Sailing !
Have you ever been sailing? No no no. Not on a ship! GARAGE SAILING!
If you live in a city like mine the best ‘sailing’ takes place in the Spring and Fall. The classic ‘spring cleaning’ and ‘fall decluttering’ take place at these times of the year and the treasures are yours for the ….finding.
When we were first married we used to joke that our home was decorated in the ‘early garage sale’ period..ha ha.
But this wasn’t far from the truth. We didn’t have much money and we had four little children. Garage sales provided us with a great way to outfit our home from everything from unique, antique chairs (each one different!) around our dining room table to plates on that table.
And if you are ‘crafty’ in nature you can find things and turn them into ….other things! ( Like lamps made out of bottles, etc.)
It was also a really fun, neighbourly thing to do on a Saturday morning. I enjoyed visiting with the folks in our area , having a good chat, and giving them a bit of money as I took away my ‘find’.
I took the images above from our church garage sale that I went to support this past weekend. Terry said to me ,“You can head over there but I suggest just one thing to you….. DON’T BUY ANYTHING!” Ha ha ha. We are at the stage when we don’t need anything at all . How blessed are we? But you know, even so, there are always treasures to be found….that you didn’t know you needed…HA!
I managed to find 10 gift bags (for a dollar!) and some brand new frames for my artwork that were still in their original packaging. Ka-ching!
The best garage sale WE had , years ago, was one where we charged…NOTHING! We put a jar out for donations to one of our favourite charities. That’s it.
And we had the best time. Friends would stop by with coffees and croissants, pull up a lawn chair and chat with us for awhile. Thrilled ‘customers’ would be incredulous that they could have anything they want….and as much as they wanted and it only cost them their time -and a donation ….IF they chose.
We, meanwhile, unloaded most of the things we didn’t need anymore because free stuff leaves a lot faster than the things you have to barter for!
We also got a kick out of folks trying to barter for things that were free. What? And other folks, who upon realization that ‘this entire stack of kitchen tiles’ are for the taking (for example)… were running to their cars with armloads before their neighbours could grab them all.
And we made tons of money for charity!
Have YOU ever been ‘sailing’ ? Have you ever hosted your own garage sale? Tell me about it!