Friday, October 31, 2008





Happy Hallowe'en!
Pk and I took today off from work so he could go to an estate sale about 50 miles away. We left at o'dark thirty and it looked like this. The sun was just coming up and the sky was so clear. The day turned out to be glorious. We drove into the sunrise and got to see the sky get lighter and lighter.

We found the house and I have to say it is a weird thing to wander around someone's house and look at their things and decide if you want to buy any of them. I have never been to an estate sale before and I'm not sure I like it. It feels like grave robbing. Pk was interested in tools (duh!) and was not disappointed. The garage was full of tools and some sports equipment. He bought some wood clamps and a mitre saw. I walked around and looked at odd lamps made out of huge pieces of driftwood and other strange things. Including about 100 little tiny Santas. All the same. All made out of resin and boxed up. I couldn't figure out what someone would want with them.


This made me wonder what people would think if my kids have an estate sale when we die. Will they wander around and say "oh my, what is THAT? Why is there all this wool in the living room?" Will they question our taste and gawk at the odd things we have collected over the years?


We drove back through the early morning and decided to stop at a local farm/entertainment place. It was originally a working farm and I guess in some sense it still is. The family grows pumpkins, corn, and cotton and gives hay rides to pick those things when they are in season. Cotton is fascinating. You pick some bolls and wait for them to burst open and inside is a little ball of fluffy white stuff. In order to keep the farmland as farmland, they have resorted to this retail establishment. We bought some pumpkin pie and apple cider. And we saw farmers and
sheep. Well, only plastic ones but still sheep. It was a really nice way to spend the morning. We stopped at the diner for breakfast and got to see first hand all of the people heading over to Philadelphia for the big parade celebrating the Phillies' winning the World Series. Pk and I both take the train into the city for work and I am soooooo glad we didn't go in today. There were people waiting in line for over an hour to buy a ticket and then in line to get onto the train. We would have been stuck over there trying to get home today. We hadn't considered the parade when we made our plans but we were lucky. They're expecting over a million people all shoved into South Philadelphia today. That is about a million too many for me.
Today is the last day of Blogtoberfest. I'm glad. 31 posts in 31 days was a challenge. It was interesting and fun but it will be nice to go back to "no obligation blogging". I know there are lots of folks out there doing the Blog 365 thing and I admire them but I don't think it's for me. Like Bells said, I love blogging. It's a way to reach out and connect but I think I would come to resent it if I felt I had to do it everyday.
Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day off. I'm going to try to ply some yarn that I have spun. I have never plied before (sounds racy!) and this could be an exercise in frustration but I think I have the patience for it today. I needed a mental health day. Work has been stressful and today my supervisor was to present his design for our new program. I hope it went well but I can surely wait until next week to see it. I don't think it will have changed that much.
Have a Happy and safe Hallowe'en. I am wearing my pumpkin shirt and pumpkin socks and will probably go and have dinner with my brother and his family later. Oh, and I'm going to give out candy. If I'm lucky, there won't be too much left!

17 comments:

Galad said...

It sounds like a perfectly lovely morning. You did pick a good day to be off!

I've always loved estate sales because sometimes I can give a home to someone's treasured possession. They can be a little sad though, when it comes down to Tupperware,picture frames and hangers going for $.50 a box at auction. Those were items somebody used every day and now they are worth next to nothing.

Ok - way to thoughtful for a bright fall morning. Have a wonderful weekend.

Bells said...

I'm not sure I like the idea of estate sales either - although practically they are a good idea - but definitely like grave robbing. What a strange concept.

Good on you for taking a MHD - they are sometimes necessary and good on you for making 31 day of blogging. I've loved checking out, every morning, what you managed to come up with the night before (or what seems like the night before to me!)

Bezzie said...

Ooo..you're going to love plying. It's so satisfying! I'm cool with estate sales. Better than that crap being handed down over and over...and I mean crap, not the good stuff. No one ever fought for the right to have Grandma's tupperware!

Georgie said...

Well done on making it through Blogtoberfest!

Even though I resent very early starts, driving into the sunrise like that makes up for the resentment. It's a kind of witching hour, when you feel like almost the only people awake anywhere in the world, part of a secret society.

Anonymous said...

what a lovely day.

Congrats on completing Blogtoberfest. I'm awaiting Dec. 31 to complete Blog 365. It's been difficult at times and I can tell you know, I probably won't do it come 2009, maybe 3 times a week and weekends off, we'll see what change comes our way :-)

Rose Red said...

Congrats on making the end of Blogtoberfest.

I know what you mean about estate sales - I think farm clearing sales are even worse, because often it's a sign of a farmer leaving the land because they've gone broke.

Good for you taking a mental health day.

Alwen said...

I grew up going to estate sales, and I think that has made me a tiny little bit less of the packrat I would otherwise be. (I'm still pretty cluttery and packrat-y, but I could be worse!)

I love them because I find things there that you can't get any more (colors of tatting thread that aren't produced, furniture made of solid wood). Some of the things, like the thread, will literally go into a dumpster if no one buys it.

And at my great-grama's sale, don't worry, we had already laid claim to the things that had meaning to us. What was left would have gone into family basements, garages, and storage units if no one had wanted to take it home and love it!

roxie said...

I, too, am a fan of estate sales. I want all my lovely things to go to good homes where people will appreciate them, and I assume others feel the same way. No one else in my family knits, so the stash will be sold quite cheaply to people who will revel in the bargains, go home, and make glorious things with yarn I never got around to using.

Estate sales are also a life lesson. There are the exquisite things that have been put away, "for good" that never got used. I, by golly, USE my nice things. Yes, some of my prettiest tea-cups have been broken and some table linen needed extra work to get the stains out. But the pleasure I get from using them is worth it.

Sounds like you had a grand day!

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