Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Cheryl Butts In: A Weekend Not Doing What I Was Supposed to Be Doing

I'm lucky enough to have not one, but 2 guest posters this week.  First, Cheryl took pity on me one more time and sent me this wonderful post and second, Di at "Cook The TV" sent me an awesome recipe post that I will be sharing with you on Thursday. (I love the name of her blog and her recipes are so good!)  Me?  My friend Judy is here helping me with some last minute details and I'm getting ready to move!  In the meantime, please welcome Cheryl In Wisconsin once again!!



In my last post I commented on the arrival of spring in a place where we so desperately need it.  Nature has furthered her momentum, the signs are everywhere.  There are robins outside.  (The photo above is of an old stained glass window I had placed on my front porch – last year the robins built the nest there and hatched out three rounds of robinettes.  I’m just waiting for them to reclaim it as a sanctuary.)  I can hear the roar of Harley Davidsons.  And my mother called me to invite me to go to a Garage Sale.
**blink      blink blink blink**
My aunt had called my mother and asked her to let me know about this particular sale.  She promised that there were things that I would like, and the prices were reasonable.  I briefly considered this weekend’s to-do list and seconds later agreed that a garage sale is exactly where I should be.   (It’s important that I mention here that much of the to-do list consists of eliminating things from my house, not adding.)
So, at 8 a.m. Saturday morning we headed to the tiny town where the sale was being held.  It was hostessed by a fascinating woman who was in the process of moving into the little farmette and needed to downsize.  Please allow me to share my haul with you:


First, this old wooden crate, a wine box?  It had aged beautifully.  I can picture this with caster wheels and used in my living room.  I modified it a bit by using a sharpie and an antique stencil I had purchased on eBay from a seller in England:


I could not resist these croquet balls, complete with basket.  I’m not sure how I will use them yet.

This sheep baaa-ed at me from its spot in the sale.

It stands guard on my front porch, greeting visitors.  (Please do not look too closely at the chippy paint on my porch posts.  I LOVE chippy paint, just not actually ON the house.  Painting porch posts is one of the entries on that elusive to-do list.)

A wooden pig cutting board, advertising McMillen’s in St. Paul.  I want to hang this guy up somewhere in the kitchen.

“A&P Bread Contest Winner
W.F. Rogers
1937”
I adore it.



This small tureen came with the original ceramic ladle.  I wonder what kind of stories this would tell if it could.
These gallon jars are not old, you can still pick them up new.  However the price was fabulous and I bought four of them.  I already owned two, they sit on my ‘craft table’ holding door knobs and misc. metal parts.  Can’t you just picture a grouping of all six?  These four may hold doilies, silverware, croquet balls, whatever.  Visual storage.  Form AND function.
The most incredible part of this story?  I paid TWENTY DOLLARS for the entire lot.  Blowing off my chores to visit this sale was a good decision.  Plus, I got to spend some quality time with my mom.
Sunday was a to-do list bust also.  Michael Perry is an author who writes about life in rural Wisconsin.  He is hilarious, when I read his books I laugh out loud.  He made an appearance at our local theatre, an anonymous donor had paid to have him here, admission to the event was a donation to the local food pantry.  He regaled the crowd with his stories and it was an entire audience laughing out loud.  This man offers such a gift to his readers.  I recommend his books to anyone who enjoys a bit of humor about the human spirit.
So, here I sit with a messy house but the enjoyment I got from this weekend’s activities was worth it.  There’s always next weekend, right?
Danni, keep on keepin’ on, girl.  Your to-do list is much more impressive than mine.
   

 
 
 
 

39 comments:

  1. I can hardly wait till move in day! Good luck.

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  2. Good luck with the move Danni! Cheryl scored some great items. I especially love the pig and the A&P tray. We always shopped at the A&P when I was a little girl. We don't have those stores here anymore and I haven't thought about it in years. Have a great week.

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    1. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. I think they're only on the east coast now. We had one in this little town while I was growing up. I can still picture it.

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  3. Great haul Cheryl... and all for $20?!! That's fabulous! I especially love the box, the croquet balls, and that A&P tray. Garage sales are always so much fun. I can't wait for the warm weather to get out to some myself.Good luck with the move Danni!

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    1. Exactly, Tuula, I was going through garage sale withdrawal. Especially this type of sale.

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  4. My word Cheryl, what a haul! Love everything, especially the sheep! I can envision making decorative tops on the lovely glass jars you have. I'm working on a post about decorative tops . . . wish I had these instead of mason jars. Have you been considering doing your own blog? Didn't you miss posting? You're wasting your talents, dear Cheryl!

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    1. Thank you, Gail. As of yesterday morning, the sheep has snow on its head (but I am ignoring it)! I will keep my eye open for your post about decorative tops for the jars.

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  5. I was thrilled FOR you when I saw all the great things you found at the garage sale! What a fun day...so glad you didn't miss it. Twenty bucks? Perfect day!

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    1. Thanks, Tina, I was thrilled for me also. I could have purchased even more if I had additional trunk space and more twenties in my pocket!

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  6. Twenty dollars is indeed a deal! I love those croquet balls. :)

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    1. Aren't they fun? Right now they look quite handsome in one of those glass jars.

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  7. I am pretty sure I have that same sheep. It guards my kitchen...keeps my cookies safe. Great finds! :)

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    1. If that's the case then I believe I will move the sheep into the kitchen. My cookies could use a looking after.

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  8. Anther fun post, with a sheep of incredible cuteness! I want her!

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    1. My mom did a double take when she saw me heading to the car with the sheep. Its incredible cuteness made it irresistible. I did not 'need' a sheep as much as I did not 'need' to go to that sale. Fun prevailed.

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  9. SHEEEEEP! I am in love! Also pig! A&P Bread Winner is a winner. (My grandfather called the store The Tea Store.) Great finds trump a clean house any day and any time. I was so happy to see you here while Danni toils away. Go, Danni, go - you are almost at the finish line.

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    1. Danni is soooo close.... I am waiting for my invite to the housewarming party.

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  10. I love the sheep, but seriously the croquet balls are just so very cool

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    1. Thanks, Mel. I'm trying to come up with something fabulous to do with them. But they're quite striking 'just sitting there'.

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  11. I'm so jealous of your haul! I LOVE that sheep and, well, everything else, too.

    I got over apologizing for my house needing work when I realized that the people I knew with perfect homes were not the kind of people I wanted to hang out with.

    I'm loving your posts. Are you thinking about doing a blog yet?

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    1. Baye, then you & I could definitely hang out. Years ago I was compulsive about cleaning before anyone came over. Then one day I didn't get it done and I observed that.... they didn't care!

      I'm still playing around with the blog idea.

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  12. Twenty dollars?! You paid twenty dollars for all that wonderful stuff?! Oh, my!! What a steal and I absolutely adore that sheep!! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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    1. Marci, when we first arrived at this sale it was just us, no other customers. Still I felt I had to squelch the desire to do some type of NFL dive on these things as I saw them. "Mine!"

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  13. Holy Poo girl. I was going to say I love the wine box. Then I was going to say I love the sheep. But then I was going to say I love the pig. It turns out I love everything you got and I'm bloody jealous. No, I'm not British, but I love saying bloody! Congrats on your amazing finds!

    I want to go garbage saling!!!

    -andi

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  14. Now that you have stolen Mary's little lamb at the most amazing garage sale ever, I hope you will post more, taunting us with your incredible finds! Love it all Cheryl!

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  15. Twenty bucks? Dahhaammm I want your mom and aunt to call me to go to sales, they obviously know where to hang.

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    1. To top it off, they are very fun ladies. You'd enjoy them.

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  16. Hi Cheryl,

    My gosh!! 20 bucks?!?!! Best decision ever!!! Love the lamb! What fun with mom and aunt, too:) Keep bringing us the good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. The Easter macaroons are fabulous. I'm picturing a plate of those under a glass dome for the table... except they'd be so pretty I wouldn't let anyone eat them!

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  17. You had me at the Sharpie marker stencil trick on the wine box. You didn't even have to go any further, but woo! I'm so glad you did. I'd gladly give up my to-do list for a jack pot of good like that. Best of all you got to hang out with your mom while shopping!

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    1. Thanks, Amy. The stencil is metal and so old - I believe the wine merchant it advertises existed in the mid-1800's - so I didn't want to use paint on it. The sharpie worked its magic!

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  18. Oh man! That was a great haul! I have a jar like the ones you got, and I would love to have six of them! But that sheep...AMAZING! I miss Dani, but I love hearing from you as well. Thanks for helping out!

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  19. You got all that for only $20.00?? Wow, now that is what I call bargain shopping at it's best!
    Debbie :)

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  20. I love the croquet balls in the basket! And those jars, I have them in my kitchen, even though they are everywhere, I still love them. What a cool shopping trip, love what you brought home! You're so sweet to help Danni out.

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  21. As everyone says, everything here is wonderful Danni! The tureen is adorable, my mom love collecting this. I remember when she purchased rabbit tureen back in England three years ago and it lives until now in her collection cabinets. Thanks for sharing this wonderful collection, gorgeous!

    Sebastian of
    Bali Hut Super Store

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