It was $2 at a yard sale. I saw it in a pile, just a small glimpse, but I knew... I dug it out, and had to restrain myself from doing the happy dance right there in a stranger's garage! And it goes all the way to the floor! And I'm 5'9"! It is in great shape. A seam under the arm has come apart, but that is an easy fix. The embroidery is near perfect. Now where does one wear a Mexican embroidered dress in 45 degree weather? I had planned on wearing a shorter version, if I ever found one, with jeans and boots.
I stopped by a great estate sale with lots and lots of rusty stuff a few weeks ago while the Old Hippie was at work.... This wasn't one of those over-priced estate sales coordinated by a third party. This was more like a garage sale given by the family.
This old, galvanized animal trap was $5.
It opens at both ends! The Old Hippie had to make a few quick adjustments, and it works perfectly. We finally caught the raccoon that had been draining all the hummingbird feeders. He has a new home at the river south of town.
I paid $2 for this hand-made and obviously well-used stool. I imagine this was part of the daily life of the little old woman who lived in the house, and it has absorbed bits of her energy over the years. How many grandchildren have stood on this stool to reach a cup from the cabinet or help stir cake batter?
This rusty old, hanging basket was 50 cents.
One hand-hammered, aluminum pitcher....
...with a double-knotted handle. This is truly a treasure, and only $2!
I really didn't know what this was until I asked. The man said that his mother had this on the front porch for the milk deliveries. It was $1. I am still unsure of its original purpose, but it will have a place in the garden in the Spring. For now, it is the perfect size to neatly hold the newspapers in the garage before they are taken to recycle. We only shred newspapers to add to the compost pile when all the dry leaves are gone later in the winter.
A small galvanized garbage pail, complete with lid, $2. Sure it's rusty and has a few holes, but will have dozens of uses in the potting shed.
One old, aluminum kettle. One buck. No holes and the handle is still in very good condition.
Now this is something you don't see every day. What you do see every day on I-30 are trailer loads of hay headed southwest.... round bales, square bales (something I've never understood because they are not square, they are rectangular), and the biggest, tightest square bales I've ever seen. Bigger than round bales.
On a much different note, where in the world can you buy a decent dish towel at retail? I've found polyester ones that absolutely do not absorb a drop. They just spread it out evenly. I've found WHITE ones??? I don't know about you, but I'd have to bleach them after every use because the Old Hippie somehow cannot make a pot of coffee without having to mop up at least half a cup from the counter with the previously mentioned white dish towel. The white ones that I do find have edging in a bright color that doesn't last through the bleachings.
The only place I can find a good dish towel these days is at yard sales. Ones that seem to be deemed useless by the owner merely because they happen to have a blue goose or a Christmas teddy bear on them. I just don't understand why anyone would find a really good and broken in, cotton dish towel useless. Well, I do understand, but regardless.... A good dish towel has several useful incarnations before it is truly trash-worthy. I usually use a dish towel for years, bleaching as needed. When they are stained beyond help, or get holey or start to frey, they go to the garage where they are used as shop rags, car wash rags, etc., etc., etc. After several near come-aparts on my part, the Old Hippie knows to use ONLY the garage rags to clean up caulk, or starter fluid, and dozens of other stinky garage chemicals. Even after a dish towel has run its course as a shop rag, it still has uses. After a good washing, the good parts can be cut up into thin strips and put in a bird feeder. The birds carry it away to build their nests. We have seen several nests over the years that have our scraps woven into structure. Now THAT will make you SMILE! Okay, I'm all done ranting on about dish towels.
