I Don’t Think it was Worth 60 Dollars but she does

                Jai has always wanted to do a yard sale and got her chance today.  She had set it up nice, but the availability seemed quite lame compared to other yard sales I’ve seen.  If the buyer had a heart set on stuffed animals or cos play head gear, our yard sale was exceptional – but for the more mature lookers our yard was a huge disappointment.

          Richard told us to label all the items but Jai didn’t wish to do that.  She did wish to haggle – which I personally don’t like to do.  Perhaps she would have made more money if I hadn’t been there to “assist” – I was all for cheap and free but Jaime seemed to overprice things.  But she also had a sign that said “Make Me an Offer”  It wasn’t her fault that the signs continued to blow down. 

          They had belonged to her and she finally parted with them so the money is hers.  She has put it toward camping.  Another hoo-rah with her high school pals.  I think that’s great they have kept connected as they have. 

          Anyway, we had the yard sale today figuring it was great weather.  Cool enough that we didn’t feel scorched.  Yet at the same time the wind did a number on me.  I am tired.  But not as tired as I was the first day we attempted to clean the shed.  We have made more than a dent and have room now.  I like that.

Keeping Things in the Neighborhood

          Shortly after we had moved in, a neighbor from across the street introduced himself to me.  He told me if we ever needed anything we could call him.  I think he was genuine in his heart, but his poor body was not in great shape.  He needed a ramp to get in and out of the house and was in no condition to climb our hill to inspect the house.  He had asked what changes had been done.  Because I had never seen the house before it went on the market, there was really no way to compare it but I don't know that he could visualize what I had tried to explain.

         I could see that he was in pain as he hobbled out to the mailbox and back to the house.  I don't remember seeing him after that.  I think his children must have taken turns moving in for a while as I would see others go out to retrieve the mail or be out in the yard or what have you.  They would come and stay for a while and then there would be a new set of people.  He eventually passed away, though I don't know how long ago.  It appears to have been fairly recently though.

          His house and garage contained items - lots of items that the family didn't want.  Some items had never even been used before. The family held a garage sale on Saturday.  From 8-4.  Their intent was to get rid of EVERYTHING - even if they had to give it away - which I believe for the most part they did.

          If there is a Yard Sale sign in our driving path, Jenna and Roland are drawn to it - like the yard sale has some gigantic magnetic force that pulls them in.  Roland did not have that much in cash - though Jenna did.  They must have spent 30 - 35 between them.  I'm certain that we ended up with over 200 dollars worth of stuff.  Actually, I KNOW we did.  We have missed our extra fridge and are in great need of defrosting our freezer right now.  There was a fridge on the back porch which cost 5 dollars.  It works.  Currently it is on our back porch though it is not hooked up. 

          Getting it across the street was the hardest part - from his back porch to ours.  But there were others who had stopped to make purchases who helped Roland with the task.  I think that is awesome.  Jenna said she heard they were from Eugene.  Wow!  That is a long ways to go for a yard sale.

          We have needed a wheel barrow since we moved in and purchased a small rusty one - I don't know the price.  The woman who took the money just gave Roland an entire bag of unopened soil.

Office supplies for 10 dollar included a shredder.  You want the shredder?  Not unless you're willing to take it all. 

We don't want anything left.  Come into the kitchen.  We'll give you every item on every counter for just 7 dollars.  Take it all.

          There have been times in the past when Roland and I have noticed an item at an auction that we think we might bid for and by the time it comes up for bid, it has been toward the end of the auction when other bidders have been drained of money, or else the auctioneers are tired, or something. "I have two boxes - no three for the same price."  We've actually found "treasures" that we have used more than what we had initially bid for.  For example, there was a crock pot among the boxes of stuff we had bid for - though the crock pot wasn't our intent.  We use it more than anything.

          Jenna purchased a boatload of hats and a really nice backpack designed for hiking  - quite brand new.  Roland purchased a box of western themed books. 

More dishes than we will ever need, but most he initially purchased with the intent of giving to neighbors when he is on one of his baking kicks.  "Here, take this plate full of goodies, give it to the neighbors next door, tell them to keep the plate."

          I don't know how many trips Roland made to purchase more stuff.  He said he saw a wooden ladder and purchased a mirror, brought them back and returned again for a painting. 

I know he was thinking of me when he purchased it because I love how the fog rolls over the hills, and this reminded us both of that misty smog.  And I do love seascapes. 

It is now hanging over our bed.  And the mirror in our front room makes the room seem a little bit bigger. 

          Jenna picked through her hats and we ran about a third of them through the dishwasher.  She and Roland hung them on the line as they didn't completely dry in the dishwasher - but still have their shape - so that is good.

They've been removed from the line and added to her wall.

           There had been a piece of furniture I was interested in but had no idea where I'd put it.  But it had been sold already.  The neighbors had evidently reached their goal by 2:30.  I had looked out the window just before 3:00 and noticed the sign and all the cars gone and the house looked deserted.

           We still haven't gone through all of our pictures, nor will I be taking any more pictures, but here are some other free items that we walked away with:

          We had started the morning going to another neighbors to pick apples.  They also gave us cherry tomatoes, onions, cherry jam and apple butter.  

Roland topped the night off by making apple pie.  He is not happy with it however.   

The Unexpected

            Have you ever made plans to do something only to have your plans fall through so whatever you had planned falls into the cracks and ends up not being done at all - but in the long run it turns out to be for the better?  Let me give you an example:  After our backyard neighbor had passed away, his wife has been getting rid of tons of stuff.  I don't know if she's sold anything or if she has just given it away.  In our case it has been given.

            Roland and I had built a hot house (here) and used concrete bricks to line our beds (both donated by the neighbor) Roland started cantaloupe seeds in the greenhouse before moving them to this bed.  They seem to be doing well. 

            She'd also given a doll house kit to Jenna.  Now Jenna is not nor ever has been into dolls - she didn't care about the doll house itself, but we both viewed it as a summer project like putting a puzzle together.  The theme for the Summer reading program this year is

 and we thought: "Hey, build our house alongside our activities and watch progress of "build" - and since Jenna had no desire for keeping the finished product we thought we could offer it as a prize to whoever read the most books, or maybe as a raffle fund raiser for the library.  And just as the creator or business where this originated, our project of putting it together is now a thing of the past.

            I had posted this picture to facebook inviting her friends who love puzzles and crafts and such to "come on down . . . err . . .  up" but there were no takers (at least that I know of) We had gone out of town before the final day of school.  After our return and several loads of laundry, Roland called the insurance adjuster to get an estimate on a leak in the floor - or above the wash - or wherever.  A team was contacted to demolish our floor to a catwalk and made holes in the wall connecting to Jenna's room (see here) the washing machine and dryer ended up on the back porch.  That is where I had planned on setting up shop for the doll house.

            I don't know how long it's been in our living room.  Jenna certainly didn't have room to put it in her bedroom or else it would have been packed up sitting in a storage somewhere in Winston. 

            Jenna enjoys yard sales and is always asking if we can do one but I really don't believe we're in the greatest location of traffic flow.  Guess I was proved wrong as we have seen more traffic on our street in the last two days than we have in the entire time we've lived here.  Our neighbors to the west of us were having a yard sale.  We took the box of house pieces and directions over and asked if we could leave it there.  She asked for how much.  I said she could just give it away for free for all I cared, and if she thought she could make anything, she was willing to keep it for herself.

            Jenna and I were getting ready to go to my water aerobics class and had just pulled out of the driveway when my neighbor approached us and told me to stop by her house on our return as her mom was purchasing the dollhouse.  I don't think it was in her yard for an entire minute.  Wow.

            Now I suppose the house/kit may be considered an antique and could possibly be build and sold for more money.  But Jenna is ecstatic with the twenty dollars she received for someone else's "junk".  It's true that one man's junk is another man's treasure.  Wow.  Good luck to the buyer whatever her intentions are.

Two Saturdays

       Today was the forth annual Citywide yard sale.  It is my first year having knowledge of it.  There is a map on facebook and a list of locations within Myrtle Creek and Tri City.  I would think it would make for a more meaningful to have all the streets downtown  or all along Old Pacific - not get-in-your-car-and-drive=-from-location-to-location - that can be done on any given day . . . but whatever.  I was/am obviously not in charge.
       The Friends of Myrtle Creek Library had access to one of the buildings downtown.  The yard sale (from what I understand) is normally held in August.  I don't know why it got changed to today.  It was rather unproductive, I thought.  I don't guess the woman in charge realized that today would be the hottest day of the year (and hopefully the temperature won't ever rise above what it was today.  Over 100 degrees fahrenheit.  That is SOOOOO wrong. This state is not supposed to get that hot.) which could have been a factor.  It was also the day for the big golf tournament (or so I was told; really not into that whole golf thing)
       Roland went with me to the old laundry (where the Friends of Myrtle Creek Library were gathered) and hung out for a couple of hours, but left as new friends started filtering in and customers had been rare all morning.  It wasn't necessary for that many friends to be present.
       Jenna has been at camp for four days and returned this afternoon.  She missed out on the yard sales, but even the heat is bothering her at the moment. 

        Last week we marched in the rodeo parade to promote the Children's Summer Reading Program sponsored by the Friends of the Myrtle Creek Library

Jenna and I didn't have the opportunity to make our own

tutus as we had gone out of town

These were taken at the school parking lot

as we were waiting for those ahead of us

to start filing out

not a totally accurate map, but you get the gist

         I understand we finally got the city's approval to use the designated library building.  We open on July 3.

What Happened to Me?

                I don't know what it is that Roland and I may have encountered on Wednesday, but something didn't agree with us.  It took a few days before we managed to get it out of our system.  He continued with some yard labor that he had started while I was bent over in the fetal position not wanting to move, for every time that I did, I'd have to race to the toilet.

                After he had finished up with one project, he decided to move onto another.

                He mentioned a yard sale that he wanted to look at.  I told him to wait until Jenna returned home and he could take her with him.  She loves yard sales.   I can take them or leave them.  When I'm in the fetal position - I just want to stay and not be bothered.  I didn't especially want to sleep all day - but I could ignore my stomach much better if I was asleep.

                Mail came and there was a check there for a survey that I had participated in.  I told Roland he could run to the bank so that he could have some cash for the yard sale.  About an hour after Jenna had returned, I decided I would go would go with Roland to the yard sell.  By then, he said he wanted to go to Roseburg, not the yard sale.  The yard sale was at least in our neighborhood.  I certainly wasn't up for going to Roseburg. When he told me what supplies he wanted, I said it sounded best that he didn't have any passengers.  And I was right.  He had loaded the car with paving bricks and soil.  Everything that had been in the trunk was moved to the front seat.  So much for a relaxing weekend.

                He said he would work like an ant.  He would carry a brick up the hill, tack it down, return for another brick.  He was going to wear himself out before he got started.  There was no reason for him to do it by himself.  I told him I would move the bricks from the trunk to the foot of the hill and Jenna could take the bricks from the bottom and take them to him at the top.  She's agile.  She can scale the hill.  I used to be.  I used to be so active.  I'd climb hills and trees.  Nowadays it's all I can do to climb the stairs.

                Even when I was walking Jenna to the bus stop and to the school and returning without her, I wasn't in the best of shape.  I don't know that I'm in particularly worse shape now.  I'm certainly not as spry as I was just 20 years ago.  That's for sure.

                After we got all the bricks in, Roland moved us towards the plants to weed, to add new soil, to rearrange . . . we did have a bed of plants that seemed almost lifeless.  The gold marigolds on the end did okay, and one rose bush just needed sprucing, but the yellow marigolds croaked.

  And the other rose bush had so many spotted leaves, Roland decided just to rip it out.    Roland reminded me that Jenna and I both took home some flowers on Mother's Day last year.  They too had croaked.  Same spot. I think there is something wrong with the soil, or there's something in the ground that isn't helping their growth (like I really know anything about plants)             Fun to see the beets are starting to sprout along with the spinach. 

On Saturday we planted corn before Roland moved us to the front.  It started raining and we had to go inside.

I don't like this aging thing at all.  I'd like to be agile again.