A Big Bird

One of Holland's most beloved children's books is Pluk van de Petteflet. Pluk is the little guy you see standing on the tall ladder next to a truly tall bird. That bird is a Krullevaar. His call is Prrtalieloe. This is too much information, I can tell. But it explains why I fell in love with this bird at a garage sale this morning:

And he was only $2. When I first saw the Pixar movie "Up," I was struck by the resemblance of the little boy and the bird in that movie to Dutch Pluk and the Krullevaar. I'm still convinced that the Pixar people were inspired by these two creations of Dutch illustrator Fiep Westendorp. Anyhow, I got a great bird.

Learn to say NO! to Delft Blue.

What $21 (give or take) bought on Friday, August 24, 2012

 

Garage sales are enjoyable on many different levels. It's a great way to spend time with girlfriends, a great way to get to know your neighborhood, a great, inexpensive way to furnish a dorm room, a first apartment, a nursery, and a great way to meet people. This morning's first sale had a few Dutch and German items. The owners were from South Africa and had traveled the world. The man had gone to elementary school in Middelburg, South Africa... and we lived in Middelburg, the Netherlands. I bought their beautiful English teapot by Arthur Wood (for the church High Tea in May), a German coffee pot by Melitta, a French creamer, a Pyrex casserole with French text on it, a Delft Blue tile from Bergen op Zoom (almost home for me), and a collection of Delft souvenirs. I have got to learn to say NO! to Delft Blue. At another sale, my friend Maureen scored her second Longaberger basket! At the same sale, I found the German soup bowl that promotes the 1,000 calories a day diet that was so popular in the 1970's. I know, because I was on it as a teen. It really worked! Maureen pointed out the stamps that are new in the box. She didn't want them, but told me they were valuable. She was right. I hope to sell them on E-Bay.

Bergen op Zoom is not very far away from where I grew up!

German Melitta coffee pot. Unfortunately, a crack appeared when I washed it.

The 1,000 calorie a day diet. From the 1970's. It says: "The last spoon was one too many." On the side are helpful reminders such as: in the a.m. 400 cal. in the afternoon 300 cal. and in the evening 300 cal. Good luck!

An Arthur Wood tea pot.

A J.W. Stannard mini chime "Sleigh Bells." I put it on our fridge door.

Too much Delft Blue.

The price is always right at a garage sale. That's the other benefit!

The French Chef

What $45 bought last Friday, August 17

How fitting that I found so many French kitchen items at last week's garage sales: it was the week of Julia Child's 100th birthday. The "French Chef" would have approved of my finds, I'm sure. Among Friday's treasures were a Le Creuset pizza pan, three Le Creuset casseroles, 3 Emile Henry casseroles, 2 Sur La Table cookie stamps (one with a fleur de lis and the other with the Eiffel Tower), Italian star shaped cookie cutters, Italian menu cards, a butter bell (for Julia's number one ingredient), a "vintage" steamer for anything from lobster to corn... one fun find after the other. 

Garage Sale Couture!

What $23.50 bought this Friday. (Plus $2 for a dress.)

I look forward to my Summer Fridays. The weather today was lovely-- sunny yet not too hot. It's great to spend a few hours (5 today) with a good friend, chatting, driving around the neighborhood, shopping the sales, and taking a nice long coffee break to catch up. It's total girlfriend time, and I love it. 

The most exciting purchase of the day turned out to be a $2 dress that I bought without trying on. I love it and will wear it this Sunday at my co-worker's farewell party. :-(

The basket came with a brand new towel and two candles. The ribbon was ten whole cents.

A silver something by Rodney Kent.

Today's Dutch connection: Marjolein Bastin's Nature's Sketchbook "tile."

This will make a terrific stable for my Ostheimer nativity set.

Recent reproduction of a classic.

Please excuse the cat hair in the photo! :-) BW Silver.

Garage Sale Couture. Who'd have thought I would find something nice to wear at a sale? My $2 dress!

Danish bunny

Maureen and I got a late start on Friday because I had scheduled a doctor's appointment at 9:15 a.m. That delayed our start by one hour. The good news is that the doctor chuckled at how healthy I am. That's always nice to hear. Maureen found the twin of her nice folding serving tray, so now she's got a set. I should have taken a picture of it because hers looks nicer than this one I found on the web. Anyhow, she paid $5 for it. The lady who was selling it was about to put it back into her house to keep. Good timing!

All I found was a teapot for a dollar, a decanter for 2 dollars, and two Martha Stewart bowls for seventy-five cents each. Then our sales were interrupted again because I had to drop off my son downtown, where he was making his film debut. He was dressed as an FBI agent (black suit) but could have passed for missionary. A very handsome one to boot. The sales we did go to were mostly expensive. Odd how some weekends will have a particular kind of sale vibe going on. Friday's were mostly resellers/collectors and no good bargains were to be had. But, as always, we had a good time.

What $38 bought this morning!

Saturday's sales were much better. And there were many of them despite the 90+ degree weather (that's 32 degrees Celsius in all countries with universal healthcare). At one sale, they were selling freshly picked plums. Mmmmmmm The yellow ones didn't last long enough to be photographed. My daughter tried one after I had said how sweet they were, but she thought it was very tart and didn't finish it. Thank you, Starbucks and all the syrups and sugars that go into your products that screw up a young person's palette. (My son didn't even TRY them).

Mid-morning I had to stop shopping to meet a client to sell four of my Le Creuset items that I found at a sale last week. I posted them on Craigs List, and a woman from North Portland drove down to Salem to buy four of the eight items. We made the deal in the Fred Meyer parking lot near the freeway. I made my money back and then some. How cool is that?? Cool enough to go to Starbucks (I know) for a coffee break.

Later, I was delighted to find three pieces of my Summer Chintz china (at a reseller, but still). The teapots will come in handy when I help put on the annual high tea at our church, as will the hostess two-tiered tray. The Dutch connection today came in the form of a Holland souvenir that a Dutch exchange student had brought with him/her to Salem over ten years ago: 2 candles and a set of paper napkins in a Delft Blue pattern. The candles definitely have seen better days, but how can this Dutch girl refuse at ten cents??? She can't. The orange kids apron was in the free bin and will find a good home somewhere after I've washed it. The Johnson's Brothers milk jug was a dollar. And my husband got lucky with a spanking new, bright red Coleman toolbox. Now I'm getting snug inside the house where the A/C is going full speed.

Just thought I would Google the Danish bunny that I found (it's sitting on the toolbox in the picture.
It turns out to be made in the 1950's. It's by Skjode. I found one just like it on E-Bay. It is the find of the week, for sure.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280928769435&item=280928769435&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466

My investment of last week had a nice return today!