A Quiet Beginning To August

We decided to combine the first two weeks of August into on blog entry which means we are now up to date except for the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 when we took a break from blogging. We will post those weeks in flashback style soon. For now, at least we are current! 

The first two weeks in August were quiet. There were no trips out to Uncle Bobby's house to do more cleanup and there was not a whole lot of saling. It would have been two great weeks to do lots of saling but there just weren't all that many good sales. Before we got into the first weekend of August, we had our first free concert of the summer to attend. There are always lots of free concerts in our area each summer but there weren't many of interest to us. There were too many cover bands and too many bands that we didn't find interesting. Wednesday evening, August 2nd, was the only one we circled on our calendar. Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits' fame) was playing a free show just fifteen minutes from our house at a beach park. We have seen him twice before and he always puts on a great show.

The bandstand is great and Peter always puts on a great show. 

We can always walk up close to the stage here.

One of the stagehands saw Rob trying to get a good picture from the side of the stage, motioned to him to lend him his camera, and took some great pictures for us on the stage.

After the show, Peter signed some autographs (all for free) and met with his fans. After Rob took this picture, he yelled "Thank you, Peter". Peter looked up at him and said, with a smile, "You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed the show. See you soon!". He is a class act! 

When Saturday rolled around, we had a few sales on our list but it was raining. We checked the listings again on Saturday morning to find that some were cancelled or postponed. Others, listed as outdoor sales, would also be a risk. In the end, we only took a chance on going to one. It was not too far away and definitely appeared to be indoors. 

This sale was described as "moving after 56 years" and listed a "vintage six-piece dining room set" in the description. We knew it would be a private sales as opposed to being run by a tag sale company. Although there was no line, it was a little more crowded than what we expected though we should have realized that we would not be alone. After all, there weren't all that many quality sales out there! 

There was a basement and a main floor to search and in that basement we found this mounted pencil sharpener. That is almost always a good sign. Although we didn't get all that much here, it was not a bust. We found some books, a gently used Cuisinart chopper, an old Tupperware condiment caddy set and an old  Mexican-themed linen for our annual Cinco de Mayo party.

We spent the afternoon bringing bags of clothing (from Uncle Bobby's house and some clothing that Monica's sister wanted to donate) to the local thrift shop for donation. They were happy to have them...all eleven bags. While there, we did a little looking around and Rob found a sports book he liked. 

On Sunday, one of the sales that was postponed on Saturday was rescheduled for Sunday and, since it was only twenty minutes from home, we went. It was a garage sale that listed "tons of vintage housewares" in the description though there were no pictures in the ad. We saw a vintage pair of skunk salt and pepper shakers that we liked but at $10 for the set, it was about $8 more than we were willing to pay. We did find a vintage box of cocktail forks from Niagara Falls (box marked Japan) and a pair of vintage lamps so we did not leave empty-handed. Around the corner, we spotted another garage sale and we stopped there, too. A vintage Christmas blow mold and an old vinyl patio table cover came home with us. 

The second weekend in August gave us a little better weather than the first weekend. We saw four sales of interest for Saturday and our goal was to get to all of them! We got an early start and were ready for whatever the day brought us.

The first sale was an estate sale with "everything imaginable". That's a pretty strong statement because we can imagine a lot! There were some pictures in the ad and while nothing specifically caught our eye, we could tell there were old things here. When we arrived, we found that the sale was run by a tag sale company who had not run sales for a few years before stepping back into the tag sale arena. 

There was a main floor and a basement. The basement had a carefully placed sign warning us to "Watch your step"; a good idea when walking down steps and a good idea, in general.

There were records but they were being sold as a lot and we were not interested in taking home records we did not want. There were boxes of Life Magazines but, like the records, they were being sold as a lot, too. That saved us from looking through them, No interest. When we left, it was with a single cookbook. Slow start. 

The second sale on our list looked to have the most potential. It was run by a tag sale company and it was definitely an old house and definitely had old furniture judging by the pictures in the ad. We arrived thirty minutes after its open to find a pretty long line. We decided to go get breakfast and come back. A little over thirty minutes later, upon our return, we found a line that was just as long as when we first arrived. This sale didn't look good enough to support a line that long and the fact that it had one spoke volumes about how weak the sales were that Saturday. We chose to move on rather than get out of the car. On to sale #3.

The third sale was listed as "contents of home including vintage pieces". Holiday decorations and a mid-century television were listed as some of the things we might find. Well, we didn't. Aside from a few pieces of furniture inside the house, it was an outdoor garage sale with nothing even slightly interesting. If there was a mid-century television there, it was gone when we arrived. This was a complete bust.

The fourth sale was supposed to be "over 50 years of accumulated stuff" including "decades of memorabilia". What we found was an outdoor garage sale run by someone who appeared to be divesting himself of excess flea market items. We took home one book.

We got through the four sales and much more quickly than we would have hoped. It gave us plenty of time to visit Monica's dad at her childhood home. On the way home, we stopped outside of her hometown post office.

It's been around for a long time without any noticeable changes made since Monica was a little girl. Can you see what is behind the flag?

A Fallout Shelter sign. Nowadays, it's not a bad idea to know where we can find one! 

When we got home, our neighbors across the driveway (we have a shared driveway) were having some of their trees cut down. About twenty minutes later, we looked out of window to see this in our driveway. Yes, those are bees all over the truck. There were thousands of them swarming all over the place! Evidently, a lot of honeybees lost their home. We took this picture from our closed bedroom window through a screen. 

Rob: We really don't have any reason to go outside for awhile, do we?

Monica: Nope. Not at all

Rob: That's what I thought.

It took about two hours for the crowd to disburse. Those two hours gave us plenty of time to look at what we brought home the last two weekends. This is what we saw:

Books

Sports books

A vintage Mexican-themed linen for our annual Cinco de Mayo parties.

A vintage vinyl outdoor patio table cover with fringes! We left it folded neatly for the picture.

A box of small cocktail forks from Niagara Falls. The box is marked Japan.

An old Tupperware condiment caddy with spoons

A pair of small vintage lamps. They work. 

Our lamps are very similar to the ones in Lucy and Ricky's bedroom. Their lamps are a little larger.

A 1960's Poloron Santa blow mold. It will need a little touching up with paint.

On Sunday, Rob was happy as Manchester United's 2017-2018 season officially began (and they won). We got all of our chores done, barbecued steak and had time for a post dinner walk around our favorite lake.

 The lake always has lots of geese and lots of swans.

It had been awhile since we were here and this swan wanted an explanation! 

There were so many swans! 

They stopped swimming long enough to say hello.

Let us not forget about the ducks! We never forget about the ducks! 

Although we had to go, the ducks knew we would return soon. We always do! 

After the walk around the lake, we walked through town as the evening light began to fade and made a stop to get some ice cream and sit on one of the town benches to take in the evening. The church was lit and looked beautiful. 

We love saling but it is only part of our life. The most important part of our life will always be the time we spend together!