How Early is Too Early?

Greetings everyone. I had a wonderful morning today and so excited and happy to share with you all. First the sad news. My fellow yard sale adventure enthusiasts, Babs and Johanna have been missing in action for the past 7 months while Babs' brother, Tim, Johanna's uncle, has been battling pancreatic cancer. They are his sole relatives in Greenville and have been with him every step of the way. This week Tim passed away with these loving women beside him; at peace and pain free at last. What a blessing and a loss at the same time. 

The good news is they were ready to jump back in the stream of life so you can imagine how surprised and delighted I was to get a call from Johanna on Friday asking if I was "going yard sailing" and yes, Babs and Johanna were ready to come along!! Talk about being happy! I have very much missed these two on my Saturday adventures and jumped in Johanna's car today with a joyful heart. 

Now, how early did I "jump into Johanna's car"? That's what brings me to the title of this post. Some of you who are friends with me on Facebook know what I posted Friday night concerning the time of a certain yard sale listed on Craigslist this week. 5 am. Yes, you read that correctly: 5am! I have seen a handful of sales in the past few years starting at 5:30am but never 5am. What would possess someone to start that early?!! 

So when Johanna called I had to discuss the 5am sale. We decided to leave at 5:30, drive to Babs' home, pick her up and arrive at that sale around 6am. And so we did exactly that.

But before I talk about the sales today I have to share the picture my niece Kelley sent me this week. She found the toy below by the side of the road, brought it home, and now Hugh has a cool new outside toy! Free!! He helped wash and clean it and now is having a blast. I am so proud of this thrifty family and loved the text message with attached photo. Instant gratification is really nice sometimes!

Hugh is thoroughly cleaning this fun ramp

Ok, so now back to the sales. It is still rather dark at 6am and I was wearing my headlight and grateful for it. We went to at least 4 sales by 7am and the car was starting to fill. I bought all the items above for $4.50. The Loft sunglasses I discovered later were badly scratched, something hard to detect when it is dark outside(!!) but I will keep the case. The Yankee candle scents will keep my car smelling nice and the Mary Kay body wash and body scrubs smell pretty good too. The bath product behind the sunglasses is also a body wash and I gave that to Kelley. I can be generous when it costs only 25cents. I hope she likes it.

Kelley asked me to be on the lookout for some 4t clothes for Hugh for the springtime so when I saw the shorts and shirts for 50cts each, I went through that box thoroughly. The baby sunglasses were 50 cent too. They are for almost 9 month old Beau.

I grabbed all of these pregnancy books for 10 cents each and will take to the local Pregnancy Center. They give them away. The lidded candle smelled like citronella and I bought that for Ellie, my daughter for those nights on her deck. 50 cents for that.

Love 10 cent books.

I spotted these Sperry Topsider shoes for Hugh, size 7. Excellent condition. The trucks were on my great nephew Beau's list so I took them all to the checkout person at the sale. I was ready to spend $5 of Kelley's money on the shoes alone. Imagine how surprised I was when the guy asked for $2 for the shoes and trucks! I could not wait to show Kelley those shoes! How cute are they?!! The picture really does not do them justice. And Beau is going to have fun with these trucks...the yellow dump truck looks mighty similiar to the real one his daddy has.

I paid $1 for the milk glass hobnail candle sticks, 50 cents for the baby/child's sunglasses and 50 cents for the 3 matchbox cars (for Hugh). I love the cool red and blue one.

And here is the little fellow sporting the new sunglasses and shoes. They all fit! Yay! Kelley sent this Sunday morning...she knows how much I like affirmation.

Too cool for school!

I bought these rugs for my friend Lisa, who has a beach house and is in need of throw rugs. They certainly are beach themed and after a quick wash, should be really nice. They are approximately 2 x 3's. Well made, I hope they last a while. Seller was asking $2 each, I bought them for $3 total. You're welcome, Lisa. Oh, and I apologize for the shadows at the top of the picture from my porch swing.

Yes, Sophie was along for the ride too. How could I forget mentioning her! The monkey was Johanna's find and Sophie has a new chew toy friend. Not the best photo of Sophie, she is much happier looking than this but she might have thought I might be planning to steal Monkey. 

I felt compelled to take a picture of the shoe display at one of the earlier sales. And yes, I didn't get them all in the frame. There were more in boxes on the left. None in my size.

If you are into cow related objects/ items then you would have been delighted with this bovine collection. I was not tempted at all but felt the need to share what you missed today! Moooove on over!

Normally I am not a mug buyer but I did pick these two up at Goodwill this week. I noticed my mugs are not very attractive. So for 29 each, I made an impulse purchase. They are a good size, a nice weight and make me smile. Bargain.

Ok, so this is starting to look like an "all things Hugh" post. But this was on Kelley's list. Well, at least, " a Halloween costume" was on the list. I found this at a consignment shop in Greenville, Once Upon A Child, for $4.50. How sweet a lamb's costume is this? It is just a top. He can wear black pants underneath. There is even a tail on the back. I will make sure Kelley takes a picture with Hugh in it next month.

I did take time to snap a few shots of Johanna and Babs' haul. Johanna buys items for her arts and crafts group. Below are 3 1 gallon ziplock bags filled with thread. Good quality.

Johanna also bought the new, unopened game Cirkis for $1 (Christma gift!), the Coach bag ($5), Herbal Essence pack (50cents) and those silver gift boxes (50 cents each)

The storage box below is filled with gift bags and ribbon. Johanna paid $3 for the whole thing, including the storage bin!

Another $3 treasure purchased by Johanna is this brand new Wilton cookie baking sheet. Original sticker has $19.95 price on it. The weight of this really tells you it is a quality piece. Nice find Johanna....slightly jealous here!

Babs found a few treasures as well. 2 Vera Bradley bags that are quite large, I would describe them as overnight bags. Excellent condition. There was something else she bought too, a couple of small items, I can't remember and didn't get a photo. Her total came to $5. Not too shabby, Babs!

You may be wondering why I have included a Chicken Dance Elmo to the post. Lindsey has sent me a new list for Beau and Dancing Elmo was in there. So when I went to Once Upon a Child, there was Elmo. For $4.50. All she needs is 3 AA batteries and Beau will be laughing hysterically for hours. How this will affect Lindsey's sanity is the real question! He is cute for about one time and then the need to boot kick is overwhelming. Looking forward to hearing how long Elmo stays in the family. But I could very well be wrong. His happy song may become endearing and a new family favorite. Time will tell.

That's it for this week's post. I hope to be continuing a new season of hitting the sales and not have a long lapse again. Please feel free to leave comments...I love comments!! Take care and hope you too found some bargains too.

Thrifty Christy

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