Thank God for Thursday. More specifically, thank God for the lady on Carson who broke with Belleville tradition and held a sale on Thursday. Just when I thought I couldn't wait another minute for the weekend, the weekend came to me! She sold me some beautiful shoes and a few shirts. What is your name, Carson Lady? You deserve individual recognition on the yardsale blog!
Then Friday arrived. It was the last day of school, only an hour of activity, followed by a grand second grade pool party at a friend's house. Desperate freak that I am, I farmed all my kids out, passed on the pool party, and tried to hit about 9 sales on my garage sale map.
I was duly punished by the yardsale gods for this demonstration of screwed up priorities. They smote me with a horribly bad attitude. I could not find one single item to buy. No proprietors excited me with yardsale enthusiasm. My spirits were so badly dampened that even stuff which normally would have caused me to pull out my wallet just left me cold. A bucket of giant pine cones, for instance? That has some kind of craft potential. But all I could do was sigh and slump back to my van. The morning was a total waste of gasoline. I must remember that sometimes - sometimes- there is something better to do than yardsale. In those instances I must choose the correct path.
But, Readers, I am resilient! Saturday dawned fresh and new! My faith in yardsaling had been restored in the night. I had a wallet bursting with singles. I had Sam and Henry, two twelve year old yardsalers-in-training who were ready to play Louise to my Thelma!
Henry tried to bring our adventure into the tech age with his iPad. He downloaded the lists of sales from the News-Democrat's website and froze it on the iPad for reference while
driving. But his iPad is (sadly) only WiFi, not 3G, so we didn't have access to Google Maps or anything so his list was just a list. It wasn't very helpful.
But he does have some excellent music on that thing which he played for us as we sped along country roads, searching for sales which I had plotted on this paper using the tried-and-true method of pen on paper.
The first sale of the day... BAM! Success! I found this wooden giraffe for 50 cents.
(A note on what I buy and why:
Some things I buy because they are a bargain. Nice shoes, for example, or a beautiful pair of pants in just my size.
Some things I buy because I need them anyway. Today I bought two laundry baskets, for example. I often need new laundry baskets and paying $3 at a yardsale is better than paying $12.99 at Target.
Some things I buy because they are funny and the act of buying them brings me joy. The Moolah fez from last week, for example, has no purpose other than to bring joy and laughter into my life. It is entertainment in tangible form. And at $6, I think the fez has brought me more entertainment than I could get from an evening at the average movie or an afternoon at the mini-golf course. The wooden giraffe falls into this category.)
Next we found Bettina Dr., in Swansea. They had a street-long sale, one sale after another, each one revealing itself gradually, like fireflies on a summer evening. Just when we thought there were no more, another one would peek out at us from around the next parked car.
The neighborhood motto on Bettina appears to be "Buy in Bulk". Almost every sale in this neighborhood had a large quantity of some unusual product for sale. One sale offered a box of 50 t-shirts for $1 each which sported the "College" logo from John Belushi's Animal House.
The next offered this pile of many nail clippers: 25 cents each.
Then a table full of Croc-like shoes...
many many kitten collars...
a large selection of new-in-box pocket knives...
a dozen sheathed daggers...
and finally, hundreds of rolls of outdoor fabric, $1 per yard. These are mostly the ends of rolls but as you can see there are quite a few with multiple yards left on the roll. These were only two of the three huge bays holding the fabric. I was so overwhelmed by the bounty, I didn't buy any but filed away the address for the next time I take on an outdoor sewing project.
Bettina Dr. made us hungry so I thought we should stop at my favorite oasis... the QT!
Here are Sam and Henry just moments before their first experiences with the clean bathrooms, ample drink choices, and tasty taquito-ness that make up the QT experience.
(Note: I gave my card to the QT worker in the hopes that he will become a regular reader and thus will begin my advertising-for-taquitos strategy. What say you, fine sir? Does regular, favorable advertising on the yardsale blog merit a free taquito now and then?)
Sam and Henry, of course, enjoyed their taquitos and were rejuvenated by the refreshing fountain beverages they selected from the plentiful offerings at the soda bar.
As we headed for home we skivved this sale in Olde Belleville. They were a lively bunch, very enthusiastic about yardsaling and the prospect of blog-fame. They were so desperate to unload this chair and stuffed animal that they were offered "Free with purchase of anything!" Technically, I had license to take both these things after I bought the 10 cent Jesus statue for my friend Kit. But I don't need a desk chair and the bunny was rather disturbing: squeeze his feet in the right place and he plays a tinny, eerie rendition of the classical tune of your choice. The effect was not as soothing as this toy's designer likely intended.
Last, but in no way least, was this compelling wooden sculpture of a woman. She lies in repose until you spread her legs. Then you place a walnut between her smooth thighs and leverage her ankles to crack the nut into smithereens. Honestly. I can't say any more about her. But if you desire her fiercely and feel $1 is a fair price, then comment to this post and I will direct you to her current owner. I suspect she lies there still, waiting for you and your nuts.
Over and out.
Nancy
Good call on QT -- they are my favorite place for a fill up and a little snacking for all the reasons you mention!
ReplyDeleteSam showed me his "College" shirt that he scored -- very cool!
Your excursions *must* be very interesting -- how else would two 12-year old boys -- on Summer Break no less! -- be enticed into waking up at 6:30 am to go hunting! Anyway, keep up the good work!