What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Thrifting No Matter WHAT

Sometimes I check on a blog and they haven't posted for awhile and I think, "Gee, I hope they are okay!". Well, Miss Chatty here hasn't posted in a few days, so I thought I would check in. I seem to have a nasty bout of the stomach flu or stomach eew or something like that. I hope someone will leave a comment that says, "Oh, we've had that too" or "That stuff is everywhere!". Because, frankly, when you are bowing to the throne for the fifth time, you start thinking that maybe you are dying. We don't get out much, so I've lost that person to person contact where I hear about illnesses and bugs making the rounds. So, please, somebody - it's not just me, right?


Despite the stomach issues, life goes on and I even managed to squeeze in a bit of thrifting today. I told DH and The Bean that there was a picnic basket somewhere waiting for me. And, there was!

I found this nice older oak picnic basket at the Salvation Army - I never find anything old and cool there. And, it was only $3.00, so that made me happy. The Apron was from a different thrift. It is my first crocheted apron. The hanky was free and the neat old basket on top looks like a Longaberger. It feels like a Longaberger and it is signed like a Longaberger, but it doesn't have the Longaberger name burned into it. It is dated 1989, so I will research it a bit. Either way, it's a nice basket for $1.00.

Here's the apron. See that pocket up there? It wasn't there when I bought it.

It had this big old hole in it, but I just loved it so I had to grab it. I found this crocheted potholder in my linen stash, tacked it on and wah-lah, a matching pocket. The colors are a perfect match.

I found this old Scrabble Game dated 1949. The tiles aren't wooden, they are sort of a hard rubbery material. Not plastic like the ones today either. I just wanted it for the letters, so I asked how much. My Thrift friend found the price on the bottom - $10.00. She rolled her eyes, said, "Puhlease, how about $3.00." And, even though I was hoping it was $1.00, I paid it, but as usual, she threw some things in and knocked some more prices down, so I ended up paying about $1.50 for it. She's the director of the Thrift, but different people work there every day and price things very differently. One person will price a baggie of old rick rack 25¢, the next person writes OLD VINTAGE RICK RACK $5.00 on the same sort of baggie. If you take the 25¢ bag up to to pay the $5.00 pricers, they will argue it should be more and if you take the $5.00 bag to the 25¢ pricers, they knock the price down. I go on the 25¢ pricer day, of course.

I found this sweet little baby book for 50¢. It has the sweetest graphics and is entirely unused. What is even more interesting to me, are letters from different prominent businesses in Northwest Arkansas in the 1950's offering free gifts to the newborn. The letters are signed by prominent names in our area. There are defunct companies like Ward Ice Cream, Quaker Drugstores and a big lumberyard that once set on the edge of Historic Dickson Street. I bought this to sell, but as usual, I will probably keep it or sell it locally since it's a piece of history.

This weekend is huge in the junking world in my area. There's a big craft fair in the next town over, so there will be a ton of garage sales along the highway and in my town and the town with the craft fair. There is one plae where this guy sets up a huge tent full of crap and prices it high. BUT! Out in the back, he throws up tables and tarps and everything is 25¢ or 50¢. I have found some gems back there, including my Steiff Turket last year for 25¢ that I sold for $127.00. I love it when you find a hidden treasure at a sale where thery "really know their stuff". I better feel good by this weekend, darn it! Junk calls!

8 comments:

  1. Clever fix on the wonderful apron! But what I'm really jealous about is the twenty five cent Steiff!

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  2. Yeh, maybe it was a stomach bug that was MY problem last Saturday!! 8-)

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  3. Hey, I know you are from Arkansas...and I don't know how close you are to Oklahoma, but we've had a nasty e-coli breakout. One person is dead and about 30+ are in the hospital. They are saying it is from a restaurant along 412...called the Country Cottage. They still aren't FOR SURE though...as two people did NOT eat there. They are also saying that it might be the rare form that can spread from person to person easily.....
    We live about 30 miles away and it has affected some in our town because they go to eat at the restaurant on Sunday's after church. One woman was life-flighted yesterday w/ kidney failure.
    The symptoms are flu-like, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.....please make sure if you have any of these symptoms, go see your dr.
    I'm surprised they haven't put it on the national news yet...I'm thinking it isn't the retaurant...maybe in their water? The mayor is having their water checked for safety measures. Anywho...I sure hope you are feeling better.

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  4. Anonymous8:57 AM

    Sorry you're feeling bad. Hope you're better soon. Nothing like that going on in my part of KY. Anyway, I'm FULL of picnic basket envy. I have NEVER found anything like that at our Goodwill.

    Hope you have a good junking weekend. Me, I'm headed about 75 miles away to a flea market. I'm sure there will be LOTS of yard sales on the way too. Hurray for me!

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  5. I hope you're feeling better soon..garage saling is callin ya!!! I love the apron and how you fixed it..I would never have thought of that!

    Hugz,
    Michele

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  6. Anonymous1:37 PM

    Sorry you were sick, I had a minor tummy bug one night, but never threw up. I love all your goodies, and cant wait to see what you get this weekend!

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  7. Sorry to hear about the rumbly tummy! Yucko. The crocheted apron is just darling, and I never would have known that potholder wasn't original if you hadn't said anything! Very clever of you; it's a match made in junk heaven!

    Feel better! :)

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  8. I see that Traci has already informed you about the e-coli problem, since she posted it has been confirmed and the restaurant is definitely where it came from. I know you occasionally get into OK, hopefully you are "just" sick with a bug and not anything bad.
    I love the picnic basket, but that apron is just wonderful. Very smart of you to fix it with a pocket!

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