn’t locate the headboard in any of the bedrooms, but then I realized they had moved all the furniture into the living/dining room. And there it was behind a couple of ottomans, a double headboard just the size I've been wanting.

When I got close, my heart started to go pitty pat. I could see immediately this was a midcentury piece, either teak or walnut, possibly Danish. I've never seen anything like it (and I've looked at a lot of midcentury furniture since I bought my MCM house). 

Though made of wood, it appears to be woven – the top rail is carved, I'm sure by hand, to look like thick straps going over.

This thing is absolutely exquisite, and I knew I wanted it – if I could afford it. I tipped it toward me so I could see the price written on a piece of masking tape, fingers crossed.

Are you ready?

Five dollars. Five dollars. Holy yard sale gods. I about fainted…but didn’t want to take the time to pick myself up from the floor. I started wrestling that puppy out from behind those ottomans. About then the lady I'd talked to on the driveway came in and asked me if I wanted her to take it out for me. I managed to keep myself from jumping up and down with joy as I let her take it, saying I wanted the footboard and rails too.

I did a quick turn through the rest of the house, and emerged with a little splurge – a $4 Noritake hen with lovely details

plus a $2 original watercolor that’s been nicely framed. 

Let’s just say I was distinctly unimpressed with the knowledge of the ‘furniture expert’ who priced the bed, but perfectly happy to make such a score.

As it happens, I was even less impressed with the man when I stopped by the other sale on my way home. Turns out both were being handled by the same estate sale company, and I'm sure the "furniture expert" was the guy who seemed to be in charge at the second one. The guy in the garage greeting people – and not wearing a mask. In fact he appeared to be boasting about it to the person who went in just before me. Unlike the first sale, this place was way crowded, and I left almost immediately. If I had felt any twinge of remorse over my bargain with the bed (okay, I really didn’t!) it would have vanished after seeing him.

So my guest room is on its way to a new look. I still need to find a mattress and bedding, but that’s an adventure for another day. I've searched and searched online to try to get a line on the maker of the bed, but have found nothing comparable. So it may be quite rare. I found a stamp on the back that seems to be a date, “Aug 18” but the year is blurred, I think it's something like 1965. And ‘waln’ hand written, so it's probably walnut. But even though I haven’t found a match for it, perusing eBay and other sale sites convinces me I found an amazing deal, one of my best ever. Hop over to eBay and do a search for ‘midcentury headboard’. Let’s just say that none of them are priced at five dollars!

Dished Up

I tell you, it only takes a short period of not being able to drive to really begin to appreciate the privilege! In fact, I've said for years that the best things about heading into “second childhood” (that rather condescending phrase) is that you get to be playful AND you can drive, unlike first childhood. So that period when my faux knee was still too new and painful to let me get behind the wheel lasted about half of forever.

But I'm back! And you know where my wheels would just naturally be heading – shopping on driveways. I ventured out with Judy a couple of Fridays ago (she actually drove that time) to a few sales, and only bought at one. It was the same folks down the street from my house where I bought 5 pairs of great shoes last year for a buck a pair (Danskos and Keens – who would pass up that deal?) I was much more restrained this year…I only bought 4 pairs of great shoes for a buck apiece! Keens, Danskos, Sketchers, 

and this cute summer pair. 

Plus I splurged fifty cents on a framed original watercolor. I know, I know, ever the big spender!

But today I actually did splurge, because I fell in love. With some dishes. Because about 3 days ago I was putting my clean dishes away from the dishwasher, and this little vagrant thought passed through my mind. Which was that while I quite like the dishes I bought a year and a half ago in anticipation of moving into my own house, I didn’t necessarily need to have a lifetime commitment to them. One of the great things about living alone is that I have only myself to please in these domestic matters.

As I made my rounds this morning, mostly on the west side of town, I was finding nothing of interest to bring home. But I was really enjoying myself because I was listening to a terrific recorded book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. If you haven’t read it, run to your library today and check it out. Fascinating stuff. All about how we make fast judgments and decisions, and how they can be more reliable than well-deliberated ones. So it was undoubtedly being under the influence of this book that made me spot a woman at a sale and instantly think “I bet she’s a fun person.” As I got out of the car I wondered if I'd get a chance to test my snap judgment.

Well, all three ladies running the sale were great, friendly and outgoing (a middle aged daughter, her mom and grandmother). I heard one of them giving the entire history of a bicycle that had come into the family in 1971. You know how I love that kind of background. I wasn’t seeing anything to bring home with me until I reached a table full of fabric in the back of the garage, and since I recently did a major purge in my studio and have room again on my fabric shelves, I treated myself to this pretty piece, two yards for two bucks.

As I was leaving, I got into conversation with the mom, who asked me about the sweater I was wearing. It's an upcycle I created a while back, starting with an Irish linen sweater I picked up long ago. 

She noticed details that no one has ever seen before, so of course I thought she was brilliant! She’s now on the search for a similar cardigan to remake for herself (since I declined to hand over mine!) because she’s in a vintage golf group that only used old clubs and dresses in vintage-ish clothing to play. She was the one I'd made my snap judgment on, and I was absolutely spot on!

Made a couple more fruitless stops after that, both of which had fairly steep driveways – I was glad I had my cane with me. (Rehab is going great, but I'm still being pretty careful.) The last sale on my list didn’t look like they had much, but there was a cute dog wagging at me, and I make it a point always to stop for a cute dog. Apparently what this cute dog was trying to signal to me was “Get over here! There are some dishes on that table you are going to LOVE!”

He was so right. Gorgeous dishes, Wallis by Goebels of Germany (yes, the folks that made Hummel figurines for so many years). 

I was immediately smitten by their beauty, noted that the set has more pieces than the one I've been using (including a teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and jam pot, as well as very cool bowls), 

and after the world’s shortest negotiation over price (would you take --? Yes!) they were mine. Not only that, the lady selling them gave me a big hug because she had so hoped the right person would come along who would love them – and there I was.

Don’t you love it when you can make someone’s day? And they make yours?

Shine a Light

So. What I've been doing for the past few months is getting a divorce. Should be final in the next few weeks. It was not an easy decision, but it was by my choice, and I have no regrets.

Okay, enough of that. Suffice to say, major life changes have been going on.

Including moving to a new house! I started relocating in May; Zoë, Fannie, Millie and I have been here since the middle of that month. Because we were selling our other house and some of the furniture was needed for staging, moving has been a drawn-out process.  But everything is here now, and I've been nesting like crazy, enjoying rediscovering many of my thrifting finds as I unpack and find places for them. Though when one downsizes by two-thirds, one cannot keep everything. I'll tell you about the moving sale later.

This week’s big excitement involved three particular bargains and my friend Lonna’s significant other, Dick. Extremely good-natured Dick, because when anyone mentions needing to get something fixed around the house Lonna is very likely to say, “Oh, Dick’ll do it.” And Dick did!

Anyone remember this vintage light fixture that I scored for fifty cents a while back? (It came from the same sale where I found the “astronaut” cat carrier for Millie.)  

Dick installed it in my half bath, over an estate sale mirror. (Took out the 90s medicine cabinet with the faux stained glass. Who needs a whole medicine cabinet in the half bath?) I painted the base and end caps with copper metallic spray paint, and I love it.

Out in the hallway, we took down the sort of early-American style ceiling fixture, and Dick put up the vintage light I found at the funeral home’s estate sale. 

Talk about a piece of history in the house! You know that everyone who crosses my threshold will have to listen to that story.

The building it came from had very cool midcentury metal cladding on the exterior. 

I really hated to see it go; it was unique…and the new Starbucks that went into that spot decidedly is not.

But the best upgrade to the house so far is in the foyer, where this thing used to live.

I wanted to replace it with the vintage Italian chandelier I was given a few weeks ago – the one exactly like this one for sale for $1850. The wiring had been cut off short when it was taken down. I paid about $50 to get it rewired, and turned it over to Dick to hang. 

I love it, it's just magnificent. Well worth that $1800 I didn’t spend!

It's wonderful to have beautiful things to live with, especially when they don’t cost an arm and a leg. But even better are the friends I have both here and elsewhere. I'm sending lots of gratitude to them all – with an extra dollop for Dick!

Harbingers

The daffodils that are starting to bloom in my yard are definitely a hint that spring is around the corner, but they are not the only one.

How does a thrifter determine that spring is coming? By the advent of church rummage sales, of course!

We ran over to West Salem for a moving sale that started early Friday morning (before heading to one of our favorite rummage sales). It was one of those that you immediately are positive that there will be nothing you want among the dribs and drabs on display, and then find something you like. (I love that kind of surprise.) My first surprise was a sweet little blue vase from Sweden, for the window ledge collection.

It throws a lovely blue shadow in the sun.

Then in a back corner of the family room, I spotted what has to be the epitome of midcentury atomic kitsch.

I bet most of us remember these salt & pepper shakers. Everyone had them back in the day; with the snap-on lids they were perfect to carry in a lunchbox or with your camping gear. I love the font.

But the stand! What a hoot. And apparently a hollow in the top of the knob is for toothpicks. So practical!

So all the omens were pointing toward a good day, and the rummage sale did not disappoint. This was the annual sale at the Methodist church where you buy a big paper bag for five bucks when you go in, and anything in the main room you can stuff in is your loot. As we have previously established, I'm a pretty darned good bag stuffer. So how did we do this year? Well, KK only found a couple of items (linen pants and a wool muffler), so into the bag they went. Then a toothbrush, new in package, always good to have a spare; and a piece of felt to practice sewing paper onto it before I try it with my vintage picture book. There was a mixed bag of embroidery thread (that's Millie at the top of the picture, who very much wanted it for her own), 

a large cone of sewing thread, and a linen jacket (it's too small for anyone I know; I want to try embroidering some of the motifs and making them into cute little pins). 

Plus two floral linen shirts, 

a pair of Travelsmith linen & cotton slacks with a hidden zipper pocket, 

and a Lagenlook-style top and matching skirt. 

When I looked up the brand, I found it was made for an exclusive shop up in Portland and must have originally cost at least a couple hundred bucks. I'm not a regular wearer of skirts, but somehow I love this one. And the top is the perfect showcase for my fabric necklaces. All of it great stuff, averaging less than 42₵ each. Woo hoo!

And that wasn’t all. As always, they had the “special” room with items deemed too valuable for bag stuffing. Fortunately this year the prices were better than I remember in the past, because I found a wonderfully ridiculous sweater that yes, I will wear, though I'm not sure anyone else ever did.

NOT a Christmas sweater, but a country music one! With lots of amazing beaded motifs 

and even a beaded lariat. 

Looks like something you should wear line dancing—except you’d die of overheating if you tried to dance in something this heavy.

We were on our way out when we remembered the jewelry room. I’ve never found anything there before…but this year I did. These Graffiti 93 brand mixed-metal earrings hang long on me but I care not, I love them. 

Notice that they are not identical - the heads are different shapes, as are the decorations on the clothing. The wires look to be handmade.

And the vintage clip-ons are actually comfortable to wear, which I find astounding. They’re so three dimensional. Aren’t they cool?

So that was Friday. The next day was the other big church rummage sale we usually go to…though I think this may be my last visit to them. The first year we went I found some great stuff, including a wonderful stash of yarn. But not so much since then. It is an astounding madhouse of cast-off stuff and hordes of people in a huge echoing gym—I can't help thinking of that painting of Hell by Hieronymus Bosch. And it's made even worse by the terrible blast of thumping rock music they play all day (being forced to listen to music I hate is my personal vision of Hell). When all I picked up was an admittedly lovely silk scarf and a blank book 

(I was lucky enough to find a rather hidden pay station back among the furniture so I did not have to stand in a long line to hand over my buck and a half) I decided this is probably the last time I'll attend this one.

But that’s okay. There will still be the big downtown church with its bag sale, and the Episcopalians, and of course our lovely Methodist ladies to look forward to each year, heralding the arrival of warmer days and sunnier skies.