Slim Pickings!

Every weekend I keep thinking that sales will start to pick up.

So far, I've been wrong!

I went to two estate sales on Friday. At the first, I picked up a large Silpat (silicone baking sheet) for a buck, because my ex had recently asked me to keep an eye out for one. This is one of those items I almost never see at sales, so I was amazed to run across one only days after we talked about it. For another fifty cents, I scored a woven basket.

 I've been looking for a wastebasket for my garage near the washer and dryer. For almost two years now I've thrown away lint from the dyer into an old paper grocery bag. 

I'm thrilled to finally upgrade to something so much nicer! This classic basket is beautifully made of split bamboo. My lint is going to feel so upscale from now on!

 Found nothing at the second sale, but had a nice chat with the ladies running it. They were the same folks who ran that once-in-a-lifetime sale three years ago where I got all the cashmeres. (Not surprisingly, I was actually wearing a cashmere sweater and a cashmere muffler from that sale on Friday.) There was so much stuff the sale ran for two weekends (and they said there was still a ton left at the end). The first weekend I spent $48 and brought home 55 items, including a Pendleton blanket that I sold on eBay for quite a lot more than I paid. (For everything, not just the blanket!) The second weekend (when prices were marked to half) I spent another $40 for 75 items, including more cashmere sweaters and several pairs of Pendleton wool slacks. It was so nice to be able to tell the ladies who ran that sale how much it meant to me and my posse. In fact, we get together every year to toast the lady whose things they were. She has come to feel like a favorite aunt whom we still miss, but so appreciate what she left us!

Last weekend I drove up to Seattle to attend the Northwest Garden Show. Lots of gorgeous stuff to see and lots and lots of people (“masses of asses” as KK so succinctly puts it). There was wonderful eye candy but the prices were not tempting. In fact, my only souvenir of the trip was a little cashmere cardigan I found at the Goodwill bins in Olympia, which are conveniently located just off the freeway. This is where they sell leftovers by the pound; the only thing my rummaging turned up that I liked was this sweater - which cost a measly 59₵. It was quite small, but no matter – I cut off the sleeves to make arm warmers (which I call ‘sleevie wonders’),

and the body of the sweater became a long pair of bed socks.

Just the kind of travel souvenirs I like – warm, soft and thrifty!

Souvenirs

Driving towards downtown on Wednesday morning, I spied it – right in front of the Episcopalian Church.

A sign. One I'd see before.

“Rummage Sale, Thursday Friday Saturday 9 a.m.”

I drove around the block and pulled the car over. Took my phone out. Texted.

“KK. Episcopalians are rummaging tomorrow @ 9!”

She texted back. “Bummer! Have to go to Eugene.” About 10 minutes later she texted again. “I’ll go to Eugene after!”

We’ve both made good finds among the Episcopalians’ cast-offs before. Mine included some $2 cashmere sweaters  that retailed for over $600 at the swanky San Francisco shop that originally sold them. Once something like that happens, Pavlov’s drooling dogs have nothing on you. It's a completely autonomic response. You MUST go to that sale.

And possibly drool.

This year’s finds were more practical than drool-worthy, but practical makes me very happy. A set of all-cotton sheets for the queen-size bed for three bucks? Yes please. (Macy’s house brand, online  price tag near $150.) Two pairs of pricey-brands crop pants for summer? Check. And for a little icing on the practical cake, a long (40” or so) strand of blue glass beads for another two bucks - embellishments for future textile pieces.

On Friday, KK and I took what I call a mini-vacation, which is any trip to an unfamiliar place, even if it’s just one street away from my usual route. She needed to deliver one of her paintings that was accepted into an art show in Corvallis, and there was an estate sale that looked like it might be good in nearby Albany. So I mapped out our trail down there instead of our usual stomping grounds.

I'm happy to report that for once the pictures did not lie, it was a good sale. (I define a good sale as one where the items belonged to someone whose taste matched mine. When that includes adorable vintage wooden toy thingies, bingo!) When we arrived I headed straight for the fireplace in the living room, where the pictures had indicated something I don’t see often.

Smokers.

No, not people hunched over in the rain the statutory 10 feet from a building entrance. Or the contraptions for smoking meat. I mean the German wooden figurines that you mostly see as a Christmas ornament. They come in all shapes and sizes, most often in the form of a man with a pipe. When you burn cone incense inside, the smoke comes out his mouth. I have a few, including Santa and a postman. My favorite in my collection has always been the aproned haus frau holding a bowl of dumplings – and the emerging smoke is the steam from the dumplings.

Sure enough, on the hearth was a lineup of three or four smokers, and unlike any I'd ever seen. I pounced, even though it was a bit of a splurge. The one with the acorns was a no-brainer.

And the elf sitting by his mushroom home? 

When I saw that the smoke comes out of the mushroom’s chimney, AND that he is sitting on a snail, into my bag he went. 

When I got home and inspected my finds, I saw that both were artist-made back in the 90s.

KK found me in the kitchen, where I scored a nice heavy kitchen knife and an Ove glove.

She was holding a little wooden object and asked if I'd seen it. Which I had not, or it would have been in my hands, not hers. I asked if she were buying it. Whew! She had picked it up for me!

Bunnies and chicks! Vintage music box. The tag said ‘as-is’ but who cares. I knew there was a music box inside because of the weight, but it wasn’t until I got it home and was cleaning off the dust that I realized how it is supposed to work. 

See that tallest bunny? ‘Tall’ being a relative term, he’s all of 2½” high. 

Well, he is the key – or at least glued to the key. You turn him to wind the music box, and then he’s supposed to revolve as the Blue Danube plays. Unfortunately he does not want to revolve on his own. But I have gotten other music boxes to play, and I have hopes for this one. I’ll tinker with it when I can take my time over it. Meanwhile, every time I look at the baby chick tucked up into the painted bed I feel myself grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

KK found my other buy as well – the Pinocchio egg cup. 

Though he may well become the Pinocchio candle holder, since I rarely eat a boiled egg. Or he can just around looking cute.

Hmmm, I just realized something. My last maxi-vacation was the trip to Chicago a couple of years ago, when I bought one and only one souvenir (a pair of vintage earrings from a thrift store). But I take a mini-vacation and look at all my souvenirs!

It's probably a good thing I don’t travel very often.

Shirt-Bunnies and Craft Supplies

The four ladies in the rug hooking room at the textile museum were in the middle of a conversation about service animals and exactly what is considered one. (KK & I were in Tillamook and had already roamed through the quilt exhibit and the weaving room. I was eavesdropping obviously enjoying listening in. 

One lady said it was amazing what some people claim as service animals, and another exclaimed, “When I worked at the visitor center at the cheese factory, people would try to sneak anything in. One day this woman came in with a big rabbit inside her shirt. Guess she thought I wouldn’t notice.”

Excuse me, madam, is that a bunny in your shirt or are you just glad to see me?

We were in Tillamook Friday on our way home from a few days at the beach, at my SIL’s family beach house. (Linda, you ARE the best!) Three women lazing around and eating the fabulous food we all brought…even better than garaging! We were the complete tourists and visited a peony garden on our way to the coast. Gorgeous flowers! It was decided that the jacket I was wearing depicts peonies instead of poppies as I had assumed. 

Whoever planned this garden really knew how to combine plants and colors. 

Of course my favorite peony was one that must be rare – a single bush will set you back $204. Sheesh!  

The blooming fields were beautiful

as was the field of red clover being grown for seed next to the parking area.

I’m so used to garaging on Fridays that I felt a bit off-kilter this week, not being able to do that. But on my way to the dog park Saturday morning I noticed a sign pointing to a sale in my neighborhood. I heaved a sigh of relief when I headed to that one.

I think I'm more addicted to the fun of poking through other people’s stuff than the stuff itself.

The Craigslist ad mentioned furniture and kid stuff which are not on my wanted list, but one of the teen daughters (according to her mother) has recently moved on from her expensive hobby of crafting greeting cards to the expensive hobby of photography. I reaped the benefit. For a total of $7 I brought home a kit with 3 dozen Spectrum Noir dual-tip pens, 

a bunch of beads including green Czech glass ones 

some jewelry findings 

various cording materials 

and a carved wooden pendant. (I'm trying to broaden my thinking on ways to upcycle fabric.) 

Poking around in other people’s stuff can be worthwhile. Of course any burglar would tell you that, but they face jail time and all I need is to keep a little cash on hand!

Small Town, Big Fun

Went down to Roseburg (2 hour drive away) to visit our friends Diana and Dave and go to the Umpqua Valley Quilt Show this weekend. Eye candy galore! Diana and I oohed and aahed our way through the exhibit hall at the county fairgrounds.

We were simultaneously inspired and intimidated by the wonderful work that we saw. Of course some pieces were more amazing than others, but the quality of the quilts was truly wonderful. There was even a little quilt made by a four-year-old during “Grandma Camp!” (Sorry, didn’t get a picture of it, simple squares sewn into a wall hanging or doll blanket, but still…a four-year-old!)

The quilt guild sponsoring the show had a large booth in the back of the hall, and their main display made this old thrifter’s heart happy.

Of course we found a few things and put together an inch – although the lady who took my dollar thought our inch was too short and encouraged me to pick out something else. But I was happy with what we had.

Somewhat to my surprise, that wasn’t the only thrifty shopping I got to do. We planned to head south about 2 p.m. on Friday, so KK and I went out in the morning to see what we could find. Which wasn’t much, but I was happy with this.

 

I've noticed these pet-hair-collecting gloves online (they’re one of those “as seen on TV” items, but I don’t own a television so those are rarely “as seen by me”). Wouldn’t have spent ten or fifteen bucks on one, but for a dollar I was willing to give it a try, and it does a pretty good job.

Fannie turns out to have quite an undercoat and is starting to shed. And though Zoë has zero undercoat her short white hairs get into everything. So I think we’ll get our dollar’s worth. And I did get a good laugh from the literature that came in the box, with its “Important Safety Instructions.” I mean, really? Safety instructions?

And by golly, they left out the only one I think might be needed: Don’t use this glove wrong-side out. Ouch!

Saturday morning Diana and I stopped at one estate sale on our way to the fairgrounds. It was really picked over, guess it had started on Thursday, and I wish we’d been there that day because I think there was some cool stuff. Like a particularly gorgeous stained glass screen that we saw a picture of in their ad, but that was gone. However, I did spent two bucks and left with another addition to my glass-vases-in-the-window collection

a cozy muffler from Ireland

(I've already ignored the ‘dry clean only’ tag; honestly, do people really take something like a scarf to the dry cleaners? Do they think the wool never got wet when it was on the sheep?)

and three containers of miscellaneous buttons.

Probably nothing too valuable in them, though I'm still trying to figure out what these metal buttons depict.

A lovely lady? But, ummm, are those horns among her hair? Frankly, my first impression was Ludwig van Beethoven, so maybe I'll stick with that.

Buttons are in the eye of the beholder, right?

Diana got the real deal of the day though. She’s part of a church group that is upgrading a meeting room where women in recovery can gather, and they need some decent chairs. She was admiring the four dining chairs at the estate sale, which were marked $80. This turned out to be the price for all four, but they have zero budget for the project. The price went down to $40, then $30. We both tried them out and they were very comfy and in great shape, so she decided to get them.

When we got home I noticed a maker’s tag on the bottom of one chair and the word ‘Denmark.’ So I looked them up, and it turned out they are from the Danish company Bolinge, probably made in the Sixties. And worth quite a bit more than $7.50 each! There are two each of these two styles, all with the original upholstery (which I think is wool) and most likely made of teak.

So instead of taking them straight to the meeting room, they are going to try to sell them to someone who appreciates midcentury furniture, and use whatever they raise that way to furnish the room.

Treasures lurk everywhere, don’t they?