Another Man’s Treasure

Neighborhood Garage Sales in Greenwood

Seeking bargains

My brother-in-law is always on the lookout for used accordions

Last Saturday was the annual neighborhood garage sale day sponsored by the Phinney Neighborhood Association.  For the past three years, my sister and brother-in-law have driven up from Oregon to attend this bargain festival.  This year the weather was perfect, sunny and warm, and there seemed to be more participants than ever.

I love going for the sense of community, the pleasure of seeking bargains, and the joy of finding an unexpected treasure amongst other people’s cast-offs.  It feeds my thrifty nature to reuse and recycle things that no longer fit in other people’s lives.  Truly, one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.

This year my daughter asked me to be on the lookout for a coffee table and some pots and pans for her new apartment.  I am happy to report that I was able to find them for her at bargain prices.  I found it more fun to have a few things in mind to look for as we moved from sale to sale.

And for me, I happily purchased for a couple of dollars some matted frames to use with my photos, a handmade rag rug that fits perfectly in our guest bedroom, a red tablecloth, a pear-shaped cutting board, and some handmade pottery bowls.  I would never have purchased these things new, but I am so happy to be able to surround myself with such beautiful things for just pennies, and to give them new life in my home.

Handmade pottery bowls and other garage sale treasures

Matted picture frame that now showcases one of my photos

Blue rag rug for our guest bedroom

The Greenwood Garage Sale Day is definitely worth watching for.  I can hardly wait for next year’s sale.

Sea-born Treasures

Sand dollar hidden in beach sand

Sand dollar and stones on the beach

The riches of sea-born treasures

“I wiped away the weeds and foam,
I fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore
With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar.
     — Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Each and All”