Two Barking Dogs

I plan to keep a running log of my yard sale escapades for 2008 on this page. Might be interesting, then again? who knows, it may just be a way of me remembering what the heck I did this year!

12/4/08: Pfft.  All done for the year. (Except there is a huge rummage sale on Saturday …. )

11/1/08: I think its time to give up my Yardsale Badge of Honor.  I passed on three really good/big rummage sales today.  I was just too damned tired to get out of bed before the sun came up.  Things are quieting down here now anyway.  The season is pretty much over.

10/4/08: I did four drive-by’s and didn’t stop at one yard sale.  Things are winding down here, with a couple of more good weekends ahead of us.  I plan to go out for a bit next Saturday, but that might just be it for the rest of the year.  Next?  Church and School and Christmas Fund Raisers!

9/27/8: Rained out for yard sales! I did get to the two thrifts before they closed at 2pm and picked up a couple of books at 1/2 price.  I’m annoyed at one of the thrifts .. in Herndon ..  they have started printing eBay prices out and taping them to their “collectibles” in the cabinets.  The way I look at it, eBay gets those prices because millions of people looking for that widget can find it.  Of the hundreds going to the thrift store any given week, many won’t even know what that widget is.  I am about to give up on this thrift completely because of other things, mostly having to do with OVER PRICING!  I did overhear one lady say that the Reston Public Library was having its fund-raising sale!  Woohoo! I headed over there, saw a couple of people I knew, said hi and hit the stacks.  I came away with a huge bag of cookbooks (what else?) 36 books for $40.  The only ones worth selling are the ones I want to keep for me!

9/20/8: I spent the whole day, well from 8am to 12noon out hitting as many yardsales as I could.  I started in my own community, but a lot of the sales started at 9am so I moved on to another huge community that was having its sale.  Not bad!  It was fun to get out and sale all day, but I was out of practice and it seemed like it took me forever to get going.  Had to stop at the bank, and get gas, and coffee, etc.  Usually, I do all that the day before!

9/13/8: There are a lot of community sales in the area and I intend to get up early and hit9 them all.  (Yeah, right she says.)

8/30/8: Re: Yard Sales – I bought nothing.  Re: Thrift Stores – I bought stuff!  I’m beginning to think that I’m becoming a thrifter instead of a saler.

8/23/8 (Saturday): Pffft.

8/22/8 (Friday): Went out to an Estate Sale that I thought I knew exactly where it was.  I was wrong.  Drove around for an hour.  Never found it.  Pffftttt.

8/16/8: Sleep. Lots of it.

8/9/8: One sale. That’s it. Pffft! (But I did find a few goodies at that sale and at the thrift store.)

08/02/08: I haven’t checked the ads yet for Saturday, but I really need a YS fix! I’m going to head out early, not travel too far from home (hopefully) and stop and make a final donation of leftovers from my own yardsale a couple of weeks ago. Its supposed to be VERY hot this weekend. Well, what the heck, it is August after all!

07/19/08: I stopped at only a few yard sales in the neighborhood on the way to the drop off stuff at the thrift store. I didn’t buy a thing at any of the overpriced sales. Besides, it was too damned hot to get enthusiastic about anyone’s yard sale.

07/12/08: Had my own yard sale. It was a lot of work, but I did get rid of a bunch of stuff.

07/12/08: There is a sale at the Manassas (VA) Volunteer Fire Department Fire House on Saturday the 12th. I am seriously thinking about hauling a bunch of stuff down there to sell. As a matter of fact, I am surrounded by piles of stuff that need to be wrapped up and put in boxes just for this reason. I am almost overwhelmed by the amount of stuff and beginning to waffle in my decision to sell at the sale. A lot of work involved. UPDATE: I’m going to have my own yardsale on Saturday. Its just too much work to schlep everything somewhere else, when I can just schlep out the front door.

06/20/08: Slept late and stayed home. Oh well.

06/13/08: I have off from work today, and decided to make a quick tour of a couple of thrift stores. I did really well at one of the thrifts with some vintage sewing patterns at 25% off the .25 or .50 price.

06/07/08: My absolute favorite church sale, and its only about 3 minutes from home! Yes! There are also a couple of good community sales in the area that won’t require loads of driving (gas). I am going to drop off a couple of bags of books to the church on Friday afternoon and see if I can get an early look at what they’re selling this year. * Update * … I did get a few things at sale this year, and it was well worth it!

05/31/08: Not much to write home about! Found a few nice pieces of crystal and some Pyrex at one sale. I gave up about 10:00 and headed home. It wasn’t the best day for sales. Mostly, it looked like kids’ paradise or maybe a Toys R Us had exploded.

05/24/08: I slept in this past Saturday courtesy of a couple of Benadryl (allergies). And, I don’t think I missed out on much, it was a holiday weekend and the weather was beautiful. I stopped at one sale on the way to the grocery store and bought a great old ceramic cannister set, a cookbook, and a box of tea.

05/17/08: Took both dogs with me again, left the house by 7:30. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and the weather was clear and cool in the morning. I stayed closed to home and got a few things … a couple of cookbooks, an old Kodak camera, two Pyrex baking dishes, a pretty iridescent milk glass dish, and a big bag of tennis balls for the dogs.

5/11/08 (Sunday): I’m going to go out and look for some rescheduled sales tomorrow morning. Not too sure that I will find any due to the fact that its Mother’s Day! Forget it. Just heard the weather report–its supposed to rain most of tomorrow.

05/10/08: It has been pouring rain off and on all day so far. This morning was a wash-out! EXCEPT for the Boy Scout Yard Sale (INSIDE) at the Dulles Expo. I was up and 6:30 a.m. and out the door by 7:00 a.m. I had a cup of coffee along the way, stopped at the Post Office, and was number 50 in line by 7:45 a.m. Doors opened a little after 8:00 a.m. I probably could have spent a few hours there, but after I filled my two tote bags up, I decided to head on home.

Here are a couple of photos from the Boy Scout Sale:

05/03/08: I left the house at 7:45 a.m. with the two dogs in tow. I stopped at a sale around the corner and bought a couple of things. Then, off to the bank, Burger King for coffee, and gas station. The next yard sale was in a familiar neighborhood and I was following signs. It wasn’t until I was at the house that I realized I had been to this house before and had been totally not impressed (I bought a cookbook there last year that had maggots in it! Yuck!). But, I was there, so I decided to check it out anyway. Well. I was nicely surprised. I bought four silk scarves for myself. Really very pretty. Next it was to a couple of community sales that actually did have the whole neighborhood participating! Cosmo started to complain about 10:00, so I headed home to drop them off and went off to the grocery store via my favorite thrift store where I donated some eBay duds.

While I was at the thrift store, I had to look around, and in one of the display cases there was a vintage leather covered Ronson lighter, cigarette case, and ash try set … that looked very familiar. Of course! I paid 25 cents for it at a church sale last year and ended up donating it to the thrift where they have it in the case with a $55 price take on it. Good luck with that!

Somewhere along the line I stopped at the Farmer’s Market and bought some Asian greens (can’t remember the name), some ramps (wild onions) and some wonderful strawberries.

04/26/08 (Virginia): Left the house at 7:45 a.m. and took both dogs with me. Diabolical plan that was … bring the dogs then there’s not a lot of space to fit junk in the back seat of the truck! There were hundreds of yard sales listed on Craig’s List for today. One, in particular, billed itself as a “Huge Community Yard Sale with over 300 homes participating.” Yeah, right. Thanks to all 10 of you that did put out your dollar store junk! I bought a couple of things that really don’t warrant any photos in the Treasures or Junk Thread. I bought a bunch of Lego Bionicles, a bag of new pot pourri, three Mikasa bowls and a couple of board games. Woohoo! Spent a total of $6.00 today! Mostly, all I saw was overpriced junk (paperback books @ $5.00 each, DVDs @ $7.00, VHS @ $3.00, Used Crap …. Priceless.) I guess I shouldn’t complain seeing as how well I did yesterday, but with the cost of gas these days … I am going to stick to sales closer to home and community sales will be first on the rounds next week.

04/25/08 (Virginia): ” Huge sale !!! Lots Of stuff!! 50 years of household and garage items.” It was not so “huge” but they did have things priced to sell. I passed on a mildewed Washington Redskins Bowling Bag ($1) and a bunch of dollar store stuff. It looked like the older kids were cleaning out mom’s house after she passed away. Not a lot of furniture left, but I did find a few treasures (in my opinion). I spent a total of $4.25 and have posted pictures of some of the more interesting items in the “Treasures or Junk” thread.

04/19/08 (Florida): Up and out of the house by 7:30 a.m. First stop was a great church sale where I found loads of bargains, then a boy scout sale at the Elks Club (lousy) and another community sale (bad). Then, six yard sales all within easy driving distance of home. I found a few bargains and some keepers too. Not a bad day! And, the weather is gorgeous today. Up to about 80 by this afternoon. I used the Rand McNally Web Site to map out my route. This was a very good find also.

04/12/08 (Florida): Again, up at the crack of dawn, rousted my mom out of bed, and we hit the road for a very large community sale about 30 mins away. Didn’t find much of note … a plastic bin for the dog food, a very large bag of sewing patterns from the 60’s to 80’s. That’s about it. Wouldn’t make the trip for these sales again as it was too much driving for very little substance. http://www.palmbaygaragesales.com/

04/05/08 (Virginia): I got up at the crack of dawn to go to a yard sale and then to two church fund raiser/rummage sales. I didn’t buy a think at the yard sale, and only bought a couple of things at one of the church sales. Not a stellar start to my bargain hunting this year – home by 10:00 a.m. Posted a couple of pictures in the “Treasures” thread. The church is very nearby, but not one that I have been to before. I avoid the organized Estate Sales in this area after a couple of bad experiences – nasty people, high prices. Check back for an updated thread in “Treasurer Keepers” for any mentionable items. )

3/21/08 (Virginia): I wimped out and did not go out at all today. I am suffering from allergies and sinuses and overall malaise due to the fact that I can’t breathe and my head hurts. Oh well, there’s always next week!

3/16/08 (Virginia): I did go to the book sale on Sunday and found it extremely difficult to fill even one bag. I heard some book dealers in line ahead of me say that they usually come in on Saturday before the Sunday with the bag sale and check out the books to see if there is anything they want to come back for on Sunday. One guy said he comes in near closing time, and hides his books in another section of the store, then makes sure he is the first one in line on Sunday so he goes straight for the hidden items. That is just not right.