Summer is A-Coming In…

Sing it with me…At last!! Yes, finally, a pretty darned good garaging weekend. I know we tend to blame a lot of stuff on the pandemic, but it really did seem like once that hit, garaging was one of the victims. It was only to be expected in 2020, we felt like we were taking our lives in our hands by leaving the house. Which we possibly were. Goodness, what a year – remember the great toilet paper panic? Go and Google ‘toilet paper earrings’ for a giggle.

I tried to convince myself that garaging has been pitiful ever since because so many people decluttered while they were stuck at home so there’s been no ongoing backlog of unwanted possessions. Thrift stores did seem to be extremely well stocked for a while. But given how many conversations I've had lately with folks who say they desperately need to clear things out, I'm not sure how valid that reasoning was. Not to mention all the reality shows about decluttering and organizing.

But summer is now upon us and I got to indulge in a full weekend of garaging. Only ended up spending $11 so I'm happy to report I didn’t lose my head, but it was just so nice to hop in the car, turn on the GPS, and head out looking for treasure and conversations on a sunny morning.

As it happened, my actual best finds were on Thursday, when I went to only three sales. The first was an estate sale, with the too-common ridiculous estate-sale-prices. It was in a smallish house in a golf course neighborhood, and the real marvel was how in the world they had managed to cram so much furniture into the place. The only thing I saw that might have been of interest had the price not been $25 was a chinois, or china cap strainer – one of those conical things that sits in a stand, and you use a wooden pestle to puree food through the holes. A friend has been wanting one for ages, but at that price she could have a new one.

Next stop was super fun, and I spent a whole $3.50 there. Two sisters about my age were selling off a lot of their over-the-top Halloween decorations, things they had made for the lavish parties they threw. They told me they are pretty much through with big parties, but not to worry they still had a bunch more they were keeping. My need for giant spiders and life size skeletons is minimal, but fortunately they were decluttering a few more things. First find was part of an old chandelier that I plan to use somewhere in the yard, for the base of a gazing ball or something.

Another find was this fun bottle that has also become a yard ornament. 

I've got my eye out for at least two more glass pieces (perhaps vases) to keep it company.

A nondescript box on the lawn turned out to hold fabric. Two yards of this screen print, 

and almost 2 yards of good quality faux fur 

that I will use one of these days to refurbish Millie and Stanley’s cat tree.

Last stop was a fund raiser to send kids to camp or some such, and my goodness what a lot of stuff. I've seen church rummage sales that were smaller. And one of the first things I saw was another chinois – and this one was three bucks. You can bet it was in my hands in a flash, and it was a huge hit with its new owner.

Wandered over to the clothing, much of which was on hangers. Lots and lots of clothes packed tightly together. The way to deal with this scenario is to first look only at the fabrics. When you see something that looks like good quality material you can pull it out to learn more, but you just let your eye pass by all the polyester. And the first thing my eye landed on was a silk Citron Santa Monica tank dress. 

Not my size, but I've got it for sale on eBay and hopefully will make a few bucks. It's a pricey brand that resells well; this dress probably originally went for around $250. Then I spotted another likely fabric, which is a J Jill dress that I’ll be embiggening into a tunic to wear. 

Hard to see, but there are little self-covered buttons and fabric loops all down the front. Not a simple detail to construct, and this piece probably was originally at least $125.

Friday I headed to the south part of town to a large neighborhood that has an annual sale. I've gotten good things there in the past, including my incredible vintage MCM chandelier by Italian designer Gaetano Sciolari that I got…for free. (Still can't believe it. If you can find one for sale online expect to shell out more than $2K.) 

Alas, this neighborhood sale is feeling a bit played out. I think maybe everyone indeed did major decluttering in past years. Had some enjoyable conversations and managed to spend another $1.50 on a DVD and a curtain rod to use – yes, again! – as a yard ornament. I remade my fun napkin-ring stake with half of it.

I was going to stay home Saturday but the promise of another neighborhood sale convinced me otherwise. And my dog park friend Pam came along for the first time which was great. We hit three or four other sales before getting to the neighborhood one, including a fun one where she bought a beautiful silk kimono and some other things and I splurged on a very artsy floor lamp. The couple having the sale are selling everything including home and two Teslas and embarking on a 3 year around the world cruise.

And then wouldn’t you know it, when we got to the neighborhood sale it was nothing. I bought a denim shirt for a buck, and we only found about three sales. Pooh.

When I got home I went to get my lamp out of the SUV and discovered it was way heavier than I could manage. The seller had put it in the car for me, and I'd noticed there were cut wires sticking out of the bottom. I pointed it out and he said he’d fix it. Pam and I chatted with the wife some more while he did something, then closed the car and said all done. Off we went.

I called my ex to come by and help me get the lamp out of the car, which he did. And we discovered that the guy had wrapped tape around the cut wires and there was some rigamarole with a dimmer and no way to plug anything in. Basically I had splurged forty bucks on a cool artsy lamp that didn’t work. Grrrr. (I was too annoyed to even think of taking a picture of it.)

We loaded it back in the car and I drove back across town. Pulled into the driveway. The husband asked me why didn’t I just fix it, which left me speechless for a moment. Probably a good thing because anything that might have come out of my mouth would have been very rude and probably profane. I finally stammered something like, I wouldn’t know how, and I thought I was buying a working lamp and it isn’t. He hauled it out of the car and walked off, and the wife handed me forty bucks back and chatted in a friendly manner for a minute. I went away feeling I'd be okay on a three year cruise with her…but not him.

Besides, there would be no yard sales on a cruise ship!

The Year on Driveways

Another thrifty year has come and gone – spreadsheet time! Although it felt like there were way fewer sales this year (and definitely fewer that made my heart go pitty-pat), my spreadsheet tells me I went out on a total of 35 days. They were unevenly spread through the year – some weekends I went out on consecutive days, then there would be weeks when it wasn’t worth taking the car out. Still, I managed to spend $256.55, which procured an estimated retail value of over $5000. I say phooey to retail – at least most of the time!

The total spent was about twice as much as last year, but 2020 should probably just be stricken from the books, right? One bright spot is that I brought home three items (total expenditure $4.50) that I resold for a profit of $100.88. So that paid for almost half of the year’s fun. There was a pair of Heath Ceramic dinner plates (they sold overnight, wish I’d priced them higher!), 

a rummage sale blouse of a pricey brand,

and a vintage Erica Wilson embroidery kit that turned fifty cents into $31+.

While I bought three splurges (all were art!), of the 168 things I brought home, 66 were fifty cents or less, and only 49 were over a dollar. I confess I'm astounded that I added that many items to my home. There were 27 pieces of clothing and (goodness!) 8 pairs of shoes. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But the most I paid for anything was three bucks, and the total for all that was $54.25. Okay, I feel better now – especially when I see that some of the shoes are still available to buy retail – for $210 a pair.

My entertainment category had the highest number, 23 books, magazines and movies. Kitchen things were right behind with 22 – ranging from cute tiny plates to stainless steel skillets to a glass made specifically for drinking Canadian whiskey. Not just any whiskey, Canadian. That was worth the twenty-five cents just to learn that such a thing existed. But the Dansk bowls that match the mugs I already owned may be my favorite in this category.

Looks like my poor pets were a little neglected this year. I brought home only 2 things for them, and Millie managed to break the ceramic treat jar within a couple of days. However, the little quilt is still a fave of them all.

The ‘category of shame’, otherwise known as donations, was not terribly embarrassing this year – 21 items that totaled $19.55. And five of those were free. So that brings my total down to 147 items – doesn’t that sound better?

Probably the biggest thrill of the year was the only piece of furniture I bought – the vintage midcentury double bed with the amazing headboard. 

For five bucks. I'm still thrilled – and the vintage double sheets I bought for a buck apiece were the icing on the cake!

Actually, I have to amend that – the bed was the second biggest thrill. Best of all was reaching the millionth visitor milestone back in March. Wow. Thanks for coming along for the ride – now let’s see what 2022 will bring!

The Mysteries of Spring

Ooooh, it was a big weekend folks – went out on two days and spent ten whole dollars. This alone would tell me Spring is here – the blooming daffodils and forsythias and cherry trees are just the icing on the cake. (Of course, the icing often is my favorite part of cake!)

I stopped at a moving sale on Friday and picked up some DVDs. My 600+ movie collection has gotten a workout over the past year. 

Then I met up with my friend Lysa at an estate sale down the street from her house. It was billed as ‘huge’…and wasn’t. But I went away happy. It was a family run sale, and we were ably assisted by an adorable girl about 12 years old. She was friendly and helpful and clearly very proud of her grandmother who had lived there (she’s now moved to Seattle). Wish I knew her name – I'd certainly vote for her when she’s ready to run the world in a few years!

I love books on paper sculpture and all their books were free.

I can't say I was looking for solar lighted house numbers, but I was willing to gamble a dollar. It's still charging so I don't know if it works yet. Fingers crossed.

But I have been looking for some shelves to put in my carport next to the potting bench, to hold pots and such. I had saved a search on Craigslist, and just as with beds, there are a lot of ugly and overpriced ones out there. But there it was – exactly what I was looking for. 

And it's even cute.

Finally, I bought a couple of original paintings. One was by the lady who had lived there (there were several of hers), an Oregon seascape.

I hung it on the wall underneath another very Oregon scene, a little study of tree tops. As I did, I thought now all I need is a valley picture.

I really love the other painting from that sale. When I rearranged my guest room I ended up with a blank wall where a bookcase had been and hoped I'd find something big to put there. And I did. I'm a sucker for wheat, I think it's just beautiful and for years had a bouquet of some I picked when I lived up in Wenatchee, Washington. And here was the wheat I love, along with a nest of robin eggs to remind me of the baby robins that were hatched on top of the light fixture on my deck last summer. It's a really textured oil, signed and dated ’72 and clearly from that period. 

The style reminds me of Brian Wildsmith’s art, like these.

On Saturday, KK and I went out for an hour or so. Some of you may recall I some pictures of a sale back in February of a house jam packed with collections, mostly china. Well, they unearthed another 1500 boxes of stuff from the basement and had a second sale. We were there on the second morning and there were still a zillion pieces. 

It’s a big old house and every room had shelving on all the walls and tables down the middle and all were jam packed, mostly with china lamps and figurines and teapots. I didn’t even bother to go down into the basement. Actually, I thought this box was the cutest item in the place.

Didn’t think there was a single thing I wanted, but on our way out through the back yard I spotted a wind chime. I've never passed a wind chime without making it ring, and this one was surprisingly mellow. And only a couple of bucks (probably the least expensive thing there), probably because it appears to be homemade. Some rusty wire, 

an old funnel and three pipes, 

some kind of game ball as a ringer 

and an embossed piece of tile for the sail 

and voila, you have a wind chime.

We checked out a couple more places. The first was the kind of sale where you roll your eyes as your leave thinking why on earth did they bother? – and I don't say that very often! But our last stop netted a mini jackpot. I've been looking for something to hold my silicone lids to free up space in the potholder drawer, and there in a free box was an adjustable rack to hold a roast that seemed worth trying. (I don't need it for its original use since I've been a vegetarian for almost 50 years.) Looks like it will work.

This odd Japanese utensil was marked a quarter and I thought I can use it to scrape stuck-on stuff from pans before they go in the dishwasher. Guess its intended use is in cooking rice, so maybe it will be dual duty.

And then on another table I spotted a small framed painting, also priced at a quarter. Original signed art…and here’s my Oregon valley scene I was thinking I needed!

Even better, when I went up to pay my fifty cents, she said, “Oh, just take them.” I told her she’d just made my day. I think I made hers by taking the Japanese mystery utensil!

She Made Me Go Back!

KK and I were planning to go to one rummage sale on Friday, then head ten miles north to the farm that was advertising you-pick tomatoes. After all, we wisely told each other, neither of us needs a single thing, in fact we need to get rid of stuff that we have, yada yada yada. But then I texted her early that morning, “Or we could go to that neighborhood sale where I got the great light fixture a couple of years ago and pick tomatoes another day; I'm good either way.”

Yes, we went to the neighborhood sale!

It quickly became apparent that participation on Friday was low; there were probably quite a few more sales on Saturday. But that was okay. After all neither of us needs a thing etc. And our very first stop was worth going: piles and piles of fifty cent clothing. I haven’t had a dig like that for ages. I spent three bucks and came home with three pairs of jeans, 

two long sleeve t-shirts, 

and a linen jacket from Coldwater Creek in a cheerful floral print. 

Even better, everything fits, and except for the jacket, I don't think any of it has been worn. It all still has that sizing smell. No fancy brands, but who cares?

We cruised for a while longer, then decided to hit the rummage sale on the West side of town, just down the street from the epic estate sale where we bought so much incredible clothing. (I’ll be wearing all that cashmere forever.) The church ladies had moved their annual sale out into their parking lot, and we were all masked and distancing. And so we happily rummaged. Racks of clothing (no thanks, just bought six things), piles of fabric (must…resist…more…fabric…), boxes of picture frames. I flipped through these, smiling over the framed needlepoint with a funny saying about housework. Tempting, but I resisted. I also resisted a curious glass object among the kitchen wares, but happily grabbed the medium-sized saucepan with lid I've been looking for. Each one I've seen for the past few months was over my price-flinch point. At one dollar, this one was meant to be mine. 

Another dollar brought home these two wonderful vintage but unused tea towels.

We grabbed Thai food at the food trucks and went back to my house to eat by the creek. My outdoor table is probably less than ten feet from the water, and the ducks provide a daily aquatic show, augmented by a pair of green herons, kingfishers, geese and more. (In fact, at my birthday dinner not long ago, also held on my deck, KK suddenly exclaimed and pointed – a hawk had just swooped down and grabbed a fish out of the water!) We chatted about the usual this and that, and I said something about the funny framed needlepoint that I kind of wished now I had bought.

“Let’s go back and you can get it,” she said. Nah, I said, I don’t need it…and so we got back into her car and drove back across the river and parked in the exact same spot in their parking lot, and I hurried over to the box of frames, now fearful it would be gone. But the garage sale gods were smiling upon me, it was still there, still sporting its 75₵ price tag. 

I grabbed it, then went to the kitchen wares. The mystery item remained; I showed it to KK who thought it might be a wine aerator. 

I decided if it was cheap enough I'd buy it. Along with this adorable bunny that would make an excellent soap dish (now that all I do is wash my hands multiple times a day). 

The church ladies had no idea about the mystery item and priced it at a quarter, and the cute bunny at fifty cents. Well within my splurge range.

Apparently KK was right, and this is to aerate red wine as you pour it from the bottle. At first I thought not because it did not go in the bottle of pinot noir sitting on my counter, but then I tried it in another wine bottle and it fit. I never knew that the interior diameter of all wine bottle necks was not equal, so for only twenty-five cents I have increased my fund of knowledge.

And that's a bargain any day of the week!