Fall Break

Last weekend was Fall Break... I didn't have to work on Friday. I couldn't wait for the three day weekend to begin and I wasn't disappointed. It was a wonderful fall weekend!  Craig and I spent Friday driving around the area going to garage sales, enjoying the beautiful fall scenery and each other's company, and being blessed by several "gifts."

We got the first gift about 10 miles from home when we saw a timber wolf standing just off the road. Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring our camera, but I will cherish the memory... not only of that wolf, but also the second wolf we saw just a mile farther on!

Our first garage sale was in Hill City.  We spent 5 dollars and got several treasures.  We enjoyed visiting with the man who was having the sale. He was having the sale because he was cleaning out his parents' house so that it could be sold. He told us about their life there and what good memories he had of that place. Then he asked us where we were from, and when we told him, he told us about coming through our town several times a year on the way to a Christian camp nearby. Since I grew up going to that camp, we shared our memories of camp too. Meeting that man was a gift.

Later in the morning we stopped at Northland Monument, a company that sells granite and stone products. We had a great time talking to the salesman there about different options for our fireplace mantel. We spent some time looking through the inventory on the lot. Craig will be heading back there sometime soon to make some final selections and bring the rock home.

At the next garage sale Craig found 6 really nice long sleeved shirts for just 50 cents each. He is still excited about that "gift"! I found a couple of books, and we got a free basketball.  Judging from the items for sale here, we decided that the sellers were Christians, just like the first man we met.

After that sale we browsed through a secondhand store (I will be going back there - it was a nice shop) and an antique store in Longville before heading to Hackensack to have a good lunch of wild rice soup, California burgers and fries - a gift of good food.

Our next destination was Pine River, where we found the Lotsa Stuff Store. Craig talked to the owner and got a tour of the shop while I browsed. It turns out that the owner used to have her store in Emily! Craig told her how he still uses some things he bought there years ago. She told him the secret to her health (she's a very, very young looking 80 year old!) which is granulated bee pollen. So later in the afternoon we stopped at a health food store in Pequot Lakes to pick some up. (A gift of good health?)

Before we got to Pequot Lakes, however, we stopped at several shops in Jenkins. Annie's Attic was my favorite. We bought a glass sauce pan made by Visions Cookware that is cranberry colored. I had seen some of these when we were in Georgia last year and fell in love with them, but didn't buy any because I couldn't get them home safely. So now when I see this glass saucepan gift on my stove I will remember both the trip to Georgia and this fall weekend.

On the way home we saw another garage sale sign, so we stopped. It was late in the day and the owners had already started boxing stuff up. Craig found two records and some cute little glass shelves. The owners gave us a great deal on them.

It really was a great day. We had time to talk about life, and God, and our family, and each other. We saw the beauty in nature. We met interesting people. It felt like we were on vacation, but we were only about 20 miles from home. We had received many gifts.  Friday was the first day of a super weekend.

Saturday was spent doing some chores - I cleaned some inside while Craig raked and put away hoses, etc. outside. The weatherman was forecasting snow (Yuck!) so Craig wanted to get everything put away outside. I went to Crosby for groceries, and came home and made an apple pie using this recipe:  http://southernfood.about.com/od/applepies/r/bl51027f.htm

I should have taken a picture of it yesterday, but we couldn't wait to eat it! It was delicious!!!

Sunday it was snowing when we got up - the weatherman was right! We went to church, came home, watched football, and just relaxed. Tonight I made pumpkin tarts to use up the pumpkin I had leftover from making pumpkin pancakes a few days ago. I got the recipe from my new November Taste of Home magazine. We haven't tried them yet, but they sure smell good.

Apple pie and pumpkin tarts - perfect foods for fall. Tomorrow I go back to work, but I will take with me a taste of fall break in my lunch, and the gifts of wonderful memories to keep me going when I don't want to be at work.

Successful Garage Sale

Last weekend we had a big garage sale. When we sold our house in town last summer and moved to the cabin, we had a whole house of extra stuff. We decided to take some time to figure out what we wanted to keep, so we stored everything in an extra semi trailer that my husband owned. This spring the businesses in our community were planning to have a citywide event, and we decided that it would be the perfect time for our garage sale. So we hauled out all the boxes and extra furniture. We sorted through it all, organized it and priced it. We made signs from plywood. And last Friday we opened for business. I had to work that day, so after helping put up signs and pull stuff outside, I went to work. I had no idea that my husband and his mom would be so busy - but they were! When I got back after work I could not believe how empty the garage looked. My husband's sister and brother-in-law brought some of their stuff to sell, so we had new items for Saturday. Here are some pictures of the sale.

This picture was taken early Friday morning before everything was set outside. The bikes were hot items - my husband says he could have sold a dozen bikes if he'd had them.

We used my husband's shop for the sale because it was in an ideal location, and because it was big and light inside.

 We tried to organize items into categories, and display them in a way that would give buyers an idea of how they could use them.

The picture wall was my idea and everyone loved it. Buyers could see the pictures easily, could imagine how they'd look on their walls, and the plywood hid things we didn't want to sell.

Here are a few tips for a good sale:

1. Make sure you have signs that grab people's attention and give clear direction to your sale.
2. If possible, make sure there's a lot of light inside so people can see all your treasures.
3. Look for packs of pre-printed price tags to make pricing everything easier. I found packs of stickers that had a variety of prices on them at a dollar store.
4. Be reasonable with your prices, but also expect people to bargain with you. My mother-in-law said that she read this about pricing:
1. If the item is new or almost new, price it at 30% of the original price.
2. If the item has some wear, price it at 20% of original.
3. If the item is worn, but a rock bottom price on it, around 10%.
5. Make sure you have enough help for the first day of the sale. My husband and mother-in-law could have used two helpers on Friday.
6. Arrange like items together. Display home decor on the furniture you're selling.
7.  Make sure everything is clean and in working condition. Clearly mark items that work, so people don't wonder about it.
8. Make sure that you have items that men would want to buy, or at least be interested in looking at. They will be more likely to stay and shop longer, giving their wives time to find more treasures.
9. Don' have too many clothes for sale - and make sure that the clothing you're selling is clean and in good condition. 
10. Be friendly, even if people leave without buying anything.
11. Know the prices of everything that you're selling. If it's a multi-family sale, make sure everything is marked with a price, and that there's a family member from each family on hand to answer questions and make decisions on prices.
12. Make sure you have enough cash on hand to make change, but empty the cash box every so often so that buyers can't see how much cash you really have.
13. Have fun with your sale!