The Great Outdoors

Garage sale season is in full swing. Everywhere you go, there are garage sale signs. We still prefer estate sales and that is what we pursue but we don't discount garage sales. We use them as filler in between stops. Sometimes, as we cruise slowly past a garage sale, we can tell, even from a distance, that there is nothing there of interest to us and we pass right on by. We are much more likely to stop when we see a few old items sitting on a table and then loads of boxes nearby. You just never know what you'll find. We also like to stop when we see that it is an older person having the sale. What treasures is he or she parting with? Again, you just never know!

As we prepared our list of potential stops, there were none that stuck out but plenty that hinted of possibility. We compiled a list of ten potential stops. It was a great mix of indoor estate sales and "vintage" outdoor garage sales. The term "vintage" may be overused but it is hard to ignore the word...and we didn't. With a list in hand and a full tank of gas, off we went

Our first series of stops were easy. There were three located within the same town and the one that sounded most promising was in that cluster. We decided to go to a "vintage yard sale" first. There were no pictures to tell us what "vintage" meant but we just couldn't ignore the word. It was an outdoor sale, as we expected. There was another garage sale across the street. We went to both and found nothing. 

All was not lost though...we saw a Bagel Store just down the road from the sale and decided that it was time for breakfast. The food was good and it had this cool carousel horse mounted to the wall. Bonus...there were scary clowns on the carousel top!

With our stomachs full and our hearts set on finding treasures, we moved on to our next stop. This was the one we felt showed the greatest potential. It was run by a tag sale company and the ad pictures did point toward this being of interest. It's only downside was that this was the second day of the sale.

The basement was packed and there was an attempt to keep it orderly and neat. This sign was posted prominently on the basement wall but...

...too late! Monica was digging through the rubble...we both were! It took some time but we left no box and no piece of furniture unsearched. 

There was an Indian mounted to the wall with an arrowhead backing. Rob thought it looked like one of his people had been swallowed by a fish! While the basement was the area where we spent a majority of our time here, there were other rooms to search on the main floor and we did leave with some records, books, Christmas items and a few other things.

The next stop on our list was still within the same town but we were not sure exactly where we were going. The ad listed just the street name and that we should then just "follow the signs". We hoped there would be signs...and there were...two of them. There were two sales being held on the street and both were in the great outdoors. We were not sure which one was the "60 years of stuff". No problem...we would go to both. The first stop had a sign that they were an "antique garage sale". We figured that this must be the place. There were a few old things here but it certainly wasn't "60 years of stuff". There was nothing here for us.

The second one, from a distance, looked like a typical garage sale but it wasn't. It was an estate sale that had some things outside and some things inside. This was the "60 years of stuff". The people were very nice and we looked through the items on display in the driveway, the things in the garage and the items inside the house. We walked away with some records, a cool book about The Beatles, a record rack, a sweater for Monica and some other things...and a hose. Our garden hose sprung a leak two weeks ago and we have been keeping an eye our for a replacement. We found it here plus a couple of spare sprayers for the hose.

Our next stop was a moving sale defined as "vintage". As we pulled up, we could see it was another outdoor sale and there was another garage sale directly across the street and the results were the same for both...there was nothing.

Onward we traveled to the sale that mentioned Heywood Wakefield furniture. This sale was also held last Sunday and we did not know how much would be here but we figured that if they have Heywood Wakefield furniture, they probably have some other cool stuff too. They did. It was an outdoor sale run by the owner and there was not a lot on display but we did find enough to make it a worthwhile stop. We left with a great table, some records, some costume jewelry, a creepy Santa and a jewelry box.

The afternoon was hot and we decided that we only had one more stop left in us. We chose the one that was only ten minutes away.  It took us more time to get there than it did to look at what was for sale. It was a bust.

Here is what we did find today:

Some records

A few more records

Some Christmas records

Some books

A small jewelry box and some costume jewelry for Monica

Some Christmas items

Some old packages of pipe cleaners, a curtain rod for our bathroom, a portable fan and some festive Aloha coasters

Some vintage cake toppers

A pair of old hose nozzles

A vintage sweater for Monica

An old record rack

A vintage table for behind the couch. It matches two other tables that we have! 

This was the first  time this year that we went to more outdoor sales than indoor sales. We typically like the indoor sales better. Seeing rooms that were untouched in the last 50 years or more is exciting and we always let our minds think about what life must have been like for the people who once resided there. We also like to dig and, when we are lucky, walk into basements and attics that have not been searched in many years. Garage sales and yard sales are always staged and that removes a little bit of the excitement from the sale but that's okay...we still like them. Treasures can be found anywhere...and the greatest treasure of all is simply to spend this time together and share our excitement together ...hand in hand.