I received a note tacked into the wood which precariously supports my rusting mailbox. The colorful note informed me that my neighborhood would be having a joint yard sale this coming weekend. I wouldn't have to do a thing but look all over my house to find appropriate yard sale items to place in my driveway. This task was going to take some thought as I had a huge yard sale only last summer!
Hmmm. What to put in the yard sale . . .
By the way, is 'yardsale' one word or is 'yard sale' two words? Does it depend on context, whether it's in the newspaper, or on a poster stapled at the corner telephone pole?
Think about that and get back to me.
At any rate, I have been racking my brain as I walk through my house. There's the stained glass chandelier that didn't sell in the last yard sale. Perhaps it's still too expensive? But what the heck. I remember buying a dining room table and chairs at a yard sale and my daughter was able to use it for a spell before she sold it on Craig's List when she got something better! Believe it or not, I also bought another dining room table and chairs at another yard sale for my other daughter and she still has it. Do you reckon it will show up at this yard sale? I'll know when the van shows up this afternoon with all her goodies. And there's the framed pictures still hanging up on the wall in my garage that didn't sell the last time around either. Again, are they too high a price and should they be hanging up waiting for a neighborhood Estate Sale? Will that lady come back who bought the huge picture at my last yard sale? Maybe she needs to buy some more to go with the biggie that's now hanging on her daughter's apartment wall?
The attic. Anything in there? No. That area was swept and cleaned up after last summer's sale and new boxes appeared after Christmas full of ornaments which didn't have a space to rest until next December at my daughter's home where they spent a jolly holiday. That's what attics are for . . . storing your stuff and your children's stuff. You love it every time they come over because it means they'll be back at some point to retrieve their stuff in the attic and you get to see them again.
Clothes. Do people really want to see your old, worn-out rags tossed on a quilt on top of the dried-out summer grass? I know I don't. When I pass a yard sale that has clothes piled up in a heap on the lawn looking like they were just picked off of Junior's bedroom floor and thrown out his window, I not only drive by but I speed by.
And the signs. Just read them. They'll tell you if anything is worth the price of gas in your tank to investigate. I always make my yard sale signs look very promising. FURNITURE is always a good word to plaster on the bright yellow posterboard bought at Rite Aid which will be posted on a tree, a telephone pole, or on a stake that will be hammered into the hard dirt at the corner light. ANTIQUES is another good word. All those early yard sale risers who come out trying to find the best stuff, not only for themselves but for their shops, love to see that word pop up in bold, black lettering on that sign you pray to God won't fold over during the 3 a.m. rain.
CAT might be a good word for this yard sale sign since my feline decided to leave me hanging for 48 hours while she traipsed who-knows-where. I was just getting used to the thought of not having to vacuum cat hair off my furniture, when I saw her at the back door this morning, right as rain, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to gobble up three scoops of her food. It's a good thing I like her because FUR COAT, written in bold, black magic marker on the poster up the street might have drawn some yard-salers down the road to my open garage door.
(C) nancy 7.23.2009
Hmmm. What to put in the yard sale . . .
By the way, is 'yardsale' one word or is 'yard sale' two words? Does it depend on context, whether it's in the newspaper, or on a poster stapled at the corner telephone pole?
Think about that and get back to me.
At any rate, I have been racking my brain as I walk through my house. There's the stained glass chandelier that didn't sell in the last yard sale. Perhaps it's still too expensive? But what the heck. I remember buying a dining room table and chairs at a yard sale and my daughter was able to use it for a spell before she sold it on Craig's List when she got something better! Believe it or not, I also bought another dining room table and chairs at another yard sale for my other daughter and she still has it. Do you reckon it will show up at this yard sale? I'll know when the van shows up this afternoon with all her goodies. And there's the framed pictures still hanging up on the wall in my garage that didn't sell the last time around either. Again, are they too high a price and should they be hanging up waiting for a neighborhood Estate Sale? Will that lady come back who bought the huge picture at my last yard sale? Maybe she needs to buy some more to go with the biggie that's now hanging on her daughter's apartment wall?
The attic. Anything in there? No. That area was swept and cleaned up after last summer's sale and new boxes appeared after Christmas full of ornaments which didn't have a space to rest until next December at my daughter's home where they spent a jolly holiday. That's what attics are for . . . storing your stuff and your children's stuff. You love it every time they come over because it means they'll be back at some point to retrieve their stuff in the attic and you get to see them again.
Clothes. Do people really want to see your old, worn-out rags tossed on a quilt on top of the dried-out summer grass? I know I don't. When I pass a yard sale that has clothes piled up in a heap on the lawn looking like they were just picked off of Junior's bedroom floor and thrown out his window, I not only drive by but I speed by.
And the signs. Just read them. They'll tell you if anything is worth the price of gas in your tank to investigate. I always make my yard sale signs look very promising. FURNITURE is always a good word to plaster on the bright yellow posterboard bought at Rite Aid which will be posted on a tree, a telephone pole, or on a stake that will be hammered into the hard dirt at the corner light. ANTIQUES is another good word. All those early yard sale risers who come out trying to find the best stuff, not only for themselves but for their shops, love to see that word pop up in bold, black lettering on that sign you pray to God won't fold over during the 3 a.m. rain.
CAT might be a good word for this yard sale sign since my feline decided to leave me hanging for 48 hours while she traipsed who-knows-where. I was just getting used to the thought of not having to vacuum cat hair off my furniture, when I saw her at the back door this morning, right as rain, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to gobble up three scoops of her food. It's a good thing I like her because FUR COAT, written in bold, black magic marker on the poster up the street might have drawn some yard-salers down the road to my open garage door.
(C) nancy 7.23.2009