SPORADIC

Between iffy weather, lack of sales and gardening chores, my garaging efforts have definitely been sporadic of late. Then of course there is the truism that the older you get, the less you need to buy – and living in a house 1/3 the size of my last one definitely affects what I can bring home! The creek right outside my back door makes up for it though, and this is the season of baby birds. We’ve had three sets of goslings on our section of creek, and last week 10 brand new baby ducks paraded by. There’s also a robin’s nest in my birch tree, which is exciting but not as up-close as the nest they built last year. That one was on top of the light fixture on my front deck! We only used the back door while the babies were being hatched and fledged, and I got to watch the whole thing from my kitchen window. Unlike newly hatched ducks and geese, baby robins are naked and primitive, looking more like baby dinosaurs than birds.

I did turn my (aching!) back on the weeding and planting on my to-do list this morning and went out to a few sales. At the first one I met up with friends Robin and Ken, though between masks and hairstyles that have changed while we all stayed home it took a moment to recognize them! Didn’t find anything there (I think Ken made off with all the good stuff!), and the next stop was both picked over and overpriced.

Next stop was the second day of an estate sale, so a lot had already left the house. But it was in a beautiful older neighborhood near downtown (same neighborhood the governor’s mansion is in) and was supposed to have a lot of art. And art was indeed what I came home with – a couple of pieces for my growing collection. (Will she run out of wall space one of these days? Not yet, but stay tuned…) If it hadn’t been half-price day I wouldn’t even have considered these, though I do think having so many fewer sales to go to makes me feel I can splurge a little more on something I love. And love them I do – a framed applique 

(I'm a sucker for things acorn-related) 

and a gardening woodcut.

I also picked up some gardening magazines 

and a cute little handmade-paper accordion book that opens out into a Christmas banner. It's the sort of ornament I can use since I can hang it out of Millie’s reach. 

(That cat! You would never know she’s such a scamp when you see her like this!)

Made two more stops and found nothing, but I really enjoyed the fun conversation with the young lady about to leave for grad school in New York. She’s getting a master’s in public administration, and I'm sure I was chatting with a future city manager.

So today’s adventures were mild, but after the past year of being home alone so much it’s enjoyable just to be out and about. Now that we are fully vaccinated, my friend Lysa and I have had to laugh at ourselves for our excitement over a couple of trips to nurseries - In the same car! Without our masks! Whee!

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!

FUR, FEATHERS, FUN

Rain Saturday. No yard sales. Sigh. But no matter—it gave me the time to do a project I’ve been thinking about:

Pets on Driveways—the Film!

I had no idea how many pet pictures I’ve taken until I started pulling them into a file. Didn’t use even half of them. But hey, my music was 2 minutes and 44 seconds long, so that’s how many pets I could showcase. (This time!)

Hope you enjoy the film. And have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

AN EXCELLENT DAY FOR DUCKS

Rain. Rain, rain and more rain. The weather gods must not have realized it was Saturday morning. About the only sale I could find on Craigslist was an estate sale in ultra posh Corona del Mar. I figured the prices would be high but the ad mentioned Danish furniture—which I figured would look good in the midcentury house we’ve just bought. I was a little surprised that the rain had kept away all the other shoppers, but maybe it's also being near the holidays. In any case, I was right about the prices. I liked this table lamp a lot…

…but not this price tag!

Liked this desk too, but I can't even remember the price. When you get much over fifty cents, the numbers just won’t stay in my head.

I did have to laugh when I got to the room with the ‘art deco sewing machine’ mentioned in their ad. It was the exact same sewing machine cabinet I bought a couple of years ago. Mine housed a Singer 201 in excellent working condition, and theirs had another model, probably from the Fifties. Admittedly their cabinet was in better shape than mine, but when I compare their $375 price tag with my five bucks…I win.

However, I did buy one thing. Just couldn’t resist these wind up duckies.

Couldn’t believe it when they charged me sales tax! I'll be glad when we get through the holidays and yard sales start up again.

I did manage to refurbish one of my finds from last summer, this vintage magazine table.

Took me weeks to get the top to unwarp and stay glued, then more weeks to decide how to paint it. Then a couple more to actually do it. But I really like the way it turned out.
Used flat black spray paint which oddly enough I bought the same day as the table. Man, was it flat. I wanted a little bit of shine, so I got a can of rub-on polyurethane, which I'd heard about and wanted to try. I only did one coat (the can recommends three) but that was enough to give it the gleam I was after. Inside the lower compartment I used periwinkle blue left over from painting my bathroom a while back.
The little ball feet got the blue paint too. And since it needed door/drawer pulls, I used some of the Lucite pieces I scored back in October. I'm not sure I'll leave those permanently, but they’re fine for now.

I have to admit that my husband may have been right on this one…I really don’t know where to put it. It's beside my computer desk for now, and the cats like it there. They can hang out with me while I'm working and have someplace to sit when they have finished walking on my keyboard.

While I've got you here, just wanted to let you know I may have to take another little blogging hiatus. Our annual Christmas open house is next weekend so I suspect I won’t be garaging, and the two weekends after that are holiday weekends. I'll be away most of that time, back up in Oregon getting our house ready to rent. I hope to do my year-end round up of 2009’s thrifting somewhere in there. Meanwhile, have fun and frugal holidays!

SATURDAY SURPRISES

The woman minding her yard sale was reading a book when I walked up—a sight guaranteed to gladden a librarian’s heart. I said hello and asked if it were a good book. She showed me the cover and I read the title: Strength Finder. My first thought was that it was something devotional, but no. “I have to read this for my job, and then take a test. It's supposed to show what my strengths are.” She sounded a bit dubious, as I probably would myself. I told her that by our age we probably already knew what our strengths are, and she nodded. “Maybe I could have used this more when I was young,” she said. I suspect that when she takes the test it won’t hold many surprises.

Some people a few blocks from my house woke up to a surprise though—and have cause to be grateful for the strength of a fence. When I started out I passed a police car parked in the street with its toplights going. Beyond it, in front of an apartment complex, a large tree had toppled in the night. But a stout iron fence held the tree up and off of several parked cars. Wouldn’t that put a crimp in your day—to go out to your car and find it under a tree!

It was another low-key Saturday, and I don’t even have going to the airport as an excuse! The past week was quite hot though, which can be discouraging when you’re planning a sale. And because sales go on all year here, there’s no motivation to get it over with before winter sets in. I spent a total of $2 this week. You certainly can't say I have an expensive hobby. But I found two items I was about to buy in a store. Don’t you love it when that happens?

One was this hair clip.
Those of you who know me are probably wondering what anyone with hair as short as mine would want with a hair clip. Wish I could claim it was for some really clever use, but I actually want it for my hair. Which, while in a short cut, is longish on top, and when I’m playing Wii tennis I'd like to be able to clip it up. And now for twenty-five cents I can.

At the same sale I scored a pack of 2 dry erase markers. Admittedly not a thrilling find, but we use a wipe board in the kitchen to keep a running grocery list. As soon as an item runs out and the backup goes into use, it's added to the list to get a new backup. I'm lucky to have a pantry, and happy to say we rarely run out of anything. And one of the things on the wipe board was…dry erase markers!
I don’t know what these folks were thinking to put a price sticker on one of the notecards, thus ruining it, but there are enough left to make them worth fifty cents.
Looks like I can make a couple of pairs of earring from these beads.
I got them knowing I have a stash of earwires. What I didn’t remember was that my stash is gold-colored, and for these I need silver! Oh well, I'll just keep an eye out for some silver ones.

This is my frivolous, have-no-idea-what-I'll-do-with-it buy for the day—two cards of pink beaded edging.
I'm not much of a pink person, but these forced themselves into my hands. And when the price turned out to be a quarter each, I figured what the heck. There's 3 feet of edging on each card. So if you have any ideas on what to use this stuff for, I'm completely open to suggestions!

When I left this sale I saw a whole herd of ducks across the street—walking down the sidewalk. (There were several more that wouldn’t sign a photo release so got left out of the picture.)
So that was my big Saturday morning, but it came with a bagel and cream cheese and I had a good time. I have to admit that the thing that amused me most happened before I left the house. I was checking the ads on Craigslist and came across this gem:

“Big Garage Sale, Better Than a Swat Meet.”

DUCKS AND DOGS AND DEALS ON DRIVEWAYS

This was in the driveway next door to the first sale we stopped at:
Aren’t neighbors fun?

I was reminded of a simple yet profound truth Saturday morning: Happiness really is a warm puppy.
This is Lola. She is ten weeks old. I got to hold her and yes, it did make me happy! Is there anything like that puppy warmth?

Being a holiday weekend, the number of sales was down, but it was a good day for pets, including a pair of freckled cocker spaniels…
…cute little Maggie…
...and a handsome kitty boy whose name has complete left my brain. By now it feels normal not to be able to remember a person's name, but it makes me feel really old not to recall the name of a pet!
We also enjoyed visiting with a lady who has a pair of ducks living in her neighborhood. She felt they needed water, so she went to Big Lots to buy a large container that they could splash around in. Not only did she find one (which gets refilled every day because ducks are enthusiastic splashers), they also had bags of duck food! So Mr. & Mrs. Mallard are very much enjoying their stay in her neighborhood.
I enjoyed having my colleague Trish join me for this week’s garaging. Hopefully next time she comes along there will be many more sales, but we both managed to find some goodies. Trish’s loot included a book by one of her favorite authors, and a large glass bowl embossed with roses.

I spent $6. One find was a new roll of bender board for yard projects. Didn’t bother to take a picture of that! Also found some door prizes, including a new storage case for an iPod and accessories…
…and a brand new Folkmanis mouse puppet.
When Trish saw this she gave a squeal of excitement (she’s a former children’s librarian, and no matter how far into management we migrate, we still get excited over a good puppet!) then clapped her hands over her mouth, lest the sellers decide they should charge me more than a quarter for it.

This will probably be a door prize too, unless I become really good at using it—one of those juggling thingies called a diabolo.
The seller told me her daughter spent a whole bunch o’ money on it when they saw Cirque du Soleil and she was inspired by the performers there. Inspiration was not enough however and apparently you have to actually practice to acquire this skill! Realistically I know I will probably not practice enough either—but just the fantasy of dazzling friends and acquaintances is worth the fifty cents I paid. Actually, I just hope I turn out to be better at this than the marble labyrinth I bought a few weeks ago. Still haven’t managed to get past hole number 3. But then neither has my husband, and for some reason that makes me feel much better about it!

From the duck lady I bought a nifty little clip-on flashlight. I think I'll keep it in my purse, seems like the kind of thing that could be useful.
I'm always looking for garden inspiration…
Been hoping to find a chenille bedspread for my guest room. Haven’t yet, but thought I'd try this matelesse spread for now.
It's a tad formal for us, but heck, it was two bucks and included two pillow shams, and it's from Portugal and I don’t think I own anything else from Portugal. Used to have a spoon rest from there, but we broke it a few months ago. Don’t you think a person ought to have at least one thing in her home from Portugal?

The spread is heavy and I needed both hands to pick it up and check it out, so I stuck the two bottles of dog shampoo I was holding in my pocket. (Yes, my garaging pants have big pockets!) Almost forgot they were there but felt them bouncing around as I was leaving and went back to pay. The lady said just to take them; wasn’t that nice?
My last find was crammed into a plastic bag with a bunch of other linens. The colors called out to me…
…and when I pulled it out I found a round tablecloth. Pretty big, looked like it wanted to be on my patio table.
The price, when I inquired, was reasonable. Very reasonable. In the bag were matching napkins, and I got it all for a buck. I said they were reasonable!

When I got them home I discovered the set is by April Cornell, so the fabric quality is quite nice. Not only that, but two of what I thought were napkins are actually pillow covers, and would you believe her pillow covers are something like $39 each on her website? Tablecloths this size are $89, and 4 napkins are $18. So if you didn’t already know why I shop on driveways instead of stores…now you do!