It’s a very good weekend that comes with multiple declarations of, “SCORE!” Between the Oak Bay Garagellennium (massive municipality-wide day of yard sales) and a trip into Value Village today, we did well.
We purposely headed out late in the day for the sales so that we wouldn’t be too overwhelmed and to take advantage of people putting free stuff to the curb at the end of their sale day. Surprisingly this year, most people were boxing up unsold stuff for “the next sale” — Mike figured this was a sign of the economy and I’d agree. A couple of years ago there was mountains of free stuff curbside. Our take from a couple of hours of wandering through Oak Bay included:
- an old blender so Kiddo can make handmade paper ($2)
- a handmade dollhouse that packs down flat ($10) — nice part about this: the man selling it had built it; he clearly had put a lot of thought and love into its creation and told us it had served his four daughters well. How could we resist at that point?
- a container full of drill bits ($1) — probably about 20 drill bits of varying sizes
- a metal basket, plastic plant pots, a poster, and a big bag of crazy bands, (free)
- a stack of Night Sky magazines for Kiddo (free)
- a large frame for stretching canvas (free)
- two Herman Hesse books ($0.50)
- modular shelves for the greenhouse (free!) — Mike adapted them yesterday and they are now in place, holding seedlings and plants.
- venetian blinds for the back basement room (now installed) to make it easier for Kiddo to sleep down there. (free)
Kiddo insisted on paying for the dollhouse herself so we spent very little money (not including gas of course!)
Value village included three decent scores:
- a Ronco dehydrator for $20 — it’s an older model but still heated up when I plugged it in to check. We have been in search of one for a little while; I wanted one before the fall so we could
- a set of sheets for our bed (so I can get rid of two older, worn out sets) pieced together, including 4 coordinated pillow cases for $26
- a Yoga Deck, a set of cards to inspire meditation and practice. I’m way out of practice with yoga, and I still want to get back to it, but what I really wanted to focus on from this deck are the meditation and breathing exercises.
Kiddo also grabbed a birthday present to stash away for later this year and two bags of Barbie clothes. All in all a good weekend for rounding out a few things.