Saturday Sales and the Blue Bird Bus

Duane, Linda and I hit several sales yesterday morning including a parking lot sale at a terrific vintage shop and several garage sales.  As usual, we didn't come home empty-handed.  The parking lot sale is a sale that's held twice a year at a shop called Sherry's YesterDaze in (you guessed it) the parking lot.  There are always interesting items for sale -- mostly vintage.  A mobile library/art shop called the Blue Bird Bus was also there.  This is a terrific little 'shop-on-wheels' founded by writer and artist Mitzi Gordon.  She carries books for all ages on her bus along with arts and crafts.  Linda and I both purchased books from Mitzi's bus and also came away with origami cranes made from old maps.  Mitzi makes these in her spare time and gives them away.  To find out more about Mitzi and the Blue Bird Bus, please check out her website here.

After leaving Sherry's, we hit a few local garage sales in Duane's neighborhood.  Duane lives in one of the best parts of town for artsy/craftsy stuff and people.  Sherry's store is located there and it's also the home of the Blue Bird Bus even though the bus does get around to other areas.  Duane's big find for the day was a fog machine for her son Scott who fronts a band called Brutality.   Brutality uses a fog machine but had been renting one before this.  Now they have one of their own at a great price.  Besides, books, dishes and some smaller items, Linda bought a really pretty English tea tin. 

We made our usual stop at Starbucks for drinks and a treat before calling it a morning.  Next weekend we plan to go to the Chiseler's sale.  This will be the 50th year it's been held.  If you look back in my archives for the past two years in March, I've posted about their sale here.  I'll do the same for this year's sale.

A Garage Sale and more recording...

My friend, Linda, needed to have a garage sale because she's in the process of redecorating some rooms in her house.  Duane and I took some things to Linda's house on Saturday and we had the sale.  Linda had quite a few pieces of furniture (which she was practically giving away) and we had lots of misc.  As usual, we had our first theft within an hour of the start of the sale.  Honestly.  Who steals an item that's being sold for a quarter?  Well, apparently, an older lady who came with her daughter and teen-age granddaughter.  I saw this woman looking at a necklace I had in a little clear baggy.  The granddaughter bought (and paid for) several items and after they left, I walked over to check the tables.  I just had a funny feeling about grandma.  I looked at her hands after I saw her with the necklace but one hand was holding keys and the other was clutching a small leather change purse.  THAT'S the hand where I'm sure she hid the necklace in it's baggy.  It was a very dainty necklace in a tiny baggy -- worth much more than .25 but I wanted to get rid of stuff.  Why do people do this?  Over the years I've noticed it more with older people than with younger ones.  I think many people like to believe the opposite but that hasn't been my experience.  At least not at garage sales.  I guess she got her thrill for the day.  (insert rolling of eyes here)

I was able to help my younger nephew, Ben, who is moving from a furnished dorm room to a house with roommates (and owns almost nothing to take with him) by lightening Linda's and Duane's load.  I bought a night stand, 2 table lamps and some dishes from Linda.  I bought more dishes from Duane which included some bowls, too.  Ben was very happy to receive these things.  The stuff that didn't sell is being picked up by the Salvation Army so Linda can get her garage back.   We were all three pretty pooped afterwards (the heat was awful) but we always have a good time when we're together.  Now Linda has a lot more free space so she can continue with her re-deco projects.

I was able to record and edit two more of the short stories for Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes yesterday which made me a happy camper.  I also started editing chapter two of A Dixie Christmas.  Unfortunately, today has been a washout -- in every sense of the word -- as far as recording. The thunderstorms moved in pretty early and are still rumbling.  Loudly.  I'm so bummed.  I had hoped to record the last two short stories for "Sweet Tea..." today.  I may be burning the midnight oil on these -- provided the storms don't continue.  I used the time to work on a couple of yarn projects that I'll post about here when they're finished.  They're all turning out well and I'm pretty pleased.  In the mean time, I think the thunder may finally be fading away...

Mrs. Peel rides again

Yesterday morning Duane and I hit an estate sale with Duane at the wheel of Mrs. Peel and me navigating.  I really need to work on my navigation skills or give up and buy a GPS device.  MapQuest isn't doing it for me.  Of course, it also didn't help that in this particular part of town, the streets are broken up by canals.  You think you're heading the right way and, technically, you are, but you come to a dead end and have to backtrack to find where the street picks up again.  Grrr.  I'm glad Duane is such a patient person.  It was worth it when we got there.

Lots of furniture, household items, china, glassware and household items.
I found some DVDs of movies I haven't seen.  Duane did even better, though.  The lady who had lived in this house must have been on a perpetual diet.  There were all sorts of magnets, pictures, etc., making jokes about pigging out and losing weight.  Also, her clothing ran a range of several sizes and many items still had the tags on them.  Duane found a smart-looking red dress that looks like it was never worn.  
She also found a lovely blue wallet in
pristine condition and a Victorian style planter.

After this sale, we hit a garage sale on the way back to Duane's house.  The man giving it was an artist and Duane scored a cool wood easel and several lovely hardcover art books.  I bought a nice hardcover reference book on antiques with lots of photos for $1.

Then we headed to Starbucks for refreshment.  Ah, nothing like an iced coffee and a vanilla bean scone to boost your system.  We hit a fabric store (I'm planning to recover my dining room chairs as part of my project to 'de-formalize' the room) and then to Kaleidoscope, one of our favorite places to browse for furniture and decor.  A fun day!