Familiar Haunts

When you've been sailing the same neighborhood for as long as I have, you're bound to revisit houses where you've made purchases before. Even though I have a rather advanced case of what my siblings and I call "CRS" (Can't Remember S#*t), I always remember things I bought at certain houses.

Last Saturday we revisited at least four former garage sales. Two years ago, I bought a beautiful little red lamp at a house around the corner. I paid what I call "real money" for it: $40.

This year the same house offered up a little wooden jewelry box for Emily at a fraction of the lamp price: $4.

At a cute little cottage a few blocks away we bought an excellent cookbook a few months ago. This time they had something I've actually been searching for: a small, plain cement turtle for my sister's backyard. (Yes, I really was searching for a small, plain, cement turtle!) The price was right, too: free (thanks to a missing leg). Emily found a print of one of our favorite local restaurants, the Crab Cooker, at the same place. ($15)

At another house we came across a woman we've bought things from before, but she was in a different location. We recognized jewelry that we passed by the last time we met her...and of course we bought more stuff from her this time, too. The dragon pin, necklace and old silver & turquoise bracelet are Emily's treasures, all for about $40.

At new locations we managed to find other goodies: a green chair that scrubbed up quite nicely for $5. A sweet little wooden dragon fly shelf for $3. And a brass bell to replace the one that was broken after exuberant clanging on New Year's Eve: $5.

You would think that there'd be nothing left at these same old spots, but it's amazing what people can find to drag out of their house a year or two after their last sale. And it's equally amazing what we find we can't live without.