Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend had arrived! It's significance, first and foremost, of course, is to honor those who gave their lives while in the service of our armed forces. It's other significance is that it is the unofficial start of the summer and it truly felt that way! Temperatures reached the 80 degree mark both Sunday and Monday and the skies were filled with sunshine. Saturday was beautiful too, for the most part, but not quite as hot. As we began our three day weekend, our attention turned to Saturday saling (as it always does). We didn't think that there would be too many opportunities for estate saling this holiday weekend but there was. We found five sales that covered a three town span and they all showed some potential. And so...off we went!

We arrived at our first stop and Monica was already doing the happy dance! It was a three day weekend, after all, and we were about to begin our saling

We had to wait on line for a few moments but we figured it would be worthwhile. The metal door showed us some potential in this house!

There was an old bathroom with a blue toilet...

...and an old bathroom with a pink toilet!

The basement is always one of our favorite areas to search. Seeing an old floor like this makes us happy! 

There was a basement bar behind the clutter. Monica searched it thoroughly!

Look at these great cabinets!!! This was a really fun house to walk through and we did find a couple of nice things to take home. Our haul here was one vintage suit jacket for Rob, some 1950's/1960's decorating booklets and some Christmas honeycomb decorations.

Rob was already hungry so we got some breakfast before we made our way to sale #2. The sale description told us that it would be an older house and the pictures in the ad supported that claim. Rob was really interested in a pair of salt and pepper shakers he saw in a picture. It was still there when we got there and it was still there when we left. It was priced at $50. 

There was a basement in this house that was amazing and there was a clown on the floor! This is the second one of these that we have seen this year!

There was a cool radio built into the wall. We were told it works! 

Look at the great oven and cabinet in the basement! This was another really fun house to explore and although we did not get much here (just two records), we are glad we went here!

Stop #3 was advertised as a "vintage houseful" and there was a great picture of an old jukebox in the ad...

...and there it was in the basement! It was in really nice condition and the price was reasonable but we really don't have the room for it so we never seriously considered it.

There were a few rooms of stuff to sort through including some clothing and fabric. The one in the picture looks like it was manufactured by the makers of Wonder Bread. Although the "vintage houseful" label was a bit of a stretch, we had fun in the house and brought home a Hawaiian dress for Monica (made in Hawaii and of barkcloth), some vintage Christmas pins for Monica and three records.

The weather had been beautiful all day and the sky was softly littered with the kind of clouds you expect to see on a beautiful summer day

A few moments up the road was where we found stop #4, also known as "grandparent's house". It was the first sale of the day that was not run by a tag sale company. There were only a couple of rooms to search and there was some nice things here but they just weren't our style. We did manage to pick up several records and one old pamphlet.

By the time we left stop #4, the sky had changed considerably. It was what we expected based on the forecast. There was a chance of rain and the sky did not want us to forget it! 

Stop #5 was the house on the right but look at the cool house on the left is too! 

We looked in the dumpster in front of the house but nothing worthwhile was there.

Monica was waiting anxiously for Rob to put down the camera and join her in the search. Although most of the rooms were off limits for searching, we had a great time seeing the rooms that were open to us. There were lots of records here and that was what we got...fifteen records for $7. We thought that was a good price!

One of our plans this weekend was to finish our garden. It is a small garden but we like it. We planted peas, beans, radishes and flowers a few weeks ago but did not buy any tomato plants yet. There is a place in Monica's hometown which always has a great selection and great prices and it was only about ten minutes away from our last stop so we went in that direction. On the way, we saw another estate sale sign so we followed it. There was absolutely nothing worthwhile there at all but...

...we did meet a rabbit in the yard next door. We were happy to see him here and not in our garden! And we did get our tomato plants before heading home.

Aside from the tomato plants, here is what we brought home:

Some records

Some holiday records

Some more records

Some Hawaiian records

And some more records


A 7-inch record and a pamphlet from Hartz

Some decorating booklets

Some vintage holiday pins for Monica

A Hawaiian dress for Monica. It is made of barkcloth and made in Hawaii

A old jacket for Rob

Some Christmas things

It was one of those saling days that did not yield a tremendous amount of things (other than records) but that was extremely fun anyway because of how fun the houses were. 

With the rest of Saturday remaining and a full two days off beyond it, we were very happy that the weather would give us a chance to do whatever we wanted to do. We managed to get a lot of things done around the house like laundry, painting shelves, planting tomatoes, weeding the garden and organizing the garage. 

Rob found Sugar Bear sitting upon his laptop, courtesy of Monica. She was in a silly mood!

Although we did not go to the Air Show (250,000 people crowded on the beach...no thanks), we did see the Blue Angels fly over our house briefly. The five second sighting did not give us enough time to snap a picture though. We found time to take walks in town both Sunday and Monday evening. It is usually pretty busy on weekend evenings but it was slow this holiday weekend. There are a few options for ice cream and Italian Ices along the way and we stop, more often than not, to have some. We also managed a few trips to our favorite lake this weekend.

There is a little island in the middle of the lake where the birds like to rest

The swans will gladly pose for a picture...as long as they think you have food for them!

Eventually, they will realize that there is no food and, when there is no food, there will be no posing for pictures!

The geese and their babies. Looks like The Partridge Family!

We went to the parade in town on Monday. Our niece got to march with The Brownies. She is the one on the right! 

Since the weather was so nice, we barbecued Sunday AND Monday before walking in town. When Rob went out to start the barbecue on Sunday, he found a message from Monica written in chalk in front of the door...

...and Rob couldn't agree more! 

Although the weekend went quickly, it was perfect weather and three perfect days; made perfect simply because they were spent together.  

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

The weather is staying consistently nice in our neck of the woods. Temperatures are what they should be and the rain has been choosing the best times to fall for those who work Monday through Friday...either at night or during the week. The weekends have been great and outdoor activities are definitely an option now. There are more and more garage sale signs appearing though the height of that season is not yet upon us. With a forecast of great weather and two days off to enjoy it, we had so many things that we wanted to do. The first, of course, was Saturday saling. We had a list of eight potential sales originally but finalized the list to five. With fingers crossed, off we went.

 We arrived at the sign for the first sale on our list...

...but it be a few minutes before we actually arrived at the sale. This is the driveway leading up to the house. It was a long uphill walk! 

We finally made it to the house and encountered a small line that dissipated within ten minutes and we were soon inside.

It was an old house and there were plenty of great rooms. Monica searched behind the bar on the main floor.

 There were some great older appliances like this built-in oven

In the garage, there was a mounted pencil sharpener. USUALLY, a good sign but not today. As it turned out, there were only a couple of items of interest to us and they were overpriced. The ad for this sale looked very promising to Rob but we think that he was distracted by the picture of the Lost In Space lunch box that he really wanted and that made the sale look better than it actually was. The lunch box was gone when we arrived. It was a fun house to walk through but we did not bring home a single thing. Oh well! We took a break for breakfast and made our way to our second target, hoping for better results

Stop #2 was 20 minutes away and boasted having 50 years of accumulation. It was a quick stop. Aside from having a few things for sale in the driveway and a few things for sale in the living room, there was not much to see...and there was nothing 50 years old to see at all. We left with a few cocktail stirrers and a pretty empty car. The last three stops on our list were all in the same town so we headed westward for the 25 minute drive and hoped for the best.

Our third stop was an outdoor church sale that had many tables. It wasn't a great stop but it wound up being the most productive up until that point. We picked up a couple of records and a ceramic pig. There was still lots of room in our car!

Stop #4 was another outdoor sale. It was a garage sale that hinted at older items but the only older things we found were a few records. We bought two of them and a newer Easter Pez dispenser. Four sales so far. Pretty disappointing results.

We arrived at our fifth and final stop hoping for better results. We got them!

There was a downstairs bar that Rob thoroughly searched. There was not much behind it but the house, at least, had some worthwhile items!

Take a look at this cool stove and the cabinet beside it! 

The house had three floors and little treasures were to be found and Monica made sure to leave no stone unturned and no cabinet unopened. We brought home records, salt and pepper shakers, a few holiday items and some other things. It was a fun day and would have been even if we did not find much...but we were happy that it did! 

Here are some of the things that kept us company on our way home:

Some Hawaiian records

Some more records. The record on the top right is "The Stripper and other fun songs for the family". Hmmm...really? 

Some Christmas records

Cocktail stirrers. We have a lot of playboy bunny stirrers but, up until last week, they were all either black or white. Two weeks in a row, we have come home with colorful ones.

An old Brownie handkerchief

Lots of old salt and pepper shakers

Some Christmas items. 

A leprechaun pin, a ceramic pig, a plastic elf, a squeak toy, a baby rattle and a can opener

A small honeycomb turkey, an Easter Pez dispenser and several Fisher Price people

It took some perseverance but, in the end, we had a productive day at the sales. The rest of the weekend was beautiful and we found the time to do some of those things we like doing when the weather gets warmer. We found some time Saturday evening to walk around town and get some ice cream. We got all of our errands and housework done on Sunday and barbecued for the first time this year.

Even though the temperatures drop into the lower 50's at night, the weather is not too cold to enjoy the evening...not too cold for us...not too cold for the fake palm tree in town....and we always have each other to stay warm.