Virginia At Last

So it has been quite some time since I last posted anything, okay a long long time since I posted, but I am back and hopefully for good. I have moved from the Mountain State back to the Old Dominion or in other words, I have moved home. Anybody who knows me knows I have a great love for Virginia and I am beyond ecstatic about being back.

Now everybody knows "Virginia is for Lovers", but I happen to think Virginia is for Antique-rs as well and I am ready to get back in the game.  Ready, Set and Go.....

Yard Sale Exhaustion

Made it to the Worlds Longest Yard Sale: STOP: Was not able to chronicle each day as promised: STOP: Days were long and exhaustion rampant: STOP: Will blog about the ups, downs, bargains, etc this week: STOP: Going to bed now: STOP:

Two Days and Counting....

1 1/2 days of work and off we go..... Stay tuned as I hope to chronicle my finds each day of the sale. Keep your fingers crossed!

Still here and Still Tiquing.

I haven't been able to blog as much as I would have liked in the past two weeks... that whole pesky day job thing has gotten in the way. Well I shouldn't say pesky, I actually like what I do, but in the past two weeks it has taken a lot of my time. To top things off, my Sally has taken a turn for the worst. Sally is my 2001 Ford Escape that I purchased five years ago. I bought her used when I moved from Alabama to Vermont. Vermont took its toll on the poor thing. So I am currently in the midst of buying a new car. I will miss Sally and her cargo space. She was a great antiquing car, but alas it is time to downsize and the winner is a brand spankin' new Honda Fit. I wanted something with better gas mileage and this hatchback also offers pretty good cargo space for a small car. The new cars, no name yet, inaugural road trip will be to the Worlds Longest Yard Sale, which is less than two short weeks away. I am hoping to find some more inventory for the shop and to get a jump on Christmas present shopping. The next time ya'll hear from me will most likely be after that trip and I am hoping to showcase some really great items. We will just have to wait and see... rumor has it the worlds longest yard sale can be hit or miss. Our base of operation will be in Frankfort, Ky and heading points southward on Friday and points north on Saturday. Wish us luck!

The Next Logical Step

I would love to say that the next logical step in this antique adventure would be to quit my job, hit the road and be a full time antique finder. Okay I realize this is not the next LOGICAL step, more like the next fanciful step. Anyway, I have been selling on ebay, however, I am really leaning towards renting a space at an Antique Mall. This would be logical, right? I would love to find a local mall, but I think I am going to find something in the Shenandoah Valley or around Charlottesville, Virginia. I think these areas get good traffic and many of the malls are well established and have been around a while. I am currently working on getting some inventory and as much fun as that is it can be a drain on the old pocketbook. We will see where this all goes.

This was just me needing to write down my plans and if anyone out there reads this and has some advice for me please don't hesitate to comment. I welcome any guidance from those whom have been where I am now and have struggled as they traversed the long road that I am just beginning to travel.

Weekend Loot and My Auction Adventures

Well I posted last Thursday that Saturday would be dedicated to finding goodies here around town. Saturday morning I woke up early( worm, early bird and all that) with the intention of hitting as many yard sales, estate sales and flea markets as possible. The first one was a moving sale only a block from my house. Evidently they are taking no clothes with them wherever they are moving. The only things of interest were two old sewing machines. So I moved on to a estate sale that was advertised as being "awesome" and in really big house. We were on are way and I was practically giddy over the thought having a huge house full of stuff to roam through. The cars were lined up around the corner and they hadn't even opened the doors yet. The doors opened and we all streamed in with feelings of excitement and a need to see everything. We were greeted by a white and pink living room set, circa 1985 and I big new dining room table and all I thought was this does not bode well for the rest of house and I was right. The woman running the sale said come in look around and don't forget to head down the wonderful spiral staircase to view more. MORE of what I thought! Well I went down and it was a room full of candles, lots and lots of candles. My friend, who I had drug along, did find some kitchen stuff, so she was a least happy. After she made her purchases we headed back to the car and off to a flea market in town.

Flea Markets, Flea Markets, Flea Markets. I don't know what to think of them anymore. They are hit or miss. This one was a miss. Lots of cells phones, socks and new purses. Again disappointment. So at this point I decided to take a page from my Grandfather's book and head out to the country. So I headed north on a back road and was pleasantly surprised at the number of sales that we were seeing. After stopping at several I felt my giddiness return. Although I made no purchases, my faith in finding goodies at yard sales was renewed. After heading to the country, getting lost in country(which I enjoy), I returned home for an afternoon of World Cup Soccer and well we all know how that turned out.

After the disappointing morning and afternoon, I decided to head to an auction being held in a neighboring town. I have been going to auctions since I was little, but it had been a while and I was a little nervous. The auction house was located in a an old theater and we were greeted with smells of hot dogs, popcorn and barbecue being sold from the old theater concession stand. We grabbed our seats as the auction was beginning and were warned it was going to be a long night. There was glassware, furniture, ephemera, kitchenware, you name it, it was there. Six hours later I left with several goodies in tow.


This was my first purchase. It is a calendar made for J.R. Andrews Inc., out of Pennsylvania. It can still be used today because there is no year indicated. It has the month and days, that can be changed by moving the cardboard wheels, located on the back. The flaps with dates are all still intact. Some of the days of the week are scratched, however, I still like it and I am not sure why.








My next purchase was a print with several markings. Up in the right hand corner it says copyright Paris Etching Company of New York City and on the bottom right hand corner it is signed in pencil. I cannot tell what the name is but I believe it is French. On the bottom of the left hand corner it is signed again in pencil and next to it is a small circle with letters SZL. If anyone has any more information I would love the input.


















So I packed my car with my goods around 11:30 and headed home. It turned out to be a good day and I can't wait until next weekend when I hit the road for the Fourth of July Holiday. Plans have been made to explore the Northern Neck and Virginia and I can't wait.

And the Countdown to the Weekend Begins

So it is Thursday, one day stands in between me and Saturday and the numerous yard and estate sales that will in no doubt be in full force this first weekend of Summer. It will be the first time in weeks that I have been in town and as much as I love a good road trip, I am looking forward to a weekend at home and finding out what the locals have to offer in the way of goodies. My next post will be Saturday evening and the topic will either showcase my wonderful finds or how bloody hot it was yard sale hopping. Tune in Saturday to see how it all turns out. Now to tonight's feature item.

Historic Garden Week in Virginia April 23 - May 1, 1977
A Pamphlet

Okay it kind of pains me to post something as vintage when it is a year younger than me, but here it is. As someone who is from Virginia, this really was a great find. I love reading advertisements to see what still exists in the way of hotels, restaurants etc.... I don't know if I will sell this one yet, not because I think it is worth a whole heck of a lot, but because it has some really great information on historic architecture of Virginia(historic architecture being another one of my passions). Only time will tell. As you probably can tell, many of the items in my box lot purchase of yore, are of the ephemera genre. As this blog of mine continues I think you find I will go through phases and at the time of the purchase I was on an "old paper" kick. ( Again, pain, 1977 not old, not old)