Yardsales 9/11 Part One

Before you read this, you must scroll down and read Laura's post about the same day...

Did you do it? Go! Right now!

Alrighty then. Now that you fully appreciate the basics of our Albers experience, I will add a few more details.

First, it is election season in the town of Albers. And from the signs I saw today, most of the candidates for office are in the Albers family. Forget about Richie Daley retiring as Chicago's mayor. The city of Albers knows political family dynasties. I can only imagine the bribes and graft involved in getting on the yardsale map for the Albers city-wide sale.

Laura was spot-on when she said we wanted all the great garage contents that were not-for-sale. She illustrated the best way to restrict buyers from poking through your desirables - the visual barrier. The giant silver tarp was brilliant - bold, blatant, and blunt. Usually, there is just some hazy no-man's-land dividing the yardsale merchandise from the stuff the proprietor still treasures. We wander from sales floor to stock room without knowing it. In fact, all the BEST stuff was behind the invisible-iron-curtain-of-retention. But seriously... when we ask, "How much for this old metal stool?" and you reply, "Oh, that's not for sale." the first thing I think is, "Really? What if I offered you a million dollars? THEN would it be for sale?"

Everything has a price, Readers. The contents of your garage, while precious to you, do indeed have street value. The beauty of the yardsale phenomenon is that through our early-morning-coffee-drinking-map-following-bargain-hunting adventures we are all searching for that fulcrum where supply and demand hang in the balance. If it is junk to you and treasure to me, the deal is an easy exchange. But what if we both desire the object before us? How much cash, cold and hard, does it take for you to part with your cherished material possessions?

Take the fest table, for example.

The fest table is an artifact from Germany Oktoberfests. Quite a few military men apparently buy these tables when stationed in Germany and haul them back to the states as a trophy of sorts. (Like a rug from Afghanistan or a tonsu from Japan. Don't get me started.) The fest table is like an American card table, foldable and easily stored, with multiple practical uses. It is a long and thin wooden table with collapsable metal legs and two long, thing benches completing the set. Imagine gallons of ale, dozens of pewter beer steins, and a flock of St. Pauli Girls. Now fill in the blanks spots with this table and its benches.

Laura will have to post pictures of her new fest table. What I want you to understand is that when we first saw these items they were NFS. They were prized possession of our new friend (and Albers resident) Mack, fulfilling one of their many potential uses as yardsale display tables. Here is how the conversation went:

Laura: How much for these excellent benches?

Mack: Oh. They are not for sale.

Laura: But they are so excellent.

Nancy, from the sidelines: everything has a price.

Laura: I want them... But wait! Look at this table! It matches!

Mack: Yes. It is a set. It's a fest table.

It went on like this for a little while. I will let Laura explain the details of the negotiation, the decision making, and the ultimate transportation of the fest table and its benches. Suffice it to say, I believe she is now the owner of a fest table set. The question? If I offer her a million dollars, will she sell it to me?

Albers!

Nancy and I traveled to the fine village of Albers, IL early this morning. These good people were ready and waiting with extremely good organization of their treasures, as you can see below. Notice the impeccable cleanliness of the garage:




Now, if your garage is like 99% of the garages we come across yardsaling, there are certain items in there that are not for sale. Many times today we were thwarted in our attempts to buy some cool item like an antique chair or cabinet, only to be told emphatically it was NFS. Here is a display of how to proclaim NFS without having to repeat yourself 100 times in one morning:


Here is the village of Albers, replete with various farming equipment. And when I say "farming equipment", I don't mean some mansy-pansy caterpillar used once to haul tree limbs away. No, sir, I mean manly, heavy-duty combine-type equipment, used to till actual farms, that pollute heady amounts of carbon dioxide in the air: these are tractors, people.

When you yardsale in a farming community, you run across farm-related items, the most basic and ovious, of course, being food. I wasn't in the mood for raw potatoes at 7am, but you have to admire the farminess of these people:

As it has been posted widely before, I am insultingly cheap. Nancy doesn't like to bargain like I do; in fact, she often pays more than asking price to 1. make up for my miserliness, and 2. she thinks people undervalue their merchandise, and 3. she has a generous and kind nature. Here she is, captured on camera, during the rare act of her wheeling and dealing on a candalier:

Readers, it was a tiring, fun day. We also went to the cities of Lebanon and O'Fallon after Albers. However, as any good yardsaler knows, the good stuff is taken by 8am, so by the time we got to the other places, we couldn't spare much enthusiasm for what was left.

I forget what sales are next week; today was so overwhelming with sale after sale of city-wide treasure-hunting, that I dare not look towards next week until I have completely recovered from this one, which may take a few days.

moving heavy furniture while giggling

This is Shawn or Sean or Sian. He so graciously agreed to pose with this very interesting battle weapon. I am still unsure about this spiky club-like instrument of pain, but Shawn or Sean or Sian assured me it wasn't real. I was inclined to believe him, because, hey, he had the beat-down stick and I had my camera. Not much good if it comes to hand-to-hand, if you know what I mean. He is very nice, and I am not just writing that because I am scared.





Sara and I saled today. We went to this very sweet little sale run by two elderly ladies. I don't know if it was sweet elderly lady 1 or sweet elderly lady 2 who crocheted this darling little ducky soap holder, but I mean, seriously. As Sara so accurately put it, "You can really see the love put into this." I have blogged about this before, but if you have time to put warm and fuzzy covers over items that don't need covers, well, that is just ducky for you. (Ha!)

Here is Sara, on the third attempt to get this photo. I have, in addition to terrible navigational skills, terrible photography skills. Evidentally I can not hold the camera still or press the "take picture now button" with any finesse. Sara was so patient with my horribly lacking skills.

We found these excellent metal tins filled with Yu-Gi-Oh cards for our boys. I am saving them for mine for Christmas, so Dominic is sworn to secrecy that he received his today.

The above photos were all taken today. The below photos were taken earlier this week. Here's the story (because you just know there is a story): Our friends the Isoms remodel homes. The buy them, renovate them, and sell them. They bought this wonderful home on our street and invited Nancy and I to go through and take anything we would like. Our mutual friend Mark restores furniture. Nancy asked Mark if he would restore this beautiful old cabinet for the school auction in March. He said yes, so Nancy and I once again pulled out the fancy moving moves and schlepped down the boulevard with heavy objects.

Here is Nancy with her furniture dolly. Really, why have we not thought of dollies before?

Here is another cabinet that we attempted to move to my house. Apparently it was not very sturdy.

Here is that same cabinet, 3 minutes before.

Here is Nancy attempting to control the giggling while I was wrestling with the miraculously collapsing cabinet.

Here is the top part of the cabinet. Really, this is the good one.

So Nancy and I were thinking of starting a moving company, because a)we are professionally incompetent, b) we have no insurance or liability of any type, c) we would keep whatever interesting junk we were asked to move, and d) we tend to stop traffic along our street. Also we would only be willing to move things up and down the boulevard using wagons or dollies, usually while pushing a baby in a baby stroller. What do you think? Is this a great business concept or what?

In any case, the dilapidated cabinet is safely ensconsed in Mark's cavernous garage, awaiting his magical woodoworking skills, and if you are a SHS parent reading this, remember: Bid high on this glorious object. Only you know the true story of strife, tribulation, mountains of dust and unhealthy airborn-particles inhaled into previously-healthy lungs that went into the salvaging and resoration of this piece. And laughing. Lots and lots of laughing.

Next week, readers, is the Webster Groves neighborhood sale. I.Can.Not.Wait. Seriously. It is bound to be delightful. And then, then, THEN, the mother of all yard sales, the Olympics of the true yard salers......the Tri-city sale. Yes. You will recall a year ago we blogged about this special event. Caffeine was soaring through my veins like never before, the van o'dreams was put through the trenches and came out victorious, and we scored some serious junk. October 2nd, folks. Be ready.

Too many kids, too much Aunt Jamima

They sucked the life out of me today.

I don't know if it was the incessant begging for QT, the squabbling over Nerf weaponry, or the half dozen plastic whistles, but somewhere around 8 AM I knew I was in trouble.

I yardsaled today with the 6th grade regulars: Donny-Devin-Bobby, plus JoJo and Oscar. They were as sweet and silly as usual. It wasn't their fault that I was crabby. It was all me. My head was not in the right place or something. I just couldn't appreciate their childish essence. Bottom line: I took a nice long nap this afternoon.

This was out first sale of the day. It made me squeal with delight so I photographed it for future study:

Let's analyze the scene:

• It is obviously early morning because the shadows are long.
• The sale has plenty of merchandise sprawled across the lawn.
• At first glance, my eye is drawn to the white chair...
• Then what looks like a book shelf...
• Some clothes,
• Toys,
• And a mysterious wicker circle!!

And the squealing begins!

Upon closer inspection, the sale was just as good as I had first thought. I bought a basket-full of items both practical and decorative. But, as usual, the best blog photos are of the stuff I did not buy. Like this wickedly frightening clown doll:

God. Just looking at that thing makes me want to go to church tomorrow.

The second stop on our bnd.com itinerary was a sale at 5400 North Belt West. It sounded like an industrial address to me so I approached with suspicion. Sure enough, this sale was held in the parking lot of a local oil company. The relationship between Vogt Oil Co. and yardsales? Even oil moguls have to clean out their basements! We met the Vogt clan, hawking wares in their parking lot. Brilliant use of real estate, Ladies!

Another unconventional yardsaling venue was this weird place on a service road called "Service Rd." in Swansea.

They rented out tables to individual sellers. Was it a benefit of some sort? I don't know. They had a decent bake sale, thank God.

The merchandise was wildly varied: used DVDs, WW2 artifacts, new-in-box jewelry, housewares, and the usual assortment of mom jeans. I snapped a photo of these "choice rabbit pelts" just before their owner asked if I was from PETA. (I think we've met this guy before!)

I was taken aback by this extensive collection of Aunt Jamima kitchen accessories.

Seriously.

What is the current PC view on Aunt Jamima and her bald husband the butler? Forget PC... these are just stupid looking. I think I can confidently make a blanket statement, right here on the YSA blog, that no self-respecting home owner should ever outfit her kitchen with so much of one kitschy motif. This Aunt Jamima offender is almost as bad as the crazy watermelon lady we met at one sale who had thousands of dollars worth of watermelon paraphernalia for sale. Apparently she had redecorated her house and watermelons were out. The lingering question: with what did she replace all those watermelons? I suspect it was black and white cows.

Of course, the Swansea Improvement Center (whatever it is) had owls for sale. Always there are the owls. They haunt me.

Thanks for reading. Tune in next week for the end-of-summer Labor Day Lollapalooza! Let's hope for sun and a child-free shopping experience.

Nancy

old ladies being stingy (by Laura)

Readers, I feel I must explain my title. No, I am not mean-spirited or youth-elitist. I don't belong to some secret society that ascribes to weird notions such as mandatory suicide after a certain age. For some reason, at two different yard sales today in this tiny town I temporarily call home, we encountered proprieteresses of the extremely cheap kind. And for some reason, these frail, aged ladies were eager to glean every drop of coin out of their weary salers. I found an old twin sheet at one and asked the owner what she wanted. She replied "a dollar". $1? For a well-used sheet?
Anyway, here are some excellent clothes my mom found at an upscale sale in the Ogles neighborhood (the most confusing, circuitous neighborhood ever). It was run by a husband and wife team, who were no-nonsense. I offered $6 for a large amount of brand name clothes and books and the husband said, "We'll take it." He was in a moving-merchandise kind of mood.



Here we have an excellently retro clock found at the previously expounded-upon stingy old lady sale. They wanted $3; I talked them down to $2.



Also at the old peoples' sale I purchased this retractable clothesline now proudly sinking under the extreme weight of one cotton dress (purchased at the upscale Ogles sale). I was very excited about this purchase, as I have had my eye on one on Amazon, but of course it it way too pricey for me at 10 dollars plus shipping. I don't think I thought clearly about the holding-up factor of wet clothes.

Here is a sideways picture of a Where's Waldo puzzle, which I thought for sure would be the find of the day for my boys. Shows how much I know. No one touched it till hours after I brought it home.

(And if you are an old lady reading this, I love you. I really, really do.)

Back on the Beat

Do you hear that sound? It is the sound of silence filling my house on a school day.

Ahhhh.

Without smelly, summer-breaking children hanging on my sweaty limbs I was able to yardsale this morning with adults! Saralee, our most faithful reader, and Angie, Laura's mom (a YSA veteran having joined us every time she comes into town from her home in Florida) joined me for a brief jaunt through Belleville.

The best sale of the day was on S. Park. It was so good we almost attended twice, approaching from two different directions. My favorite purchase was this hand made ceramic pot, modeled below by the artist herself.

Saralee was puzzled by my enthusiastic squealing today. She couldn't discern why some sales make me yelp with excitement while others simply evoke a gasp. After much discussion, we were unable to identify the components of a sale that make me squeal with delight. Is it presentation? Quantity? The presence of old furniture? There is no formula, Sara. Some sales just call out, making me screech to a halt, while others whimper as I coast on by.

Angie was distracted today. She couldn't appreciate the sales properly because Laura texted and called her every three minutes. I swear. Her phone just kept beeping and ringing.

Text: Did U go 2 ardmore?

Angie: She wants to know if we went to Ardmore!

Text: Go 2 7900 Main St.

Angie: She says we should go to 7900 Main Street!

Text: Find NEthing good?

Angie: She wants to know if we found anything good!

We had to ask Angie to ask Laura why she was yardsaling in absentia instead of attending to her "rigorous nursing program" at SLU. To this Laura answered, "Tell thm 2 mind thr own bizness!"

The adventure was brief but included laughter, erratic driving, and QT. And really, that's all we need, right?

Tune in tomorrow... Devin returns!

Nancy

Housewifery Part 2

Our loyal reader, Sara, sent me the list below. Sara has a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) friend, Susan, whose husband asked "What do you do all day?" Rather than fly off the handle, Susan began compiling a list of everything that needs to be done in their household. She surveyed the kids and the husband so the list would be as comprehensive as possible. The result is the following SAHM job description. I think these duties apply to most middle class American families. Some are done by the working spouse, some by helpful children, but most fall on the home-making spouse. (I have deleted Susan's category called "Paid Work" and edited the "Volunteer Projects" to make the list more general.)

Finances – checking credit card receipts to bills, checking EOBs to medical bills, paying bills, making deposits at the bank, balancing the checkbooks, filing, making sure fun $ is paid out

Laundry – collecting, washing, drying, folding, putting away, minor mending, cycling in/out clothes of different sizes and/or seasons, ironing, hanging up

Dishes – washing dishes, drying dishes (mostly passive), washing pots & pans, putting away

Cooking – preparing lunch & feeding it to the kids, cleaning up after it, preparing dinner, setting the table, putting away leftovers, rinsing out dishes, clearing the table and the highchair.

Lawn Care – mowing the grass, edging the yard, pulling weeds, trimming the bushes/branches, taking yard waste to street on Mondays, mulching leaves/shoveling snow when appropriate, taking care of the garden

Shopping – keeping the refrigerator and pantry stocked with food, planning ahead for meals, purchasing and putting away household necessities (toiletries, cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, etc.), purchasing additional clothing when necessary, staying stocked with diapers/wipes

Cleaning – dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing (toilet/bath/sinks/counters), changing sheets & making beds, picking up toys & books, re-organizing, detail cleaning, taking out trash (to garage & to street), emptying recycling bins

Auto Maintenance – fueling up, arranging oil changes & other maintenance, washing exterior, cleaning & vacuuming interior

Child Care – playing, teaching, refereeing, disciplining, comforting, reading to, putting down for naps, exercising, feeding snacks to, changing diapers, bathing, dressing, arranging playdates, taking to doctor/dentist/immunization appts, patching up boo-boos, cutting hair, trimming finger/toenails

Correspondence/Gifts – postcards, birth announcements, phone call follow-ups (business & pleasure), sending out photos or news to family when necessary, taking phone messages and passing them on, ensuring we have gifts for necessary occasions (bdays, xmas, baby, weddings, etc.)

Coordinating – keeping both adults (and sometimes the kids, too) aware of current schedule for the day/week, figuring out transportation for all parties involved, arranging babysitters where needed

Holiday Extras – additional baking, decorating, correspondence, events

Extra Personal Projects – Family Calendar, Family Photos, Family Dinners/Birthday Dinners, Recording Projects

Volunteer Projects – Church, School, Neighborhood

Here are the two conclusions I made after reading Susan's uncannily thorough accounting of the responsibilities of my life:

1. My life is sort of a drag.

2. Yardsaling makes it more fun.

Thank you, Sara and Susan, for your insight.