This is as good as it gets for women of a certain age. On Friday, Diane and Gloria were going garage sale-ing and I tagged along at the last minute. We saw lots of good stuff: an almost new electric frying pan, two pine single bed frames from Germany, loads of household things, but not much we felt strongly enough about to bring home. We each spent maybe two bucks. I bought a hardcover tome on the last few centuries of wallpaper, paint and fabric for a quarter; another 25cents each on an Amy Tan paperback, a memoir of surviving the Holocaust, and a book of facts for kids that I thought Luke might like; and half a dollar on a bagful of doll accessories for Sophie's baby. I passed up a $35 wooden ironing board for my sewing room because I felt it wasn't enough bang for the buck. I've always wanted one, especially for when we move to my imaginary dream house with a spacious sewing room where I can display everything I love. Diane mentioned in passing that she saw a promotion for a Junk_o_Rama that was going on this weekend, so I came home and researched, and found out the Junk Bonanza was being held in Shakopee and we had already missed the first two days! http://www.junkbonanza.com/ That was unacceptable. You haven't lived until you junked! So I called Diane, Gloria, Jill and Robyn and made plans to go. (Robyn and I had been going to these things for a few years.) Bright and early on Saturday morning, we made the drive to Shakopee (sans Robyn who begged off with a migraine, and Jill who was already spoken for.) While following the map-quested directions, Diane, who was my navigator, expressed concern we weren't traveling in the right direction. I don't drive there enough to be confident, so I had to call Bob. With his assurances, we were within one mile of our destination, when I made a snap decision about some iffy wording in the written directions and got lost. We stopped at a gas station. A very good looking James Brolin look-alike got out of the car next to us. I asked him for help,but he was lost too. The kid in the station got us back on course with only a couple blocks of backtracking. We got a primo parking space due to some barrier crossing, and were on our way. We each dropped about $20 there. I loved lots and lots of junk, but only bought two things. A bagful of vintage crochet flowers to embellish Sophie's jeans, and TA DA, a wooden ironing board for $15. We browsed the rest of the day through the sale. There were also many interesting and clever ways to repurpose vintage junk like these: a bracelet made from many old watch faces, pearls & rhinestones; Totes and pillows made from feed bags or grain sacks; clothes for Sophie made from vintage lace, fabrics and embroidered linens like the kind I make her; really cool vintage lamps made from god-knows- what kind of farm cast-offs; and bins full of vintage flashcards, spools, name tags (think Elmer), and jingle bells to name a few. There was a lot to look at, and was well worth the $8 admission for the people watching alone. There was a very interesting man dressed in short denim cutoffs, workboots and socks, a black tuxedo tails jacket, and a hat with feathers! I know we are going back next year. Plan on joining us! There is a sale, (A Gathering of Friends), coming up in October at Lyndale Bachman's that is a distant second to this but still worthwhile. We'll be there.
