I can't wait for Saturday!!!

I am sooo looking forward to Saturday! I am going to 2 antique mall open houses with Auntie and some friends from work.

We'll be going first to Williamston Antiques Mall and then Livingston Antiques Outlet. What are your plans for Saturday? Wanna join us? We always have lots of fun and LOTS of laughs!

I LOVE surprises!

The other day my good friend the Chicken's Auntie (or just Auntie if you are a regular reader), came to work with a surprise present for me! She had been out shopping and picked me up a couple of ceramic condiment spoons in chartreuse green! They are a perfect match to my chartreuse Fiesta and they look AWESOME with my plum Fiesta! I LOVE them!!!

 THANKS Auntie!!!

Fresh Eggs...

With Auntie being out of town, Eric is chicken-sitting. He doesn't have to stay at her house, but does have to go over in the morning to let the girls out, and in the evening to put them to bed. One big perk is free, fresh eggs! We've gotten a dozen in just the last 2 days! There was one giant egg from one of her older girls-it was a double yolk! The rest are just little pullet eggs. I made a big breakfast this morning-Eric got the double-yolker!!

Now, we can't wait for our girls to start laying!!!

He got 5 more eggs this morning from Auntie's girls-it's pretty exciting for him. The anticipation of his girls finally laying some eggs is killing him though- LOL!

FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Today was the much anticipated Greenmead Fall Flea Market in Livonia on the site of the historic Greenmead Farm. Since Kevin and Eric both decided to go, and Auntie's niece Crit was in town and going as well, we decided to meet up and drive separately.

Mapquest said it would take about 32 minutes to get there...we got there in less than 30 so we were waiting in a long, long line for about 15-20 minutes. I totally forgot to bring bags, or a cart today-BIG mistake!! I know Auntie said there would be around 175 vendors, but with our not so good flea market experience last weekend-I wasn't going to hold my breath that this would be a good one. It ended up being BETTER than good--it was AWESOME!!!

The weather was perfect! The length of time it took to get there was perfect! Only $2 admission and free parking! Lots, and lots of vendors set in amongst the historic buildings and lots of variety among the vendors. Great prices for the most part. All the way around it was FUN!!

Gorgeous blue skies-won't be seeing that much longer! Have to soak it in while we can!

The only thing I would suggest, to the organizers for future years...have more food vendors! The only options for food was a big trailer with caramel corn, and snacks, an ice cream truck, and a booth selling hot dogs, soda and water. Where was the kettle corn?? Aren't all flea markets supposed to have kettle corn? LOL!

As soon as we got through the gates, Kevin took off leaving us in the dust. I expected him to be through the whole place and back in the car within about 20-30 minutes. I like for him to go, I just wish he would slow down, smell the roses, enjoy the day for what it is. It tends to make me anxious and feel like I have to hustle through so he isn't sitting in the car so long waiting for me. I felt bad for scooting out on Auntie and Christy after we stopped and caught up over a hot dog.

While we were sitting there, I was really shocked to see Kevin walking past with a big ole box full of stuff! He NEVER buys much (if anything) when we go out treasure seeking together. For him to still be walking around, let alone having a huge box of purchases at that point really surprised me!

 There he is on the left with his box of treasures!

These are his treasures...

 A case of wine bottles to use in the clay oven that he is making for baking bread.

An irrigator...he says this would have been used in the hospitals...and since he's a nurse-he was intrigued by it.

 Another "nurse" item, a basin. 

 Something he got the seller to "throw in"!

He thought this was funny...

Another bed pan, this one with a lid.

Some stainless steel wire for making chain mail.

A box of old tools-a quarter each.

He did really well. He only spent $15 on all of the enamel ware! $20 total on all of his purchases.

These are my treasures...

A pink dish towel.

A Vera scarf, a purple hankie, and a lid for a quarter.

A Pyrex individual casserole dish.

 An amethyst Moroccan dish.

A milk bottle carrier-not an old one, but in my price range!

A set of refrigerator dishes!

This was such a FUN flea market! I am soo glad we went!! It makes me even more excited for the Midland Antiques Festival in 2 weeks!!!  I'll have to remember the ibuprofen before we go to Midland-my ankle and hip are really killing me from all the uneven walking today-just when I told Auntie on Friday that  my ankle is doing really well...sigh! We'll see how it does this week-3 of the 4 volleyball leagues I play in start up again!

Hope you have a great week this week!!! :)

Cooler Temps, Lower Humidity, and Good Times!

Today was a fun day-filled with LOTS of laughs and LOTS of driving! Auntie and I headed off early to check out a bunch of estate sales. I think my jaw is sore from talking and laughing so much!

The first one we stopped at wasn't even open. It was the last day, so maybe they sold everything they wanted to sell and decided to not open today-bummer!

The second place we stopped at was the home of a 103 year old woman-who is still alive and well, but now living in Arizona! It was almost like 2 sales in one. Inside the house were the items the family deemed "worth something" and were priced accordingly. Outside in the garage, were items they didn't value as much and they were priced accordingly.

One of the ladies asked Auntie if we were looking for anything in particular (or something like that), and she said old ornaments and linens. She said there was tons of stuff in the basement and she'd go down and bring up the box. So while we shopped in the garage, the box came up. Another relative (a brother I think) sorted through the box with us. He pulled out the best ones and then said we could pick through them or buy the whole box. We each picked out a few and were happy with the price.

I think we must have stopped at 5 or 6 estate sales after the one that never opened and a couple of garage sales too. My GPS kept winding us down side roads and all over the place. We even checked it to be sure it didn't get accidentally set to avoid freeways-but it wasn't. It just decided we needed to chat and giggle and laugh more so it picked the scenic route!

One of the last sales we stopped at was in a very interesting older home with a wrought iron fence and gate, a tennis court, 4 car garage, separate garage, lots of acreage, a pond and storage shed by the pond. The front porch was slate as well as the floors in several of the rooms. Boy did they have the STUFF!!! It was pretty packed in every room. I did find a few purple bottles and the base to the Fostoria American punch bowl-that they were displaying as a bowl.

It was another situation of none of my finds being marked...I just hate that! I gathered up all the goodies I was interested in and took them to the cashier and asked for a price. It ended up being wayyyy more than I was interested in paying so I didn't get anything.

So, here's my gripe/advice to the estate sale company...I know it was a LOT of stuff to sell throughout the house, but c'mon...put clear prices on the stuff!!! Don't look at the items, and the person wanting to buy them and throw out a price you think they could/would pay!!! ANDDD when someone asks for a price and you give them a group price and they want a per item price (in case they only want to purchase some of the items)-don't make it double the group price-geesh!

Here are my (purchased) treasures from today -I wish I could find a picture to represent all the laughs, and good times with a good friend en route to all these sales-that is what's priceless!

 An old saw to hang in Kevin's workshop...fifty cents!!!

A dainty cream and sugar set...$1!

An old refrigerator dish...$1!

A cool blue vase...$1!

A cool blue enamel plate...a quarter!

 A pretty cool ORANGE ice crusher!!

My ornament jar is now full!

And a few extras!

And...look what Auntie brought me!!!!

Homemade bread and butter pickles!!! YUM!!! I can't WAIT to try them!!!

What kind of treasures did you find today?

Thanks for letting me vent! 

Have a great weekend!

Surprise! Estate Sale only 3 miles from home!!

Last night, I found an ad for an estate sale that was right next door to our local high school-only 3 miles from our house. After looking at the pictures, I decided I wanted to check it out.

So Kevin (DH) and I arrived about 30 minutes prior to the sale starting. There were several cars lining the street, but only 3 people standing in the yard. I walked up and got a number as did about 4 or 5 more people. It was nice to have a number and not have to stand in a line or worry about someone jumping in (like some other sales I've been to). I was number 16! Then I thought I'd better text Auntie and let her know how close to home this one was. She was out for breakfast and was there within about 15 minutes.

I don't know about you, but I'm a people watcher. I always find myself watching people. It can be very entertaining. While I was waiting for Auntie to arrive and Kevin to get out of the car, I stood and talked with a couple of ladies and was watching the other people arrive-listening for what they were looking for or why they were there.

One guy was really crabby! I thought from the things he was saying to Auntie that he was rude. She brushed it off, and once the excitement of the door opening and looking for treasures hit, I forgot to ask he what he was saying.

The first person in line was a woman with several garbage bags (empty) in her hands (all opened up) and ready to go. She FLEW through the door as soon as they were letting people in. I later saw her when Auntie realized she had set down the silo to the Fisher Price barn she was buying and Kevin told her "that lady just took your silo!". Auntie was searching all over for her, trying to locate the silo that went with the barn. The lady (who was obviously dodging her), held tight to it and ended up buying it separately for $2.50. I think the old "don't set something down if you want it at an estate sale" rule was forever etched into our brains today! I know we both knew it, but had never experienced someone quite like this woman-maybe we don't do enough estate sales and are just naive-but all in all, she was pretty rude.

Have you ever experienced estate sales where things got a little tense?  One of the ladies I talked to before the sale opened, said she'd never seen a fight over an item at an estate sale. I chuckled when she said that and thought that was an odd comment to make out of the blue, but chuckled anyway and didn't say anything. Then when the silo got snatched, I chuckled again remembering her comment. No way would Auntie physically fight someone over something at an estate sale, but she did tell the lady woman that she thought that was hers and it went with her barn-a couple of times, but the lady woman wouldn't bend.

I've been thinking about that as I type this and have been pondering what I would do if I was the snatcher or the snatchee...As for being a snatcher... I hope I have never snatched something away from someone! I try to be really, really careful to be sure someone has for sure discarded an item before I snag it, so I don't think I've ever snatched ( I hope! At least not that I know of), and I would like to think that if someone came through a house looking for the person who picked up "such and such" because they set it down by mistake, and it went to a set, that I'd be gracious and let them buy it. Especially if it was an incident like today...c'mon...we're talking a Fisher Price silo, not a vintage Fiesta relish tray (my Pièce de résistance). You can find the silos pretty easily for less than $5-why not take the high road and give it back? Now, would I be so gracious with the relish tray? I'd like to think so...I hope so...what would you do? Have you ever been a snatcher? A snatchee? What did you do?

I did see another woman lady watching me like a hawk as I inspected the two tablecloths I was holding to see if I discarded them, she even commented on how pretty they were, but she didn't snatch. I had to set one down to open the other and vice versa, and still she didn't snatch! Oh well... the whole thing is just something to think about I guess.

It was an interesting sale, with lots of eye candy (no, not the 50+ year old men there-the vintage household goodies)! It was in a neat little cottage/house, that even though it was just mere feet from where I picked Eric up every day at school, I never saw it through the trees.

It is much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside-and what cute character it had! Loved it!!

This is my sweet husband holding all of my treasures, so I could sneak back in and check out the garage where I found a metal headboard and foot board that I am regretting not getting that would look really cool in my flower bed with vines all over it-it was only $6 for both-dumb for leaving it-huh?

This is what he had in his arms...

A side view-same cloth.

This is a really neat suitcase that Auntie picked up for just $4! We saw a WWII label on it-what a find!

Sorry...camera phone was all I had with me and it's a little blurry!

Now, I'm off to try my hand at removing some tablecloth stains (thanks to the great advice I found on C. Dianne Zweig's blog). 

Thanks for letting me vent! I'm looking forward to seeing what your thoughts are on snatchers and snatchees-leave your comments-I'd love to see your thoughts!

Have a GREAT rest of the weekend!

Friday Fun Estate Sale!

Today, Auntie and I went to an amazing estate sale! The prices on some things were ridiculously high, on some things just right and some things they gave away-literally! I found the sale on estatesales.net and was very intrigued by the photos they showed. So we set the GPS, and off we went!

Walking up to the sale, we saw part of the sale was in the yard and driveway. The two outside workers told us the real sale was in the house and that the stuff out there wasn't worthy of being "in there". It was mostly old Tupperware-more than I have ever seen in one place before! There were a few other things, but we rushed past them to get inside, because through the window we could see lots of swanky swigs!! Which unfortunately, neither one of us bought any.

It was very overwhelming to say the least! The kitchen was jam-packed with all kinds of vintage and antique goodies! One thing that I got really irritated about was the lack of price stickers! It seemed to be an estate sale run by an entire family, but only one sister was allowed to tell you the prices. That got old really fast! She would look at an item, and (I think) look at you to see how much she thought you'd be willing to pay (or could pay) and then set a price. I heard her tell 3 different people 3 different prices on the same Pyrex mixing bowl set (because we were there for a while).

After I got home, I went back to the website to look up the name of the company hosting the sale, to try to avoid their sales in the future, but it wasn't listed. While we were there, I over heard one sister telling another shopper that they plan to turn the basement of the house into their antique shop, and maybe the whole house. That would kind of explain the "dealer's" prices (when she told you the price) on a lot of stuff.

It wasn't a frog of a sale by any means, just an awkward, teenage, pimply prince of a sale! We did find some great treasures (so it was definitely worth the drive), but you could tell their main motivation was to make as much money as they could, not just get what you can for it and get rid of the stuff-like most estate sales I've been to.

Here is what I added to my collections today:

This is everything in one shot. A vintage tablecloth, two purple transfer ware plates, two Pyrex casserole dishes with lids, 2 flower plates and 2 decks of cards (unopened) in a case. Hmmm...maybe I should have gotten 2 tablecloths to round out the theme of 2 that I didn't realize I had going on there! :)

I first picked up all of the plates (because they were half off) to "plant" in my flower garden, but...I'm thinking the purple ones will stay in the house. The other two will be "planted" in about ten minutes.

I bought the cards because they reminded me of my grandma on my dad's side. She always had cases (like these) of Canasta cards in her buffet cabinet top drawer in her dining room. I used to LOVE playing Canasta with her-even when she cheated!

 Plus I love the vintage Fiesta colors look to them!

The Pyrex dishes are in wonderful shape! I've never seen this style before, so I was pretty excited to get them!

The tablecloth has a few light stains, but the head-price-giver sister told us to use a combination of powered Ivory Snow and Biz and really hot, hot water to soak stained linens in and the stains will come out. So now I bet you know what is on the top of my next grocery list-huh? What do you use to remove stains from vintage linens? How successful is it? Have you tried the Biz and Ivory Snow combo? Does it work?

While I was sitting here typing away about my treasure finds today, the UPS truck pulled up with a treasure I bought from shopgoodwill.com. My first bowl in the vintage turquoise (or aqua as I've seen the color called) Pyrex mixing bowl set!!! Now the hunt is on to locate the other three bowls-in great shape-and for a great price!

Part of me wants to say "shhh...don't tell anyone about shopgoodwill.com", so that the word doesn't get out and it becomes harder to get a good deal...but part of me wants to spread the word because it is for a charity. I've gotten two really good deals so far, and a third one is due to come sometime next week!!! Can't wait for it to arrive, and can't wait to show you!

How about you? How did your treasure-seeking go this weekend?

Next weekend, I am heading to Big Rapids for a graduation open-house for my cousin's daughter, and will be stopping at the Allegan Antiques Market (it is only the last Sunday of the month, April-September) with my mom. Then heading to the U.P. for more adventures with my parents at their house. Poor DH has to stay home and work.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a great weekend! Can't wait to see what treasures you found!