Back To Saling As March Arrives

We didn't go to any sales the last weekend in February because Rob got a stomach virus late Thursday night and proceeded to sleep 30 and the next 34 hours as he recovered. He needed the rest. There weren't any great sales out there anyway but, as March began, we were ready to get back to saling and the first weekend offered a couple of sales that interested us but, before the weekend could arrive, we had a birthday to celebrate! We celebrated Peter's birthday on his actual birthday which was Wednesday. 

We started with pizza with the family. Lenny had a little accident with the oregano container.

Peter's birthday cake. The characters on the cake are characters that Peter actually created on his computer.

Peter and his birthday cake!

The lighting made the singing of Happy Birthday a spooky event. Do you know what made it even spookier? Our actual singing! 

Monica's nephew, niece, brother, sister and dad and the two of us. Monica's brother-in-law took the picture. 

A better picture with our tiny birthday hats. 

Sweety is always ready for a party! 

Kitty, reluctantly, celebrated, too!

The workweek passed and we got to bed early on Friday night and set the alarm for 5:30am to get a jump on Saturday's sales. We showered and hit the road to get to our first sale early.

Our first sale was an easy choice. The ad said that they were downsizing after 54 years and "vintage Christmas" and "vintage toys" were identified in the ad. The pictures supported the claim. We weren't sure who would be running this sale. It was not listed as a tag sale company and every indication pointed towards a well organized privately run sale. That would be good. These sales are not as well advertised and not as well attended which translates to less competition for us. We did see the sale listed in more than one place but not in the key site so we were hopeful. 

We got there at 6:50am only to find that we were #20 and #21 and this was over two hours before the sale started! As we drove near the sale, we saw lots of signage and the fact that we were so deep in the line told us that we were not dealing with amateurs. Oh well! With our places secured, we went for breakfast and returned long before the sale began. In talking to a number of regulars we knew, it was determined that the folks running the sale were vendors at the local flea market and knew their stuff. Hopefully, they wouldn't be too expensive and we would get a good shot at the things we wanted.

We weren't among the first group let inside but we only had to wait fifteen minutes before getting inside. We quickly went to the basement to see if the Christmas stuff was down there. It wasn't but we grabbed a few quick things and made our way upstairs where we found the Christmas and it looked untouched. We went through several boxes and found some great Christmas things.

 We also saw this great old bicycle upstairs but we were not in the market for this right now. 

We went back to the basement (and the sub basement) and were now able to take our time down here. We found plenty more things to take home. Despite the late entry into the house, we believe we got everything we would have wanted and at a very reasonable price. Our feeling that this would be the best sale on our list was absolutely accurate! We came home with Christmas things, Easter things, vintage drinking glasses, some records, a bonnet for Monica and more.

Our second sale was described as a "digger - packed house" and was run by an estate sale that we have only encountered once before. It was worth a shot.

There were lots of familiar faces here as most of the regulars who were at the first sale made this their second sale, too. There was lots of Christmas stuff here but all of it was newer stuff. 

Although there wasn't much here, Monica was still having fun! 

In the living room, they had this diorama using a fish tank behind the wall and a frame on the outside. It was a dry diorama with a Christmas scene created inside. There was nothing we wanted inside the diorama but we did find a few things at the sale. Three records, some Tupperware, an old container of candle wax and some cookbooks came home with us. 

Our third sale never came to be. It was filled with toys and collectibles, none of which greatly appealed to us but we thought there could be something there. When we got there, we found a line about fifteen people deep and the sale had started two hours earlier. We decided not to wait. 

On Saturday night, we went to Monica's sister's house for dinner so Rob could do Monica's dad's taxes. We were welcomed by not only the family but by this mockingbird as well. Monica's sister feeds her every day. On Sunday, we caught up on our chores and did our errands and, of course, found time to look at what we got on Saturday. This is what we saw:

Some records. The one on the left is sponsored by Gold Bond Ceiling Tile

Some Christmas records

A record by the Esso Steel Band

The back of the record is signed by members of the Esso Steel Band

Some cookbooks

Some Nathan's french fry forks and some cocktail stirrers

An Easter bonnet for Monica

A vintage Florida tablecloth (never used)

A vintage aluminum broiling pan (still in its package)

Lots of vintage drinking glasses. We had a few of these but now we have a whole set. There are ten large ones and seven small ones.

Vintage Tupperware containers, a Ponytail carrying case, three vintage noisemakers and a vintage Domino cinnamon plastic "cat" container

A doll (made in Japan), an old container of candle stick 'em (with an Indian on it) and a vintage pocketbook for Monica

Vintage Easter things: a die-cut decoration, a ceramic bunny (marked Japan) and vintage stuffed Easter bunny. 

Hanging plastic Christmas decorations

Two vintage styrofoam Santas and reindeer

More Christmas. A blow mold Santa (1968), Christmas bells in its box (missing one bell), a soft plastic reindeer, a Christmas gift tag, a Santa cake mold in its original package, a ceramic salt and pepper shaker (made in Japan but missing its mate) and a plastic snowpeople decoration. 

More Christmas. A ceramic music box Santa, a blow mold Santa sleigh, three knee huggers and a electric Christmas candle in its box. All but the sleigh are marked Japan. 

It was a great start to March and, we hope, a harbinger of great saling to come!