Friday estate sales -- We all got lucky!

Stuff all over the walls.

Friday was a good day for estate sales last week and all three of us found items this time around.  We started with one in Duane's neighborhood.  They had a ton of stuff in a house on the Hillsborough River.  This house seemed to ramble on and on with lots of rooms filled with furniture and a ton of small items.  This  was where I found my treasure of the day -- a Jonathan Adler ceramic fish.  Love it!  Duane found a pretty striped cotton scarf.  A good start. 

Cubbies in the walls filled with stuff.

Lots of small items at the second sale, too.

The second estate sale was in the south part of town and was on it's second day but still had lots of stuff.  They were also willing to deal.  The people who lived there must have liked to entertain because there was a lot of glassware and bar items.  The woman had a large amount of formal dresses and shoes along with a very nice selection of jewelry -- costume and real.  Duane bought a beautiful sterling silver ring.  For anyone interested in sports memorabilia, there was plenty of that, too.  Although the three of us were able to pass on those items.

Sports memorabilia.

  
After the two big estate sales we hit a front porch sale and a few yard sales in Duane's neighborhood on our way back from the south side of town.  Linda got lucky at these sales.  The front porch sale yielded two cool wood cigar boxes and one of the yard sales had a 'still sealed in plastic' DVD of 3 Ozzie and Harriet shows.  A trip back to childhood for Linda!

Of course, we hit the coffee shop for treats and to talk about what we had all been up to during the week.  Next Saturday is the Shop Small Business Saturday and we're really looking forward to that!

Our purchases.

Duane's new sterling silver ring.

My newest recording -- a horror story -- now on sale at Audible!

My latest recording just hit Audible today.  The Novel of the White Powder by Arthur Machen is a classic short story in the horror genre.

A young woman, Helen Leicester, becomes concerned about her brother Francis when he begins spending all of his time locked in his room studying. At first Francis insists that he is fine, but eventually admits that he is not feeling well and agrees to see the family physician. The doctor prescribes a medication - a white powder which is mixed with water - and Francis begins to feel better. However, this "cure" doesn't last very long and Francis begins exhibiting peculiar and disturbing behavior. The horror of the white powder has just begun. Arthur Machen originally wrote this story as part of a series in a book called The Three Imposters. The story stands on its own as one of Machen's classic tales of terror.

To listen to a sample or purchase, click here. 

I'm also gifting the story to anyone willing to listen to it (free) in exchange for an honest review.  You can check out my giveaway on Goodreads or Facebook (under FREE Audibooks group).

A Thrift Store Parking Lot Sale, A Modern Line warehouse sale and yard sales

Saturday morning had a lot going on in Duane's neighborhood.  A terrific thrift shop that I've mentioned numerous times on this blog, Sherry's Yesterdaze, had their fall parking lot sale.  Not only did Sherry have a sale on her items but she also had other people in her parking lot selling their stuff.  She does this twice a year and we rarely miss it.  Duane found a pretty creamer to add to her blue and white Delft collection along with the DVD of the definitive version of Pride and Prejudice AND a decorative box with Frida Kahlo on the front.  Linda snagged a cool and kitschy Florida souvenir tray that it's in mint condition.

Lots of vendors at Sherry' store.

  

Then we headed to the the warehouse clearance sale being held by Sherry's husband David, owner of one of our fave shops, A Modern Line.  David decided to let some of the furniture in his warehouse go for great prices because there's just no way he can get to all of it (restoring, etc.) to sell it in his store.  He had already sold quite a bit when we got there but still had some nice pieces.  There were also a few small items.  Linda scored a great pair of signed French prints.  There was some damage from a fire that destroyed David's previous store but, luckily, not on the actual prints themselves so Linda got a bargain.  All she needs to do is re-frame them.  If I didn't already have a couple of signed prints that my parents bought when we lived in France, Linda and I would have been 'negotiating' over them.




After David's sale, we hit a few neighborhood yard sales.  Duane and Linda both scored books from these sales.  I can't believe that I didn't buy anything.  That's unusual for me even if my purchase(s) are for very small items.  All three of us love the thrill of the hunt, though.

Afterwards, we hit the coffee shop for our usual treats and gabbing.  A fun day.

Linda and Duane's purchases.

A Saturday community yard sale

Typical bungalow found here.

As I've mentioned numerous times on this blog, my friend Duane lives in one of the coolest parts of town.  Old bungalows and small businesses.  Great places to eat and shop.  On Saturday, the neighborhood had a community yard sale.  There was a map online that could be printed with the addresses of the people participating.  Of course, there were many people who didn't bother to pay to be on the map, they just put their signs out and joined in the fun.

We hit a number of houses on different streets and there was a pretty big variety of items available for sale.  A large church centrally located in Seminole Heights was having it's Fall Festival on the same day as the community yard sale.  Awesome baked goods.  I bought two homemade devil's food whoopie pies (one for me and one for George) and Linda bought a loaf of something called Hobo Cake.  They had samples to try and whatever is in that Hobo cake, it's really good.

We all ended up buying some things.  I think Duane found the

Mid-Century Modern here, too.

largest number of items.  Besides the food, I found a cool wood ruler listing all of the English 'rulers' up to Queen Elizabeth II.  It's all metric which will come in handy with some of the knitting/crochet patterns I come across.  Duane came across a really neat looking pitcher in the blue and white common to Delft.  We think the markings say 'Delft' but they're hard to read.  Definitely from across the pond, though.  Duane is going to research it.  She also bought a church cookbook, some mugs that match ones she already has and a really pretty bangle bracelet featuring different types of wood.  Linda bought food and a CD.


As usual, when we were finished we hit the coffee shop for coffee/tea, a treat and a long gab.  We're looking forward to the next few weeks because there's going to be a sale in the parking lot of a great thrift store in Duane's neighborhood.  Then, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, there's the annual shop small business Saturday.  The local businesses have great deals that day along with holiday refreshments for shoppers.  Really looking forward to it!  

Our purchases.

New children's book for sale on Audible!

I have another recording for sale for very young children and those just learning to read.

Pumpkin Pie ABC Book by McLoughlin Bros. is a delightful children’s classic consisting of 26 short rhymes all relating to the temptingly delicious pumpkin pie waiting to be eaten at the Thanksgiving table. Each letter of the alphabet is used to describe the actions – naughty and nice – of those waiting for their slice. A wonderful holiday listen for young children.


To listen to a sample or purchase, check it out on Audible here.  

Granny's got a gun(s) -- Friday Estate Sales

"Granny's got a gun,

Her whole world's come undone..."

My take on Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun."

Some of Granny's other things.

Well, as usual, yesterday morning was estate sale time.  Duane has a horrendous cold and wasn't able to go so it was just Linda and me.  We decided to hit a sale that was literally called 'Granny's Guns' in one part of town and then head to two other sales in the south part of town.  Apparently, Granny had once had an antique and collectibles shop and now everything was being sold off from her home. Home turned out to be a mobile home in a mobile home park.  

One of Granny's guns.

We got there before the 9am starting time and joined a few other people under the carport.  You had to take a number from a roll of tickets in order to get inside when the sale began.  Bummer.  The company holding the sale is known for this.  They're more freaked about theft than any other estate sale company around.  Some people get really ticked off and leave because this company only allows 10 people in the house at a time.  When someone leaves, the next person with a ticket is allowed to go in.  This wouldn't be so bad except there was plenty of room for more than 10 people in that house.  When I went in, there were no other shoppers in 2 of the bedrooms I looked through.  Plus, you have people who either forget or don't care that there are people waiting to get in and start talking and just hanging around.  Sheesh.  This sale turned out to be a big time suck. Because of the amount of time Linda and I spent waiting to get in, we had a lot less time to make it to the next sale when it began at 10am.

Another gun.

Neither of us found anything to buy at Granny's and when we  finally left (we weren't allowed into the house at the same time - ack!), it was already 10am.  We could have been in and out of Granny's in less than half an hour if we hadn't had to wait.  There were a number of men there strictly to see/purchase the guns.  Most of them were, um, rather portly which didn't help when you wanted to get into a small area of tables and they were standing and talking to each other.  An abrupt 'excuse me' got me into an area with tables when one of them moved.  However, I had to 'excuse me' again in order to get back out. 

And one last gun.

Bet the people waiting outside would have been livid to see this behavior.  We've decided that we will be very picky when deciding whether to attend any more sales by this company.  The sale would have to be HUGE with nothing else going on.  Double sheesh.

We were late getting to the 10am sale.  We pulled up around 10:30 and it was packed.  Very large house with lots of nice things, though.  Neither of us bought but it was definitely worth the look.  Wonder what we missed by being so late.  Grrrr...

A room from the second sale.

We finally hit the last sale which was in a house directly across from the bay.  This was the second day of the sale at this house and they still had a lot of great stuff despite having unloaded so much.  The woman who lived there had been an artist and not only were there framed pieces of her art around (along with a table full of water colors and sketches that she either hadn't gotten around to framing or hadn't finished) but also very nice pieces from other artists.  Lots of gorgeous furniture, too.  

Luckily, she turned out to be a crafty person who knitted and crocheted.  I bought 3 sets of plastic knitting needles (I love working with plastic and don't care for metal very much) along with

Sale no.3.  Signed Escher print.

a beautiful all wood abacus.  When I paid, the women in charge of the sale told us to let people know that they had a lot of furniture they still needed to sell.  Nice stuff, too, but neither of us was in the market for furniture.   The pic I've included from this sale is one of the original ones from the ad.  Wish we'd made it there when they had more of these types of items available.

By the time we left the last sale, it wasn't our usual 'let's get coffee/tea and a snack' time -- it was lunch time.  Linda and I had a nice leisurely lunch at Panera's.  I was the only one who got lucky and purchased anything but we always enjoy the hunt.  EXCEPT when we lose precious time due to a poorly executed sale.  Grrr...  

Hopefully, Duane will be well enough to go with us next time.  We missed her.  

 

My purchases.