May Day in Milstadt

Once again, we drove out to Milstadt on a Saturday morning. But while last time was for a multi-vendor, school rummage sale, today our goal was a village-wide yard sale bonanza! They advertised 105 yard sales throughout the small, rural community.

We departed at 645 am in Laura's van with four kids as assistants: Sawyer, Campbell, Hudson, and JoJo. Donny had planned to go but when push came to shove he couldn't make it out of bed that early.

It was a foggy morning as Laura hauled ass out to Milstadt. We used my new and improved map-book and some cracker-jack directions from Milstadt resident and school principal, R.Dane Gale. (The R most likely does NOT stand for Rocky.)

As we impatiently approached the Dutch village, we skivved down Sunset Dr. Our first stop was at the most well-run yardsale I have ever seen. They announced their sale with a boutique quality "open" sign, hung expertly on their mailbox.

Their display was tidy and organized. Their prices clearly and uniformly marked. This retired couple had a collection of craft dolls hanging on rope suspended from the garage ceiling by a cleverly placed patio table. Excellent use of rafters, folks!

I purchased a set of ten glasses featuring the Big Ten universities. They are old, so old that they are from a time when there were only ten schools in the Big Ten. My husband tells me there are now 12 schools in this conference. Honestly... that's weird, right?

Just a few doors down Sunset Dr. were two more yardsales. I snagged this baker's rack for only 20 bucks.

I needed this rack because of my leaky basement.

I'll explain: our basement leaks a little. If it rains really hard we get a small rivulet of water which runs from the north wall to the floor drain in the southwest quadrant of the basement. Along the way there are walls made of drywall. Over the years, mold started to grow. My contractor assures me drywall was a poor choice for the basement walls in the first place and for the low-low price of $2000 was happy to rip out the lower half of the drywall and replace it with backer board, a wall material used in high moisture areas like under the tile in bathrooms and stuff. So while we were ripping the basement to shreds we decided to add something fun and had the contractor build a bar in the basement. It's not plumbed yet and the behind-the-scenes area of the bar is totally raw so I needed this baker's rack for the bar back. Here it is with the Big Ten glasses displayed atop.

The faces of the bar will eventually be covered with the 100 license plates I found on Ebay. Check back next week for a glimpse of the completed bar project.

One problem. Since we had 4 kids with us and only Laura's cute little Odyssey (rather than the giant van-o-dreams) we couldn't transport the rack inside our vehicle. We were forced to use the roof rack for the first time in yardsaling history! Thankfully, Geoff (Laura's husband) is always prepared with bungee cords in the van. And the rack seller gave us free rope. I offered to pay for it but he said we could have it for free because he had stolen it in the first place. Lucky us. Here is a photo of our excellent tie-down efforts:

I should mention that in the past I have tied down a Christmas tree only to have it slide to the pavement outside a Pizza Hut. Also, my father, whom I resemble in many ways, once tied down our luggage only to have it fly off and pop open on a rural Georgia road. I tell you this so you can appreciate the fact that this rack made it home without incident.

On to the the Milstadt sale proper!

Remember our Brentwood, MO experience of last summer? There were a bazillion sales on every street? All we had to do was find a parking spot and walk from garage to garage to garage? It was just like that but with junkier stuff and farmier people. In my opinion, it made for a much better yardsale experience. (It's not insulting to use the word "farmier" is it? The people of Milstadt were excellent and friendly and generous. But there was a definite rural overtone to the entire town. I think "farmy" is a fair word. Please feel free to discuss in the comments section.)

I can't possibly give you a play-by-play of the multitudinous Milstadt sales. There were too many. I can only give you some of the highlights:

Sam and Nick, Snack Masters, hosted a top-notch food stand. Their signs were lovely and clever; their fare was varied and delicious; their manner was confident and polite. I have no doubt they raked in the dough today. Personally, I purchased a bag of Cheetos and a large glass of lemonade. Both were excellent. Thank you, boys.

Then we met Cheryl, a Milstadt resident with an ingenious technique for yardsaling in such a densely marketed environment. She parked somewhere convenient and then walked sale-to-sale pulling a cart/cardboard box contraption for ease of transport. You never know what you will find, you see, so one must be prepared for the bulky, unwieldy items.

I must mention the bicycle. We found this custom-made bike and bought it for 15 dollars. I wanted it badly and had to sweet talk Laura into fitting it into the van. She is a very good sport. You may know I have 5 kids: boys 13, 12, 10, and 6 and one girl who is 8. This bike would be enjoyed by all of them. But how can they share? How can a bike belong to all? Bikes are on that short list with blankies, backpacks, and bowling balls... they are personal items that do not require sharing. I have decided to give this bike to the eldest because he currently has no bike. Also, he is graduating 8th grade and deserves a nice gift for that occasion. However, he is on a Boy Scout camp out this weekend so I am letting the younger siblings ride it before he returns.

Now a few words about children. They are so cute and sweet, right? And when they are well-fed and well-rested they are perfect angels. Here is Campbell with his many new stuffed animals. He is quite well-rested, well-fed, thankful, and happy:

Here is Hudson, also rested, fed, thankful, and happy, receiving a yellow Easter egg with coordinating crocheted chicken cover.

And here is Sawyer, probably thankful, probably fed, but unhappy and tired and therefore plugging his ears because the particular song on the radio at that moment is so offensive he cannot bear to listen to it:

Here is Sawyer two minutes later:

This proves my point.

Oh, Readers, there was so much more: the great tree house, the world's ugliest stuffed animal, the free Filipino cutting board... I will have to let Laura fill in the blanks.

Over and out.

Nancy