Roaming the Countryside

A cool Saturday morning dawned with me rolling out of bed into my jeans and a sweatshirt, and then heading out to meet the other blond at the end of my driveway. She picked me up in her van which was filled with not only her mother, but daughter, daughter's boyfriend and her two sisters - that's a die-hard picker family! I love it!

We were a little bleary-eyed at the early hour, and not completely clear or organized in which direction to head...its been a long winter and now that yard sales, church fundraisers and neighborhood sales are popping up, we're so excited we want to head in three different directions at once.

But we focused and steered the van eastwards to a church sale in Brogue, PA. We didn't have high hopes as it was the second day of the sale and that usually means the best stuff is gone, but we decided to give it a shot. We were right about the picking - I found one serving dish and that was it -- but it was totally worth it anyway for the beautiful drive and one of the best apple pies (handmade by one of the church ladies) that I've ever had for our breakfast, along with a fresh brewed cup of coffee.

Next was a fundraiser sale back in York where there were a few more little bits of this and that to find. Picked up a necklace I later altered with a cabachon I made from a children's book illustration.

And then came the main object of our day out, we went to the 14th Anniversary sale at our local Salvation Army where everything in the store was 50% off. Mecca was reached, the van emptied and we all scattered to find our favorite areas of the store. I was particularly happy with a set of bar glasses and a set of china I found.

The company was great, the pickin' good and the apple pie yummy...a very good Saturday morning indeed.

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Out with the Old, In with the Old

Whew! The holiday's are winding down. I spent yesterday going through my storage area and craft room where I keep the items I find for my etsy shop and do my jewelry making.

It took me five-hours but I sorted through the items on my shelves and weeded out the things that had been sitting for awhile and didn't seem to be selling, they went to Goodwill (which ironically may have been where I got them).

My craft supplies and table were cleaned and organized, which even inspired me to make a few new pieces.

It was nice standing back when I was done and looking at my nice neat shelves, but it was also fun looking over some of the things I had recently found at a thrift store and hadn't had a chance to clean up and put in the shop yet. Like this set of Fire King mixing bowls with hand-painted roosters.
And I love these little owl salt-n-pepper shakers too...can't help it, so cute!
So it is 2011 and time for a fresh start - I am a sucker for the start of a new year -- and I got rid of some old stuff, and then made room for some new, old stuff.