A Wednesday Estate Sale

I couldn't believe when I saw an ad for an estate sale to be held today (Wednesday) and tomorrow.  Usually, they are almost always on Fridays and Saturdays.  Even better, this house is on the same street that Duane lives on so Linda and I made our way over bright and early this morning.  Unfortunately, the person who posted the sale didn't say anything about a starting time so we figured 8 am.  The ad basically stated that the person had lived in the house for 70 years and there was lots of stuff.  Before this sale, I had driven by this house but hadn't noticed it -- mainly because the entire front of the house was hidden behind overgrown trees, shrubs and weeds.                                                     

At least the abundance of greenery had been  removed enough to see that there was actually a house there.  The daughter and son of the owner (a lady in her 90s who is deceased) weren't very organized but they had been working.  This was apparent from the

large dumpster sitting in front of the property already partially filled.  Apparently, there was a termite problem.  Definitely ruled out any furniture possibilities.

When we pulled up, there was no sign of anyone at the house.  A couple of other customers drove up, too, and we got out of our cars and discussed the fact there was no time given and no one in sight.  A neighbor across the street heading out to work told us that the family members sorting out the items had been working until very late last night.  Hmmm...  not good.  We got back in the car to wait awhile due to the mosquitoes.  By 9:15 am, we decided to drive back down the street to Duane's house to see if the ad had been updated with a time and so that I could once again email the poster and let them know that people were waiting (tapping of feet) in the driveway for someone to show up and let them (and us) in.  We drove back to the house and two of the other buyers were still there.  At this point, a neighbor volunteered to call the family member(s).  We decided to make a quick trip to Starbucks for take-out.  All three of us needed caffeine and sugar.  By the time we got back to the house, the owner's son and daughter were finally there. 

I wish I could have gotten some photos of the inside of the house but I'm kind of chicken about pulling out my camera.  NOTHING in that house had been changed.  The same tile, cabinets, paneling, carpeting, linoleum, etc., along with the old style jalousie windows on the front porch.  It was pretty dusty and dirty inside, too, but this lady did have nice things.  I suspect that it had become too much for her to keep up by herself after her husband died.  I wish that the daughter and son had been better prepared -- they had not even gone through much of their mother's belongings and so they were running around covering things with blankets and sheets that they hadn't gotten around to sorting yet.  However, we did score really big in the yarn department.  Anything that one of the three of us doesn't use will go straight to The Humble Stitch Project for others to make into hats, scarves, gloves, etc. 

Duane made a really nice score on a Hull vase.  She was almost afraid to ask how much because the vase is sizable and in perfect condition.  The lady asked $1.  Duane was a happy camper when she heard that.  She also bought one of a number of Southern Living hardbound books that were for sale. 

I found a couple of large stones that Duane and I are going to use for various purposes.  (I crochet over them and Duane paints them.)  All three of us are going to divvy up the yarn and materials before sending the remainder on to The Humble Stitch.  There were also some crochet hooks (Duane can use those) and some yarn needles.  I even found a pretty vintage brooch with tiny white enamel flowers in excellent condition.  That was lucky since one of the other people waiting for the sellers with us had pretty much grabbed most of the jewelry.  Apparently, he didn't think to look in any of the little trinket boxes this lady had stored things in. 

Duane may check back again tomorrow to see if the daughter and son have had time to go through the rest of the items to see what else is for sale.  It's very convenient for her since she's just two blocks away.  This is what we love about estate sales -- you NEVER know what you'll find.