Dave and I just had the best yard-saling weekend ever. Yard-saling involves yard/garage sales (good), estate sales (better) and rummage sales (best). We’ve gotten some great finds at yard/garage sales, but with estate sales, everything in the whole house is for sale and rummage sales are that on a giant scale. But do be respectful and say that you are sorry for their loss at the estate sales. They’re selling all Grandma’s stuff because Grandma isn’t coming back.
What made our recent outing the best ever is the ladder we got for $20 that does some fancy flip-floppy things and is a lot safer than the sketchy piece of equipment that tried to kill our son’s wife recently.
We also got a three-pot crockpot for $5 that’s going to be awesome for Thanksgiving. I’m thinking mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls in those pots. We got a nice pair of loppers for six bucks that’s going to do some damage to the low-hanging branches that keep trying to drag Dave off the tractor when he’s mowing. Dave can get a little payback on those things.
Two of the best deals we got were grills — one charcoal and one gas. Our son questioned my reasoning on the gas grill. “You’re never going to use it. You’re afraid of it,” he said. True, I have been afraid of lighting gas grills. I don’t like things that go ‘poof!’ when you light them and I do like having eyebrows.
All the grills we’ve had before had worn out igniters. They had to be lit by hand with a grill clicker. The one we got for $30 is like brand new and easy to light. Dave and I tested it out the other day making s’mores. A horrible sticky reminder of why I don’t ever eat marshmallows. The one good takeaway from that mess is that I learned how to light the grill by myself. And no poof!
I admit I never did much grilling in my lifetime. Hardly ever touched one before we got the little electric one. It’s free-standing for outside cooking and plugs in like an electric skillet. That one stayed at our camper until I thought it was the cause of our super-high light bill there. So I brought it home and did all my grilling on the back patio. First time I’ve ever grilled anything in the 28 years we’ve lived here. Then we discovered the little grill was not the reason for the scary electric bill and back to the camper it went. And the new (to us) gas grill is in its place. How cool is this?
The little charcoal grill is the cutest thing, probably born in the ‘60s or ‘70s. It comes in a small round zippered case about the size of a hat box (dated myself there, I guess). In the top is a small insulated cooler-type area, suitable for a pack of hot dogs and a freezie. In the bottom is where the grill is kept. Pop it out, attach the legs, drop in the bottom grate, add charcoal and top it off with the cooking grate. Adorable for a quick cookout at the park.
Or a great addition to my Oh Sh*t Kit for when the power goes out for an extended period of time. I also hoard water, have a battery operated fan, lights and radio, an old-school wind up clock, percolator coffee pot and a propane-powered curling iron. All the essentials. And my hair will even look as good as it usually does. Alrighty then.
One of our main goals in our yard-saling is Christmas gifts. The people we buy for don’t mind second-hand stuff. It’s only September, but if our shopping days were done right now, we’d have a blessed holiday. I even have everything I need for my co-workers. Last year was my rookie seaons, but I’ve got this game figured out for this year.
My greatest find this shopping season was a SaladMaster grater/slicer/shredder and five cutting cones just like the one I inherited from my great-grandmother. I recall my aunt using it in the early ‘70s and telling me a little blood in the coleslaw wouldn’t hurt anybody. But I think it’s really much older than that.
I had never seen another one until Dave and I hit the church rummage sale. I was so excited I was literally gushing. It was brand new in the box and it was marked $1. I would’ve have paid $50 for it. It’s almost identical to the one I have, except it’s got brand new suction cups to stick it to the counter and one slicing cone I never had before. And it’s all American made — the non-electric hand slicer/grater/shredder is made in Waterloo, IN, the box it came in was made in Fort Worth, TX, and it was shipped from Tennessee. Woo-hoo!
I can’t wait til our next yard-saling excursion and all the great finds we may encounter.
