Happ-eeeee, so very happ-eeeee.
The day started out so very beautiful, clear and sunny, a leetle bit chilly (for me) at first but warmed up quickly.
I carried my plants out to the back porch to soak up some fresh air for the day. Then gathered up my things and headed off to my Aunt's house.
Just up the road from her house was a yard sale. I told her about it when I got to her house and she asked did I want to go to it, and work on the taxes later.
So went to it, and I did good. There were a couple of little things I might have picked up, but decided I would be able to live without.
The BIG thing that helped me buy nothing was that nothing was priced. I'm one that generally won't ask prices, unless it's something I might particularly want. If it's something I'm wishy-washy about, not pricing it makes it a lot easier for me to pass up.
After we left there, we drove on up the road, and down another, and around, and found a few more yard sales to stop at.
The next one I didn't fair so well. They had a lot of stuff.
I found a lamp for $1.00. It's ugly, but I needed a lamp and it was only $1.00.
I also found an old, Made in the USA, metal can opener for 25¢. J's cousin saw mine and mentioned he was looking for one, for the same reason I have one - all the new can openers are crap. I've bought several from the Dollar store and they don't work, won't half-ass, or at all, cut the can open. The last two electric can openers I bought wouldn't cut the cans open.
Maybe I'm just unlucky with can openers, but he said he had the same problems.
A lot of the other stuff they had was clothes and old tools and furniture and, just a really lot of stuff, but nothing I really needed or wanted.
They had a lot of antique stuff, though, I was just looking at out of curiosity. None of it was priced, but they were so helpful, following me around and telling me all about the item, how much they wanted, and how much ones like it goes for on "the internet".
Most of it was too much and easy to resist, but then there was an enamel table top and she was only asking $15.00 on it.
I'm no where near an antiques expert, but I do know vintage enamel ware is pretty dang expensive, and was (am) considerably certain that an enamel table top, even missing it's bottom part, isn't something I should pass up at $15.00.
But actually I did pass it up, at first. I didn't need it, I already have more tables than any normal person should, I needed to not spend money more than I needed this table top...
But then I saw these windows. She saw me looking and said she was asking $5.00 a piece on them, and helpfully started listing off all the projects and things I could do with them. I pretty much stopped listening at $5.00 a piece. That was the price I had in mind I would pay if I was wanting to buy them.
I paid for my lamp and can opener, and we went and got in the car, but then I was like, I wonder if she'll take $20 for the table top and the windows. So we got back out, and I made the offer and she accepted. So I actually ended up paying $10 for the enamel table top.
I haven't looked into what it might go for if I was planning to re-sell it, because I'd rather build a table under it and keep it (have I mentioned I might be addicted to kitchen tables, of all things?), but I'm still almost certain I got a great deal on it.
The next yard sale was one like I was saying made it hard for me to pass things up. The stuff was priced, and most of it was reasonable.
There was a 25¢ table and I grabbed this clay pot that says "Italy" on the bottom, and a glass bowl that I'm almost positive was vintage or antique. My Aunt liked it so I gave it to her.
They also had a 50¢ table, with an Avon bottle I had my hand at least 4 times before I was able to harass myself out of it, and a $1.00 table, and jars and Christmas, and...lots of stuff.
Probably the only reason I didn't buy more there, despite telling myself not to, was that the guy aggravated me. Apparently they were from out west, and apparently he missed it, a lot, and wishes he was back there - and I wished he was, too.
The last yard sale we went to was inside a house. A house like we've never seen before. I sure wish I'd taken pictures. I almost feel like I need to ditch our major kitchen re-plumbing project tomorrow to be able to go back and take pictures of this house. I don't know why I didn't yesterday. We were just in shock and awe, I guess.
From the outside it looked like a normal, older farm house. You walk in the front door into a foyer, normal enough. There's a bedroom? or den/office to the right.
Past that was another room, a bedroom probably. But now you go through that 2nd room, into an added on room that was about the size of a large closet or small bedroom. It may have been a closet, because you turn left out of it into a large bathroom. There was door in the back of the bathroom that I thought went out into the back yard, but turned out it was another large room, with a high pointed ceiling. It had a game table in the center of the room, and shelves along the walls. I assume it was a game room.
If you go back out into the foyer and turn right, you pass a half bath, or powder room, toilet and sink, and then go straight into a large bathroom with a communal shower, like a locker room. Two 3/4 tile walls on each side, no door in the center, you walk in and pick which side you want to shower on. So weird!!!
There was another toilet, and at the side of the room there was another door, which we found out led to a hallway to a door that opened to the back yard.
Back in the foyer, across from the 1st room, is a diningroom/kitchen. Going up from it is a set of extremely weird steps, it was like, left foot, right foot, left foot...
Okay, they are called alternate stepping, like these. Anyway, we didn't even try to go up those - afraid we'd break our fool necks - but there appeared to be a loft up there. No telling what kind of actual surprise was up there, though.
A hall was off the kitchen, with a bedroom, next to it was a normal set of steps going up, I guess to another loft space, I didn't go up them. Then there was another large room, a den, on the back, with very expensive looking, fancy wood walls and ceilings, built-ins, and a rock wood stove hearth.
My Aunt was like, "Wha - ? Wah - ?" and I was pretty much the same way, but I think where she was appalled, I was more like amazed. It was so eclectic and interesting - and I wanted it, bad! Sadly, though, they weren't yard sale-ing the house. Sniff, sniff.
Anyway, I did see this outdoor sink. I had been wanting one, but I didn't want to pay so much to buy a new one when I figured we could rig one with a salvaged kitchen sink.
I was going to offer the guy $5.00, but I think I have a fear of rejection or some crazy thing?, anyway I asked how much he wanted, and he said $5.00!
He said he'd asked $25.00, but realized a piece was broken on the reel that would have to be replaced. I looked it over and the parts I was most interested in - the hose connector, and the line going to the faucet - looked good. I didn't really care about the reel, I probably wouldn't reel up a hose on it anyway.
So I said, Oh, I guess my husband can fix that, and gave him $5.00 and took my sink.
I may, or may not, buy some Krylon Plastic spray paint and pretty it up. To be honest I'm not overly concerned about it's looks. I just like a place I can mess with my plants, planting, washing off any garden veggies, and washing my hands. The reason it was difficult to do before with just the water hose is, we usually have three hoses connected together and stretched down to the garden for watering it. It was a PITA to have to drag them all back up to the house to be able to use outside water. I usually just went inside to do my cleaning up, dirt, bugs and all.
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