Fun Finds on the Fly

I want nothing.

I need nothing.

I have room for NOTHING! (My son just arrived home from California and told me it seemed crowded in here (or did he say cluttered). Number one: He doesn't know clutter, and number 2, Eh, hem! I beg your pardon! This is the random treasure of the world carefully stacked, arranged, or otherwise crammed into place for maximum visual effect. He also had questions about the giant pickle. Who doesn't.



Imagine the nerve of him not seeing the junky/beautiful splendor of it all. Apparently I have some work to do on that front. But if he would hurry up and get a place here, I'd be able to unload all the excess onto him. I'm waiting! I got most of it for HIM, after all.


Here, below, my friends, is clutter. This is disorganized treasure awaiting its proper setting:


This room is the catch all and I had to clean it out so my son would have somewhere to put his stuff when he arrived.

But he never saw all this. Now this is crowded. I cleaned it all up before he got home. Mostly. I wonder what I did with everything. I'll probably not find some of it for a very long time again.

You know that I go junkin' out of selfless love and a deep desire to bestow all the finest eclectic castoffs of the greater Palm Beach County area upon my son and his sisters, don't you? You thought I just love junk and stuff. Oh, people, come now. You crush my heart. I do it for the kids. [heh, heh.]

Back to my story: I need nothing, I want nothing, I have room for nothing (yadda, yadda)

I had a lot to do.

I was tired.

Home Is Where The Bed Is

The decision was made late Friday night - I would not go out on Saturday morning to the yard sales. Ahh, the pressure to get up and head out early Saturday had been removed. There were only two sales to go to anyway, and it had been raining for two days. It felt good giving myself an excuse to just stay home. You see, home is not only where the heart is, home is also where the bed is. I just wanted to curl up and sleep in. That's saying something for someone who  gets up at 5:30 every day just because I love the morning. Can you say morning person? I can.

I ended up sleeping in until 6:30, whereby I arose, lamented sleeping late and missing the first hour of my day as well as wishing I hadn't make the dumb pronouncement to myself the night before (what was I thinking? Of course I'd get out of bed and want to go.) and I promptly decided I absolutely was not going to miss out on the sales, but now I had to rush. They were starting at 7:00. Must arrive right at the opening. One never knows what might be out there unless one takes to the streets... and early. That's the thrill of the treasure hunt. You know it's there; it's just a matter of unearthing it.

The Competitive Spirit

It's a game, a competition of sorts - with myself, the other shoppers and the sellers. Competition is also in my family's blood. Don't get us started. We like to win. Generally, my garage and yard sale competition is a way to let my competitive spirit go without the embarrassment associated with it in large groups, such as wedding and baby showers, where the competitive edge tends to get the best of me. Embarrass the family too? Wait, who told you about that? Thing is, I always feel the need to win those stupid games at any cost. Hey, there are prizes involved. Why bother with the whole thing unless you are going to walk home with the prize, right? Anywho, now I go to garage sales and compete with myself and the unsuspecting others who might almost get what I want. It's a SECRET competition. Nobody there knows my family either, just in case I say or do something stupid. Usually anyway.

Wait... what I mean is, I do this for the kids. Like I said, for the kids. It IS for the kids.

The odds were not good there'd be much out there on Saturday, because there were only two sales listed nearby. No doubt there would be a few unannounced sales, but I was determined to hit just a couple, drive a few other streets for any others and head home.



I did it. One hour and $12.50 later, I was done. I hauled home three more wood folding chairs. The guy wanted $5 each but I didn't pay that. The finish is not good on them, but after an hour or so of cleaning and about 15 or 20 rags worth of black goo washed rinsed down the drain, the two small ones were looking a bit more presentable. They have no finish on them. Very rustic. The other has a finish that's mostly worn off. It wasn't that dirty. I'm collecting these to add to my friend, Lynette's party chair stash. I have started my own smaller collection as well. I divvied these up between us for now. She may get them all before long. But they need a finish first.



I also bought  a cute Bearenstein Bears book with zillions of little flaps for young fingers and enquiring minds to search for and open. I gave that to two of my little nieces who will have lots of fun with it. I also got a film canister and a box of tags.

I scored this bad boy for free along the way. Yes, it's base is broken, but it's solid marble and it stands up fine.


I could not pass it up lying there in a huge heap of trash. I even took the chance at lifting it into the back seat of my car, just after getting over my back trouble. No one ever accused me of being smart about such things. I did, however, lift carefully and bent at the knees while I lifted. I'm getting somewhere. Yes, it weighs a ton. I then hauled it out of the car and carried it around the house to the back patio when we got home where it is doing service next to a chair out there. I picked it up thinking it could be taken apart and used for other creations perhaps. Maybe I could just get a new base. Maybe it will sit where I placed it forever.

And those my friends, were my Saturday finds of the week. The chairs threw off my $6 streak (or thereabouts) of the past two weeks. Oh, well. $12.50 is still not bad.

I haven't yet told you about my Goodwill finds. I walked away from there with a bit of a bigger hole in my pocket. Oops, I think it was the competitive edge that did me in there. I will have to get that edge in check or I'll be broke soon. I'll show you what I found there next time.

The Guessing Game

Last week we had a guessing game. Thanks to everyone who humored me and played along.
Here is the breakdown of the prices for those items. First, this is what we were guessing about:


I spent $6.50. Here's how I spent the cash:

Bible: Free
Thesaurus: Free

Mail sorter: $0.50
Bike basket with hanger: $1.00 (They wanted $2 but gave in to my offer of $1)
Cheese box: $2.00
Heavy duty Yale lock and two keys: $3.00

There you have it. No one guessed as close on the lock, but ding, ding, ding! Daniela @ Frugal Ain't Cheap and Jill @ Sew a Fine Seam guessed right ($2.00) on the cheese box. Vickie @ Ranger 911 guessed within 50¢ on a couple. Betsy @ My Salvaged Treasures had a good guess on the basket. Cathy @ My 1929 Charmer,  Danni @ Silo Hill Farm, and Karen @ Somewhat Quirky played along with close guesses on the mail sorter. I got the lock and the cheese box at an estate sale inside someone's home. The prices were high in there and it was a madhouse. I succumbed and paid more than I normally would for either. But you'd have to feel this lock to see why I paid $3 whole dollars. If it will absolve me of some guilt, I will say that I did pass up an unbelievably unique and gorgeous desk for $75 and an arrow sign that said LAKE. It was a good size and cute, but they wanted $5.00, and the guy wasn't budging on his prices at all. I couldn't fork that much over. So actually, I saved $80!

Feel free to take a stab at this week's prices if you like!

Anyway, back to the story...I sort of wish I'd had the money for that sweet desk, but as I thought at the time... Where could I put it? I was right when I answered to myself that I have no room. And good thing that I didn't get it because as my son reminded me when he walked through the door last night...

It's seems sorta crowded in here.

What We Accomplished Wednesdays @ Green Willow Pond

 

The Weekly Thrift @ Young Heart Old Soul