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.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

That Yard Sale I Promised

Yesterday I needed to make a run for Vicks, Kleenex and Mucinex because I could feel the crud coming on.  And, it has.  Achoo.  Since I was on a medicine run, I decided that I needed a dose of the best medicine - a trip to The Super Cheap Thrift.  Thrift-therapy!

After we left the thrift, I drove to the other end of town (which for you big city slickers - is about a mile in this particular town!) and what did my little eye spy but a flourescent green sign on a street corner!  Could it be?  Would it be?  It was!   The sign said "MOVING SALE!" (It actually said HUGE Moving Sale, but I never pay any attention to that word "huge").

I turned left at the sign, (which only said "HUGE MOVING SALE" and nothing about distance or direction) and started up the street.  About a mile down the road I spotted a lonely green arrow flapping in the breeze, then another one in about another mile and so forth and so on.  When I was just about to give up and turn around, I would spot a flash of green in the distance and I would keep on going.  Finally I saw one more "MOVING SALE" sign that appeared to lead into a gravel driveway.  I turned into the driveway only to discover that it was actually a gravel/dirt road that went straight up a huge mountain.....for three miles!  Three miles on a dirt road!  And, yes, I kept on going.  I told The Bean, "We can't give up now!"  It was a beautiful day - 74 degrees in January!  Why not follow thorugh on our adventure?

We passed pastures and water tanks and barns and not much else for quite awhile.  Then we stumbled upon a row of old trailers complete with pit bulls tied up outside.  Your not typical yet very sterotypical "Arkansas" residence.  A bit farther up the road, we came to a sawmill and a very nice two story home beside it with the last of the now familiar green signs in the yard.  Eureka!  We had arrived!

When the lady greeted us, I asked "Where are we?"  then proceeded to ask if the address was this town or that town.  I knew where we were, I wasn't lost, I was just curious.  Well, she got kind of cranky and said, "Oh you just think you are in the middle of nowhere, but you aren't!"  And her husband said, "You are LOST, that's where you are!"  Kind of rude, I thought.  I wanted to tell them that they really should have put 17 miles ahead on that sign of theirs since that was the final amount of miles we drove to get there!  What sort of morons do they think will drive 17 miles to a yard sale.  Oh, wait a minute.  I resemble that remark!

As for their sale......they had a lot of deep sea fishing equipment.  Which you really need on top of "Blue Mountain" in Arkansas sky high in the Boston Mountains.  And lots of Christmas stuff including one of those dopey blow up Santa's sitting in a recliner for your front yard.  I did manage to get about 85 glass ornaments for next year's Christmas wreath making.  If I make it that long - they are all red, silver and blue and I am picturing a red/silver/blue Patriotic wreath.  Wouldn't that be totally awesome?  I also scrounged up five Jewel Brtite ornaments and an Irmi baby mobile mechanism with the lullaby in it.  Was it worth driving nearly 40 miles?  Probably not, but then again, I always say half the fun of the hunt is the adventure getting there. 

I'll share photos of the SCT purchases later as Blogger, once again, does not want to load my photos.  Grumble. 
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Like most of the country - we seem to be in for a Winter Storm, ice, rain, sleet, snow, who the heck knows at this point.  I can handle rain.  I can handle snow.  Sleet and ice is a whole 'nuther ball of wax.  I am not prepared for days without power especially since the forecasted temperature for later in this week is ONE.  My Mom just got her pipes fixed, we all live in all electric houses.  Lordy, please don't let the power go off!  Everyone stay safe out there!

5 comments:

  1. You sound like me! I get to following the signs and keep telling myself it must be just a little bit further. Sigh...then to find nothing or sometimes something. It's the thrill of the hunt, really it is!

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  2. Yep, I'll follow those signs for miles on end too. It's always a crap shoot. It could be a total waste of time and gas, and feel like a place that you've been lured to where the people are going to make sausage out of you, or it could be packed with treasures. I can't wait for garage sale season to start!!!

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  3. Hope you feel better soon! I too have followed those signs for miles on end-the last one was a place like Carol described "where the people are going to make sausage out of you", so I just circled right out of the driveway without stopping!

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  4. I am so with you. Sometimes after driving miles, I just give up. But hey 74 degrees in January, it was worth the ride to be out. We are getting ready for another storm, coming in tonight. such fun.

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  5. I bought an Irmi baby mobile on Sunday at GW! How funny. I always pick up the lamps and lightswitches when I see them, but this is the first time I found a mobile. Mine is angels, and the music doesn't work and an arm is broken off one of the angels. But I couldn't resist for $3!

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