The Minneapolis Star Tribune does a great feature each spring about community yard sales in the upcoming season. The Bryn Mawr neighborhood does theirs the first weekend in May.
In honor of the delightful time we had once again, this episode of To Buy or Not To Buy will have 20 images.
Caution, if clowns scare you, do not look at the last three images (seriously).
The neighborhood has only a few homes with parking in front, so the best strategy is to park, go three blocks down one alley, come back 3 blocks down the next alley over, load the car, repeat. Move the car once each set of 12 blocks are covered.
For this sale we took Janie's power wheelchair. It disassembles and folds rather easily to go into the trunk. At one point she camped in a choice parking spot while I sprinted to move the car. Even though the chair takes up the entire trunk, the car still has lots of cargo space. I took the back seat out several years ago.
For opportunities like this, we come prepared. Lots of ones; lots of quarters; a number of $20s (just in case).
Most of what we bought was pretty utilitarian. The majority of selected photos turned out to be things we didn't buy.
Find of the day
Original oil painting
price - $8
sold
I will not attempt to donate it to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, but it's cheery, big (24" by 36" not counting the nice frame) and I think rather well done.
The rest of the offerings
Plastic Orc/Ninja Spear
price - $5
no sale
I'm sure it did sell though. Every kid wanted it. Every parent lied that $5 was too much money (that's not their main reason for passing it up). The girl - great expression by the way kid - wanted to lower the price. I counseled against it. Any item that coveted would sell before the day was out.
"Silk" flowers
price - $5 each
no sale
I've seen silk; I'm an admirer of silk, especially raw silk; these are not silk.
Box of naked plastic people
price - 25 cents each
no sale
There was a time when this would have been considered just a little suggestive. I especially like that someone hung a purse off the Ken doll.
Green and gray hat
price - $3
no sale
"It's hand-crafted" explained the seller.
Tapering dresser
price - $155
no sale
It was worth it, don't get me wrong. She said there was a matching one indoors. It was unique, and I'd be proud to have it in my home. Along with cost, there were some insurmountable accessibility issues.
Coffee samples
price - free
sold
Garage
price - free
sorry, can't get it up the elevator
This was a great structure - tightly constructed, freshly painted in pleasant tan an red. The white sign says for sale, but it was indeed free for the hauling. Back in Colorado we called this a house.
Bottle cap lamp shade
price - $5
no sale
This struck even me as odd.
Spray-painted pink wicker bedroom set
price - (if I asked I forgot, sorry)
no sale
This is the sale where I got the evil clown bobble head though (again, it lies ahead, and is somewhat disturbing).
Three-piece sectional sofa
price - free
no sale
Comes with two bags of cement someone left out in the rain. Some damage from a dog that must have been quite large.
Fertility for Dummies
price - $5
no sale
What can I say about something that is its own punch line?
Gnarly teeth
price - $1
Not my size.
Rayon cocktail shirt
price - $1
sold
After the sale and a long nap, we were scheduled to attend a friend's annual cocktail party. Blue isn't my color, but I could not resist.
OK. WARNING.
FEAR-OF-CLOWN-FOLKS, I'M NOT KIDDING.
Sweet Sid bobble-head
price - $1
sold
This is among the darkest things I've ever seen.
Sid the clown from the front.
Sid the clown from the rear, complete with knife behind his back.
For our haloween collection, or maybe a gift for someone I know "appreciates" this sort of thing.
Sandwich lunch with various sliced mystery meats, a pear and a couple glasses of original diet cola.
price - about $1 per person
sold
After about 30 blocks of sales, it was time for a nap. We didn't have energy to eat out. That's tired.
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Comments: 16
sounds like you didn't get too much, eh?
we passed on some xmas light up reindeer, they were plastic and taller than lillie. $15 each. yikes!!
love this, ron!
It's funny Donna, if I'd seen the same dressers in an antique store, I might have bought them. It may have been a mistake to pass them up. I picked up a hitchhiker once that was a whole lot like Sid.
I haven't been to this neighborhood in ages...thanks for bringing me back!
Larry, that saying ought to be taught in economics classes. It is so true.
the green/gray hat and the pink furniture are scarier than sweet sid.