Yard Sale Addict

McLendon Ave. - Lake Claire “Yard Sale”

Perhaps the early season sellers are always parents who buy their children too much stuff or have children who get bored easily with the stuff they are given. Large plastic toys dominated this sale located close to my home. In the center of the driveway was a massive plastic playhouse. The father and son were washing it down when I arrived. Judging by the size of this structure and current property values they should not be selling it but renting it out as loft space. Next too the poly home was a poly car and a large poly tractor. Adult items at this locale included a VCR for $5, 2 small wooden sailboat models, an retro styled telephone that now just looked old, some chafing dishing still in their original box, the Addams Family game and a wok.
I bought nothing.


Ripley Dr. Virginia Highlands “Yard Sale”

This is in a very small yard on a very narrow street. The early morning yard sale vultures are having a difficult time parking their SUVs on the limited blacktop. Crammed into the yard space are rolls of fabric, a futuristic looking crystal chandelier and a wooden box with the words bridal registry on it. Dominating the sale is a table stacked with some big paper mache reindeer and other Xmas décor. Mixed with the Xmas stuff are some 4th of July decorations. On another table is a plastic tree covered in plastic lemons and a set of China with large letters on each plate. The seller tells me they can be used to spell out messages in the place settings.
I buy nothing.

Highland Terrace - Virginia Highlands “Yard Sale”

This was a rather small affair. When I arrived the sellers were complaining how those annoying early birds were knocking at their door at seven AM and then took most of the goods by eight. What’s left is mundane some shelving units, a pine desk, a few dinning room chairs, a window air conditioner and the book “ Jump up and kiss me- a guide to spicy vegetarian cooking”
I buy nothing.

Wessington Dr. - Virginia Highlands “Yard sale”

This is also a minor event. Some of items around the driveway include several clock radios, two pair of golf shoes, an Xmas welcome mat and a copy of Mario Cuomo’s “Reason to Believe”
I buy nothing.

Ray St. - Morningside “Packrat Sale”

When people advertise that they are packrats I believe that the sale is a cathartic rite of passage into some new point in their lives. Something has had to happen to make a massive accumulator give up all or some of the massive amounts of clutter they have been bringing into their domiciles. In a small one storied home were a lot of books and a lot of people. Only two rooms of the home were open so this made it even more crowded. Some of the book titles that caught my eye included “Edith Head a biography”, “Girls with Hammers” “Cooking in a southern manor”, “Weeds of Southern Turf grass” and the intriguingly titled “I am the most interesting book of all”.
There was a number of artworks for sale including two bird sculptures made of gourds, a snake make of a long skinny curved gourd, a metal casted abstract horse and a ceramic eerie figure of a woman without arms. On the walls were a number of prints including a print of an Iguana eating mangoes and a Hiroshige woodcut. That reminded me that I had two Hiroshige woodcuts hidden away. Until I saw this one and its appraisal never realized that they might be prints of the original Japanese woodblock. The seller was also parting with a number of small Japanese décor items including some masks and the figure of a seated rat wearing a kimono. On a sofa was a large doll collection. It included two 90210 figures still in the box (Dylan and Brenda) and a box with a pile naked dolls looking like evidence of genocide in Barbie land.
I bought two books “Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads” a work on taxidermy and natural history museums and “Thou improper and thou uncommon noun” a book on the etymology of words that were once names.

Briarcliff Rd - Virginia Highlands “Multi family sale”

After picking up a few things at the Kroger I pulled into this nondescript apartment complex that is now condos. There at least a dozen different condo dwellers were divesting themselves of clutter. Among the wide variety of stuff I encountered was a plastic relief map of the United States, a bread machine, an ice cream maker, a 3D Arc de Triomphe puzzle, a snow board, a large framed Rod Stewart lp cover, a Grateful dead bota (labeled as a flask), a teapot shaped like a cat and a large doll house. It is here that I discovered two feet; one was simply a foot that looked like it came from an amputated manikin the other was a gag-severed leg that one could hang out of a car trunk. Some décor items included a painting of a Zebra, a portrait of a irritated looking woman, a plate with LA city hall on it, a wild Turkey decanter with a wild turkey fighting with a falcon (the falcon has the high ground and though smaller looks like he might win the struggle) and a small bust of Bach painted with green hair and red lipstick. Next to a big U Haul truck were multiple boxes of books. Some titles include Heidegger’s “Discourse on thinking” McLuhan’s “The Medium is the massage”, “No more bad hair days”, “Cats, cats, cats”. One of the more interesting items found was a set of paddles and shuttlecocks. On the paddles were cute pictures of Pandas. The idea of the game was to hit the Panda with a shuttlecock. The seller told me someone had brought it to her from China. The idea of throwing shuttlecocks or anything at such a loved and endangered species startled me. If someone in China actually threw a shuttlecock at a real Panda I’m sure they would be arrested and sentenced to death by being pummeled with shuttlecocks. . Their families would then be charged for the price of the shuttlecocks.
I did not buy the hit a Panda game but bought two books, “Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and a copy of a limited edition work “ Vern C. Gorst Pioneer and Grandad of United airlines” The books were a dollar each. The second item I may try and sell on ebay. I will report my progress on that at a later time.

Westminster Morningside “Yard Sale”

Once again more kids stuff. In the yard of this home near Emory was evidence of a babycentric world as a double stroller (not for sale) sat in the driveway. Children’s stuff included clothing toys, Cds of lullabies and a large rocking horse. Which was more than likely deemed unsafe for a small child. A box at the entrance marked free held a pile of torn wicker baskets.
I bought nothing.

Clifton Rd. “Lake Claire” “Apartment Sale”

This is the first time I’ve been in this apartment building at the corner of Clifton and McLendon that I have walked past thousands of times. Inside it is almost bare. In a corner are two swords, which is strange because I once remarked I never saw swords at sales. There is also a fur rug, a nose bra for a Mercedes, Xmas tree ornaments shaped like fruit and throw pillows with images of playing cards on them.
I buy nothing.