Staying Close To Home

Last weekend, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of good sales out there. There have been so many weekends this year that have lacked that "can't miss" sale yet we have had some really good saling weekends. We are always hopeful. 

This weekend looked especially short of potential winners. We had a list of possibilities and, since none of them guaranteed that we would find anything there, we chose to maximize our potential by picking as many sales as we could that were close to home. Maybe quantity would help. Hopeful, as always, we began our journey.

Our first stop was at a tag sale at a church that has a thrift shop in town. Plenty of tables...plenty of nothing for us. Next!

Our second stop was also a tag sale at a church. There were plenty of tables outside and the thrift shop was open so we had two opportunities to find something here. This church is in the town next store and we always go to their annual sale. A quick look at the tables and through the thrift shop left us without anything to bring home except a few puzzle books for Monica's dad which we picked up for him. Next!

Our next stop was in the same town as the second church sale and we weren't sure whether we had one or two sales to go to in that location. There were two sales listed on that street; one that gave the actual street address and one that did not. The descriptions were different but we weren't sure. The one with the exact address was described as an estate sale with "60 years" of stuff. What we found was an outdoor garage sale with very little there and absolutely nothing of interest to us. We moved on to the next sale which was, in fact, a separate sale. It, too, was an outside garage sale with not much to search but we did find two vintage ceramic poodles and they came home with us.

Sale #5 was described as "vintage inside and out" and that was enough to draw us there. The lawn was packed with stuff for sale and the inside had a main floor that was open to search. Unfortunately, nothing here interested us and, after this fifth sale, we still had a very empty car.

Sale #6 was a sale run by a tag sale company that we like a lot. They only average one sale a month but we have had success at their sales. They are often too brief in their sale descriptions so we never know what we will find. Although their ad would not have drawn us to their sale on its own, we went simply because it was their sale.

There were two floors to search and we found this pencil sharpener in the basement. This is always a good sign and, based upon the way the day had gone so far, we needed a good sign! 

The main floor had this great pink bathroom! If you look closely, you will see a very scary spider in the top right corner of the bathtub. Rob caught it in a container and released it in the backyard.

We did not spend a lot of time here because the search was pretty quick. It was our best stop on a very modest day of saling. We came home with a few nice Christmas items, a record, a book and some other things.

While our list had run out, we did make one other stop. The animal shelter, nearest the last sale, was having a tag sale. We made a quick stop to support a worthy cause. We picked up two packages of clown noses (because you never know when they will come in handy) and an Our Gang DVD.

Here are some of the things we got that day:

A record

Clown noses...22 of them. We will find a fun use for these!

A book on Space (published during John F. Kennedy's presidency) and a vintage package of corduroy patches. 

Christmas things; all marked Japan

On Saturday night, The Feast of St. Anthony was in town and we always go just to walk around. Lots of rides, lots of games and lot of food. Although we did not go on any rides this year, we did take advantage of the food opportunities! 

The meatball heroes were great! 

On Sunday, we were incredibly productive, doing so many things that were on our "To Do" list. One of Rob's most pressing items was assembling the new barbecue we bought. Although, it is not vintage, it is something we needed and Rob was anxious to break it in.

By late afternoon, Rob was barbecuing cheeseburgers for dinner and, lo and behold, this angry blimp flew over the house! We think that he was angry that he was not invited to the barbecue! He passed over quickly and we enjoyed the first creations from our new grill!

Next weekend, we will have a three day weekend as we both took a vacation day on Friday. Who knows what adventures we might have? Not us, but we'll be patient and see. It doesn't matter all that much. What matters most is that a three day weekend means one extra day spent together...that is all that really counts!