Have you ever been to a Ginormous Yard Sale?

Before my post… just a quick reminder that Addy’s dress ends this evening on Ebay. You can see it by clicking HERE, or click on the picture at the right side bar…. —->

I wasn’t going to write about our church yard sale…at least not a whole post, after all, who wants to see someone else’s junk….but I’m sorry, it’s all I’ve got for today. I am too wiped out to be witty, too sweaty to be sewing, too sunburned to think, too grimy to touch my dolls, and I just want to go to bed… but I’m not going to break my streak of non-stop posts because of a little ole yard sale. I can come up with something. It just won’t be about dolls…I’ll save the “good stuff” for next week! Oh, and does anyone know what Monday, August 1st is? :o)

Yesterday I showed you a picture of the set up… It’s kind of hard to get it all in one picture, as it goes on and on and on..

[If you click on any picture, it will enlarge.]

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We get things donated almost all year long and in a few weeks we try sorting and organizing it…It’s a enormous job…

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The day was grueling… and tough on this “almost 60 year old!” Oh…my favorite part of the whole yard sale… a few of us were working in the garage sorting books yesterday afternoon. One of the over 30 girls said, “I’m too old for this…” I said, “No, I’M too old for this…I’ll be 60 next month!”…and one of the young girls got all bug eyed and looked at me said, “What? You’re going to be 60?” I said, “didn’t you know that?” ..and it was the way she said, “NO” that made my day… it was sort of a surprised No or maybe an “I can’t believe that’s true No” but what ever it was, it was glorious for my aching legs and my sweaty, pulled back in a pony tail hair, and ears to hear! *Score*

Okay, the yard sale set up day went fairly well…and we had lots of customers in the morning and then a steady stream all day long.

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but in the middle of the afternoon, someone noticed some dark clouds…

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so we quickly covered up everything with tarps and one really long piece of plastic my hubby decided to buy! Smart guy he is!!!
We got a few sprinkles but most everything was covered so it was much better than last year… MUCH BETTER!

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Fast forward to today… we got there at 6:00 a.m., after a horrible night for me… charlie horses in my toes (what’s that all about?) and in my calves… then my face was so sunburned from the sun and I think just the heat… I looked like a lobster. Anyway, I couldn’t get to sleep… are you kidding me… I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. in the morning! Well, my hubby got up at 5:00 and I did too…but I hadn’t gotten to sleep until after 4:00 a.m. Needless to say, it’s kind of hard to work your best on 1 hour of sleep… but I managed…

Friday afternoon we noticed those same clouds again and so we hustled a little bit to get things covered, but “someone obviously missed the memo about praying for no rain” and it came down in sheets. Not just once but maybe 6 times… the stuff under the big tents was in wonderful condition and hardly got any rain at all, and the majority of things fared very well… except my hubby, who was trying to get corners covered and keep water from pooling on the tops of the tents.

We had sold a nice bed and mattress and wood headboard to a lady who paid us a nice sum of $135 for it and a few other things, but had to drive back home to get her hubby’s truck to pick it up. When we saw the rain coming…her bed and mattress were the very first thing we covered. We put bricks on the edges of the tarp and knew it would be the driest thing in the yard sale. She arrived back to get it and it started sprinkling, so she stood in the garage with us, while it “passed” over or so we thought… It just kept coming and coming and coming…and turned into more of a down pour than a sprinkle. We were commenting how glad we were that we had gotten her bed covered just in the nick of time… Well… the rain let up enough and she wanted to get it loaded… when we pulled the tarp off the mattress, it was soaked.. The tarp wasn’t the one we thought it was,and the water had gone right though it, and with the lady there, looking on, my hubby pushed on the mattress and the water just gushed out of it. The woman said, “That’s okay, it’ll probably dry out.”

There was no way were going to let her haul home a soggy mattress and a wet headboard, so we refunded $100 back to her, and believe it or not, she didn’t even want to take it… While they were trying to figure how to load this soaking wet mattress and box springs onto her short bed pick up, it started pouring and got everything even wetter than before. The rain made the screws come loose that were used to hold the wooden slats across the bed frame. Right before her eyes, her whole bed was coming apart… and my hubby was out there absolutely drenched like he’d jumped in a lake. Then we all went out to help him get it loaded and see if we could get this poor woman on her way home. I have no idea what her hubby was going to think when she pulled into their driveway… She was buying the bed for her son’s birthday… poor boy!

I wanted to take pictures of my poor hubby and the whole ordeal, but I was too busy helping with other “wet” things… he probably wouldn’t have liked to have him featured on my blog soaking wet…

That was just one of MANY “episodes” at the yard sale…it’s never dull around here.

Well, I’m feeling the need for my pillow very soon, so I’m going to say goodnight, but just one more thing. Thank you for your kind comments today. I wan’t be able to answer them tonight, but you all are the sweetest to me… thank you so much!

See you Sunday, and I’ll be “yard sale free!!!”
Blessings, Jeanne

13 thoughts on “Have you ever been to a Ginormous Yard Sale?”

  1. Oh, my! You should probably have posted a couple of wet pictures, but your verbal ones painted a pretty clear picture. It sounds, and looks, as if you have the whole routine down now — the tents, the organization, the contributions. It’s only the rain that’s a problem and you can’t seem to escape that.

    It’s not only the rain. The sunburn sounds pretty bad. I understand that lavender water is supposed to help, but I’ll bet that at least 5 of your followers know something really good. My father burned easily, and he used to smear on milk of magnesia, which seemed to help but looked perfectly awful. Someone else must have a better answer. Calcium is supposed to be good for leg cramps. Maybe a trip to Cool Spoons would help, but if it were me, I’d be tempted to get a big bowl of plain frozen yogurt and put my face in it.

    It’s nice when someone thinks you are younger than you are on a good day, when you look your best, but on a day when you are tired, sunburned, sweaty, and sleepless, and someone has no idea that you are even close to your age, that’s a major compliment, and one to remember.

    I hope today is better — clouds are good but downpours are not. Maybe yesterday’s rain will be enough for two days. I can hardly wait to hear your new adventures.

  2. My, oh my! You are to be commended for all your efforts to have a successful church yard sale (and your poor drowned husband, too)! I hope today will be nothing but sunshine and dollars!

  3. Please take it a little easier at the sale today. Sunscreen and a hat, too. Congrats on contributing so much to the sale. The younger lady was certainly right: You do look so young to be 60. My reply when receiving a compliment like that to this day is: “Bless you, my child.”

    Thanks for the previous post. The dresses are amazing. You have me searching for the picture of my Nana in one of the “swimming suits.” You also had me searching for a catalogue from Mermod & Jacquard at Broadway and Locust St in St. Louis, a jewelers, that has a listing for small opera glasses that I have from my great-grandmother. Linda can probably remind me of the name of the venue for the light opera performances in Forest Park. The Delineator Magazine you have was very expensive at the time. The $1.00 cost out of a median income of $2,178 in 1894 is proportionately many times more than the $27 out of a median income of $54,462 in 2015 when indexed for inflation . The previous owners of your home were certainly wealthy at that time to be able to afford it. What a great find you have there.

    1. Oh yes, Susette, I remember Jacquard’s store downtown! I don’t know if it is still there, but it was a fancy store, for sure!

      You are thinking of the St. Louis Muny Opera in Forest Park, an outdoor venue, always a treat in the summer. Last week was “Mama Mia”, this week is “Fiddler on the Roof”. Let’s go!

  4. What? Didn’t you learn from last year! Wear Sunblock! I reminded you too.
    Lecture over.
    I think this years sale will have memories for some time. Wet mattress, leaky plastic, soaked husband, and I’m sure there are more stories. Everything looked so organized and easy to reach. The mark of a good sale. I’m looking at the photos and trying to grab items of interest. Like those two landscape paintings in the 2nd photo. 🙂 Hope you made lots and will make more today.
    That sneaky number seems to be approaching quickly, youngster.

  5. I’m finally getting around to writing, Jeanne! It is fairly decent outside, and things need doing! I remember seeing Carbondale on our weather maps on TV yesterday, and they were showing rain, but I was hoping it was wrong! Turns out it was right, poor you! We hardly got a drop.

    Is the anniversary of your blog coming up Monday? I kind of think so. You are certainly the youngest almost 60 year old I have ever met! And only 60? Try 70!!! Not quite as fun!!

    You certainly had tons of things for sale! What happens to the things you don’t sell? Do you hang onto those things for the following year? What a wonderful thing for your church to do, and you can be sure all of you will be rewarded someday.

    I’m thinking you are going to have a very nice week coming up, and hopefully can recover from this past few days. Take care of yourself!!

  6. One hour of sleep! Oh my goodness, Jeanne! On top of your remarkable youthful appearance, you seemingly also have the energy of someone half your age! You are definitely a one-woman-wonder! Bask in the compliments as long as you like! I’m so sorry about the rain. I did keep up my prayers for dry weather, but it doesn’t sound like the rain hurt your turn-out too much. And we know that God works all things together for good! I would have loved browsing your sale myself, but the miles between us have kept me from buying things I don’t really need!

    My active son frequently suffers from leg cramps after long days of tennis, rock-climbing, etc.
    Some things that work for him that you may want to try: 1) Stay well hydrated throughout the day, and drink a tall glass of warm water with lemon in the evening. Water is a natural cramp reliever. Your electrolytes might also be low, so you may want to add Gatorade or a similar drink to your fluid intake. 2) Stretch for 2-3 minutes several times throughout the day and before bedtime. Try a standing calf stretch with front leg bent and back leg extended, creating a gentle pull on the muscle. This could be done during brief lulls at the yard sale. 3) Increase your magnesium and potassium intake. Try a banana or banana/berry smoothie at breakfast to boost potassium, and enjoy a salmon salad with dark leafy greens and avocado for lunch or dinner. A snack of nuts and seeds and an after dinner treat of dark chocolate will also help boost magnesium (and help prevent migraines, too).

    For the sunburn, colloidal oatmeal products are soothing. Aveeno makes a baby wash and lotion that are good, and there are similar bath products for babies and adults with lavender, sweet orange and/or chamomile oil that are very calming. You can also try plain oatmeal and/or whole milk in a bath for some relief. It works for my daughter’s eczema.

    Not sure what you have up your sleeve for Monday, August 1. Could it be the anniversary of the start of your blog? It is also Girlfriends Day, which seems fitting for your blog. What ever it is, I know you have something interesting planned. I love the narratives you (and your readers) share about your adventures in daily living. Looking forward to more of your stories about the yard sale and all of your escapades (including your “finds”)! Take care of yourself, Jeanne, and remember to save a little bit of the kindness you give to others for yourself! All the best as you wrap up the church sale.

  7. Wow, that is dedication on one hour of sleep. I do second the Aveeno. It really helps with sunburn as does witch hazel and plain yogurt.
    August 1st?? hmmm not sure what that is. Is it start your blog day? I do know that next Sunday is something very fun, at least concerning what we ALL have in common. hint* love for the 18 inch and under set. 🙂

  8. Well, wait a minute. Another site says that THAT day is tomorrow instead. Hey, it’s an everyday day around here.
    Hope that your yard sale was a resounding success. Don’t forget to share any treasures you might have found.. 🙂

  9. Charlotte Trayer

    Wowsa! Isn’t it wonderful when people are surprised by your age?! I occasionally get that, too (I’m 70), but I think that it’s more my hair (which Still has no gray!) that fools them. I certainly have plenty of wrinkles in my face!!

    Seriously, in both cases it’s genetics, and both from my dad’s side. His mother wrinkled early, and he had a cousin whose hair never got gray, even though she lived to be in her early 80s. (Of course, she was also single and childless! LOL)

    Hope you are getting some good-quality sleep tonight. Take care of that sunburn, too!

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