Judy in Hats

 Those of you who have been thrifting with me for a while probably remember that my friend Judy is a SUPER good sport about modeling hats. We've seen a gazillion hats of every possible description at yard sales, estate sales and thrift store. Judy has always been willing to pop them on her head and let me take a picture.

She came over the other day and we were looking at pics on our phones, and I realized ow many shots I have of her in hats. So just for fun, here's a look back at Judy in Hats.

The Week That Was

As it says below, I really do love the comments folks leave here. And I thought this one from Betty was especially good – the coincidence of the week:

We went to a sweet little estate sale Friday where my third-grade teacher daughter found great things for school – two chambered nautili (one whole, one sliced half), and a 72-bar percussion chime (think sound effect for magic wand). But when I went out into the charming backyard, there, hanging on the post of the pergola, was your bell! I was so excited, dashed over to ring it (and it was just like you described it), but ... "not for sale." But at least I got to hear it. 

Don’t you love that? Of course now I really want a 72-bar percussion chime as well. Maybe that will magically appear next week - though it would only be poetic justice if it did show up and then was not for sale!

The loot of the week fell back within normal spending parameters after last week’s splurge (ten bucks for everything…I think a morning’s fun is worth ten bucks). Most of it came from my neighbor up the street, who revealed they are selling their MCM house and moving to Florida. (Anyone want to become my neighbor??) This large, heavy, shallow glass bowl says “put me in the yard somewhere to become a little reflecting pond” to me. 

To Millie it evidently says something along the lines of “Come on up here and writhe around!”

I love this little rug in my kitchen.

These hooked wool pillows were way too cute to pass up at a dollar each. 

Please, everyone, keep your fingers crossed – they have been in the house, on the sofa, for two days now and neither dog has taken a nibble. I hardly dare hope that I might become someone who can put sofa pillows on her sofa without a repeat of this sad event. 

Zoë thinks they are hers.

I don't think she is planning to share with her sister.

I must have been deprived of wind-up toys as a child, because no matter how ridiculous they are I must wind them up.

 And if they cost ten cents, I must buy them.

The rest of the tenner went for a pair of owl socks, 

and this vintage planter. The puppy section of my Museum de Me is getting crowded but hey, dogs are pack animals, right?

The project of the week (a very little project) was all about yard sale finds. To wit: one lavender linen napkin (from a driveway) had developed a hole (there may well have been canine intervention involved). 

I could have tossed it, or used it with the hole, but I was in the mood to mend. So out came a piece of fabric from the bag of free stuff of a couple of weeks ago, and the Stitch Witchery from an estate sale to anchor the patch, and variegated metallic thread from another estate sale, and voila. 

I have a feeling this is my new favorite napkin!

Three Day Weekend

Maybe you think I'm referring to last weekend, the one with a Monday holiday. Nope, I'm talking about this weekend, the one that started with an estate sale on Thursday, continued with full-blown garaging on Friday, and finished with one more sale on Saturday. That’s my idea of a three day weekend!

The Thursday sale was on a century farm east of town, which was a good enough excuse for KK and me to take a ride in the country. The old farm house was chock full of interesting stuff and not very many folks were there looking. Unfortunately, the sale was being run by the local estate sale company that prices things the highest of any I've seen. Some pieces had prices marked, but many didn’t, and the woman running around giving prices was…how shall I put this? Probably the rudest person I have encountered in quite a long time. I recognize that I am not everyone’s cup of tea, but most people I meet manage not to lose their tempers when speaking to me. We had quite an unpleasant exchange, which fortunately will never be repeated, because I will never go to another sale run by that company.

Ever.

But it caused a bit of a dilemma for me. It is my practice not to buy things from obnoxious people – and there were a couple of things I wanted. But I do think it's okay to buy in that situation if you can convince yourself you are RESCUING the item! Which I was. The things being sold had belonged to people who were witty, humorous and had wide interests (judging by their possessions). Also, another very nice lady was taking money, so I did not have to hand over any cash to Ms. Nasty. I’ve decided whatever commission they got from my purchases went to the crew and not her. So there, nyah nyah nyah.

Now that I've demonstrated my maturity level for you, want to see what I got? Well, the brand-new linen dish towel was a must.

After all, there are relatives of our Millie on it!

And I fell instantly in love with this piece – three blown-glass hens mounted on a pedestal plate. 

Meet Hattie, 

Phoebe, 

and Nell.

They badly needed some love. Quite a lot of dirt was involved 

but we got them cleaned up. Nell’s hat-feathers got a bit wet, but feathers dry again.

I love them a ridiculous amount. Look how the plate has feather-like lines and dots that match their plumes.

I had already paid for The Girls when I noticed a case with some vintage jewelry, and I fell in love with, well, Santa Claus.

There is no maker’s mark on him but he is so nicely made I think he must have been a pretty pricey piece. See how his pink cheek rhinestones are a different shade from his nose rhinestone?

Best of all, he’s articulated. Santa can mo-o-o-ve!

I think the Yard Sale Gods must have felt bad about the unpleasantness though, because on Friday they went all-out to give us absolutely the nicest set of folks you could ever want to meet on a driveway. KK and I went to about 10 sales, and every single one was fun. Cheerful conversations everywhere we went. We both bought a few things, but it was the niceness we really appreciated!

Didn’t find anything at our first stop, but we learned that the sale was to make money for a family backpacking trip…to Seattle. Two parents, four kids ranging from 8 to 13, and part of the mom’s goal is to teach her kids how to handle money. On Saturday the kids were to have a snack booth at the yard sale to earn their spending money. They are taking the train up, using public transportation, etc. Each kid will carry their own pack so they have to be mindful of what they take. I bet it will be one of the most memorable events of their childhoods.

Our next stop was an older couple with a midcentury modern house and a great view. When I mentioned my MCM house, we found out they used to live a few blocks from me. KK was the one who spotted one of my best finds of the day – a wrought iron stand 

for the glass gazing ball I got a few weeks ago. I love it!

We laughed and chatted our way through South Salem, meeting enjoyable folks at every stop. I may even have picked up a new reader or two, for a couple of ladies promised they would look up my books on Amazon.

Our last stop was a sale that had planned to start late, so they were still setting up when we got there. Another great conversation, and we got to hear all about the crazy neighbor across the street who is addicted to the use of his leaf blower – one pine needle on his grass and he’s out there, blowing it to smithereens. He also has a surveillance camera set up; given the peaceful nature of that neighborhood this is definitely overkill. Which is why he was so thrilled when the ladies had a car stolen from their driveway, and he HAD IT ALL ON FILM! I bet he dined out on that for weeks.

Besides the gazing ball stand, I came home with a pendant to use in some kind of upcycle – maybe a jacket fastener?

These oversize rings are now clipped to a wire hanger in my closet and holding scarves. I may finally have found the perfect system.

Yarn, destined to be socks. A noble destiny!

Some garden tools.

And a great big bag o' fabric scraps from a free pile.

I had a ball going through it Friday night. How often do you get to go through someone else’s scrap bag?

Now if you remember (pages ago) I said this was a three day weekend. Had no intention of garaging on Saturday, but there was one sale right in my neighborhood and it started just about the time I headed home from the dog park. All I found to buy was (I know, I'm out of control) another bunny.

A painted rock bunny.

When I paid for her, I asked if they knew who had painted it. “Oh yes, that was my Aunt Imo,” said the gentleman. He launched into the story of Aunt Imo, his mother’s sister, who evidently would put paint on anything that didn’t move fast enough to avoid it. The two sisters grew up in East Texas on a dairy farm, where they milked the cows every morning before school, and delivered the milk cans on their way to town. During World War 2 they went to Oakland to help build Liberty Ships, and Imo learned the trade of lens grinding there, which became her profession. I heard how she met her husband, who was a salesman of lens-grinding supplies, and how they came to live in Oregon. I love it when something like a painted rock opens up these floodgates of memories.

As I left, we talked for a minute about retirement. He had just retired from his work (hence the many, many long sleeved button front shirts for sale). I told him how much he’s going to love it, based on my own experience, and asked if he had any special plans. His face lit up with his smile, and he said, “I bought a pickup, and a boat. I’m going fishing!”

Mini Vacations

Years and years ago I got a bit lost driving home across town (whatever town I was living in at the time; we've moved a lot!). When I arrived at my destination, only a few minutes later than planned, I realized that I felt as though I had really traveled. It only takes a modicum of new sights for me to feel I've gone somewhere, and on that day our practice of ‘mini vacations’ was born.

Probably one of the things I love about garaging is the mini-vacation aspect. Nearly every weekend I drive down some street I've never been on before, and I certainly talk to people I've never met. And what do many of us do on vacation but shop for souvenirs? My souvenirs are frugal and bring back wonderful memories.

We’re heading into that time of year when the sales are dwindling. We managed to find three or four, and I picked up a pot that is a smaller version of one I got a few weeks ago

and a couple of Vera napkins. Any meal will be more cheerful when we use these babies!

 

But this only took us to about 10:15, so Judy said, “Hey, let me take you to my favorite thrift store.” Which turned out to be the one run by the local humane society; how could I say no to that? I admit to liking sales on driveways best, but this was a fun little thrift store. And since I’d never been there before I got that mini vacation feeling. We roamed around for over an hour. Some of us tried on hats.

Some of us bought that hat (and another) after bravely negotiating a 50% discount. She’s getting awfully good at bargaining!

My souvenirs from that mini vacation included something that may have been a souvenir from someone else’s travels. I can’t help wondering if this originally came from Colonial Williamsburg or some other historic site’s gift shop.

 

I've never embroidered with silk thread before, so this will be fun…and those motifs look like acorns to me! I also picked up these two round boxes made of thin, flexible wood for packaging Christmas gifts

 

but my favorite find was this single midcentury candle holder of dark wood. We hunted and hunted for a mate, but alas there was only one.

 

Possibly Danish. Possibly walnut. Possibly will be used as a classy stand for my little acorn thimble case.

 

On Saturday we had decided to go to an event with our dogs. Judy loaded her Buddy in the car with my Zoe and we started off. You won’t be surprised to know that we left way early and had a list of sales to stop by on the way! I found another item on my look-for list

 

and some pretty candles for a fall table.

 

All told I spent $6 this week. I told you mini vacations are frugal!

The event we were heading for was a lure coursing practice. Some of you are scratching your heads and looking quizzical. Lure coursing is a dog sport, usually practiced by sighthounds like borzoi and ridgebacks and whippets. There’s a club down in Albany, and for their practices any kind of dog can attend and try it out. Basically a line pulled by a motor is set up, a regular old plastic grocery bag is attached to the end as the lure, and the dogs take turns chasing it. Most dogs really love to run, and if they have much of a prey drive, chasing something really revs them up. We had no idea how Buddy and Zoe would do, but it sounded interesting.

It was about an hour drive; our destination was a beautiful farm in rolling hills. We were lucky that another participant arrived at the same time we did, because we couldn't see where things were set up from the road, and had to follow her across a field (not too muddy, thank heavens) and around a bend. There were about a dozen dogs in all; mostly various sighthound breeds, and a few herding dogs, and Buddy the Springer.

And Zoe.

 The only dog smaller than her was the Italian greyhound (and that little sucker could run!). In the midst of all those Afghans and borzoi and wolfhounds, Zoe looked like a little scrap of a dog. When it was our first turn, we grabbed the lure and walked way across the field, set it down, removed her leash. Then I flung up my hand to indicate ‘go’ and the bag started away – and so did she. She was totally jazzed when the bag stopped and she got to grab it and give it a good shake. Buddy did great too. You could tell they were having a ball.

All told, each dog ran three times. Watching those big hounds run full out was amazing. The ground literally shook at times. If you love dogs, keep an eye out for lure coursing in your area. You’ll get to stand around in a damp field, huddled into your sweater when the wind comes up, and cheer every dog as they run the way they were meant to.

We managed to get some video of our dogs. When I edited Zoe’s, I could hear that someone near Judy (who was filming) really got into my dog’s run and was yelling, “Go! Go go go go go!” And it wasn’t even me.

ZOE GOES LURE COURSING

BUDDY IN THE BIG FIELD

At the end of the afternoon we piled back into the Civic and headed across the field to the road. Both dogs went to sleep immediately, and Judy gave a big sigh.

“Now that,” she said, “was a mini vacation!”