In Like A Lion

February had an extremely warm ending. In our neck of the woods, the average high temperature ranges from 42-45 degrees over the last half of February. From February 18th on, we exceeded the average high every day. All but two of those days saw temperatures break the 50 degree mark. On three of those days, we exceeded 60 degrees! Mother Nature wasn't through with winter yet. On Friday, we had very cold temperatures and we were treated to March snow. Luckily, it was only about four to five inches and all the snow fell in between the morning and afternoon commutes. The grass was treated to a new carpet of snow but the roads remained dry.

Rob's view on the way home from work on Friday after the snow

The trees were beautiful covered in the snow but this would only last a short while. The sun came out and stripped the trees of their winter coating a short while later.

Saturday morning arrived and we had four sales on our list. One was a clear cut favorite and, under other circumstances, we would have gotten there before the start and braved the line but not today. It was cold and it was windy and waiting on line would be brutal. We, instead, timed our departure to arrive at the sale just after the opening, knowing we might not get the first choice of what was there but that we would also escape without frostbite. 

We arrived at sale #1 just ten minutes after the open and there was no line. The sale was run by one of our favorite tag sale companies and it was described as "mid-century". We only saw one thing in the ad that we were targeting but feared that it would probably be gone before we even saw it.

A closer look at the front of the house with Monica waiting for Rob to put down the camera.

The front step had an astroturf mat with the closest thing we would see to grass all day thanks to Mother Nature's gift the day before.

The basement was huge and this was only one half of it! Unfortunately, it was pretty empty as was the other side though we did find the one thing we were targeting on the other side and we got to it first...a ceramic Santa pitcher and mug set marked Japan and in its box! 

The other side of the basement also had a political message..."Vote 9 Lives. Morris For President"

Remember that horse that The Brady Bunch always had in their living room? 

Well, it wasn't exactly the same horse but we found a similar one. It did not come home with us. I think it tried to convince us to take him home but we could barely hear his voice. He was a little hoarse.

This room was great and we would have liked to take home the room (but change out some of the furniture)

 There was a great pink bathroom

There was an old blue bathroom, too!

The floor of this second bathroom was the best part!

Look at this great old stereo unit! It did not come with us. First of all, we don't have room for it. Secondly, it was priced at $500! 

A view from the top of the stereo unit. That section at the top right was for storing records.

This chair in the living room was pretty cool, too, as were the cylinder pillows.

We really enjoyed this house a lot and, although we didn't get much there, we did get a few great things. The ceramic Santa pitcher and mug set, a ceramic Holt Howard cat ashtray and a ceramic cat all came home with us.

After getting some breakfast, we made our way to sale #3 which was a church sale described as "Granny's Attic Rummage Sale". Unfortunately, upon arrival, we discovered a sign that said that it was postponed until the following week. Oh well! At least we know we will have at least one sale on our list for next week! 

Sale #3 was also run by a tag ale company that runs a lot of sales but most of them, lately, are not the type that attract us. This one was different. It was listed as "mid-century" and the pictures in the ad supported this claim.

The kitchen had this cool chair. It was a little beat up and the price was a lot higher than we would be willing to pay. Look at the cool floor! 

The staircase running from the basement to the main floor was the pinkest EVER! 

There were several rooms to search and search we did. By the time we left, it was with some books, some postcards, some records, some cocktail stirrers and a few more things.

Our last sale was fairly close to our house and was described as a 63 year accumulation. There were no pictures in the ad and it was on its second day so we weren't sure what we would find. There really wasn't much here and our visit was quick but we did leave with several small ceramic gnomes; all marked Japan.

Here is what we found this weekend:

A pair of Hal Roach records. No...not THAT Hal Roach! This is the Irish comedian and the one on the left is autographed.

Some books

Some old postcards

Some cocktail stirrers

A creep Easter Bunny girl, a ceramic cat, a ceramic Holt Howard cat ashtray (dated 1959) and some ceramic gnomes. All are marked Japan

A ceramic Santa pitcher and mug set with its box and a Christmas lion. All are marked Japan.

We spent Sunday indoors except when we ran a few errands. It was still very, very cold (wind chills in the single digits overnight) and we thought it best to be productive indoors. It was a great weekend spent together adventuring and preparing for the week ahead; a week that threatened to bring us another taste of winter. More on that next time!