Hot Fun

I was awfully glad for that church rummage sale on Thursday, since their air conditioning was working and mine was not (hottest week of the year, of course). The dentist’s office where I had to go after the sale was also air conditioned but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. Plus they took a LOT more money away from me than the church did, and my new filling isn’t nearly as interesting as my rummaging finds. 

The very first thing that went into my bag was pretty amazing, especially for $4: a 100% silk duvet cover.

Hand painted – see how the motifs go over the seams?

Bought two of these throw rugs for a quarter each. Zoë likes them.

Almost all the clothing was fifty cents, so I brought home a couple of linen shirts, some cashmere and merino for winter crafting, and a wonderful hand-spun, hand-woven silk scarf.

Cute earrings, another fifty cents.

Ditto the spring-green china bunny,

who now resides among the petunias.

Of course I had to bring home some yarn. Chatted with another gray haired lady with a lovely English accent over the yarn table about how neither of us can resist adding to our stash.

Friday morning saw KK and me out early (Judy was traveling); everyone wanted to beat the heat. Including this fellow, who ambled up to the bird feed in my front yard as I was waiting for KK. I wish my lens had been good enough to show the birdseed stuck to his nose!

Along with sales in my neighborhood, it was the annual tract-wide sale at one of the retirement places; we probably hit 25 sales there. (Can I admit we were pooped out by 11? An excellent time of day for pizza!) We had fun at the place with the party supplies.

Heck, we had fun all morning! I picked up a couple of fabulous vintage (50s, I think) felt & feather birds (the flamingo might be a gift…if I can convince myself to part with him!), 

a pair of mini tube cake pans,

a 25¢ bracelet to part out (I have an idea for those chunky Lucite beads), 

and a bunch o’ cheap entertainment.

I’ve always wanted one of these ‘pin art’ toys, and this one was a dime. I call this “Self Portrait in Orange Plastic.”

One sale had a bunch of kitchen stuff that the lady was selling for a friend. No one had any idea what this silicone thingie was for.

Our best guess was a funnel. It was a quarter. I bought it mainly so I could figure it out. The hubster took one look at it and declared it was for brewing coffee. (He’s something of a coffee geek. That’s where his mind runs.) I kept looking online and finally found it. We were all wrong! It's a lemon squeezer,

and you store the leftover half in it.

Another 25¢ mystery…solved!

Another First for My Thrifting Scrapbook

Ooohhhh, four sales programmed into the GPS for Friday = two happy women. (Judy was out of town or it would have been three.) The first was at a lovely Fifties home on the West side. I very much wanted to take home the spotlessly clean original tile kitchen counters, but had to content myself with some crafty supplies (pipe cleaners, knitting stitch holders, embroidery thread) and some vintage yarn that’s so old it’s not in Ravelry’s yarn database.

But at fifty cents a skein for wool and mohair, I don’t see how I can go far wrong. And I couldn’t resist a pair of little handmade gnomes (felt glued onto a wine cork)

because Judy and KK both told me recently that they like gnomes. So, a tiny gift for each of them! And I may have to try my hand at making cork gnomes.

Then we tootled over to an estate sale in Monmouth, where KK was thrilled to find the vintage Viewmaster she’s been looking for. I picked up some ornaments (I'm afraid the bagpipe-playing Scotty made my husband groan out loud)

(isn't this the cutest bottlebrush tree ever?)

and a 100% alpaca scarf

and over a yard of yummy fabric that was fifty cents.

The last two sales of the day were meh. But that’s okay, because I was waiting for Saturday morning. In fact, I'd been waiting all week, ever since I saw the headline for an ad on Craigslist:

Historic Funeral Home going out of business, 80 yrs of accumulation

I tell you, I've been doing this thrifting thing a long time, and this is the first estate sale I've ever seen for a funeral home! The ad went on to say

Historic Barrick Funeral Home is being sold. Over 80 years of accumulation needs to go, lots of variety here. Vintage ephemera, oddball antiques, artist finds, lots to see with something for everyone. We are still uncovering more every day until the sale.

I couldn’t even tell you what some of the things in the pictures were, but here are a few from the ad.

Yes, that is a pine coffin. I'm not sure if anyone had bought it but it was still right in the foyer when I was there!

Their building appears to have been remodeled in the Sixties. The lower part is covered with pale green panels, possibly aluminum, and the upper portion is this amazing three dimensional metalwork. I've never seen anything like it, and admire the building whenever I drive by.

I arrived a few minutes before the scheduled start time. Big crowd out front waiting to get in. Had to park a block away. Judy was already there, and we had plenty of time for a nice long chat, since they were letting in about thirty people at a time and our number was…85!

Predictably, what there was had been pretty picked over when we finally got in, but sharp-eyed Judy spotted this great MCM ceiling light on one of the pews in the chapel, which I ended up buying for ten bucks.

Can’t wait to put this up somewhere in my house. MCM fixture, good; MCM fixture with a story, great!

It’s probably just as well that this light had already been sold. We might have had to fight over it, even though it was way too large for either of our homes!

Judy spotted another light a bit later, a pull-down counter-weighted lamp very similar to this one.

The lamp swings out from a piece of teak that fits over a wall cleat; unfortunately the cleat was missing. But as we were walking out, I noticed an identical piece of teak (sans lamp) lurking quietly on a wood paneled wall, reached up, and slid it off – and there was the exact cleat she needed. Evidently there had been another of these lamps, but we were told it went on the fritz recently. So they went and found a screwdriver, and Judy got the cleat!

While we were looking around, a young woman was taking pictures. We figured she was just interested in a piece of furniture and tried to stay out of her way. But a few minutes later she came up and told us she’s from the newspaper and got our names. She’s only been there a couple of weeks, and today got sent out on assignment to cover a funeral home’s estate sale.

You just have to love Salem! And you just have to love Judy. You know how most of us shrink from having our pictures taken? When we walked away from the reporter, Judy's comment was, "I didn't know she was taking our picture. If I had--I'd have posed!" 

The Egg and I

The scene: family-run estate sale in a cute little house, originally built in 1946. Just a little two-bedroom place with knotty pine panelling and a knotty pine kitchen. Absolutely adorable. As kids came along, they added to the house, so now it’s a bit of a maze. Everyone was exclaiming over what today would be a so-called ‘man cave’ – the former back porch with the knotty pine walls and the cool built-in bar at one end. The bar had diamond-shaped panes set into it with thin slices of interesting rocks for light to shine through. (Sorry, didn't have my camera with me!) Those of you who appreciate vintage houses will be happy to know that the new owners bought it because they love all the knotty pine and will NOT be ripping it out.

The players: several brothers and sisters who grew up in the little house (folks about my age) and KK and me.

Until we reached the back yard, KK and I were just enjoying seeing inside the place. The yard was quite large and had clearly been a beloved space. By the back fence, a guy was digging up the supports to a windmill about 8 feet tall that he’d just bought. And KK noticed a very large cement birdbath on a pedestal. Marked $12. Something like this one.

These puppies are over a hundred bucks at places like Home Depot. Twelve was a steal. She went off to pay for it and find someone to help put it in the car.

Meanwhile, I noticed another yard ornament sitting near the house. A large glazed egg, about 18” tall. Dark brown. Just an ornamental egg, not a fountain or anything, but I liked it. I think the egg is about the most perfect shape there is. Soothing.

But there was no price tag. I headed inside and spotted a lady. “Are you shopping or working the sale?” I asked. “Working,” she said. “What can I help with?” I asked about a price for the egg thingie. She looked puzzled. “Egg thingie?” I led her out to the yard and pointed. “Egg thingie.” “Ohhhh,” she laughed, “the egg thingie. Marylou!” she called to another lady just inside. “How much is the egg thingie?”

“Egg thingie?” said Marylou. “Ohhhh, the egg thingie. Four bucks.” Hmmm. For four bucks I figured the egg thingie warranted a closer look. It was in perfect condition and I said I’d take it. The first lady carried it out to the garage for me while I looked around a little more. Nothing else caught my eye, so off to the garage I went.

When it was my turn to pay I started to say, “I’m just getting the e—” “Oh yeah, the egg thingie,” said the cashier. Either the entire family had always called it the egg thingie, or I had an immediate influence on them. I’ll never know. “Yup, that egg thingie,” I said. “Though I have no idea what my husband will say when he sees I’ve brought home a very large egg.” She didn’t miss a beat. “Tell him it was forced on you by a very large bird.”

I passed over four ones and picked up my egg. KK had backed her car into the driveway to take delivery on the birdbath and appeared around the corner of the house with one of the gents of the family, carrying the bowl. “I may have to take you home with me or I’ll never get it out of the car,” she told him.

He nodded. “And I might just stay.” There was a masterfully timed pause, then he asked, “Can you cook?”

We were still chuckling over that when she delivered me and the egg at my house. I carried it in. “It’s an egg thingie for the yard,” I told Steven. “I’m supposed to tell you it was forced on my by a very large bird.”

And for the zillionth time in the past 40+ years he completely surprised me. He not only loved the egg thingie, he wants to use it at decor in the house!

Holiday on Holiday Drive

I promise I’ll write about this weekend’s garaging adventures…later. After Judy and I work out which of us gets the vintage desk chair we found.

The hubs and I just succeeded in repairing the cord on our deck umbrella (we are SO jazzed!)

and all the outdoor chair cushions have been newly slipcovered.

Pots have been planted

and bunnies are on guard.

I am now on holiday!

Field Trips

“Everybody needs one of these,” the guy assured me. He pulled a metal plate out of the toaster he was selling that would brand ‘Luv You’ onto your bread.

“Mmmm, I don’t think I want to get that familiar with something I’m about to eat,” I told him. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been a vegetarian for forty plus years. I did however buy this food thermometer.

Won’t be using it in any meat; it’s to check the temp of the hot wax I’ve been melting in the small Crockpot I picked up a few weeks ago for treating my hands. You definitely do not want the wax too hot when you slather it on!

Judy and I headed for West Salem on Friday since there wasn’t much going on in our part of town. We felt like we were on a field trip since we had to cross the river to get there, and it was fun to be in a different part of town. Except we both noticed, when we got into the neighborhoods over there, they looked just like our usual South Salem haunts. Except for the house with the estate sale – it had at least an acre of yard. A great midcentury rancher with a starburst escutcheon on the front doorknob, and a pull-down fixture over the dining room table that we both lusted after.

We also lusted for the Heywood-Wakefield living room tables that were scooped up by another woman while we were looking at them. Sigh. And I quite liked the curved sectional sofa, but when I showed my husband the picture I snapped

he took one look and said, “But it’s white. We don’t live a white sofa lifestyle.” And I have to admit he’s right!

My purchases on Friday totaled two bucks. Along with the thermometer I came home with three packs of white index cards (handy for grocery lists and notes) and a Christmas ornament.

“When my daughter was born,” the guy having the sale told us, “she had red hair, so her uncle started calling her Ladybug. So everybody gave her ladybugs for years. But she’s just gotten married, so she’s giving up some of them.”

On Saturday my friend Toni and her mom, Billie, came out with me. I swear, they are the best good luck charms – I found several fun things. One of them is for Toni. She was chuckling over this lighted leash

so of course I had to get it for her. Perfect for taking her dog Xanadu out for that last trip in the dark before bedtime.

At the same sale there were several wind chimes hanging up that were for sale. Toni and I tried them all (I can never pass a chime without hearing what it sounds like) and I fell in love with this rusty old bell.

 

It has a wonderful mellow ring. I even love the rust!

And there was a cute hooked rug marked fifty cents, so it came home with me. As soon as I put it on the floor, Zoe came to check it out.

 

She loves it. I just hope she doesn’t decide to chew on the corners!

Speaking of Miss Z, she has another new collar.

When I asked how much it was, the lady said, “Oh, free…if it’s for a special dog.” I assured her that Zoe is very special indeed. Bought this nice pot there (not free, but only a dollar).

I think I’ll plant some of the coleus sprigs in it that I’ve been rooting.

 

I’ve been looking for weights in various sizes at my husband’s request, and was happy to find a pair of ten-pounders for a buck (hey, when was the last time you bought ten pounds of anything for a dollar?).

 

And how could I pass these up when they had my name on them?

And for fifty cents, I picked up some awfully cute shoes. Perfect for next summer with denim capris.

One sale had an amazing amount of stuff, with some pretty amazing prices. I picked up this puppy

 

because I sold a similar one last year and figured I might be able to do it again if the price were right. Are you ready? Fifty cents. Yup, vintage Pyrex bowl and stand, fifty cents. Then I saw a handwritten note on a white garment and stopped to peruse (I’m a total sucker for handwritten notes). It said this was the uniform she wore in the 20s working in the Dover, Oklahoma grocery store. The lady having the sale came over and told me her aunt had worn it in the grocery she and her husband had owned. “Can you imagine anyone now wearing a white uniform to work in a store?” she said. Underneath the dress was this picture

   

which I instantly fell in love with. She went on to tell me the whole history of her aunt and uncle. Uncle William was also a Methodist minister

and Aunt Cora taught piano lessons.

Isn’t this a charming way to have a portrait made? I like it much better than the usual face-front head shot; the setting in their living room gives a whole story. (Don’t you LOVE Aunt Cora’s cool piano bench?)

In fact, the whole room is great. I’m thinking late Forties probably. The book Uncle William is reading was published in 1945. So I bought the picture for a quarter and have adopted them as my own aunt and uncle. The seller said she has many, many more pictures of them. I’ll keep an eye out for a nice frame and upgrade them soon.

Just one more thing I love about garaging – you can go out and find new ancestors!