Sunday, September 29, 2013

Saying Goodbye To September

The last weekend of September...October rolls in on Tuesday and that is truly an autumn month. The trees will soon be changing colors. The air conditioner is not likely to be turned on again this year (it hasn't in almost a month anyway). Coats will soon be worn regularly. Halloween decorations can start going up! 

It also means that outdoor sales will soon be disappearing and all of our saling will be indoors. We like indoor sales better simply because it means more stuff and we can unearth stuff that no one (except maybe other salers) has pawed through yet. Hidden treasures. An unguided tour through older houses. It probably also means less sales but quality over quantity anyway, right? We can always fill in the gaps with Thrift Shops. We always do. On this last Saturday in September, we made a list of 19 potential sales, knowing we would never even come close to stopping at all of them but it is always nice to have options!


Our first stop was at this three level house. They dragged anything they had from every floor, except the main floor, outside. Lots of old salt and pepper shakers of all kinds of birds, all marked "Japan" or "Occupied Japan".. They were also all marked with pretty high price tags. We really liked an old set of Thanksgiving turkey salt and pepper shakers and they wanted the stuff moved so they dropped it to $1 for the pair. We also got a metal drink serving tray, designed for bridge players, for $1. 

The next four sales were quick stops within close proximity of each other and we spent little time at any of them and walked away with just a record and an old deck of cards in total....but we did see a pencil sharpener mounted in the garage of the fifth stop...


...and mounted pencil sharpeners are a sign of old houses. They owner said that there was lots of stuff in the attic that he had not gone through yet. When he does, THAT sale might be worthwhile. This one wasn't.

Our sixth stop and a familiar sign...one of our favorite Tag Sales Companies

There was a really cool bar downstairs and Rob made sure to search through everything behind it


Look at the cool handles on one of the storage closets downstairs!

A piano built into the wall

It had a really cool old floor

A great view of the bar and the cool bar stools

Monica saying Hi!!! She loved this basement!

Some old batteries on the shelf. Black cats ahead of the Halloween month! We got a few great things here and had fun walking through the house. On to stop#7

This was a small Estate Sale with not much for us though walking through the house was fun.

Starburst on the top level of some cool two-tiered 1950's end tables. They wanted way too much money for them and, truth be told, at least for now, we don't need any more end tables.

An old baby food jar sitting in the basement. Macaroni & Bacon? With vegetables (see the small print)? That's quite a combination, isn't it? We left the house with a pair of mini Mica Houses and a book on preparing for nuclear war. 


Our eighth stop was also run by a Tag Sale Company that we know quite well. Look at the cool old door!


The kitchen floor tile was similar to the one that Monica's grandparents had in their house. 


A great starburst doorknob plate. We have a few of these too. We got a few great things here too and a good price. 

Our final stop was an outdoor garage sale that advertised 50 years of accumulation. Maybe, but not our style. We got two records there. We made it to nine sales on the day, most of them outdoors, with a stop for breakfast and an afternoon stop for sweet tea at McDonald's, mixed in between. Lots of fun, some goodies to bring home and lots of smiles....a perfect end to September.

Here are some of the things we brought home today:
Some records

Some magazines and books. The Handyman magazine was behind the bar at one of the stops. They designed the entire basement to look like the cover of the magazine!

Playing cards, thermometer wall plaques courtesy of the local oil company (with pull down calendars, one from 1959 and one from 1962), an Elmer Fudd Christmas ornament, plastic cocktail stirrers  (all but two are airline cocktail stirrers...Pan Am, TWA, etc), a metal drink serving tray for bridge players and an old Budweiser hardstock coaster.

Metal serving trays from...we don't know. They both reminded us of Tupperware's Millionaire line but we don't know. Even our kitchen chef looks perplexed.

Christmas items, a Tweety Bird Pepsi glass from 1973, a Tiki idol from Hawaii, a pair of Thanksgiving salt and pepper shakers made in Japan and a Buster Brown plastic magic hat (when the hands are pushed aside, a rabbit pops out) that Monica had as a kid.

Halloween stuff

Easter stuff


Oh...and on Friday, we found what we had been looking for the last two weeks...
All five Monster cereals! Target is the only store that is selling the limited edition cereals with the original artwork from when they were first introduced! We went to two Target stores last week and they did not have them. Not only does Target have them but....

...now we do too! :)

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fall Continues...

Well, it certainly should since it has just started. Our mindset has changed from holding onto summer as long as we can to embracing the autumn season and taking advantage of what it has to offer. We both took a day off on Monday just because a three day weekend seemed like just what we needed. 

Our first stop of the day was at a place that could be technically called a "clam & oyster bar" but it also serves more traditional breakfasts and you can sit outside along the water and enjoy the beautiful view. Neither of us had ever been here before but we thought about it trying it all summer. 

Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there, perhaps cutting down their hours of operation when the new season arrived. The drunk octopus was all we found there and he was in no mood for negotiating!

So off we went for lunch instead. There is a great old diner about 30 minutes from our planned destination and we both thought grilled cheese sandwiches (with bacon and tomato and a side of French fries) sounded like a great idea.


The Mineola Diner

It is tiny

It has been around since 1948

The inside has a great decor!

There is an area in which to eat outside too.

There is a picture of "I Love Lucy" on the wall of the outside dining area. We like it!

We ate inside and Monica was pleased with both the surroundings and our sandwiches...clean plate! 

Rob was a member of the "clean plate club" too...except for some stray catsup!

Happy with the food. Happy with the ambience. Happy with each other!



We went down to our lake that evening. It is one of our favorite places in the world. We love to walk around the lake, hand in hand, taking in the beauty of the lake and stopping to see our friends...the swans, geese and ducks...with bread for them in hand

Our friends were happy to see us! Look at all of the ducks and geese waiting for bread from Monica!

Monica loves feeding them as much as they like getting fed!

The sunset by our lake. It always offers such a beautiful view...

...and we both love this time so very much!

As the swans and ducks swim off into the sunset, we know that the days are getting shorter, we are losing daylight much earlier and, soon, walks around the lake will have to be left to weekends...it is autumn now....we are embracing it. The geese, swans and ducks will appreciate it...

...even the ones having a bad hair day!

Monday, September 23, 2013

The First Weekend Of Fall

Well, technically, Fall didn't start until Sunday but it was in the air. The night time temperatures have dropped to the high 40's/early 50's this past week and the trees are showing the very slightest hint of wanting to change color and, even though, the days are still fairly warm, the sun just looks different. The shadows the sun cast are no longer summer shadows...they are autumn shadows. It's hard to explain but there is a difference. It now gets dark by 7:30 pm and, in the morning, Orion can be seen in hours just before dawn. Maybe it's there in the summer but we never notice it. Orion, to us, is a Fall/Winter constellation. Hello Orion. Hello Fall.

One thing that doesn't change with the seasons is that there are still seven days in a week and one of them is always Saturday. It was Saturday. Saturday means saling for us. Lots of stops on the list of potential visits. None looked spectacular but there was always the excitement of potential...and always the thrill of simply spending the day together.

Our first stop was about 20 minutes away. It was an outdoor garage sale labeled as a garage sale with some "vintage 1950's" items. Monica ran into a friendly face upon arrival...a woman she worked with many years ago. She was helping her friends have this sale. It was as advertised but there was not a lot for us. We did come away with a ceramic pineapple drink mug and a ceramic pineapple creamer, both circa 1960's, and both were had for a grand total of $1. 


Our second stop was just five minutes away and it was an outdoor estate sale run by the family of the deceased. The people were nice here too and we came home with one record and a record album table with a swiveling base which was very cool, especially for just $5.

After stopping for our traditional Saturday morning breakfast, we went to the next sale, approximately 25 minutes away...well, it WOULD have been only 25 minutes away but we had to detour around one parade and one street fair and it took about 45 minutes to arrive. The sale was run by the family but they had a friend consulting them. She is recently retired from a Tag Sale Company that we know pretty well. There were so many cool pieces of furniture inside.


A cool dining room server/buffet 


Look at the cool handles!


A cool oven built into the wall


A great dresser in the bedroom


Look at the cool starburst 

We don't need any additional furniture right now and we really don't have the room so all we walked away with was a couple of Fisher Price clowns.


Our next stop wasn't far away. It was run by a Tag Sale Company that is fairly new and we never have visited their sales. It was an interesting house with many rooms. There wasn't a lot for us but we left with one record and one very cool battery operated record player.


Our fifth stop was about 20 minutes away and it was run by a Tag Sale Company that we like but hasn't run many sales lately. Their sales can be great but they have also run some clinkers and their prices are strange. They charge way too much money for some things and next to nothing for others. 


It was a digger (which is what we like) and there were creepy dolls at every turn watching us very carefully but we came out wearing a little dust and it felt good. We found several records, a cool radio and a few other things for a very low price.

On the way to our sixth and final stop, we saw a garage sale sign right along our path and decided to stop. We picked up two records there and then arrived at our last stop.


It was listed as a "vintage garage sale" and that came as no surprise once we saw who was running it. It was a lady who runs a vintage store in town and we have often gone into her shop to look at the interesting items but have never bought anything. Too expensive! We found one old New Year's Eve noisemaker for 50 cents.



Here are some of the things we got today:
Some old cookbooks and travel guides


Some Bob Newhart records


Some Apollo 11 records


Some more records...

...and more records...

...and more records!

An old Browni radio, some ceramic pineapples (from Japan and Hawaii, respectively), some old New Year's Eve noisemakers, Fisher Price clowns from the 1980's, a bride and groom duck (of course), a package of kazoos and some other stuff.

A record album table with revolving base

A battery operated record player



We decided to go out for Chinese food at a local favorite place of ours. The inside looks like it has not been changed since the 1960's and...

...they serve drinks or Tiki mugs or scorpion bowls

Monica had The Lover's Potion


Rob had The Scorpion. Well, we actually shared both. And we shared smiles and laughs and maybe a kiss or two. We don't think the ducks would disapprove.