Watermelons? Really?!

The Gleeful Gloating begins!

Cloudy with a chance of rain was the forecast for this past Saturday but lo and behold, the air was crisp and clear, a lovely break from the heat and humidity lately. I stepped out of the house at 5:45am and breathed in the hint of Autumn. Aww, the tease! I was riding solo again and ready for some bargains. Last week I slept in because of rain; this weekend the promise of deals was dancing in my head and my fingers were crossed.

There were enough sales listed and a few pop ups too but there just wasn't much that struck my fancy or my price limits. Several were really nice, had quality items but the prices were just too high. I wasn't looking for drapery clip rings but the lady made me an offer that made me change my mind. They just come in handy sometimes. The last big batch I had went to Brenna's classroom. She needed them to hang the curtains she made. I need one set to take to my brother's house to hang up curtains in the guest room I use; no longer will I have to deal with the sun coming in right where I sleep. When I showed them to Brenna she asked for 2 packs for a project she has. I can afford to be generous.

$2.00 total for the 4

The Danskos are in like new condition, the treads on the sole barely scuffed. Asking price was $20. I knew they were Brenna's size and she loves this brand for teaching. I offered $10 the seller countered with $15 and I said yes. Even if they didn't work for Brenna there was still a good margin for profit if I sold them. They fit her and she's a happy teacher.

I discovered the wonders of good soap(last 3 times longer than regular bar soap) a couple of years ago and I snatch up any I can find at yard sales. I haven't seen any for a while and have used up my supply. This pack of four have a lovely scent and they were in a sealed box with the original $20.00 price tag on the bottom. Score!

$1

I have been searching for a wall clock for my kitchen since my pretty blue one fell and stopped working. I found myself glancing at the empty spot on the wall to check the time. It was getting annoying seeing the empty spot. Happily the spot is no longer vacant. Ta da!

$2!

I found a garden hose for $2 and didn't take a picture of that! But I did need it and it doesn't leak. Yay!

The last sale I stopped at was on the side of the road in a big open lot. What caught my eye was the watermelon display and tables filled with glassware. It looked intriguing. So I stopped. And bought a watermelon for $5. And let me tell you, it was a big one, locally grown. When my brother Sonny cut it open the next day, we each took a slice from the middle and closed our eyes in appreciation of the wonderful flavor. There is nothing like the taste of a good watermelon. Bliss.

Ok, back to the yard sale. There were several tables set up with alot of old glassware and poreclain pieces. Lots of old vintage pieces and if I sold stuff on Ebay I would have filled my car with a bunch of it. But I don't . So I admired the good stuff, vintage Japanese items like the momma cat and kittens ashtray below. They were missing the original bows that would have been tied at their necks; each had a little metal piece embedded where the ribbon would have gone through. Or that's what I think. It was just a neat item and so whimsical.

I liked this little fellow and almost took him home but I refrained. I just don't want to start collecting whatnots. So I admired him and took his picture.

Below is just one of the tables loaded with collectables. Most were dirty, dusty and obviously had been in storage, probably an old shed or barn. And no, I neglected to ask from whence it all came.

However, I did take home these six lovely hand embroidered Christmas stockings. New. They are all about 15 inches long from top to heel. One still had a price tag of $21.95. I paid $6 for all of them and since they are such quality items and I paid so little, I have decided to have our names embroidered. Brenna and Ellie picked out theirs and decided which one should be Nate's. Robbie picked out his and since Steve paid us no mind, we gave him the last unclaimed one.

Christmas in August!

$6 for all!

Well, that is all I found. It wasn't a big haul but one I was pleased with.

Oh, I almost forgot! A few weeks ago I found a Cars backpack I thought my great nephew Hugh would like. I finally was able to deliver the backpack this past Sunday. Hugh's baby sister, Julia, was going to be baptised, and I joined a few family members for the occasion. Hugh LOVED the backpack and once he was handed it, it never was far from his side. The lights were extra special. Aunt Teeny hit a home run!

.

Have a great week! Not sure what the Labor Day holiday will have in store for yard sales this weekend but trust me....I will check them out. Till then,

Happy Bargain hunting!

Thrifty Christy

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One Stop Shop

Rainy Saturday morning means turning over and going back to sleep when the alarm sounds at 5:45! And that's what happened yesterday. 
However....
Last weekend Johanna, Brianne and I headed over to a dear friend's home to shop and visit. Beth and John have been living and working in Arizona for the past two years, have bought a house there and have decided to go ahead and sell their home here in Greenville. They're selling most of the contents of the house and had a yard sale yesterday so we knew we had to head over there to "support" Beth and John and even better, to have a chance to visit our friends.

And so we did. Beth even kindly provided coffee. Now that's a wonderful friend. She knew not to brew right away, since we wanted to start hunting asap. But after rifling through the offerings in the yard, the barn, and the house, I sat down to enjoy the cup of joe and a catch up with these two wonderful people. This is a very hot time to deal with sorting, boxing and going through your years of accumulated stuff. It's exhausting and I hope when they finish up here in a couple of weeks, they thoroughly enjoy a nice long break. They have sold a number of nicer things, canoes, kayaks, shop tools and furniture on Craigslist and the remainder of the wares were offered at the yard sale. I believe I paid them $40 for the lot and though I have posted several pictures here, there was much more that I didn't publish. 

Johanna and I just started making a pile of stuff and after finishing our search, chatting with Beth and John and then going back over the place to make sure we didn't miss any goodies, finally settled up and headed home after 3 hours. It was a one stop shop!

I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the trunk but trust me, it was packed.

Bulky items but tools are on the perpetual want list from my nephew, Jon, who runs a landscape business. These were all in good condition. Wasn't sure if he wanted a hoe, but, hey, he's getting one regardless.

I have needed a "new" recycling receptacle for a while and this will work just fine. It does have wheels, a must have for me to get to the curb. It is already half full.

This cooler is in wonderful condition, I would even say like new. Our other coolers are a little worse for wear after years of use so it is time for a change. And I like the color!

Yes, I know, another coffee pot. I left my other small one behind this summer at Merriewold. I found a replacement at Habitat For Humanity ReStore but alas, it is only a 4 cup and my coffee needs in the morning require enough for a to-go cup as well. This lovely pot brews 5 cups, just what I need. Ahhh. You know it's the little things that make your day start out right. And coffee is one of them for me.

So you may have read in earlier posts that we have been enjoying listening to vinyl these days. Beth and John had a nice size stack of records and I was pleased to see some Beatles albums and this Bruce Springsteen collection. Alas, although at first glance they all looked in great condition, all were warped. Sigh. Perhaps the house being unoccupied for two years and hot summers took the toll on the albums and the turntable which doesn't cue down onto the record. From my googling repairing turntables, it would require some more extensive repairs than I feel comfortable doing so these items are not usable. Yes, I know, I should have at least tested the turntable but we were having such fun talking!

What did work just fine was the airmattress with built in pump! Yay!! I took one up to Merriwold for "just in case" and somewhere in the attic there is another but I can't find it! So this one will stay downstairs where it can be accessed! The Spell-A-Bration blocks I have decided to sell. After thinking about it, I realized I am not going to be making use of these.

The booster cables are going to be placed in my car and at the ready. The stapler, well, I can always use a stapler. It's just one of those things you need to have at the ready.

I found the lantern at a yard sale on Friday and it's going to Carolyn, my friend who has been collecting these for her beach house.The color is more of a lime green. The fan goes to the Merriewold next year to live. We have enough here and I don't want to keep schlepping a fan up there each year.

I picked up lots of odds and ends at Beth and Johns: rolls of painters tape, a jar of nails, a pack of face masks, and a pack of bungee cords.

And last but not least is this over the doorway pull up/chin up bar. Unfortunately my doorframes are too wide. and it doesn't fit. I had visions of toning my upper arms. Sadness.

Oh, and I bought an electic pencil sharpener too for Brenna's classroom. She already has 2. So I listed it and someone is buying from me.

That's it for this weekend's finds. Hope you lucked out, braved the heat and found some treasures of your own. Johanna and I are off to Cape Lookout on Tuesday for our Cape Day. Fingers crossed for good weather and safe travels. We are looking forward to relaxing by the seaside.

Thrifty Christy

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Testing Testing

I found this sign thanks to Yard Sale Bloodbath posted on Facebook and had to share! Just too funny!

I'm combining last week and this past weekend since I was a real slacker last weekend and didn't post my finds. This past weekend Johanna and her daughter Brianne joined me in the hunt and believe me, I loved every minute of the companionship. Here is shot of their haul. Brianne is looking for Pound Puppies because apparently they have now reached "collectable" status. She plans to list them on Ebay. You go Girl!!

I found this small backback for Hugh. He loves Cars and especially Lightning McQueen. This actually lights up where the headlights are. I have created a monster! Kelley reported when Hugh (now 3!!) heard I was coming to visit, said "Oh, Aunt Teeny will bring me something from the yard sales"!! So....I will!

I found this North Face jacket combo for $2 a couple of months ago. Excellent condition. The plush fleece is the zipin if you need extra warmth but can be worn separately. Girl's size 7. I thought I would wait to sell it closer to fall but decided to test the waters. Bam. It sold in less than an hour for $30. Yay!!

Big mirror!! Just a few scratches that Old English furniture polish took care of. This replaces an older one I had that I didn't care for so much. Bought this one for $9!! And sold my old one for $15. Out with the old, in with the "new".

These Crocs will fit Beau next year. I wasn't sure his shoe size but for 50c I felt ok takinga chance

It is never too late to start planning for winter and frosty morns. We don't have a garage and I detest scraping my windows especially when I am running a little behind. I bought 2 of these (one for me and one for hubby) and paid $1 each. I will give you a review as soon as it gets cold. Please don't hold your breath.

Ok, hope springs eternal. My sister, Cee, loves and uses her food saver bunches. So when I saw this one in great condition for $10 I thought, "ah hah"! I made a quick call to make sure this was the brand she uses and it was. Her words of advice was "test it!" So I asked the seller to test it. After a long search inside the house, he found a small piece of the plastic stuff you use. It sealed beautifully but failed the vacuum test. But I remembered Cee had mentioned when the pieces get too small, they don't vacuum properly so I bought it for $5 hoping that was the problem. It wasn't. Googling the problem gave me two answers. Either it was dirty or old gaskets or not good....particles had gotten into the pump. The gaskets were cleaned and in good shape so that meant...pump. So bye bye food saver. Search continues. However now I have an extra bag in my yard sale bag to test in case I ever find another.

Yes, another lamp shade. But, hey, I think it will be perfect on the lamp I found in NY and left at Merriewold. Now I just have to wait a whole year to find out!

50 cents...they made me buy it!

This is for Nate next year. I think these are really cool and offer lots of creative playtime. Is it a seat, a helmet, something to hide stuff under, to turn over and sit on? We shall see what the little guy comes up with. Up in the attic it goes!

We found 12 of these hurricane vases for Brenna's wedding reception a few years ago on Craigslist for $5 each. Afterward, I gave Cee 3 and sold the rest to a wedding planner...for $8 each. But after the fact, Brenna mentioned wanting one. But there were no more. Until last weekend! This one is the same brand and size as the others. BIG!!! About 2 feet high. And....$5! Yay!

So my bad was not testing AT ALL on the electronic below. It was in the box, all wrapped up with the original packaging, had all the manuals and instructions and the seller said it worked great, just had gotten married and her husband had one too so they didn't need 2. And the price? $2.50. I was so excited. Upon returning home, I plugged it in and....no power. Nada. Nothing. No red light up. No Yay moment. I vow, I will never, ever buy anything without testing it. Before I pay!

This did work!! I replaced my older, uglier and not great radio reception under the cabinet cd/radio with this lovely new one! And it works great!!

And really, that's about it folks. Pickings were slim the last two weeks. Hope your bargain hunting was more productive than mine. Fingers crossed for this weekend.

Stay cool,

Thrifty Christy

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