Archive for May 28th, 2005
Saturday, May 28th, 2005A Day of Yard Sales
Today the wind blew the tops of the pines and made beautiful music with my wind chimes. The sun burned hot and took the edge off the breeze.
“Let’s go to yard sales today, ” I suggested to Kip.
We took our time thumbing through the newspaper and circling the sales that looked best. It is always a little tricky to pick out the right ones. I have been burned a few times by advertisements that herald an “Estate Sale not to be missed” or “Great antiques.” Too many times I have driven to these sales to find that antiques are really Aunt Mary’s old dishes with cracks and chips from ten years ago; or the estate is really a single wide motor home with thirty engineless vehicles strewn over five acres of puckerbrush and poison oak.
Today we got lucky with our choices. We found some treasures like an antique enameled cream pitcher with a pretty lid (perfect for a fresh cut bunch of flowers), and a tiny watering can with nice copper accents, and an old wrought iron gate whose perfect scrolled features will look great in the garden with a tangle of climbing roses wound around them. Kip spent some time chatting with an elderly man who was cleaning out his tools. He snagged a wonderful grinder and some clamps he had wanted. At one stop, there wasn’t a lot of great stuff, but the seller had just brought home a seven week old Rottweiler puppy and I enjoyed the heavenly scent of puppy breath and the painful but sweet feel of sharp puppy teeth against my skin.
We stopped at the market on the way home to get some food for supper; and I bought a colorful spring bouquet to go in my “new” cream pitcher. On the drive back up the moutain the wind blew the green smell of the meadows and the sharp tang of the pines through the open window, while our purchases rattled in the back seat.