Yard Sale Treasures

As some of you may know, it was Memorial Weekend here in the States. That means many businesses were closed for a 3 day weekend. Of course, the shops are open! So that means for those that didn't go out of town for camping or frolicking on the beach, you can shop your little heart out at the stores with all kinds of sales for Memorial Day. If you're like me, you head to the yard sales!

It was a whopper of a weekend for yard sales! Up here, I am not sure why, yard sales start as early as Thursday!! I got 5 days of yard sales!! So if I can't get to that one today, I'll get it tomorrow! Fridays are the best day because I get to shop before the crowds on Saturday and Thursdays are maybe 2 or 3 sales, many miles apart. Be prepared to drive for yard sales up here, because in the mountains, they are spread out. But SO worth it!!

We drive along the main road and I am the spotter of signs touting sales this-a-way or that-a-way, while Hubby drives. The girls are pretty good when we go yard sale-ing, and I have since learned to bring plenty of snacks, drinks and toys to amuse them with. And they have since learned that going yard sale-ing will sometimes reward their patience with a toy or two. I have also become expert at becoming a toilet of sorts for the oldest when she needs to pee. We open both doors on the driver's side and I will stand in between, facing the car with girlie in front of me, she will drop her drawers and I'll pick her up behind the knee with her back leaning on my chest, and then she'll pee and I'll aim her stream away from my feet. This takes all of 30 seconds or so. We pop her back in the car when she is done and we are off, leaving behind a small puddle.

On our travels, we discover new roads that lead to dead ends, circle back to the main road, or keep going and going until we feel it's time to turn around and head back. Here in the hollows, hills and valleys, sometimes the roads you are heading into will take you into the deepest woods, blacktop fading to gravel roads, well-kept homes and lawns change to rough looking shacks and over-grown yards and you feel it may be time to break out the bread crumbs. No phone signals here, so if something should happen, you can't call for help and knocking on a door is not a welcome prospect. People live remotely for a reason and there are tales of people answering their doors with a shotgun in hand. I've never looked down the barrel of a gun and I certainly don't intend to start now. A full tank of gas is first on our check-list before we head out the door to go yard sale-ing.

The things I have had such a hard time finding in the city is plentiful here. My reasoning is the people here hold on to things and don't tend to keep up with the fashionable neighbors, like in the cities. If something works, they keep on using it and if it breaks, it gets fixed. Only until they pass away and relatives decide they don't want this stuff, sell them at yard sales, estate sales and auctions. And prices are CHEAP! I have come home with the back of the car filled and spent $50 or less. One yard sale we stopped at was a bounty of 70's items-- kidney shaped coffee table, polyester clothing, mod lamps and melamine dishes. We snagged the table for $5, a 1973 Daffy Duck drinking glass for $1, a vintage card shuffler for 50 cents. I spotted a box of melamine plates, cups and saucers and when I asked how much, she said they were free. SNAG! She had garbage bags on the ground filled with old clothes and fabrics and a sign that read "FREE", so of course I went through and found some materials for a future crafting project. We left with a full trunk and paid a total of $6.50!

I am so glad that Hubby likes to go yard sale-ing with me! It would be no fun having to drag a grumbling husband along, or if he stayed home, I don't want to hear him complaining about the "junk" I am bringing home. We are of similar tastes and we know that the stuff we like can only be found in second-hand shops and yard sales. It also helps that the stuff is cheap and if one of the girls break a glass (they have), I wont be too upset (ohh, my flower power glass! Oh well, I only paid 50 cents for it.) and there is my excuse to go and hunt for another one!

I use an old, white enameled chamber pot with a lid as a compost bucket. It still has the label on the side, only it says "Diaper Pail". My mom, when she saw the bucket on the kitchen counter next to the sink, immediately asked me why I have a "Poop pot" on the counter. Mom grew up in a 4-room house with no running water and an outhouse. At night and in the winters, they used the "poop pot" so they wouldn't have to run outside to the outhouse. With the invention of the toilet and more homes getting running water and bathrooms, the chamber pot company had a surplus of poop pots and decided to change out the labels and magically transform poop pots into diaper pails, saving themselves from bankruptcy. Even though my bucket is brand new (old, but never used) and advertised as a diaper pail, mom was grossed out by the idea of me having a poop pot in the kitchen. But I like it and it works for me. I have a bucket to put the day's worth of peelings and coffee grounds in and a lid to keep the stuff from smelling up my kitchen until I take it out to the compost bin.

It was a pretty good weekend for us. We didn't go camping or frolicking in the waves at the beach, no gathering with friends getting lubricated with alcohol, but we had fun! We worked in the garden, took a break and went yard sale-ing. Met some nice people, shared memories of the stuff they are selling, got some good deals and found some pretty neat stuff. More vintage aprons to add to my collection, the girl's Barbies have a new beach house to vacation in, Hubby got a few tools he needed, and even the outdoor cats got a cat house to live in. I'll let you know if disco lights suddenly flash on and off and music starts playing in the cat house. I assume payment will be made in the form of mice and birds....