That is a little more like it!

The past couple of Saturdays have been so dismal for saling that I wasn't even planning to go this morning. But when Gail came out of her room fully dressed with purse in hand, I decided to head out. It turned out to be a pretty good idea! Here's what we found:



Two little black and white lamps: if you've been reading this post for a while I guess you can figure out where those are going to live.



New pillows: I never buy new pillows any more, but I switch them out pretty often. In this neighborhood, people are constantly redecorating. It's funny, too, because when you find pillows at yard sales (which is pretty often), there are oodles of them at the same house. They must do a complete pillow purge! I chose these three from a giant pile of about two dozen. They're perfect on my brown leather yard-sale sofa!

















The lamps and pillows were purchased at the same house, along with this pretty little silver & ceramic box, a mortar and pestle, this nice silver tray, and the adorable measuring spoons. The total price for everything was $18. Not bad.




Other sales yielded these goodies: an Everyman's Library edition of John Donne's poems and prose. Very pretty. I've actually paid real money for other editions in this series. A set of eight very sturdy Crate & Barrel wine glasses for $4. We are constantly breaking these around our house. A brand new giant bubble maker (if you've never tried these, you might not be impressed...but trust me, they really do make giant bubbles.) Gail found a brand new Cuisinart ice cream maker for $5. It says it uses "no ice or salt". How is that possible? We intend to find out.

It's hot here today. Bubbles and ice cream could figure in our immediate future.

%$^# Happens

It was so bad out there today that I shouldn't even bother blogging. I bought a Barefoot Contessa cookbook for a quarter. That's really about it.

It was very damp and cool this morning, so poster-board signs hung by inept sellers curled in on themselves rendering them useless. When we were actually able to find sales, there were hoards of people scrounging through piles and piles of baby clothes. There was nothing but baby clothes. It was unbelievable. Rude drivers double-parked all over the place, boxing us in more than once. People were actually trying to have garage sales in areas where their entire property were surrounded by open trenches from city street workers. C'mon. Wait til next month! The icing on the cake was when Gail unknowingly stepped in fresh dog business and then got back in the car. Bleahhh. Time to go home.



On a more upbeat note, remember the little purse I bought last week? I used it this morning and it worked great (except for the part where there was nothing to buy.) A woman actually offered me ten bucks for it!



Finally, I do have one thing to show off. Last Sunday morning, after the really bad sailing on Saturday, Joe & I headed out for a walk only to find a neat stack of free stuff on the neighboring cul-de-sac's corner. We snagged this little dresser, which is in perfect shape. Sometimes free happens, too.

Some Days Are Like That

Some Saturday mornings would be much better spent in bed. This was one of them. There were poorly worded, curled up signs with text in about a 12 font size. Really irritating. There were used paint brushes, and I mean we're talking house paint, for $5 and $6. There were strange things from Alaska at at least three different sales, including some very creepy fur-covered gnome-like baby dolls (the seller assured us they were very popular in our 49th state) and Sarah Palin's Going Rogue. There was bad parking. I was completely boxed in by double parked vehicles at least twice. There was an "Estate Sale" that wasn't. Not even remotely.


Gail found stuff. Mostly things for her Mexican toy box.


Here's what I found: Russian nesting dolls (it's a classroom thing...we read a story where they play a part, and it's nice to have bits of "realia", which I'm pretty sure is a made-up, teacher word). A little black bag that will be useful for yard sales (ones where I may actually buy things) because you can have your money handy and your hands free. It cost me $5 which was probably too much. A kid book about rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels. And the piece de resistance: another squirrel. This one's a little glass dish that says Avon on the bottom. I'm not sure if he's supposed to hold a candle (which seems lame...wouldn't a squirrel's tail catch on fire?)
or...nuts? Anyway, he was cute and I grabbed him. He cost a buck.


I think this Russian nesting doll's expression pretty much says it all. Should've stayed home in bed.

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

It's Labor Day weekend, and in the past, I wouldn't have bothered getting up. There were never any garage sales on a three-day weekend. But on my way home from work yesterday there were signs all over the place advertising Saturday morning sales. It's the economy ("stupid!"). People can't afford to go anywhere, and they need all the cash they can scrape together. The number of sales every weekend is getting to be sort of remarkable around here. This is probably the only good thing to come from the weak economy. In any case, I'm taking full advantage.

Gail and I headed out into the fog this morning and saw so many signs we had a hard time deciding on a direction. First stop: toy land. Gail told me recently about a little boy named Emiliano, one of the many youngsters who often stop by their Baja palapa to visit. Recently he told Gail's friend Lucilla (his abuela) that Gail and Stan are getting pretty old. They're probably going to die soon, he told his grandma. Oh, so touching, she thought, he's worried about them! Then he said, "What will happen to their toy box?"

Gail has been stocking her toy box with garage sale goodies for years. She also tries to bring back special items for each of the little boys who are regular visitors. This year before she left, Emiliano said, "Remember when you brought me that truck?" Ooohhh. Hard act to follow! Today we found this Tonka helicopter, complete with sound and rotary action: 50 cents. Unbelievable deal. Everyone who's seen it sitting on the kitchen counter wants to play with it: hopefully Emiliano will, too.

We bought all kinds of little goodies today, including a bunch of games and books for my classroom. Also a very nice white bathroom cabinet to replace a pretty funky one in my smallest bathroom. I won't bore you with photos of all of it. But I did get a bunch of little useful kitchen things: very nice wooden salad utensils, a set of like-new steak knives, and a pretty little tea cup with a lid...and then these wire things. Gail thinks they're for fishing hard-boiled eggs out of the water. Does anyone know what they are? I just thought they were cute! They may even have costume potential.

We saved an "Estate Sale" for last today. It was right around the corner, and it's been going on since Thursday. We figured it would probably be pretty picked over and we weren't expecting to find a thing. And that word "estate" is often used pretty loosely! But lo and behold: an actual estate sale, where everything in the house was for sale. It was the source of the steak knives, and the Viking egg-dippers, and all seven of these Audobon Society field guides for $3.50. A very nice find, I thought, especially on day 3 of their sale. A gentleman perusing the book shelf right after me was pretty bummed that he had just missed them. There were plenty of other goodies left for him, though. I wished him "Happy reading" and went on my merry way.

One last tesoro: this piece of Tonala pottery from Mexico. It says "ardilla" on the bottom, in case you couldn't already see that it's a totally adorable squirrel! Definitely the find of the day.