The Headline Reads:

Horses Roam Free Downtown

Is it ‘Nay’ or ‘Neigh’?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Urban Chicken

This post is dedicated to my favorite urban chicken farmer.  Chicken coops never looked so cool!

http://www.gcbl.org/image/trailer-hen-house

http://www.chickencribs.com

http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/11/18/chicken-heaven/

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Chicken-Coops/The-Saltbox-Coop-with-Run-3-4-chickens-p697.aspx

Record Breaking Attendance

…For me that is.  All in all, I attended 13 yardsales this weekend!  Surely there’s a prize for that or somethin’?  I am sad to say, it’s the tale of quantity vs. quality.  Maybe I should have scrounged up one more sale so my final count would have been a luckier number, but I only came home with these few finds.  But hey, at least I can share in the joy of some of the finds of the folks participating in the Thrifty Treasures Party at the Southern Hospitality Blog.

I was tickled to stumble upon this unique piece.  Have y’all ever seen a wicker chair with a back like this one?  I haven’t, so of course that makes it more of a reason to come home with me.

This little mirror called out to me.  Oddly enough, there’s dirt in the crevices of the detail.  One could only imagine why…I immediately think of my, what I call second mother, who completely lost her home to the wrath of Katrina.  When they went back to the spot they use to call home (mind you, the home was wiped clean to the foundation), they found one of her favorite ceramic plates, buried in mud, fully in tact.  Perhaps this little mirror can share with us exactly what happened that day in August, 2005.

And last, but not least oh-so very least is this chair that, well, I am not sure what possessed me to buy it.  It just ain’t pretty.  It’s orange, y’all! I think it was a cross between the fact that this was probably yardsale #11 that I visited and I hadn’t found anything spectacular as well as the fact that this avocado utility cart sold pretty quickly in our booth at the local antique mall, so I thought “Hmmmm, what if we have a regular visitor that is gung-ho for all things retro…let’s call it bait and see if they bite!”   I will say I found it quite interesting at what a difference a simple pillow makes in masking the ugliness, ummm, not-so-prettiness of this chair.  Lipstick and rouge, lipstick and rouge.  Take a look:

That’s it.  Like I said, it was quantity, not quality this week.  I will say, it was so humid this past Saturday morning, my feet were soaking wet from the dew of all the lawns I trampled this weekend.  Hope y’all had better luck than I did!

Monsoons and Chevrolets

OK, so I’m late getting my post up for my Saturday junkin’ excursion…what can I tell ‘ya?  I am adding to this post because I, along with the finds below, have decided to particpate in the Thrifty Treasures party over at the Southern Hospitality blog.  Yes, I know this post is a little dated, but I don’t get much traffic over here at Monkey Hill so it’s a new post to most!  Besides, much like the last time I participated in The Party, I am probably breakin’ all kinds of rules, but what can I say?  I have this strong desire to participate knowing there won’t be many parties ’til later on…kinda like savoring the last of the eggnog at New Year’s.  So let’s see….

I woke up to an absolute deluge, but that didn’t deter me from puttin’ on my yard salin’ shoes!  Granted I bypassed the flip flops and opted for the tennie pumps, knowing I would encounter many a soggy yard.  Perhaps you’re thinking to yourself, “Why would someone venture out in a monsoon to go yard saling?”  You see, rain will, in fact, keep most people in the bed early on a Saturday morning, so that means more opportunities for us die hards.  And while I didn’t exactly hit the mother lode (or is it motherload?), I am proud of my treasures, most of which have already made their way to the booth.

See that rocking chair?  $3.00.  And you know what?  He whispered to me on the way home that he’s rocked over 10,000 miles!

And that three tiered, what I call, chotzkie table?  $3.00.  It’s already being prepped for a makeover.  I’ll share before and after pictures later.

Oh, but wait!  The desk top clock was only a quarter.  So was the six shelf file organizer of which I am actually keeping for myself.  I make custom invitations on the side for a little extra yard salin’ money so its perfect for my over abundance of cardstock.

That antique clock on the mantle has to be an antique, right?  Oh wait…that is an electrical cord, isn’t it?  Hmmmm…. Oh well, it was only $1.00. I’m not sure if we’ll have any takers at the booth, but for a buck, its worth a shot to offer it up for the taking.

As I’ve mentioned before, one of my favorite things about yard salin’ (in addition to landing the Big One) is encountering interesting folks.  This past Saturday, I stopped at Rite Aid to get a Coke and a pack of crackers for breakfast…I know, I know.  Breakfast of champions, right?  Well, I purposefully stopped here to get cash back, hopefully in $5’s and $1’s.  When I made my request to the cashier, I explained I was going yard salin’ so I needed to have the right kinda money.  Her eyes lit up as she shared the story of landing an entire bedroom suite for only $75!  It’s funny how us yard salers have our stories of “The Day We Hit the Jackpot”.  I imagine its akin to people that collect antique cars.  My uncle, who is such an enthusiast, says that all car collectors have a story of how they happened upon an old 1957 Chevrolet in the far reaches of some old ladie’s barn off a dusty road in the middle of nowhere.  And not knowing the value of the car, the old lady sells it for practically nothing just to ‘get it out of the way.’

It’s my hope of the dusty ‘ol Chevrolet that drives this yard saler into a monsoon early on a Saturday morning.

Yard Salin’ with Ingrid Bergman

***Dang!  If you notice, you are at my post from last weekend’s party.  Mr. Linky and I got all tangled up and I ended up linking back to this old, stale, out of date, post.  If you care to read something thats a little more fresh, jump on over here. Granted, its nothing spectacular, but it ain’t on the 50% off rack just yet.***

I had great hopes for this Saturday’s junkin’ adventure.  I was up and at ’em first thing, landing at the first yard sale just a few minutes after 7:00a.m.  To me, the first yard sale helps set the tone for the rest of the day and today would be no different.  I scouted this particular sale online the night before and since it was in my neighborhood, I thought it would be a great place to start.  The advertisement gave the street address so I knew exactly where I was going, but I kept my eye out for signs as I was hoping for the additional information as a back up.  I have been known to read yard sale advertisements on the internet, only to realize the advertisement was for a sale that took place the weekend prior.  Oopsie.

I caught a glimpse of the word “HUGE” on a small,wilted, sign as I approached the street.  Lucky for me, I was looking for it, but had I not, and were going down this busy street at my normal speed, I may have missed it.  Not to mention the humidity in my neck of the woods wreaks total havoc on a yardsale sign not having the proper support (imagine nailing a wet paper towel to a pole).  Then again, every Saturday morning between 7 and 12, I have my eyes peeled for flourescent colored signs, no matter the size, or sturdiness.  Little beacons from afar!

I approached the yardsale with optimism.  The sign was right, it was HUGE.  Only, I didn’t find a HUGE amount of treasures to take home.  I enjoyed a brief conversation with the yardsale host regarding the fact that no matter how hard you try, it’s nearly impossible to open yardsale shop on time.  (Arrive early, and you are sure to witness a frenzy of activity.)  If you recall from my last eventful yard saling episode, part of the pleasure I receive from yardsaling comes in the form of my encounters with yardsale hosts.  I left with two items:  a clock of which I paid too much for and a small ceramic pitcher of which I didn’t pay enough.

I followed my usual yardsale circuit, noticing along the way there weren’t many yardsalers out and about…oh the luck to have it all to myself!  However, after stopping at a few here and there, I began to realize my fellow yardsalers must have thrown in the towel early as I know I wasn’t having much luck myself.  Yet again, the parallels of yardsaling and fishing.  Sometimes you land the Big One and have fruitful results, sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes you put your fishing poles away early and find something else to do, sometimes you stay the course because you never know when the Big One will bite, and it’s a nice day, and the beer is cold, and you are just plain enjoying yourself….  I digress.

Where was I?  Oh, the last yardsale on the circuit landed me this cute retro, avocado green utility cart.  I thought it might make an interesting addition to our booth at the local antique mall.

By this time, it was a little after 9:00a.m. and I still had plenty of yard sale time to book, so I ventured outside of my usual territory which proved to be a good move on my part.  Again, with my eyes peeled for the famous flourescent beacons, I found myself at the side-by-side yard sale.  You know, two houses, two yard sales, one stop.  Score!  Both of these were also very large and I knew for certain I wouldn’t leave empty handed.  I was right!  I landed this white vintage (buzz word for ‘old’) American Tourister, what I’ll call, weekend suitcase as well as this blue egg-shaped vintage carrying case for carrying, oh, I don’t know, scarves, make-up…little plastic army men?

And last but not least, this beauty!  The yardsale hostess pointed out the fact that this was not a piece of luggage but rather a carrying case of sorts.  It still had the hardware in it where the ‘widget’ it use to carry was attached.  I thought, record player?  Old camera maybe?  I was super excited about this piece because I noticed while carrying it from the yardsale to the car, I had a different swing in my step, a swagger even.  The mental picture of myself circa 1952 in a London Fog raincoat jet-setting off somewhere fabulous a la’ Ingrid Bergman…. I digress.  Again.

I came home and by the power of the internet, I learned it was the carrying case for an old Singer 301 sewing machine.  Maybe that’s the obvious answer to some folks, but heck, I didn’t know!  I did feel a little smarter about the world having solved the mystery.

So we all know vintage suitecase are all the rage these days, but what to do with one?  I am in awe of the creative ability of the people I encounter in blogland.  Using some of the inspiration I found for uses of old suitcases (see pictures below) I thought this particular case, given its trapezoid shape, would make a cool laptap carrier.  Admittedly, I struggled to come up with just that one idea as sometimes I have a hard time thinking outside the box, vintage suitecase.  Hardy-har-har. Take a look at a few of the ideas I found.  What would you do with one?  Or three?  Or twenty!?

photo credit:  http://greenisthenewblue.blogspot.com

photo credit:  http://bitterbettyindustries.blogspot.com

photocredit:  www.poetichome.com

By the way, I am oh so excited to be a second time participant in the Thrifty Mondays Party over at the Southern Hospitality blog.  Won’t you join in on the thrifty fun?