Phone Dump Sunday

Well, I haven't done a phone dump post in awhile - so here we go.  Many of these might have been on Instagram, so I apologize for any repeats.  

The local City Park was over run with Poison Ivy, so they brought in a heard of goats to eat it. Apparently, goats are not affected by Poison Ivy and they find it to be quite the tasty treat.  The city invited people to come watch the goats.  I had somehow envisioned a few skipping lads in Lederhosen bringing a heard of goats in over the hillside.  It was pretty anticlimactic to see the goats lying in the shade doing nothing while the dude that brought the goats sat in his lawn chair.  The goats did, in fact, eat a tonage of Poison Ivy, so it's all clear now.  

Did I buy this pearly pig?  No, no I did not.  This is a perfect example of one of my favorite thrift stores becoming my least favorite thrift store.  In the past, this pig would have been priced $1.99. That would still be TOO MUCH for this pearly DOLLAR TREE pig, but at least $2.00 is fairly cheap for something. But, see that price?  The raised their prices SO much.  That ugly damn pig is $4.06. First of all, that is TOO MUCH and secondly, what kind of a weird price is that?  Prices go down but 25% in two weeks, then 50% in three weeks and finally down to 25¢ on the fourth week.  I suspect there are a lot of things sitting on the shelves until 50% off week and even on 25¢ day.  I am not sure if anyone would ever buy that pig.  Even for 25¢.  I haven't been there in months and I was going once a week.  (Did you notice the pig has on a WIG?)

I have a lot of food photos on my phone.  Do you?  This one was sent to The Bean - "Is this the right one?'  Yes,  Score one for MOM!

We like the Strawberry Lemonade, but did we want to try the NEW Raspberry Lemonade?  

Yes, yes we did.  

I love Salted Caramel anything.  I love frosting.  Salted Caramel Frosting, YES PLEASE!  

(I actually haven't tried it yet because some caramel things taste a bit "maple-y" and maple flavor gives me a migraine.)

The Bean's favorite flavor of ANYTHING is Mint.  Mine too really.  But, we passed on this since we prefer Mint with Chocolate and not Chocolate with Mint.  Got that?

We had a good day in the claw machine one day.  The dude had just filled it up and it was piled high.  We spent $3.00 to win all four of these.  

I bought these awesome flashcards and this wee little girl pin on Etsy from my favorite seller.  I am supposed to craft with or sell the flashcards.  "SUPPOSED TO" being the operative words.  

This old truck is almost always at Aldi when I shop.  I want it.  I could go junking it in, but mostly I want to fill it with pumpkins and baskets of Mums and tie a Christmas tree on top of it.  It is just the best mix of aqua and rust.  

Hi Bean.

Some miscellaneous items I thrifted and never showed.  That Coke Bottle folk art thing was in a booth across from mine.  The people were boxing things up and I asked what was going to become of it - Oh probably donate it.  I offered a lowball offer on them and they accepted.  I think you put water in them and blow, I am not sure.  I will take them to the Junk Ranch.  

Speaking of The Junk Ranch - look who will be joining me!  I am going to be a SIGHT with these guys tied on the roof coming down the highway.  *Cue the Beverly Hillbilly theme song...

This car was ahead of me at the light the other day.  LOVE SS.  Well, Shara Stacks LOVES you too!  How nice of them.  

 No, we did not.  $599.00  NOPE.

I was out hitting some sales on a Friday morning and I saw smoke, so I followed it.  This shed was fully engulfed in flames and not one person was around - well, there was one lady taking pictures with her cellphone.  I rolled down the window and heard the sirens coming, so I waited a minute for the fire truck to make sure they were coming there.  They did and they put it out.  I suspect fireworks and kids might have had something to do with it.  

The Week in Junk: Forbidden Fruit and a Presidential Letter

I have been getting out to more yard sales int he past few weekends.  The main reason is that The Breadman had a bit of a job change and is going to work at 5:00 in the afternoon and gets home about 1:30-2:00 am.  He used to GO to work at 1:30 adn be gone all day.  So, this has been a SUPER big adjustment for me.  He is always here - either asleep or just here.  I know he doesn't know how things are around here during the day because he isn't normally here.  But he stands where I need to stand, sits in my chair, uses the cup I always use, follows me around asking what he can do to help (I am taking ebay photos - you can't help or I am taking clothes out of the dryer - you can't help.)  It is really quite a lot for me to handle, so I find myself going to work the booths, hitting more yard sales and even going on a job interview last week.  UGH.  With the job change, came a cut in pay which is not fun for anyone.  I am looking and have amped up both the booths and ebay sales.  He is looking for part time gig to supplement until he finds a new job.  He has jumped through all the bells and whistles of on-line testing for Frito-lay, so we are hoping that they call soon.  PLEASE.  

I bought this chippy old metal hamster wheel for 25¢.  I don't have a hamster.  I don't think it's valuable.  But, that chippy green got me.  It makes a really loud SQUEAK SQUEAK noise when you turn it.  I would drive you bonkers if a hamster started running in it.

At the same sale I picked up the little celluloid doll, a vintage keychain from a company I need to research and a pottery Kangaroo planter.  Pottery is on my DO NOT BUY list because I already have too much pottery.  TOO MUCH.  It is forbidden.

So, of course I picked up this PINK pottery elephant planter and matching PINK pottery elephant figurine at Goodwill the same day. Forbidden fruit.  It tastes SO GOOD.

A vintage heavy glass tiled wastebasket that looks like it should be in Dolly Parton's dressing room and a motley assortment of dolls and squeakers.  I also got 30 white ceramic knobs in with that $3.10 price. Surely I will need them and use them as some point?

I bought this from an older Hispanic man.  Through our language barriers, we determined that tres dollars would be the price and that he made it 50 years ago and used it every day.  I asked "Why are you selling it?"  He shrugged.  "I don't know!" and laughed.  I love the little handle.  I am such a sucker for handmade stools like this.  Being short makes me like them and I do use them

This weird Razorback will be going to the College booth.  I need to find more Razorback stuff to sell, but I just DO NOT like that sort of stuff so it goes under my radar, I guess.  I did buy a neat stool that is red with a white top to add in as Razorback decor.  That is my best bet - red and white and call it Razorback-y.

Saturday I spent $6.00 on a "fill a box for $5.00" sale.  No, that isn't a typo.  I am a good box packer, but I piled it a bit too high.,  I told them to charge me more, so they added on an extra $1.00.  The reason it was so high was I added a box that said SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES.  DO NOT OPEN.  I couldn't wait to get home and see what goodies I got.  Guess what was in there?  A scarf, two packages of deodorant, a very outdated package of Tootsie Rolls, a pile of friendship bracelets, carabiner clips, handmade bible flash cards and a pile of old jewelry plus two paper punches.  WHO thought that was scrapbooking stuff?  I kept the two punches and the Tootsie Rolls.  KIDDING.  I kept the punches and five Sterling necklaces in the jewelry to scrap (broken and ugly). 

A fairly big sampler dated 1974.

Pillsbury promotional Hungry Jack Syrup Pitcher.

This is a giant ceramic Salad bowl.  It looked like it should be something special, but I think it is just a salad bowl.  

FIve small Pyrex bowls - for matching and one oddball.  

Mirrored bird tray, baby planter, an old celluloid comb and a really old wooden box with the Mona Lisa on it.  The LW HARRIS is handmade and I couldn't just leave it at the sale.  We call our car Mr. Harris, so it struck me funny to find LW Harris.  (I wouldn't have bought it except it fit in that $5.00 box!)

Books to cut apart for ephemera packs and a few to sell plus a silk table runner.

I have an "Old Woman" doll that when you reach into her mouth, you pull out the fly, the dog, the cat, the horse, etc.  I have been looking for a copy of the book to go with the doll,  That reminds me, I also shoved a nice Lion puppet in that box......I wonder what I did with it?

A letter from George W. Bush.  It was in a White House envelope and is on White House Stationery, but it has Crawford, TX on it, so he wrote it from his Ranch and he mailed it from Crawford, Texas with an actual stamp.  I was sure it was an auto-pen signature, but after seeing where he wrote it and when it was mailed maybe not?  A bit of research is in order.  In any manner, I think it is a neat thing and I am happy I saved it from the landfill.

HEY EDDIE....LOOK.  COMIC BOOKS!  

This was the last thing I put in the box - a very old photo album that was a bit damp.  The cover has moldy spots, but the photos in side are fine for the most part.

The album is full of photos of one little boy from birth to 2 years of age.  

All of the photos of him are with a Nurse.  

I thought, "Poor thing, must have been sick.  Or lived in an orphange?"

But, then I discovered that his Mom was a Nurse.  

Well, that's a whole lot less sad, isn't it?

This one is my favorite.  Sitting in a box.  

Some things are always fun, aren't they?

Loving the old car that helps date the photos.

 Everything is booth bound except the Bush letter and the photo album.  Nothing amazing or valuable this week. But a little time out of the house, a bit of digging and a bit of booth fodder is sometimes just as good.

The Week In Junk: Wishlist Find, A Fabulous Freebie and More

Friday I left the house in search of the non-yard sale from last week.  They had updated their ad to show it was going to be this weekend (fingers crossed), so I went to see.  They were having it FINALLY!  It was massive, but a ton of the bigger things had SOLD things on them.  There were boxes of things so I dug and dug and found a few things.  When I walked up the driveway I passed someone I know carrying a big stack of berry baskets.  Noooooooooo.  When I mentioned that to the lady having the sale, she said, "I have more!' and handed me a stack of 29 more.  The best part - TENS CENTS each.  Woot!  Besides the berry crates, I bought four huge packages of Resturant napkins for 50¢ each and a stack of fluted paper tart pans.  

On to the next sale which was a Neighborhood sale out in a very nice subdivision.  One ad in particular looked promising of old vintage stuff.  As soon as I got there, I recognized that it was the owner of the flea market next to where I have my booth.  It is VERY upscale and very fru-fru.  Not that that is a bad thing - it just isn't me.  I thought the prices would be high, but they were actually pretty good.

I dug this vintage baby rattle out of a box - the tag is faded though.  Does anyone recognize him?

I bought three old thumb pump oil cans in a baggie for $1.00.  I've never found oil cans at all, so I was happy to have found these.  Then when I got om and looked - two were transparent oil cans which seem to be pretty desirable.  We'll see - they are on ebay tonight.  

In the center of the driveway was a table full of holiday stuff - at first glance it appeared to be all newer Mall-ish stuff, so I didn't bother looking there until I had covered all the other areas.  When I did go look, I was right  - it was all newer stuff - but I have found one vintage ornament or one spun head, so looking through all that new stuff can still pay off.

And, it did!  Under the table I spotted a box with things wrapped in tissue paper, so I peeked in there and GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE am I ever glad I did!  Napcoware Turkeys!  Lots of them!

I have a collection of individual shakers like the big turkey, but I have never seen the smaller one.  I looked it up and there should be a butter dish, but other than that, it's nearly a complete set.  I thought there were only  a couple pieces in the box and I would just add them to my collection.  But now I see their value, so it will all either go on ebay or to The Junk Ranch in October.  (Yes, the Junk Ranch talk is starting again.)

I spotted this Shopping Cart on a table (that is one of those sample sized boxes of cereals in it for scale) and I was chomping at the bit to grab it.  But, a lady was standing right in front of it and I just KNEW she was going to pick it up.  Luckily - WHEW - she was looking at a platter UNDER it.  I asked and she said, "Go for it," so I grabbed it.  I have been wanting to find one of these for a long time.  They sell for $50-100.  I bought it because I knew it was worth selling, but.....well. you know what's coming.  I kind of LOVE it.  I think it will live with me for a bit anyway.  Surely I can think of a valid use for it. THINK, WOMAN THINK!  

On to the next sale.  I drove by a small house with an older couple sitting in the driveway in those old webbed lawn chairs.  I couldn't see that they had much, but little couples are MY THANG.  They had a table full of those Wal-Mart Christmas bears with the dates on the feet (you know which ones I mean?) and another table chockablock with Paperback Westerns.  There was very little else.  I did spot an old motor oil box, so I peered in and saw a nice old Bocce set.  I was just about to ask the price when out of the corner of my eye I saw a box in the side yard.  

DUHN DUHN DUHH.

Yes, one of THOSE boxes.  There was a pile of those plastic candy canes that people line down their driveways on top of the box, so it was hard to see.  I said, "How much is the Christmas Tree?"  The man said, "Oh that is going in the trash."  "Oh, sir.  I'd really like to buy it."  "Honey, that thing has been up in my attic for about 60 years and last night it got all wet in the rain.  It's just junk."  "I would still really like to buy it.  I am kind of crafty.  I think I can use it for parts or in a project." Well, his eyes brightened up and he came over to me and told me to take it.  I told him I really wanted to pay him for it.  "No, it's trash to me and one less thing I will have to take back in or to the curb."  I asked about the Bocce set and he told me $5.00.  I tried to give him a ten and told him to keep the change. He shook his bony finger at me and said, "You are not leaving this driveway without your change!" Then, when I went to gather it up, he took the heavy Bocce Balls and said, "And, I'm carrying it to the CAR for you!"  I mean, what a sweet man.  Really. 

The tree is 6 feet tall - 96 branches all in their paper sleeves.  The tree and sleeves were dry.  I laid the box out in the sun and it is worn and beat up, but dried out.  It has the trunk with the silver paper and the tree stand.  Finding one of these trees is amazing on it's own.  But, FREE?  That is just crazy. It has been suggested on Social Media I take the man back a gift or something in thanks.  Well, first of all, I don't really remember exactly where the house was - secondly, I tried to pay him.  I offered repeatedly.  He was happy to give it to me.  I didn't say GIMME that tree.  He's already forgotten about it anyway, I bet.  So, why do people think I need guilt added to it?  I just don't get that.  I've bought many things in driveways and sold them for big profits and no one has expected me to drop $50.00 by their house.  I don't know.  It just made me feel weird that people thought I owed them something.  He was happy and so was I.  End of story.  I don't mean to sound like I am unappreciative, because I am VERY appreciative of his kindness to give me the tree.  I hope that makes sense to you.    

The Bocce Set is really nice too.  It's a Super Martel Set - Made in Italy.  He told me that he played with it with his family when he was a kid.  I bought it to add to my porch decor, but it turns out it is pretty desirable too.  (I had a good day yesterday).  It's on ebay too.

I put this colorful shot on Instagram.  The Viking Glass Vase was at the Super Cheap Thrift as well as the Yellow jar.  It's plastic - can you tell?  

This canvas will go to the Funky Booth for the college crowd.  

As will these Jamaican IRIE wood carvings.

And this big concrete Tiki.  

I am trying to find weird funky things for the college crowd.  It's hard!

This PINK Kitchen Charm waxed paper box will go in my kitchen.  

A vintage light fixture cover.  On ebay tonight.

I'm not a glass person - but that red is a stunner, isn't it?  

It's on ebay too (I'm on a roll!)

A set of Godinger Silverplate Salt and Pepper Shakers.  These are on ebay too, but if they don't sell, I will put them to use.  The "S" got to me before I even realized they were Salt and Peppers.  :)

And lastly, I am a sucker for any old wooden box - if it has dividers of any sort, all the better.  

So, a nice weekend of junking.  This week the heat index will be well over 100, so the mere thought of a yard sale does not sound inviting to me.  It will be a good week to clear out some clutter and put a few more things on ebay.  In the air conditioning.  :)