A Treasure Trove in Tropical Temperatures

I've been staying away from treasure hunting lately because I've been focused on decreasing, not increasing, my belongings, but this was an extravaganza event and I had specific goals. One of the thrift shops was having a big parking lot sale - fill a bag or box, haul it away, and just pay them what you think it's worth, or, if you couldn't decide, then $7 for a giant black garbage bag or box full. They'd been overwhelmed with donations and had spent a week trying to pick through it best they could in the heat and decided it just needed to be reduced asap. I was on the hunt for some of the last items needed for faerie garb and for baby and kid clothes for my grandkids.

The temperature has been hovering around 100 all weekend, plus the ever present smoke. I first discovered the sale on Friday. I only had an hour before they closed to nose through stuff. I got so "into" the hunt that I almost passed out from the heat - oops. The shop manager gave me a bottle of water and I recouped enough to drag myself stuff out to my car and home.

I went back Saturday, right after I went to Farmer's Market as the two events were right across the street from each other. (Yah, I remembered to go to the Farmer's Market! I have lots of tasty fruits and vegetables!) I spent about forty minutes at the market and then went to the parking lot sale. This time I remembered to bring water (which I left in the car and it turned so hot I couldn't drink it!) and spent another couple of hours sifting through the huge asphalt field of boxes and bags. One of my finds was two outdoor chairs (we only have three and that's not enough when anyone comes to visit) and three really nice indoor chairs for the dining room. Somehow we go through chairs in this family like other families go through .... I don't know, toilet paper. We're always breaking them and ending up with a net loss of chairs every six months or so. So, I got five chairs for.... are you ready for this.... $8.

I brought all my boxes and chairs home and called for Hubby and William to come help unload them from the car. Hubby got there first and we had all but one chair unloaded into the front yard when William showed up. He spread his hands in disgust and said "Mom, what is this! More chairs!? We don't need any more chairs! Do you realize how white trash this looks!? Mom! Com'n. Why?"

I looked around and laughed. Sure enough, there were chairs, hammocks and loungers lined up literally from one end of the front yard to the other. I told him I'd decided to "Embrace my inner white trash!" He was not amused.

Here's a photo, you can't really see all the chairs, but you get the idea. The red ones are the new outdoor ones. I'm not thrilled with the cushions but they'll do for now, or maybe I'll cover them or buy new cushions on sale at the end of the year. On the other side of the sidewalk you can see the metal framed blonde wicker (rattan? What do you call that natural woven pattern?) chair. I got one like that and two matching ones with arms. They're in really excellent and sturdy condition. After I took the photo they went indoors for our dining room table.


But if you look the other direction, the front yard looks much prettier. This is what you see when you're sitting in one of those "ugly" chairs. Hmmm, I think it's time to mow the lawn. Maybe some night, in the dark, when it's cool?

I might have remembered to bring water but I was really stupid to forget that I was wearing a low cut tank top. I leaned over with my hair hanging down and my back and shoulders exposed in 100 degree temperatures for over two hours!!!! After I'd unloaded the car yesterday, and moved the chairs inside, the guys both went off to work and I went inside to lay down "for a few minutes". A few minutes ended up being a three and a half hour nap!!! I woke up and realized I was in pain. I can't believe I didn't think about sunburn. I've been hiding from the sun for so many weeks now that I just didn't think about the rules of being outdoors.

Today, again, I'm so sick and tired of hiding from the smoke and heat I decided I'd take a walk regardless - I'd just walk slow. At around the one mile mark my eyes were burning and my lungs hurt. Stupid me. But it's so frustrating to be stuck in the house.

Anyway, my hours of treasure hunting were well worth the pain and suffering. I found a huge box of clothes and baby items for Noel's three kids and baby-to-be (literally any day now!) I found another stack of great stuff for my other grandbaby Joli. I found a pair of black work pants for William and several pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt for Hubby. I found an entire box of ribbons, glitter, beads, buttons, garlands, and fabric. And another box full of clothing for costumes and for refashioning projects.

And I found some other stuff, some practical things like an iced tea jar and a package of new pens and things like that, which I won't bore you with. And some other things I thought you'd enjoy seeing.

I found all sorts of wonderful new scarves. I've definitely got a scarf fetish going. But, I didn't bring home all the scarves I saw, just the ones that caught my eye. People are always getting rid of scarves, they just don't know what to do with them I guess. Hmmm, I just realized there were two more I already put in my bedroom. And another great big giant shawl sized one, forgot to put that one in the photo too. There's a cat's ear in the corner - he kept trying to stick his butt in the photo and I had to snap this photo quickly before he sashayed back into the middle of the shot again. And can you see Rosie peeking out behind the scarves? Seems my photos are never pet free. Some are silk, some are cotton, some are just silky polyester. The scarves, not the pets.


This is a cute little heart shaped wire basket for outdoors. The little doggies and bone are a stacking toy, like those Russian dolls. I thought the grandkids would get a kick out of them. Last but not least, a rabbit made entirely out of shells. Come on, you can't tell me you could pass up something as ugly cute as a rabbit made entirely out of shells, could you!? We actually had a children's story when my boys were young about a rabbit that travels under the sea to visit a mermaid. So, I had to have him.


The stack of plates are a plastic set with vegetables on it - very cute and hopefully will be an alternative to my family taking our breakable dishware outside. On top of those is a pearlescent pink dish and a ceramic butterfly. The bowl to the right is old china. It's got a few tiny chips under the rim but I bought it for display, it has a sort of Marie Antoinette French scene in it. You can see it better if you click to enlarge. The front china plate is newer and in good shape and I couldn't resist the bind weed and little ladybug.


An odd collection - a children's Halloween book for my collection, a sweet Mary Engelbreit book, a antique set of metal circular needles still in the package, a tiny pink burlap gift bag with a metal flower on it, and a very heavy plaque for the garden wall with a unicorn on it. I liked the whimsey of it.


A metal framed glass tray, a set of Indian tins, an inlaid shell copper bowl, a little brown creamer with gold swirls painted on it, and some beautiful old silver. The silverware was the only thing I paid more than pennies per item for. I paid $10 for all of it. I particularly liked the gold plated serving spoon and the five iced tea length spoons. The others were cheaper and I figured maybe I could use them for some art work. But I love iced tea spoons and I'll really use them in the kitchen. Heck, I'll probably polish it all up and use it.


A little rose coaster, some silk autumn leaves for the faerie wear, and a neat old tote bag in black and white.

Three poppies in a row for garden candles. They're a little more colorful than the photo makes them out to be, but they do have a sort of faded artsy look to them.

A little picnic table for the kids to play with or maybe for the faeries out in the garden to use. Two little sheep and a rubber duck came home with me too, for the grandkids to play with, and they're all ready for a picnic.


And the last photo, a box of old Scrabble pieces for crafting, a totem pole for Sam, who collects odd "sculpture from around the world" for his house (and never reads my blog so it's safe to show you even though it's a gift item), a tea ball, two metal butterfly frames (I already have a couple of these tucked away in a box of things my mom gave me, so now I'll have a whole row of them), and two old brooches for pinning my scarves.

So, that's it. An exhausting but successful weekend of treasuring. Argggggh! A shipload (Subie load?) full of booty, me maties! A pirate's life for me!