Yard Sale Documentation Project 7-7-12

July 8, 2012 at 9:26 AM (bargains, decorating, Family, home decor, humor, Uncategorized, Yard sales)
Tags: abundance, art pottery, bargains, decorating, home decor, humor, Jeanne Fiorini, yard sales

 No, we didn’t buy a sad orphan at a yard sale this weekend.

As it turned out, this was Vera’s maiden voyage into yard sale world.  She usually stays home on Saturday mornings with her Dad while Mom and I are out being crazy; but with Dad away on a hiking trip, the little darlin’ was left to tag along with the big girls as they drove around town in random directions searching for large piles of stuff that belongs to other people.

Here she is getting strapped in for the day’s trek. Sweet ride she’s got there, huh? Kate would disown me if I got those cowprint seat covers for my new Versa, but I am sorely tempted.

We probably should have expected an ebb after last weekend’s rushing flow of fine quality items. Also to contend with was how the mid-week July 4th holiday messed with everyone’s minds causing us to wonder, on any give day recently, which one of the days of the week it actually was.

Whatever the reason, today was a relatively slow sale day.

My only interesting purchase for the day is the Aborn California Pottery planter seen in the photo below. Although — as has been documented–  I have a lot of pottery, this roughly textured style is unusual for my collection and so I was happy to find it.

The most interesting parts of this day involved watching Vera interact with the strangers and what was happening in their driveways and garages. Once she got used to the scene, she was unabashed about tottering around people’s yards, handling the merchandise, giving other children the Vulcan death stare (which is her modus operandi  when it comes to meeting other small humans for the first time), and throwing an occasional small fit when it was time to get back into the car … she is almost 2 after all, she’s entitled.

We saw numerous basketball hoops (with which she is enthralled and can spot from 100 yards away), the larger-than-life Red’s Dairy Freeze “eye-kee-koh” (fortunately at 10:30am CLOSED), and we even met a friendly dog named Tom Brady. (Maybe this guy has playmates who can catch balls.)

The best part of my day happened when, at one stop where Kate and Vera had already reached the car and were buckled in — I was still poking around in the stranger’s pile — Vera apparently, with a panicked look on her face, pointed out the window exclaiming, ” Gee-Gee-Gee!”

In case you don’t speak 2-year-old, that’s Vera-speak for “Grammie Jeanne,” which is a far cry from what she has called me up to this point: “Dah.”

So, as if often the case, today’s adventure was about the experiences rather than the purchases. But for the record, here they are:

Aborn California Pottery planter (sold on Ebay these days for around $20) : $1

Two sets of Christmas lights, 100 per string: $1

Lined wicker basket: 50 cents

New smoke alarm: $1

Total expenditure for the day: $3.50

Oh yes, and one cup of lemonade from those 7-year-old hypnotists.