Yard Sailing

David is starting to get closer to finishing the Astoria house - we've had a few lookie Lous and he's currently speaking to a local RE. He had one man and his adult son pull up and when he asked David what he was going to ask for it, immediately told David he knew what he'd paid for it. David then invited him and his son to vacate the premises - why people think what you paid for a foreclosure is some how a bargaining chip for them is beyond me. But it will hopefully be done by the end of the month and then it's my turn! David will be taking an extended break and can work here and there on this house, but he is taking some time off. He's renovated 3 houses in sucession and he needs a breather. We are still trying to figure out what we will be doing - we'd like a puppy, but we need to see what will happen with Rueben, Mr. Boobins, my Boo. We've been giving him prednisone and it seems to alleviated some of it but we really don't know how long he has. He's been eating a diet of chicken, fish, beef, treats - bones to chew on. For now, he's holding his own.

He sees his friend Piggles weekly and they are the odd couple, aren't they? Anyhoo, we've been frequenting yard and estate sales for the past month as I figure out what we're going to do. This house looks almost Summer campy on the lake, doesn't it? The guest room upstairs is nautical - for the main reason the decorations,lamps, tables and quilts came out of a painting job Kim and Stephen were doing and were all free. Hoarders had been living in a rental -but they were high end hoarders! You should see the cookware I got, some of it looks crazy expensive. The owners wanted to house emptied, the junk people were coming next week but they wanted the volume down. Kim had me come out and we got first run at it before she opened up to the neighbors, so hence the boating theme on my upper floor. But it does look over the slough (pronounced "slew)which is what we call the creek around here. About a month ago we went to an estate sale and wow. It was a 92 year old crafter - the husband had given away the quilting things to friends but this woman did embroidery, knitting, crocheting,sewing and beading. The woman running the sale told me she had $30,000 in bead supplies alone - there were tons of knitting needles, yarn, dodads all of which I picked up and put down - let someone else be a winner today. But what I cleaned up on was cloth napkins, tablecloths and placemats - all beautifully hand embroidered over a lifetime. On the 3rd day they just gave away EVERYTHING - I pulled up and starting going through it - the woman looked at me and said just take the whole box. And take the other one too - I filled my car! Kim got a full bag, I have a bag of embroidery stuff for Brandi, good times my friend, good times. But it does make you think about all those things we hold near and dear- this woman must've been a true master, I have tablecloths with matching napkins painstakingly stitched and edged - and all went to a stranger. I washed and ironed the whole lot, I appreciate it. 

The thing with estate and yard sales is the same with rules of shopping - if you can't use it, even if it's a dollar, it's worth nothing. We come with a list and  frequently leave with nothing. Sunday is the best day - they are fewer but people are usually wanting to get rid of it and as you saw, they even give it away. You can bargain - I finally found a chair like my grandmother had - it has a little stepstool you can pull out and looked like it had never been used (it still had all the stickers on it). Amazon - $98, yardsale -$25, my price - $20 because in my universe 5 dollars is 5 dollars. You can't get stuck on an item, I'm a sucker for 1)yarn, 2)old cookbooks and magazines and 3)table stuff. When you pick it up - do I really need this? How many do I have at home? Do I have room? I put a lot of stuff back. If you're not sure walk around with it while you're looking at other things, most of the time it goes back where it came from. A box of stuff for a dollar is often worth it, you can donate what you don't use. And decorating things are the best, the stuff they sell at Home Goods I can pretty much have 90% off - I got a pair of beautiful matching plant stands for ten bucks, solid wood and carved. An oversized champange glass to hold my wine corks - 50 cents. And honestly? It is way more fun and interesting than going to Home Goods or Pier One, there's no thrill to the hunt if anyone can one!