Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Today I went to the flea market at Greenmead in Livonia with my newly retired boss and fellow treasure hunter. I knew there was a big chance for rain. I was hoping we'd get in and get out before it hit. I forgot my rain jacket at home. I forgot the cheap little clear rain ponchos that I always have stashed in my car-at home. I forgot my umbrella in the car. What was I thinking?!? Obviously. I wasn't!

It was blue skies and sunny when we got there. I dropped my friend off as soon as I pulled in, because the line was all the way to the road, and it wrapped around a good way parallel with the road. When I parked and locked the car, I turned back to grab my sunglasses, it was that sunny.

We got about 1/3 of the way through and it started to pour! Vendors were covering everything up, and the only thing we could do was to look for someplace out of the rain. All of the places with tents were packed with shoppers with the same idea, so there was no room at the inn, so to speak. So, we ended up under a tree-not the best place, since it started to thunder and lightening! Thankfully, it only lasted a couple of minutes and we were free to start hunting for treasures again.

The sun came back out and just as quickly, the rain came again! We missed a whole section in the back because of the rain, but there was a set of vintage aqua couches that were seriously calling my friend's name and we had to head back to see if they were still available.

She did a good job haggling, and got them a little lower than the asking price, and after paying the dealer, we headed back the the back section to see what we missed when it started raining the first time. We got to exactly the same spot and it started raining again! We kept wandering in the rain and it stopped very soon after it started.

Just as it stopped and it looked like we were going to get to see things, we heard a gut-wrenching scream from a mother who lost her 6 year old son! She was asking people to help her find him, and describing what he had on. She was screaming out his name, and almost on the verge of hysteria. My heart went out to her, and I felt sick to my stomach and got a little teary-eyed every time I heard her cry out his name. The whole thing only lasted about a minute, two at tops, but it was scary!

We heard a big cheer when he was found and we watched his mom hug, and hug and hug him. Later as we were leaving, I saw that same mom with two of her three boy's hands glued to her hands and her husband right behind her with the third son's hand glued to his.They weren't taking any chances this time! I'm so happy they found him so quickly and that he was alright!

Since the vendor with the couches was very close to a gated driveway (that had 2 police cars sitting in it) we decided to ask the officers if we could pull up in the driveway to load the couches. They were nice, but firm with their "no", so we had to come up with plan B. We figured the booth was a good 2-2 1/2 blocks distance-wise from the entrance, and we weren't thrilled about hauling them ourselves.

In years past, there has been someone riding around on a gator helping people haul stuff to their cars, so we went up to a woman driving one to ask for help. She told us they no longer haul stuff for people and it was between us and the dealer to figure out how to get it out of there. We couldn't drive in to get them until 4 pm and it was only around 12.

We walked around some more, looking at things that had been covered up our first few times around, and guess what?!? It started to pour again! We took shelter under a tree again and it passed very quickly. Then we decided we were done, so we dumped our bags in the car and went back to start one of two treks through the mud, puddles and crowds of people  to bring the couches to my car.

We heard a lot of people exclaiming about the couches as we went. Everyone was glad someone bought them because they were so cool! We left the first one at the entrance and brought the second, then I went to get the car. Just as I was hopping in, it started pouring again!! I was trying to quickly drive to the entrance, but people were streaming out trying to get to their cars and out of the rain, so my friend and her awesome couches were getting drenched! We huffed and puffed and struggled a bit, but we finally got them in and the doors all closed!! I totally forgot to take a pic of the back of the car-I just wanted to get in out of the rain!

After a couple high-fives, we headed back to her house. We laughed so much and had a great time today! We were totally soaked, but it didn't matter. We had fun and we both got some things that we were very happy with!

It was kind of weird hunting for treasures without Auntie and with someone else! Don't worry, Auntie and I are still treasure hunting buddies, she had other plans today, and she was at Midland yesterday (I'm so jealous!I had plans yesterday, so I couldn't go with her). We'll be back to hunting together soon. I bet our twosome becomes bigger this summer now that my former boss is retired. She and Auntie used to hunt for treasures long before I came into the picture. They actually took me to my first Antique Festival at the Ann Arbor Saline Fairgrounds, many years ago. They introduced me to the egg sandwich! FUN times!!

So, are you dying to see the couches?? They're pretty awesome!!

They will go in her "woman cave" in her basement!

Look at the bags on the table. Each one was filled with yo-yo's. Two bags were sewn and one was just cut circles. $18 each bag.

What are these?

We saw this early on, and again when we were leaving when it was being carried out-SOLD!

We saw a LOT of this today-rain, rain go away!

These were the best jewelry displays I've ever seen, and so simple too!!

This is what I got...because...you know...I don't have any... ;)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

 If you're a praying person, please keep my little cousin Zoe in your prayers, she had major hip surgery on Friday and got to come home today. She's been having a lot of pain...her mom is very exhausted. It's going to be a long haul-six weeks non weight bearing then 6 weeks of PT. Thanks in advance for lifting them up! :)