Don’t fence me in

Saturday held promise. Multiple church sales, estate sales, good sounding yard sales, and a book sale dotted the mid-state landscape. However, just like the weather service predicted, the bottom dropped out around 9 a.m., washing away all our hopes and dreams for the weekend.

 

OK, so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but it did rain, and rain hard, putting the kibosh on most of the Saturday morning sales. Still, being the professionals that we are, Ella and I didn’t let a little monsoon stop us from our appointed rounds, which by 9:30 consisted mainly of the inside church sales and the book sale.

 

Of course, driving in the heavy downpour presented its own challenges, including being trapped in a gated community for a few minutes. Our GPS unit, code named Newly, sometimes has a roundabout way of getting us places, and decided to turn us around in an apartment complex. The entrance gate was open, so I pulled in, following Newly’s advice, and turned around, expecting the exit gate to open automatically. It didn’t.

 

Odd, I thought. Most exit gates are automatic, but there we were, stopped, with a gate that simply refused to open.  Before you ask, the entrance gate already had closed. Fortunately, the rain had subsided momentarily, so I got out of the truck to examine the control box, hoping for an override or a reset switch, and also hoping that the storm had not knocked off the power. 

 

I could see that Ella was fuming in the truck as I pushed every button, trying to get us out. No luck. Just when I was about to call 911, an apartment dweller pulled up behind us, and apparently used a remote to open the gate.

 

Free at last. Embarrassed, but free.

 

We made it to our second church sale (the first was a bust), but we were about 30 minutes early. Who starts their sales at 9 a.m.? The congregation took pity on poor wet me, and let us in early. We both wandered around, picking up a few items, and then Ella spied this:



I hope this wasn't the church's sacramental wine!

It’s a bar set, obviously, but the kicker was that the decanter still held wine. When you lift the decanter, the scale plays music. I couldn’t find an exact match online, but it will look good in our antique booth, minus the alcohol, of course.

 

We visited another church sale, found a few items, then headed toward the book sale. Rain had stopped by then, at least in that location, which was good because books and water don’t go together well. 

 

Our last church sale was with a charismatic congregation who invited us to share some Amens and Hallelujahs with them on Sunday morning. We walked out with a DVD, and a promise that they would pray for us. So, at least we have that going for us.

 

Prior to the weekend, we asked and received an invite on Thursday to preview an estate sale out in the boonies. The owner was nice enough to sell us a few items early, including a large, heavy antique coffee grinder, a small lot of Cars (the movie) vehicles, a vintage beer tray, a vintage beer can collection, and a bag of 1100 Pogs, the only thing that I’ve had time to list.

 

I counted every one of these Pogs

On Friday, Ella steered me to an estate sale on my lunch hour that featured hundreds of craft books. I was able to scan a few before I had to go back to work. I inquired with the owner about a bulk buy at the end of the sale, but I haven’t heard from her yet.

 

Late Friday afternoon, Ella and I attended two more estate sales, finding a few items at both. 

 

Flash forward to Sunday, which was planned to be a day of rest and relaxation, but no Amens or Hallelujahs. After spending the morning listing, I heard the siren song of the last day of an estate sale that we missed on Saturday, and Ella and I headed out. We found some good books, and I foolishly purchased a vintage Apple computer system for $30. The computer didn’t work, but I was determined to make the proverbial lemonade by stripping the system of all its cables, books, etc., and listing them on Ebay. The broken computer will go to Goodwill.

 

Making lemonade after buying a lemon of a computer

After a busy weekend, I get to relax for a few days before gearing up for the big book sale at the fairgrounds on Thursday. I just have to remember to dig our shopping cart out of storage on Wednesday evening.

 

Oh, on a final note, I learned last night that this is the final season for Auction Hunters. Ton and Allen, I’m going to miss you.