Bonus Saturday: Sept 30--part II

Weather: gorgeous!

Remarks: We drove to Bellvue for dinner with friends and stopped at a few garage sales along the way. Also, the woman who sold us the sewing machine on Friday called while we were at the rummage sale (see part I) and said she had found some accessories that went with the machine. Joe had left a business card with her Friday because we had to leave the machine until we could return to pick it up with the truck. Anyway, we stopped by and picked up an instruction book, buttonhole attachment, 4 pattern cams and some assorted tools. It was very nice of her to take the trouble to call and offer them to me, I am glad to have them.

Amount Spent: $10.25

• 2 small speakers: $1
• partial package of cedar boards-$1
• 3 pieces of fabric (9 yds total)-$2.25
• belgian waffle maker-$2
• silverware basket from a dishwasher-free
• book, softcover, Illustrated encylopedia of Animals (beautiful pictures!)-25 cents
• box of Singer cams and tools
• ashtray with a sleek looking cat-$1
• book, softcover, Decorative Paint Finishes-25 cents
• sewing machine instruction booklet
• package of long navy blue shoelaces-25 cents
• partial package of incense sticks-25 cents
• Singer buttonholer
• glass butter dish-$1.50
• kite string-25 cents
• leather key fob-25 cents

Bonus Saturday: Sept 30th--part I

Weather: another gorgeous fall day! Perfect!

Remarks: we were out early to hit a rummage sale at Mt Olive Lutheran Church (next door to G + M) that opened at 8 am, then we stopped in for coffee with G + M, and wound up stopping at a sale on the way home.

Amount Spent: $18.25

Atticus is helping to log the cuuh this morning!
An update for his fans: Felix spent the night in the cat papasan, and as we left to hit a few sales this morning he was basking in a sunbeam coming in through the bathroom window and shining on him as he took a bath in the new chair. The buy of the day is a true hit!

• 3 collapsible display easels-$2 each
• book, hardcover National Geo, Saving our Animal Friends (the cover picture sold us)-50 cents
• book, hardcover, Technical Metals-50 cents
• Crusty the clown watch (green, hanging on easel)-25 cents
• book, hardcover, Robots (fabulous graphics!)-50 cents
• 2 olive lampshades and hardware for shades-$1
• book, softcover, How to Draw Cats-gift from Gail
• book, softcover, Snake (great graphics)-50 cents
• grocery sack full of (wearable) socks-$1
• cloth briefcase (Hawaiian print)-$1
• 3 paperbacks for Joe-50 cents each
• Hallmark oval gift box-25 cents timer-25 cents
• 3 300 watt bulbs-$1 each
• pocket amplifier with headphones-25 cents
• gray silicone loaf pan-gift from Gail
• flowered stationary set-50 cents
• cat barrette (not very visible in photo)-$1
• Folkwear pattern-50 cents

September 29th

Weather: Splendid! Warm and sunny, the perfect weather for garage saleing.

Remarks: Quite a few sales today

Amount Spent: $35.05


Felix is helping with the cuuh-logging again!

• West Bend electric bean pot (1964!)-$2
• ??--don't know what this is called, but it is a little sterno heater, fondue forks and little dishes on a lazy susan-gift from Gail to Joe, she paid $2
• 2 pyrex mixing bowls-10 cents each
• 3 pyrex measuring cups-10 cents each
• book, softcover, The Everyday Writer-50 cents
• crystal ashtray/candleholder-50 cents
• 5 stainless measuring cups-10 cents for all

• The game of Life-50 cents
• 2 plastic boxes-5 cents each
• Singer 501 sewing machine (with cabinet, pictured below)-$20
• Renaissance (fancy plastic pieces) chess set, still sealed-50 cents
• stainless and acrylic peppermill-50 cents
• Moosehead beer glass-25 cents
• 4 books, paperback, by Tom Clancy-50 cents each
• 2 yellow measuring cylinders-10 cents each
• plastic measuring shaker, missing cap-10 cents
• puzzle (in round container) of Miss August 1967-25 cents
• Aggravation game-$1
• 2 scrabble games with wooden pieces, 1 is 3D-50 cents each
• wooden box-50 cents
• Dr Ruth game-50 cents
• bag of round metal containers-10 cents
• CD rack-25 cents

The sewing machine cabinet. It needs a little work, but is in great condition overall. I already have one just like this, the top opens up to extensions on both sides of the machine, the larger section on the left is supported by a metal arm that swings out.

• short sleeve rayon hawaiian style shirt for Joe-$3

And now we get to the BUY OF THE DAY, this cat chair that Joe found and paid $1 for:


It is a tiny papasan-style chair that can fold flat! A little worn around the edges, but quite the bargain for a buck! Joe unfolded it and set it on the floor and Atticus came right over to check it out and then crawled in and settled down, that was when I took the first picture. He relaxed in the chair for a few minutes, then he got up and Felix climbed right in to try it out. A big hit with the cats!! Unquestionably the buy of the day!!

Bonus: Fun with Coffee

This past Friday's cuuh included a booklet from 1956, Fun with Coffee:

The picture on the cover is wonderfully '50s!
I love these kinds of booklets, they are very entertaining snippets of their time. This one is a real gem, the artwork is fabulous and it is chock full of information on brewing coffee and recipes featuring coffee.


Last night we had guests over for dinner and I decided to make a pie using a recipe from the book. I chose the Coffee Macaroon Pie because I had all the necessary ingredients on hand, and of course it sounded like a tasty pie.



This is the "illustration in the center spread":


And there was even a picture of my reaction to the pie coming out of the oven:

The pie was indeed tasty, although no one could taste the coffee. But it is a super coconut macaroon pie. Only half left in this picture:

My pie turned out much darker on top than the one in the booklet, and it was done in only 40 minutes. A very scrumptious, rich pie--I was 100% happy with the results and will be making more from this recipe in the future. And probably trying other recipes from this booklet which I am thrilled to have found and added to my collection.

September 22nd

Weather: cool and overcast

Remarks: The first sale we stopped at was at a house with magnificent grape vines covering the privacy fence surrounding the yard. Gail got chatting with the woman holding the sale, and she invited us to pick some, even furnishing us with a bag and clippers. Gail, Mick and I picked grapes for a few minutes and harvested quite a few (see picture below) very nice, fragrant concord grapes!

Amount spent: $19.35



Felix was back at his old job, helping me log the cuuh, this week!

• vintage light fixture-$1
• book, hardcover, The family of Man-25 cents
• set of foglights (one light missing in picture)-$10
• book, paperback, Creating Unforgettable Characters-50 cents
• book, paperback, about life in Guam during WWII-50 cents
• glasses case for traveling-10 cents
• '70s era classic ashtray-$2
• small squirrel-cage fan-$2
• book, hardcover, Wingborne (printed on rice paper)-25 cents
• book, paperback, Coolinary Art (ice cream, etc)-50 cents
• book, paperback, Cool 'N Frosty-5 cents
• radio alarm clock-50 cents
• silk shirt-5 cents
• cribbage board-$1
• book, paperback, Fun With Coffee-5 cents
• folder-booklet, Helpful Kitchen Hints-5 cents
• book, paperback, 100 BakeOff Recipes-5 cents
• 2 Michener paperbacks-25 cents each

The grapes-free:

I am going to make grape juice with these, using the juicer I bought last year!

Update: the picture above is "before," here is "after":

2 bowls full of pulp and about 6 cups of juice.
The grapes turned out to be challenging to juice, mostly because of the seeds. Joe ran the juicer, and he quickly figured out that he needed to drop a handful of grapes into the chute and then get the red pusher in quickly before seeds started popping out! By the time he finished juicing there were seeds everywhere!! Most did go through the juicer and were ground up with the pulp, but quite a few escaped and I expect to be finding grape seeds in the area for awhile.

The juice is EXCELLENT!! Really, really good!!!

A fun experiment and some free grape juice = better living through garage sales!!