Labor day weekend doesn't always offer up a lot of yard sales, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Janie decided to work, so I was on my own.
Find of the day:
Cool shirts
price - 50 cents each
sold
She had a couple dozen, and some were really wild, but I already have some 50 short-sleeved shirts, so I picked out some of the more subtle ones.
Least interesting thing I saw:
Rotating Christmas tree stand
price - $10
no sale
She said she has three of them and they're really wonderful.
Other things I did and did not buy today:
Skinny bunny
price - $3
no sale
I wanted to take it out and buy it a sandwich.
Tom Jones record
price - 50 cents
sold
My collection needs some variety I guess. It has a great James Bond sound to it.
Milwaukee hand truck
price - $10
sold
This will replace the sorry hand truck I bought a couple years ago for $5. It's in like new condition.
Radio Flyer bike
price - $25
no sale
Not that I don't like bikes; on the contrary I *love* retro bikes. I just don't need one.
Original dog painting
price - 50 cents
sold
I thought this was well done, and really gave the animal some character.
(So that wrapped up what I saw at the yard sales and I decided to go do some other shopping. On the way, I saw these gutsy street birds. I won't name the streetcorner, but where I saw nothing but misery, they were chowing on weed seeds. It was a lesson to me.)
There was one thing at the Asian supermarket I've wanted to take a picture of:
"Freakish Sapor"
price - 89 cents
no sale
I want to try these, but there isn't an English list of ingredients. I'm not eating anything without knowing what's in it, especially if it's called that.
(I then headed over to the Ax Man surples store. They always have something fun.)
Lower armbands
price - $2.95
sold (two)
Both Janie and I use these, but you don't put them on your elbow. I think the packaging was mislabeled, so it went to the clearance store. This brand is so comfortable.
French military matress pumps
price - $1.95
I wanted to buy one, but I don't have anything to blow up.
Doll legs
price - 45 cents
no sale
Eee.
Doll heads
price - 85 cents
no sale
Now all we need are some arms. What, no arms? Well, that explains it.
Book light
price - $2.95
sold (two)
These are so useful for any tight space you need a wee light in. They're made to clamp on your book in bed, but the repurpose with great flexibility.
Helicopter cargo net
price - $125
no sale
Maybe someone will come in looking for one of those. I think it's just there so people will talk about it and give them free word of mouth.
Yardsale price tags
price - $1.50 a pack
sold (two)
Janie and I are starting to resell some of our finds when we go back to Colorado for the summer. We'll need these.
No sale
This could only get me in trouble. If I ever go to detective school, I'll have to remember to come get a pair of these.
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Would You Buy This or Not comes out on most non-Winter weekends. If you'd like to see some of our other yardsaling weekends (and there have been spectacular ones), do a search on the tag "garage sale".
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Comments: 46
I have to laugh at the doll parts and helecopter net - what the heck would anyone do with that net?
I don't know why you think Labor Day weekend is a bad weekend for sales. I would think with 3 days, there would be more sales to go to.
I thought about uses for the net, but not too hard.
People tend to go to places away from home, and also assume others are headed out of town also, so they're less likely to have sales. One thing I will be doing is going to Savers. They have a half price sale on every holiday - for all the people who don't have a cabin on the lake. I think that strategy is a stroke of genious.
It's also a popular restaurant name, including one in Minneapolis.
Nothing for "freakish sapor", though.
I, too, think the doll parts are kind of "freakish". Too weird. Those shirts look great though.
Esther had brought out the real bad girl in me . . . I would buy/confiscate/kidnap the REAL Tom Jones (he still looks great) and take him home!
Yes, bad I know, but hey! That's what bad girls do.
Thank you, Vicky. The dog eyes look off to the right, so while they do move, they never look at me.
I saw Tom Jones on a PBS special about British blues music. He sings *great* blues.
Thanks, Barb. It helps to mix up the silly and scary and serious, or at least I think so, so that's how my yardsaling posts are presented.
Cool hand cart too - great deal on that one~
Jane, I recommend different colored dots. They're very cheap and you can have a sign on the wall saying "blue - 25 cents", etc.
Michelle, in another life, I'd have a dump truck and I'd be more than happy to have you fill it up.
Sarina, Janie and I both have that affliction, and the arm bands are amazingly simple devices that work like a charm. When I first went to the doctor, I grabbed around my forearm and said, "Oddly enough, the pain goes away if I grab here." He smiled.
I like the dog picture, Jen. It's real.
Anna, I only wish I had room for a clothes line. Hey, but why can't I set up a line in my house! Thanks for triggering that. That poor little doggie; everyone is so suspicious of him.
Rob, I wish I could get to your sale. Sounds like a great time!
Thank you Dianne!
She scavanged through the clothes, furniture, and knick-knacks -- me, I was in awe of the tent itself. It was a classic revival tent of the kind that used to appear weekly in the 1960's on the long strip of land in Saint Paul that eventually became I-94.
I grew up in the Selby-Dale neighborhood in that era. I would ride down to these revivals with a couple of buddies to sit on a hill over-looking the tent -- just to hear the language of the sermons.
I do not quite know why I went off on this tangent, but the flea market, and this article brought back some powerful memories.
As for revivals and sermon language, I have to agree with a certain fascination. I grew up in Colorado, and the revivals and "mission trips" would come up from Texas and Oklahoma in the summer. People in the South just have a knack for telling stories and using language effectively, and it's a great environment for some of them to step forward and become master orators. But it's even more widespread than that. Just sitting down to talk with any old timer who never had much use for TV or radio can be truly amazing, to me anyway. The ability to express oneself verbally really goes down with exposure to media, and I would include books in that. I've only met a few illiterate people, and they were every one of them great talkers : )
Keep on yard saling and posting. It is a great read
Missed opportunity, Ron.