The Imminent Demise of Pie

This is another in what will probably be an ongoing series of oldies, as I attempt to restore missing pictures from the past. And also, there are some pretty fun posts back there!

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“Here you go, this is just what you need!” the man said to his wife.

I looked up. That’s a statement that can go so many ways. Could be a gag, or sarcasm, but in this case was sincere. He thought she needed it: a pie divider. “For your pies,” he added.

“Mmmm, pie,” I said. “Let me know what time it’s ready!”

“She makes great pie,” he assured me. “You know, people just don’t make pie anymore.” Well, I said modestly, I myself do bake pies. Not sure he heard. “Nobody bakes or cooks. People our kids’ age have no idea how to make pie.”

This struck me as a bit of a sweeping generalization. I see enough food blogs to convince me that at least a few people still cook (besides me and his wife). “Sometimes these things skip a generation,” I offered. “Maybe your grandkids will make pie.” “No! They won’t even know what real pie is!”

So now we know: pie is going to disappear from America in the next generation. Dang. But we’ll still be having it at our house; stop by for a piece one of these days. Though you should know in advance that the pieces won’t be precisely equal, because those other people got the ten-cent pie divider at the yard sale.

This yard sale, in fact.

Judy and KK and I had a great Friday morning. Our first stop was here in the ‘hood, at the house where Judy paid for her own sweater last year. Judy replenished her wardrobe again, and I found some pieces for upcycling, including Irish linen

and some cotton pieces to combine.

(I’ll show you a couple of completed upcycles below.) As we were about to leave, KK spotted an item laying on a table and we all paused, trying to figure out what it was for. “It’s a hat,” I said authoritatively. (Yes of course I make things up. I’m a writer, it’s what we do!)

I tell you, I have the most fabulous friends. She immediately donned it, and by gosh it sure looked like a hat.

I think she looks like a high-ranking official from one of the Star Wars movies. The 9 year old girl helping with the sale piped up, “It’s for a baby’s car seat.” Some sort of head bumper thingie. They gave it to KK who has a new grandchild coming and can use it for the car seat. But I still think it made a great hat.

There was no doubt about this being a hat. Doesn’t it look lovely with the coordinating clothes brushes?

At another sale there were a bunch of boxes waiting to be unloaded. They had priced everything for their sale and then packed it all away until the sale day. I asked the young woman unpacking things onto an already-crowded table if she minded me looking through some of the boxes. “Go right ahead!” she invited, and before I knew it we had the boxes spread out and several folks were finding items. I scored some summer socks

an old favorite book

a couple of hand towels

a Vera Bradley bag

and (my fave) a cute license-plate purse.

Plus this crocheted tablecloth, intended for upcycling into some kind of garment.

Though it’s not bad as a tablecloth, or for the cat to make himself comfy on.

Even the free boxes did not disappoint, yielding a wall sconce

and a hand-knitted flamingo. Don’t find these babies every day!

I find the legs irresistible, with the knot-knees and shaped feet.

Okay, the upcycling. Still having a ball with remaking things. The latest is a couple of pieces for my SIL. She wears down vests during the winter, which gave me the idea of a summer vest. So I took the sleeves off a couple of short jackets        

used them as side panels, et voilà!

This looks like printed fabric, but it’s actually embroidered on a linen background.

Cute vests!

Holiday Rambles

NOTE: Some of the pictures in earlier entries have disappeared over the years. I was trying to restore some to this post from 2011, and discovered that Blogger is treating it as new. So here is a stroll down memory lane, hope you enjoy...and apologies for the still-missing pics!

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I try always to have low expectations when I go garaging on holiday weekends. No need to court disappointment! But for a holiday weekend, I did okay today. Very first stop was a sale presided over by a young woman who looked like Drew Barrymore. She told me she absolutely loves having yard sales and she was bouncing around with the energy of a 5 year old. And she’s the mother of preschool twins and a 10-month-old baby. Sheesh. I want to start having whatever she has for breakfast!

Met a couple of pets…

cute little dog, and a kitty with his head on upside down. Actually, kitty was trying to be cool and sat down with his back to me…and then couldn't resist checking on what I was doing.

Had a funny conversation with a guy about my age, maybe a bit older. He was showing me all the brand new things he was selling, all Christmas gifts from his son. “Why would he think I would ever use a pasta extruder?” he said, shaking his head. Even sillier was the large can opening machine that looked like it takes two hands to lift the lever so you can insert your can. It would take up a good foot or more of counter space. I suggested he tell his son that something like a gift card would be nice, or making a donation in dad’s name to some good cause. Apparently neither of these ideas had ever occurred before. Then I asked him what they give the son for gifts, and he said, “Uh…gift cards.” So I suggested that perhaps rather than exchange gift cards they could just mutually decide to forgo the gift giving. You should have seen the look of relief on his face at this thought!

There were even items for sale with great signage.

  

In spite of it being a holiday weekend, I still managed to spend $4.60. Some of it went for a LARGE bag o’ Legos.

 

My library system has been collecting Legos to use in programs. With 34 branches to share the collection, I figure we can’t have too many. So this will be my contribution to the cause.

My husband mentioned he needed a container for the cough drops he always has on hand. And this heavy glass container is perfect.

 

This hinged chrome frame will hold a couple of vintage photos of my hubs and his brother as little kids.

Have no idea if this DVD will be interesting, but I can gamble fifty cents.

 

I read on someone’s blog recently that backpacks can be good eBay items, and that Jansport is a good brand. So I thought I’d test it with this. Probably should wait till back-to-school shopping starts.

I’m sure that hearts, stars and skulls & crossbones will appeal to someone!

And I picked up half a dozen cloth napkins that I think will be fun with the striped tablecloth I bought last summer.

I had Friday off work and spent part of the day proving that sometimes it pays to buy stuff on driveways without knowing exactly what you’ll use it for. My first project involved the large stash of scrapbooking paper I picked up exactly two years ago.

I don’t scrapbook and have no intention of ever doing so, but I loved all the colors and designs and figured paper would come in handy. And I’ve used it for several things, but still have a lot left. I noticed the other day that this navy blue tin from Ikea that I use for a trash can in my bathroom had gotten rather beat up on the inside, though the outside is fine.

So a couple of pieces of scrapbook paper and some white glue, and voila, it’s nice again.

Nice enough for trash, anyway! Then I tackled another project I’ve been thinking about. I keep all my pins and earrings inside this cabinet, which had cross stitch fabric tacked inside to hang stuff from.

I’ve been reading in other people’s blogs about covering foam core with fabric and framing it to display jewelry. So I decided to do that inside my cabinet. I had a piece of foam core that I picked up at a yard sale at least 5 years ago, and some gold silk fabric that I’ve had stashed since September, 2006. I cut foam core to fit snugly in the spaces inside, covered it with fabric that I taped to the back, and stretched a narrow ribbon across to hold dangly earring and stick pins. The ribbon is the last of a spool I paid a quarter for two years ago.

  

I think it turned out rather fun!

Hmmm, getting quite a collection of pins there! While I was arranging everything back into the cabinet, I  noticed this piece, a gift from someone I used to work with, actually has a maker’s mark under the tarnish.

I’ve always thought it was probably from the 60s, but it turns out it’s a Georg Jensen piece, and he died in the 30s so it’s a lot older than I thought. And if sales on eBay are any indication a lot more valuable than I realized!

The Practical, the Delightful, the Bottom Line

Genie was kind enough to leave a comment on my last post which included a request for the 2023 spreadsheet report, which reminded me I’d never done it! I realized during the year that most of my finds fall into two categories. They are either practical (Pragmatist is my middle name. Hmmm, would that make me Queen Pragmatist of Fifty Cents?) or I find them delightful.

I much prefer the word ‘delight’ to the word ‘joy’; it seems to carry less responsibility, less necessity to work at maintaining it. Delight can be ephemeral and yet no less delightful, and as long as I still view something with that sense of delight I will keep it. If the delight fades, I tell whatever it is goodbye. Makes it easier to pack it off to the Humane Society Thrift Store, where I hope someone else will experience delight. Which of course brings up my donations category – 30 items I bought didn’t make the long-term cut. $44.25 spent…but hopefully will bring in more than that and feed some puppies and kitties.

The single most lucrative category (best return on investment) surprised me because it was such a small one – reselling. I bought only two things to resell, paid a buck and a half for them, and after all expenses they made $60.71 on eBay. I wish all my investments were that robust. Sheesh. What were they, you ask? A vintage bar of soap 

and a silk Citron Santa Monica dress.

Household goods had the next best return on investment – found 13 items for $17.55, worth about $390. As you’d expect, these are things that fall squarely in the practical camp. Fifty cents for a 3-way lightbulb that retails for $12. (Twelve bucks for one lightbulb! Lord have mercy.) A $2 jug of laundry soap that lasted 3.5 months. Nearly new king size all-cotton sheets for a dollar each. You would not believe the thrill I get making the bed with a beautiful blue sheet that cost a dollar.

One of the best household things I found all year is both practical and delightful – a fireplace screen. But wait, you say, there is no fireplace in your house. True, but this is the best doggy gate I have ever used. Never, ever thought of using one this way before.

I found several useful pieces of clothing, the cream of the crop being three Land’s End turtlenecks from a free box. I wear t’necks constantly in the winter, and these are the good heavy ones that are hard to find these days. I bought 12 pieces of clothing and accessories for $12, including this classy vintage purse that’s been fun to carry.

The category in which I found the most items was yard stuff. I saw an article in a (garage sale) gardening magazine about someone who used fancy vases upside down on stakes in their garden. Once you embrace upside-down-on-a-stake, you find all kinds of possibilities on driveways. For both the fancy part and the stake – curtain rods make great stakes, often with interesting finials. My favorite concoction used a $1 curtain rod (originally white, I painted it with copper spray paint) with a $3 pair of glass pendant shades. 

I had an open garden in June, and visitors had a lot of fun spotting all my décor.

Altogether I had a pretty darned good year – spent a total of $310.55, with an estimated value of $4826. It still pays to shop on driveways!

 

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.

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!

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!

Explanations!

I had a nice email yesterday from a reader, Chris. She said she had tried to leave a comment here on the blog but it didn't work (more on that in a minute) so she emailed. As Genie did back in August (wasn't August about 20 minutes ago? Wait, you say it's now October??!) she was missing my garaging adventures and wanted more. My ego is definitely purring!

But here's the thing - the fact is I've never been happier and don't post very often because I just don't feel like it! I'm at an age and stage of life where for the first time I can do what I want. I don't need to please anyone other than myself, and my main responsibility is to my pets.

The pandemic certainly had a big effect on sales. There are far fewer than in past years. Plus I downsized when I divorced, and already own most everything I need. I still enjoy going to sales and chatting with folks, but don't care if I go out every week.

I have no plans to end this blog, but posts will remain - how shall I put it? - quixotic. If you  miss me (warning, shameless self promotion ahead!) please hop over to Amazon and buy my books. They are quite fun, and if enough of you do it I'll have money to go garaging. Yay!

Now...circling back to the comments thing. I have no idea what is going on with that. My own blog will not let ME leave a comment! It keeps saying I have to sign in even though I already did. Grrrr. I apologize to anyone who has struggled with it, but I don't know how to fix it. Holler if  you have advice.

My now overblown ego thinks someone might want to know what I've been up to if not thrifting. Craigslist is a good pal of mine - just today I scored a cordless vacuum for about 75% off retail (I hate to vacuum, hoping this will make it easier). And for my birthday Craigslist found me something I've been considering for months - an electric tricycle! Isn't she pretty?

Mostly I just love hanging out with my fur gang. Remember that new kitten, Stanley? Best impulse decision ever. I woke up yesterday to find we were sleeping cheek to cheek. Great way to start the day!