Man were there ever dark clouds in the sky this past weekend…
but I felt like the sun was shining down on me.
I headed out Saturday morning on the search for some mint vintage and antique finds. The morning left me slightly empty handed after only finding a good deal on a BBQ set and giant wicker rooster and chicken. Pictures of my farm animal finds to come in a later post.
I spent Saturday with some friends around the yard and decided to press refresh on Kijiji when I noticed someone giving away two sets of traditional snowshoes for FREE – my favourite word. I wrote them immediately to find out that I was the first in line. They then asked me to come get them right away after getting 32 “I want em” emails in only a few minutes. I pleaded that they let me pick them up Sunday afternoon and they agreed.
One set had been redone more recently but I fell in love with the vivid orange colour [see photo above] meanwhile the other was authentic. The other pair only made it into my driveway when a nice neighbour of mine walked over and offered to buy them off me then and there. Lesson # 1: People want the real stuff! Some people like them [handmade snowshoes] for décor and others want to actually use them. If you can get a pair for cheap you can usually sell them off for $15 or more depending on the condition and if they have genuine bindings.
Now here is where the episodic turn of events comes in.
For Sunday I decided to plan a route to the snowshoes since they were located 35 minutes away. I planned to visit two garage sales on the way. Turned out neither garage sale advertised was running or I just couldn’t find them. That was a good 20 minutes of wasted effort. I continued onwards spotting a chair on the side of the road. I said, I will hit that on the way back and hoped it would still be there.
I was on a street [which was one street away from my snowshoe destination] when I somehow noticed I had passed through a second round-a-bout but should have only gone through one. I found myself in unfamiliar territory when in the distance I saw the oh so typical white & red garage sale sign. I said, what the hay and headed on over. The sale ended up being a dump at the end of the curb that was full of majestic things including but not limited to:
- Two solid winter shovels – I enjoy using the good ones, plastic doesn’t work for our winters
- A vintage Tonka Truck- you can really push these things as they are made of durable material
- A stepping stool-needed this
- U.S Tobacco Company Tin (Spittoon) – these sell online cleaned up for $20-$40 or more for other more unique spittoons
- Two brass candle holders made in India – brass is beautiful and when dressed up can stand the test of time in any household
- A hose holder thing-needed this
- Interesting sports arrows that I will use in my garden-these were intensely cool
- Harley Davidson exhaust system (pipes etc.) in box- I will resell this box for $80 likely
There was a bunch of crap too but I grabbed all I could of value. I was amazed at some of the stuff being tossed. After leaving this score I found the snowshoe lady and ended up picking up the chair on the way home. What a day! What did I learn? When you get sad about missing out on garage sales be excited when you fill your truck with goodies and it costs you notta.
My biggest take-a-ways of the day and things I want to share:
-Spittoons may be for spitting in but that doesn’t mean they can’t look classy
-Snowshoes are popular so popular sometimes they leave your hands before you can take a photo of them for your blog
-Old chairs sometimes have surprises underneath the seat cushion – horse hair coming out of them [see below]
-People like Tonka Trucks -they sell well
Jewelz
pieceandquiet.ca 