Tuesday, December 29, 2015

December Marches On

This post is for the weekend ending December 13, 2015. We will be caught up soon! 

It was another three day weekend for us. It would be this way through the end of the month. Every Friday off. We would love to be taking advantage of these Fridays by going to estate sales but there just are not that many good estate sales on Fridays in December. They always slow down in December, even on the weekends. Still, we did find one on Friday that was of interest to us and, of course, we went.


The sale was located just twenty minutes away. It was described as the estate of a 94 year old and that it was a "40's/50's time warp". We thought it was worth investigating! When we arrived, we found that it was being run by one of the flea market vendors who occasionally runs estate sales. He, often, has good stuff.


The basement had this very cool bar which, we were told, was built by the original owner.


The basement floor was faded but great.

There was a very old can of Black Flag down there. look at that label! 

The windows in the back of the house were, clearly, the original old windows. There were many rooms to check and this did turn out to be a worthwhile stop. When we left, it was with several old cookbooks, some records and a great pair of vintage metal shelves.

With most of the day remaining, a quick stop for breakfast was followed by a trip home to work on our Christmas decorating. We were almost done but had some final touches to make. By day's end, we were done...unless we found more things on Saturday. Our saling list for the weekend was also very short but we were going to make the most of it...and so we did!

Our first stop on Saturday was at an estate sale that was clearly being run by the family of the deceased. It was a quiet ad without pictures but there was something in the description that told us that this was worth seeing. Since it was just twenty minutes away and since there was not much else, it was an easy decision.

The living room had this amazing vintage piece that opened up into a bar unit. It was marked "sold" before we arrived but the woman running the sale told us that her brother actually decided to keep it. We would not have had room for it anyway. 

This light fixture was pretty amazing too. We already have a couple of these so we were not buying this. It was in the garage and in the basement that we found what we wanted. Several vintage books and Christmas things left with us.

Our second stop was at a thrift shop nearby which we haven't visited in almost a year. They moved from one building into this building (on the same property) since we were last there. It was a good stop as we found some 1950's Hazel Atlas mugs, a set of Christmas trivia cards (a la Trivial Pursuit) and a few pieces of clothing for Rob.


Our third, and final stop, was at another thrift shop. We were lucky enough to arrive on the same day as their cookie sale. Although we found nothing inside the thrift shop, Rob left with some cookies...and a big smile! 

Here are some of things we found that weekend:


Some records


Cookbooks


Drink books


Old children's books


Vintage Tupperware with lids. Rob just laid the lids on top for the picture


A pair of vintage metal shelves


Lots of Christmas things. The book, in the back, is from 1956.


On Sunday, we made our annual trip to Hicks Nurseries. We both used to go here around Christmas with our families when we were kids. It has been around since 1853. This year, we brought Monica's sister and her family with us. 

There were blow molds EVERYWHERE! 

While waiting on line for Santa, the choir kept us entertained

Us and Santa! 


Marissa and Peter with Santa!


Lenny waiting to see the reindeer. Dancer and Prancer came to Hicks this year


Dancer


Prancer


Marissa and Peter posing for a photo opportunity


The band played Christmas carols


Hicks always has a great Christmas village!


The Empire State Building in the Christmas village


A cool vintage bowling alley in the village


An old Dairy Queen in the Christmas village


Bumble and Clarisse in the Christmas village


Santa's sleigh is led by Rudolph in the Christmas village



Hicks always has an animated Christmas story. This year's was called "The Sweetest Christmas Ever"

There are always lots of moving parts in the animated Christmas story

Hicks, after all, is a nursery and you can always expect beautiful plants like these blue orchids

Another orchid. The flowers are shaped like an angel

Coco the parrot is here all year round

We always have a great time here every December

December marches on and there will be more to do but, in the meantime, it's not too early to say "Merry Christmas" from our home to yours! 

2 comments:

  1. I would go crazy exploring that amazing vintage house! Beauty around every corner!

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  2. There sure was, Vanessa! Every wall in every room seems to tell a great story (Rob)

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