DIGGING IN THE BINS

Have you ever gone to a GW outlet? I have been to one in Lancaster PA and to one in Charlotte NC. It is so much fun.

Don't be afraid to get down and dirty or you will loose out. The one we went to in Lancaster PA one summer during vacation was by accident. There was a regular GW next door and we had finished there and decided to see what the outlet was all about.

Well, we were flabbergasted!!! Bins and bins of stuff everywhere. We went crazy!!! Everything was price by the pound. It was a few years ago and I think it was like 69 cents a pound. We went crazy!!!

More recently during a trip to IKEA in Charlotte we happened to find a GW outlet. We went crazy!!! The prices were higher, I think about $1.39 a pound. Books were 25cents, record albums were 25cents and household was half price of the marked price. I purchased quite a few things (we'll just leave it at that).

I am making plans to go back to the GW outlet in Charlotte before long. Now that I have an ebay store I have an outlet for different things than before. Before I was searching for vintage things to paint. Now I am searching for stuff to sell. I have begun laying the groundwork with SweetiePie for a trip to Charlotte. It is a good  3 1/2 hour drive and I would need to make it round trip in a day. Don't want the expense of an overnight stay. We have the time, just need to have the money.

In the meantime I have been digging in the bins at my favorite big thrift. They have about a dozen bins in the back of the store piled high with stuff. Everything is 4/$1.00. Like most thrift stores you have to look things over carefully. Most just need a good wash.Yesterday I came home with over 75 items, some I splurged on the dollar racks, but most came from the bins. I got all weather coats, hoodies, jeans, shirts, sweaters, pants, skirts and plush for 25cents each. I was in heaven.

Now today the washer is running overtime trying to get it all washed and sorted. As with most things, some will be good sellers and some will be low end stuff. Abercrombie hoodie, Hollister hoodie, LLBean coat, London Fog Ladies coat, Joseph & Feiss mens coat all purchased for the sum of 25 cents each!!!. I got so carried away that I didn't even take time to go through the "full price" racks. I had a 20% discount card that I didn't even use because everything I bought was on clearance.

Hey, I need to go back and use that 20% discount card!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.....

Where has all the time flown?
It was just spring not long ago and then summer and then Halloween and Thanksgiving and now
Christmas is here.
Have you been as busy as I have been lately?
Grandchildren tracked out of school, Christmas shopping, Christmas listing and selling on ebay and finally the big day.

We have our family on Christmas Eve.
Give the kids some food, lots of candy and send them home!!
Works for me.
Not so good for their Mom and Dad!!

Some of us didn't get too stressed

I don't know about all of you out there in cyberland, but I don't like the rush and stress of Christmas. Get this, buy this, go here, do this, do that. I wish we could just take it easy and not feel so stressed to do EVERYTHING perfect.

I didn't have time for a big tree this year. But at least I finally got one up. Small, but it does the job. And the cats have inspected it and it passed.

Our meal of choice for Christmas is lasagna. After the super huge feast at Thanksgiving with all of the rich and bad for you stuff we started having lasagna several years ago.I don't make lasagna very often and we tend to dig in. It is much easier than planning and fixing 7 or 8 different things for the family. Lasagna, fruit platter, veggie platter, salad and bread. And of course dessert.
The princess' don't particularly like lasagna. Don't like the ricotta and all the cheese. Daughter Smarta** came up with this for the princess dining pleasure.

Gingerbread spaghetti!! Got these little dishes at Michaels
one year after Christmas. Perfect for a meal for one.

They liked them, after we peeled the cheese off

 Fun and food was had by all. Of course I needed a nap after they went home, and I just sat down and got one!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
AND TO ALL A GOOD......YEAR





I have a new plan for thrifting next year that I will share soon.
Don't make too many new year's resolutions......

WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THE LISTS?

Every time I log on to ebay (or any other website this time of year) I am hit with a list of some kind. Electronics...games...gifts for him...gifts for her....gifts for your dog...gifts for your iguana...you get the idea.

Why? To get you to shop, of course.

But I have a question.

Am I not smart enough to think of something for my personal friends and family all by myself? Am I not the person who knows them best?

I don't need someone sitting in an office staring at a computer trying to make people BUY more of their stuff!!!

SO THERE....take that you list makers!!!

Oh, if you do need something for your iguana they have a list of sizes over at O.com....seriously!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?..... BUSY

Has it been Thanksgiving since my last post?
My, how time flies when you are having fun!!!

It has been a whirlwind of activity at our house. Well, for us a whirlwind. We tend to lead a much to sedate life and it doesn't take much to make a whirlwind.

I have been busy on ebay. That puppy just sucks the life out of you.
You need to list to sell.
When you sell you have to ship.
When you sell you need to acquire inventory.
When you acquire inventory you need to list.
One vicious cycle.

It has been fun trying to guess what will sell and what will sit forever. Sometimes I guess right and sometimes I watch something sit forever until the right person comes along.

Take these surprises for example.

1992 Hasbro Pony Surprise...guess what the surprise is

1992 Hasbro Kitty Surprise

My girls were too old in 1992 for this kind of toy so I completely missed these. I was at the GW this week and found these. When I picked them up I thought they were unusual because they have vinyl faces. But that isn't the surprise. Their tummy's have a velcro pouch with the babies inside. I know that kitties have multiple babies, but I think it is kinda rare for ponies to have triplets!! My daughter said they were creepy. Well apparently creepy sells. The pony sold in 14 hours and the kitty was sold in 25 hours. Now that was a surprise!! A nice one.

This was another surprise I found the same day. Who would have thought that women would want to relive the torpedo days. But these were new and still in the package. After checking ebay, apparently there is a market for them.

Madonna, eat your heart out

I can't wait to see what I'll find at the thrift store next week. You find something every time you go that you didn't know you needed.

THANKSGIVING ADVENTURES

Did everyone eat too much turkey? Too much punkin' pie? Too much chocolate pie.I tried to be good, really I did. I only had one plate full of food and two pieces of pie.

We had 15 for dinner on Thanksgiving. Not the biggest crowd we have had, but big enough. Adults, teen-agers and children. Quite a mix.

After dinner at 1:30, SweetiePie wanted to go down to the park in town so the kids could expel some energy instead of bouncing off the walls at our house. Good idea! Some of the adults went along and got a nice little stroll around the baseball field. Some of the bigger children went horseback riding.

Daddy needs a few last minutes tips on how to win this race.

ready....set...GO

SweetiePie was a close second

After the adventures in the park. We came back for dessert. I don't know about your family gatherings, but here at out house we have almost as many sweets as we do food for the main course. I put the coffee on and we dug in.

As we were cutting the desserts my daughter noticed water on the floor in front of the sink. Not a good thing.
Looked in the cabinet and there was water EVERYWHERE. Not a good thing. The drain pipe under the sink picked Thanksgiving to finally let go. The metal section of the pipe, where the dishwasher water comes into the drain had eroded and there was about a 2 inch hole in the pipe. Lovely. All of the dinner dishes had been washed and only the dessert dishes were left. Lovely, all sticky and sweet.

I'm pretty sure that this is NOT where the dishes are
supposed to be washed. Complete with peanut gallery!

After dessert it was entertainment time. Some went on a magical unicorn ride. Some serenaded us with their guitar.

giddy up

After all of the fun and games it was time for peace and quiet. Why did I clean my house before everyone arrived? I found chocolate cake crumbs in lots of places and glasses and napkins and forks and.......

But it was fun and can't wait to do it again next year....minus the sink thing.

I did get a new faucet out of the deal. As long as we had to fix under the sink, SweetiePie decided to go ahead and replace the old leaking faucet. Yeah....bonus.

WHY SO EARLY?

Hey!!! What's everyone doing up so early?

Oh, I see. Everybody is coming to your house for Thanksgiving.

Me too.

So, get off the computer and go clean the bathroom and get the turkey in the oven.

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Don't eat too much pie!!

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER ....... OR SOMETHING

Who woulda thunk it!!

I have created a thrift shop monster. No, not the Halloween costume kind. The real kind.

If you lead someone to the thrift store you can't make them shop. Or can you?

My SweetiePie has become a thrifter. Now, if he knew I told you he would take away my car keys or something like that. Like that would work....

On Wednesday I had several packages to got to the post office and he volunteered to take them. I was knee deep in inventory that we had picked on Tuesday. Before he left he asked if I wanted to go with him. Oh, and maybe go by the GW while we are out.  Hmmmmm.....let me see. It is 1.5 miles to the PO in town and another 5.5 miles to the closest GW. It's kinda hard to GO BY the GW by accident.

What caused this turn around?

He has found some good goodies.

A Brighton belt, those are expensive.
A real Armani shirt, those are expensive.
A Tiger Woods golf shirt, those are expensive.
A fancy, smancy pair of ski pants, those are expensive.
A Ermenegildo Zenga shirt, those are expensive.
A Dale Earnhardt SR cap, not expensive but HTF.

I  have always told him he has an eye for the good stuff. (He married me didn't he?)  He He.......

Now he has proven me correct.

WHY I LIKE MY OWN BREAD

I didn't mean for it to sit there this long.
I just forgot. Then I remembered.
And then it was a challenge to see how long it would last.

What is that crazy person talking about?

A loaf of bread. This loaf of bread specifically.

Nothing out of the ordinary about a loaf of bread, right?
Some things you need to know. Our closest Kroger store closed the first week of July, 2011. This loaf of bread was purchased in November of 2010. See the best used by date of Dec 19? That would be Dec 19, 2010.

Why has said crazy person kept a loaf of bread for a year? See first paragraph.

I have found the perfect recipe to make bread. I love the bread I make. It is fresh, smells good, I know what the ingredients are and we eat it.

Not being gross or anything, but this bread has been sitting in my bread box for ONE YEAR. Where is the mold? Where is the gross stuff that happens when things decay? Do you see any of that on this loaf of bread?
Me either.

Kinda makes you wonder what kind of preservatives are IN there. And what kind of preservatives are IN YOU when you eat this bread. (No need to be embalmed when you die)

I am not picking on Kroger bread. This just happens to be the loaf that I forgot and it came from Kroger. I am sure that they are all alike.

Now THAT is a scary thought.

I think I'll keep making my own, thank you very much.

Think I should go for another year?

A THRIFTING PARTNER

I never thought this would happen.

I now have a thrifting partner. SweetiePie

SweetiePie was disabled back in March, had surgery and can no longer work. He is finally getting disability, thank goodness. It was a long time coming.

His dream was to get a metal detector to occupy his free time. He finally got one a couple of weeks ago. So far he has found less than $4 in change. Well...no one said that he was going to get rich with the thing. It just keeps him out of trouble and out of my hair.

The thrift thing. He saw me listing stuff on ebay. When stuff sold I would tell him my profit on the items. He was slightly impressed. Then he saw a couple of items that I purchased for a dollar or less and sold for a bunch more.....he was impressed.

Normally when I go thrifting I go alone. I ask him from time to time if he wants to go, but he always says he has something else going on. A couple of days ago he suggested we go to a different GW store after hearing me complain about the local GW. Well, we have already scored big on three of the items that we picked up that day and it looks good for several more.

Oh my.....I think he is hooked!!!!!

And yesterday he found a REAL Armani shirt all by himself.

That boy is going to be dangerous pretty soon.......

THINGS BETTER LEFT BEHIND......AND SOME THAT MUST COME HOME WITH YOU

I started to call this post "Things I Shouldn't Have Bought". But that is not true. Now that I have purchased these items I will KNOW next time.

The story begins with SweetiePie. He has decided that this thrift shop thing is not too bad. Why? Because he saw my paypal balance and realized I was making $$$. I keep records. Boy, do I keep records.

OK, so here are a couple of things that SweetiePie found and wanted to purchase for resale. I should mention that when we get to the thrift store we both go to different areas and start looking. He concentrates on mens clothing and I do housewares, childrens, ladies, linens, books and toys. He always brings stuff to me for approval.
Now, at first glance you see Gucci! Wow, how did the clerks at Goodwill miss that one. Normally it will be in the glass case with an armed guard. I has the GG logo, Made in Italy, Gucci....hummmm we will take a chance.  Honkkkkkkk  wrong. It is NOT Gucci. Oh it says Gucci. Could be Fred Gucci for all I know. The give away, other than the fact that the GG on the shirt is not right, is that there is no tag with fiber content. NOW YOU KNOW.

Ah, an Armani. You would think. Again the name and that is all. No Made in Italy tag and no fiber content tag. Honkkkkkkk not an Armani.
So now we are the proud owners of TWO fake shirts. Neither one is one we can wear. Honestly, I would never wear that Gucci one, ugggg...lee.

Now to stuff that needed to come home with us.

We went to a more upscale section of town and scored on some shoes. The local GW has taken to marking any shoes that appear to be better quality (Clarks, Born, Rockport, etc) with higher prices. Anywhere from $5 to $25 when all other shoes are $3.39. There was even a sign at the register one day that advertised a
comic book, first edition, for $450 firm, with a note that it was selling on ebay for $700. Well, list it on ebay then. See how long it takes you to take pics, write a description, list and wait for someone to buy the thing.
Geeze....give me a break.

But I digress.

I found these shoes for $3.39 and less. Some were $2.75 at one store. So there....take that GW. Three, maybe four of these pairs of shoes are brand new, never worn

This took 1/3 of  my cash budget for the day. But I know it will make me some $$$

It's a 12 qt. pressure canner. Retail is $75 -$100 depending on the store. Looks like it was used one or two times. Still has the paper work inside. I have the cat guarding it.


Found these today at a little store close by.

 The planet porcelain mugs are Italian cappuccino or espresso mugs, two Big Ed mugs, a California Pantry plate in gold and the single atomic salt shaker in harvest gold.

  

 I love these hugmugs! I wish they had their saucers because that would multiply the selling price by about 4. My daughter says they look like toilet seats.

I guess sometime it pays to go to the more upscale neighborhoods and sometimes it pays to stay close to home.

Hope everyone found treasures this weekend.

I REALLY HAVE BEEN BUSY......HONEST!

I haven't forgotten my blog.

It's just that when I sit here at the keyboard for several hours listing stuff on ebay I really can't think of anything that I want to type just for fun. That is, not until I go to be and lay down and try to go to sleep. THEN, I think of plenty of stuff!! I wonder if there is an app for that?

Last week I needed to make laundry soap, needed to make bread, needed to clean up stuff, needed to list everything piled up around me and needed to take a nap. No, the nap didn't win. I did work on all of the other stuff.

My SweetiePie took me to lunch on Friday. It's not that I don't know how to cook or can't cook,, it's just that he likes to go to The Border. It's a little hole in the wall with the best food!! And there just happens to be a thrift store in the same area. BONUS.....and they were having a store wide 50% off sale. My kind of day. I found a few things. Who wouldn't at 50% off.
Too late to list the stitchery kit for this year, but it will go in a Halloween box as I collect stuff for next year. The little paper angels are so sweet. The instructions are in German, but there is an English translation sheet. The box is bent some but the contents from the 70's are still unused. The apron is not really Christmas print, but I think it looks Christmasy. It has an iron on tag that says Dortje......is that the maker's name or something else? And that is a PINK thermoware ice bucket. Excellent shape, some scuffs but very light and not black. I remember the glasses like this ice bucket. My Mom got a set and then didn't like them. They tip over very easily if they don't have anything in them, and they tip over if they do have drink in them. We didn't have them very long.

The cute little lovey has rubber feet for chewing, and some vintage treat bags to stash until next year.



This is a close up of the apron. I don't wear an apron, I really need a large bib, but I just love the old fashioned handmade ones. The maker used the selvage edges of the fabric for the outside edges of the apron. The fabric is 36" wide. I don't know how long it has been since they discontinued making 36" fabric.....70's?

Hope everyone found lots of treasures this week.
Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl ....go see who found what.

$5 WAS THE PRICE OF THE DAY

It was Saturday.
It was time to go sale-ing.
It was NOT raining!!

Of course I had to go sale-ing. Our elementary school had a sale in the parking lot again. We went the last time they had one and it was after 11 and we found a very few things. Picked over was an understatement.

This time we were there at the crack of  9-ish. The first stop I picked up my first Christmas sweater. I would say ugly Christmas sweater. But, you know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers...... Both Christmas sweaters I found were non-traditional colors. Go figure.

I also found the cutest Batman shoes. Crocs want-a-be, but still killer cute and brand new and one dollar. All the right things. Also a couple of disney 3 piece sets for resale.I didn't take a pic of them, they were already in the wash. Total cost $5

The next stop I found these along with a bucket, a big bucket of people to go with them.
The three vehicles and bucket o' people, $5.Do you remember the fire engine from the first Toy Story? I hope someone does when I list it on ebay.
Did I mention that at the school they were cooking barbecue chicken? Oh man, they coulda charged for the aroma. Perfume to my nose.

I picked up a couple of games and some small stuff at the next booth, for, are you ready $5.

Then it was the last booth. Dad was selling stuff. Sometimes a good thing. Especially since it was old stuff out of a toy box that his daughter doesn't play with any more. A big garbage bag for, you guessed it $5.
I couldn't wait to get home and see what was in there. I saw little ponies, bratz, LPS, Barbie, Happy Meal toys and just plain junk.

No, the cat was not in there. It is his job to inspect everything I bring home!

Some stuff went in the trash, some went in a bag to be donated and some stuff I kept. I had about 8 My Little Ponies, some bait, some not. One Bratz doll, a Bratz Vespa-like scooter, two Barbies, 7 or 8 small plushies, a Bratz laptop, a LPS playground, 3 Disney figures, some Hello Kitty stuff and some vintage F-P figures. The Disney figures were the most valuable, probably. Haven't researched all of the stuff yet.


Two Disney squeeze toys, Sleepy and Grumpy. These should bring $6-7 each. So I know I will make my money back. The rest is gravy.

This is the rest of my treasures. A Vera bag, the Batman shoes, two Christmas sweaters, a F-P laughing elephant that vibrates (for an infant?),a couple of new candles, a Fossil wallet and a couple more plushies.


Hope you had great luck this weekend.Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl.

DO YOU LOOK FOR PERFECT?

Not long ago I was thrifting with my oldest daughter and I was pulling things off the rack and getting her youthful opinion. After the third or fourth item got the scrunched face no-no nod I asked her what she was looking for.
"Something I don't have to do anything to."

What? This is a thrift store. Nothing is perfect. That's why it ended up here.

MOMG (Mother of My Grandchildren) could you clarify that a bit?

The things I had shown her for approval were less than perfect. That one is dirty. That one is faded (can't fix faded) that one is out of style (?) and so on.Well, dirt doesn't stop me. I have lots of soap and elbow grease. Faded you can't fix and style is changing so fast it probably will BE in style before we get it home. I mean, your Dad's Members Only jacket is back in style!!

That brings me to my original question.When you are out yard sale-ing or thrifting do you look for perfect?

I don't mean I will buy something that will need 10 hours of work just to find out what color it is. I mean the fixing the seam, sewing on a button, fixing a hem, giving it a good scrub kind of thing. I never hesitate to pick up a dress or pair of pants that have the hem coming out in a spot or two. I can fix that. The dirty pyrex has never stopped me. I have soap and I'm not afraid to use it, along with some secret cleaning weapons.

I picked up this duvet cover for an excellent price. It it missing one of its buttons. Rather than mark down the price and let it go without all of its buttons I will dig in my stash of buttons and replace the button. No biggie.
I love it when the weather cooperates and I have time to wash my treasures and hang them on the line to dry. They smell sooooo good. The stripes on this only go vertical, the other stripes are shadows from the other clothes lines.

So, I don't think I am cheating anyone when I list something that I have repaired. If it is an obvious repair I'll mention it in the listing, if not I don't bother. Is that the right thing to do or am I guilty of false advertising?

What do you do? Do you only look for perfect?

PLAYING CATCH UP

Remember when you were in high school? You would put off that paper that you really hated until the last possible second before it was due? Maybe it was the subject or the teacher or the fact that you were busy with other things (that you had put off) or you had a new boy friend. Well I feel like I'm back in high school again.

I had all sorts of things  scheduled for the first week of October. I had a list of things (in my brain) that I wanted to get done around the house, things to get listed in my ebay store and things to make.  HA!!! Well that didn't happen quite like I planned.

I found a new camera and like WOW, why did I wait so long to do this. I have had better pictures and they have been easier to edit than I thought could be possible. I have had what I think is good luck at the really big thrift the last couple of trips. I have been to some good yard sales where the prices were really yard sale prices and not ebay prices. I have gotten my listing up over 300 and have been able to keep them there for a few days. I got all of those bags of Christmas ornaments listed that had been staring at me every time I sat down at the computer. (Those clowns can really get creepy after a while.....shiver.....)

A question for blog land. Does anyone run a blog just for the purpose of selling? I have visited some blogs in the past and they have a link to their selling blog. On that blog they just list things for sale. I was just a' wondering.

Back to the trash treasure thing. I kinda combined some of my last couple yard sale thrift store trips into the same pictures. Because really, you don't want to see everything I have found.

This is so stinking cute. A giraffe lovey. So much better than that nasty cuddly blankie that my daughter had. She had to fall in love with a white blanket!!

The country bear jamboree.That is a "ghost" angel on the right.

A F-P sounds house and a farmer and his singing tractor. My first leap pad.

My first pair of Armani jeans! I looked at sooooo many jeans
that day and finally found these.

I have had this house for some time and for the life of me can't find anything about it. I have tried the F-P site and found nothing. I know if I could figure out the name I could find it.Any clues?

 

 

                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

This purse intrigues me. Look closely at the closure. It is scissor like. The next picture shows it open.

The purse itself is fused plastic beads. I thought it was a 60's child's purse mainly because it had a plastic lining. But I don't know. I have tried googling fused bead purses but all I get are grown up ones. Anyone know what that metal thing at the top is called? I have seen bracelets that operated like that, but never a purse.

Well these are my special finds this week. Once again, nothing vintage or extra special, except the purse.
Cross your fingers for me on the Armani. I need to score on those.

Hope everyone found something great.
Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl Thrift share Monday.

 

WHY AM I SO STUBBORN?

I often wondered what my Mom was talking about when she said I was as stubborn as a mule.

Well, now I know what she was talking about.

A few days ago we had a great big mess.
The bathroom cabinet was flooded.
The ceiling was a mess.
The car was in the shop.
I broke my camera.

Things are looking up....somewhat.

SweetiePie has fixed the leak. Now we are just trying to dry out the cabinet and the ceiling. Then we can tackle fixing the ceiling. (Ooooo I can't wait ;p)

The car is out of the shop and runs much better. I have to say it is a blessing that I needed brakes because if not I would have been stranded somewhere and it would have taken a gigantic tow to get me home.

I got my new camera. I decided not to get the exact camera that I already had. I upgraded in zoom and pixels from 4X and 6.0 mega pixels to 7X and 12 mega pixels. From a Canon A540 to an Olympus Stylus.

Old camera using the light box. I could never eliminate the yellow.

New camera, same light box, no correction. See even these
guys are wondering what's up.

WOW.....why haven't I upgraded sooner? 

Kind of you to ask. Because I don't like to rock the boat and have to make myself learn a bunch of new technical things when I HAVE to. I had rather do my learning under less stress. But this time I had no choice.

But my Mom would have said it was because I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bless you Mom.
I know you are watching from above.
I'm just sorry I don't listen more often.

CAN YOU HAVE A BETTER DAY THAN THIS?

It all started out so innocently. Birds were singing, the sun was shining. All was well with the universal.

Well, actually it started to fall apart yesterday.


How do you describe 4 inches of standing water in your bathroom vanity? And the water stain on the ceiling on the first floor? I think nightmare is a good word.

Who knew that a teeny tiny pin prick of a hole could do soooooo much damage? You think our first observation would be the fact that the cabinet doors on the vanity were bowed out and water was condensing on the inside of the door. Nope....the first thing we noticed was the water stain on the ceiling in the master bath on the first floor.  A bit too late.

Wait, it gets better.

I had to drop my car off at the repair shop this morning to get brakes. Sounds simple enough, right?  Wrong.

They can do the brakes, for $305, and by the way your car also has a leak in the ($700) radiator, needs ($150) power steering hoses, and bushings ($?) on the front control arm and rear differential. And, no, we don't do inspections. You need to take it somewhere else. Great.

Wait, it gets better.

I signed up for a listing challenge on EBUG. I thought it would help motivate me to get my butt in gear and get things listed faster. Sounds like a good idea doesn't it? 

To sell on ebay you need three things: something to list, a camera to take pictures, and a way to upload them.

Do you know what happens when you drop your camera, while the lens is extended, on the floor? Nothing good I can tell you. Now my camera is BROKEN!!

And that is a good as it gets.

And now if you will excuse me I am going to curl up in the fetal position and cry myself to sleep.

FALL IS IN THE AIR

Last week here in Central NC we  had a variety of weather.
Rain with flooding
Thunderstorms with lightning and flooding
Hot with humidity
Cool with wind
It is never a dull weather moment here.

As I have said previously, it has rained for three weekends in a row. This has been the first weekend in a while that we have had decent weather. I was beginning to worry on Friday night when it started to rain. But it cleared up and yard sales were on.

I had our two granddaughters visiting on Friday and they spent the night. After they were ready for bed I got out my change jar and we divided up some money for yard sale-ing. A perfect time to learn about how much equals what. They each had three dollars in various coins. A fortune for them. Of course they got the speech about when you run out of money you have to stop buying because Grandma has to live within a budget and so do you. Ok, Grandma just fork over the cash!!

They did a really good job of spending their money. The each got a Beanie Baby for 25c.  One got a puzzle for 25c. And at our last stop they cleaned up. They each got a unicorn for 25c. A Hannah Montana sing along microphone, that thankfully went home with them, a Bratz doll and a bunch of other stuff for a total of about a dollar each. The couple holding the yard sale didn't want to take it home so they cut them a deal. But they were happy and they learned that 25c can buy a lot of stuff.

My daughter and I got only a few different things. At the last yard sale I got these stuffies. The F&F plate was from the first stop.
The care bear is a glow in the dark. As you will see that turned out to be the theme of the day.

After a screeching stop and a very quick right turn we found this yard sale. The girls were disappointed that there was no kids stuff. But they did have puzzles. Lots of puzzles. Put together by the adult of the house and guaranteed to have all of the pieces. We got a few.
The left half of the trunk is my stuff. The right half of the trunk is my daughter's. I got 17 puzzles and she got 20. And there were a bunch left. These people are seriously addicted to puzzles. Most of the puzzles were fantasy type. Wizards and such. Most of mine were glow in the dark(the trend of my day) and most of my daughter's were just the fantasy ones. The one that is ready to fall out of the trunk is a hologram. Cool. Expect to see some on ebay soon.

Of course after our fantastic shopping day and getting the girls back home we were kinda tired and not in the mood to fix dinner. On the way home we stopped and picked up a take and bake pizza. Our favorite kind.

Cat.
Would you like fur with that?

YARD SALE ALTERNATIVES....SCRATCHING THE ITCH

For the second week end in a row I have not been able to do yard sales. What??? you say. Or as my daughter is prone to say.... Whiskey. Tango.Foxtrot.

By Monday I was trying to figure out how I was going to scratch the itch. I had bunches of trash to turn into treasures and list in my store. Fix a button here, sew up a pocket there, wash,dry and fold and everything else to do to get ready to photograph and list. I worked like a madman Monday thinking I would get to thrift on Tuesday. Didn't happen. I worked like a madman on Tuesday thinking I would get to thrift on Wednesday. My oldest daughter, MotherOfGrandchildren, called and wanted to meet for lunch. Oh yeah!! The girls are tracked out this week and I haven't seen them in a while. She MOG had a doctors appt  and we were meeting after that. Meanwhile, on the way to the meeting I stopped at a couple of places, JUST TO LOOK...yeah right. I found some goodies and got there at the appointed time.

After lunch, which we kinda took our time enjoying, I headed for the really big thrift. I hadn't been in a couple of weeks and I NEEDED to check the 2/99c racks. I knew I had plenty of clothing items to list so I restrained myself and only found 4 items and one pair of shoes. I headed inside and started hunting...ahhhh....the smell of the hunt....moth balls....dust....Ben-Gay.

I found some hats, craft stuff and a lot of small stuff.
Hats were 99c and the Scotland towel, napkins, fabric and cross stitch were 25c each. I got a bunch of fabric, it was in the wash when I took the pics.

I looked at every pair of jeans in the store. I WILL find the pricey ones someday. In the meantime, I found a Ralph Lauren pair with velvet patches, gold thread embroidery with glass beads and tapestry patches. Some poor child in China is a very good seamstress....

I also found a pair of Antik Denim jeans. I didn't know anything about this brand, other than they appeared to be quality made with quality fabric. When I got home I checked them out on ebay and found that they average $25 a pair with the high end price being $190. I don't know about you but I would feel guilty paying more for jeans than I pay a month for electricity.... !
That's a lot of embroidery. On the left thigh, is that  a peacock?  These would have been great back in the 60's for my trip to Haight-Asbury.

On Thursday SweetiePie and I were out to breakfast. He likes to eat breakfast out, everyday if I let him.
HE suggested that we stop by GW because he wanted to look for t shirts. Stop....you're twisting my arm. I'll go....I'll go.... since you insist.

Of course I found a few things and he let me buy his t shirts too!!

A pieced tree skirt. Made in China, but it was in the bins so it was reasonable.
A Pottery Barn Teen double duvet cover and 2 shams, from the bins also. Yeah......$$$.... to ebay they go.

A bunch of small glass stuff. The ash trays on the left are German and the one on top is from Norway. A Napco cup/saucer and assorted mugs. Not pictured is a Boynton Baa, Humbug mug  and a Mary Engelbrect mug, Queen of Everything, that I have already listed. Baa, Humbug has sold already!! It paid for everything in the picture...I love fast sales!!

And this odd collection of items.

The California souvenir vintage apron, the Christmas colors smock/apron and the.....ummm..... red costume(?). I also picked up a similar pink costume that I forgot to photograph. Now I normally don't pick up "costumes" because of the ewwww factor, but these were not worn and Halloween is coming up and somebody somewhere will  need  a 4X red costume.

Ok, spill the beans, what did you find this week/week-end?