Hot chocolate or Kahlua 1/16/10

I did not expect anyone except crazed people in the exurban sprawl to be hosting yard sales today but I did find two events within the limits of tolerable driving distance. The weather was still cold with temperatures in the low forties. To bring out buyers one this day one sale offered hot chocolate the other coffee and Kahlua.

Rosalia Ave. – Grant Park “Yard Sale”

I Should have gone to the other sale first since they did not have the coffee ready when I arrived and did not want to appear as a wondering yard sale derelict by demanding a shot of straight Kailua. This was a small sale in the yard and porch of a frame bungalow just off Boulevard in Grant Park. There was not a lot of stuff here and I was not sure if they even wanted to put everything outside when I arrived. On the porch were some books, a few articles of women’s clothing, some small glass vases and an unopened box containing a bicycle tire. In the yard was an ironing board with a few more items of clothing displayed upon it and some shoes beneath it. I did not wait around for the coffee to brew and bought nothing.








Gayle St. Medlock “Yard Sale”

This sale in the carport of an older ranch home was a much larger event. Here in the driveway and in the shelter or the carport was arranged a collection of clothing and household items. Assembled on a bookcase was a woman’s collection of pig figures. Most were plush but there were some small porcine porcelains as well. In addition to pigs it appeared the sellers loved shoes as well seeming hundreds of pairs of footwear were lined up along the edge of the carport. I’m not sure how long it takes to accumulate this many shoes but it was apparent that the sellers had not gotten rid of many shoes in quite some time. On one of the many tables inside the carport was an assortment of board games and puzzles among them were Sex and the City, Scattergories, Battle of the Sexes, a children’s mystery game and a jigsaw puzzle of an angelfish. The seller also had a large collection of recorders. I asked her if she had a recorder band. She told me that at one time she was taking lessons and kept losing them. It appeared she finally found them and was now divesting them. Other stuff here included a CD set on Securities Regulation, some old Easter Décor, a VHS tape on Bun and Thigh sculpting and a set of metal attachments for shoes that made it easier to walk on ice.
I bought an old dictionary to use for an upcoming installation in Virginia where I will have plants sprouting from books. I paid a dollar for it. I did have a cup of their hot chocolate. Sad to say it was barely warm and nearly tasteless. I wish I had stayed around for the Kailua.

A large and colorful selection of shoes in Medlock.


















Collected porcine items.

A Year ends a new one begins....

I’ve taken a bit of a vacation from this site for good reason. First I deserve a vacation. I’ll been writing this for five years so I should get some time off. But more importantly over the last few weeks we have had holidays and dreadful weather.




















The real last sale of the year.

While driving thru Kirkwood in mid December I came upon this sale off of Howard Ave. A huge sign painted on a sheet hung from a pole directed buyers to go all the way to a lot behind some sort of old brick building. Temperatures were in the 30’s and I figured that this truly would be the last sale of the year so Cindy and I proceeded down the dirt driveway and parked near a large peace sign create from Christmas lights that was strung across some bushes.
Around some hedges we found an assortment of old stuff put out for sale. The centerpiece of this event was the seller’s collection of vacuum cleaners. I have no idea why he had so many but he appeared proud of them. He also had a massive six-foot high steel cornered road case that could double for a coffin if someone wanted to be buried vertically. Other stuff included some old furniture, a lamp in the shape of Spiderman’s head, a selection of high-heeled women’s boots, a very obsolete video projector, an aquarium and some exercise equipment. Cindy attempted to by a small table but the seller decided he did not want to sell it so we bought nothing.

Dreadful winter weather began as in mid December so we headed off to Florida. Escaping the cold we spent our time walking the beach and enjoying the climate. We encountered an alligator and it’s hatchlings in Jonathan Dickenson State Park we also saw a bald eagle. I was hoping to see the eagle eat one of the gator babies. But the nature scenes here did not reach the Discovery channel levels. I by chance did encounter a yard sale on a Wednesday afternoon just two days before Christmas. The sale was not noteworthy in the least but it was remarkable to be able to walk to a sale on a weekday afternoon right before a major holiday. I bought nothing but did thank the sellers for having a sale.






The sale before Christmas.














Back in Atlanta the intense cold weather continued and culminated with a brief snowstorm this week. Craigslist did show some crazed folk in the far suburbs, even the more ice covered ones having sales but in my part of town no posters went up and no junk went into the snow covered lawns. But there probably were determined early birds cruising around looking for something being sold.
The closest thing I encountered was these two ancient TV put out on the street and topped with snow in front of a shuttered house on my street.




















With this post Yard Sale Addict can now be said to span decades.
Happy New Year to all my readers and lovers of yard sales everywhere.