I get it now....

Friday, I headed up the road to have an art day with my friend Gaye.  I was about halfway there when she called my cell phone to say there was a change of plans.  We met at another location, she picked me up, and we went to a yard sale.  I have mentioned before that Gaye is some kind of yard sale guru who can find the most amazing things.  Where I live, I have stopped going to yard sales because I hardly ever find anything worth getting up early for on my day off!  This particular sale was held at the house where Gaye grew up, so it had special meaning for her already.  Plus, they had some pretty fun stuff and great prices.

I get it now, why she is willing to get up early, endure the heat or rain or whatever it is doing that day... because I got all this for $4.   Art supplies, red envelope with someone's class notes and drawings from an art history class from 1952, an old Japanese/American newspaper (Chicago Shimpo), what appears to be a block printing kit, and a button.

Lots of fun stuff to play with later, for sure.

Then we went back to Gaye's where we played with pan pastels, doing all kinds of things they were not supposed to do!  I love playing in the experimental art laboratory.  I highly recommend it!

Stampaway Weekend (Part 2)

Just a few more sights from the weekend in the Cincinnati area...  Gaye and I were driving around looking for a particular place to eat and went through the village of Glendale, Ohio, which I later learned is the home of the black squirrel.  I looked it up after seeing all these giant squirrel statues all over the town.  Louisville has its horses, Cincinnati has its pigs... Glendale has its squirrels...

Another day, this BBQ place was recommended to us (thanks, Nancy - yummy!).  She said it was the place with the ambulance in front.  And so it was! 

They pride themselves in cooking with seasoned wood, and in fact have a large pile of wood in the back of the restaurant.  Apparently it is easy pickings for others, and they had to post this sign.

Some years, Stampaway weekend falls on the same weekend as the Longest Yard Sale.  This was one of those times.  The weather has been a little cooler than August normally is, but the humidity more than cancels that out, making the air laden with wetness and heaviness that makes you sweat every drop of moisture out of your body.  It was almost high noon when we left Cincinnati, but it is our tradition to stop in Covington KY even if that is the only part of the yard sale we can manage.  At least there was some shade and a bit of a breeze.  When we got to the end of the street where the clock tower is, it started to chime and play music.  It was pretty amazing.  I could not get all of the tower in one shot, so this is only about a third of it.

At one point as we were walking from booth to booth, two girls went running past us.  I could not imagine what would make anyone run that fast on such a hot humid day.  Then I saw the boom mike. Then I saw the camera people.  I don't know what TV show they were filming, but my guess is something on HGTV.  In the past, that TV channel has had shows featuring the longest yard sale. HGTV and a couple of other channels have competitions with teams seeking to out-do each other in finding the best bargain.  I'm sure it was for something like that.  The lady sitting down in the yellow shirt said they bought a vintage Coca Cola cooler from her.  I'll have to be on the lookout for that.

 

We didn't stop anywhere else for the yard sale.  We had some spatterings of rain, and some slow interstate construction traffic, but eventually made it to our respective homes safe and sound.  Neither of us bought a lot at the convention.  I bought mostly stencils and a couple of stamps (and the very cool convention tote bag). 

 

 I had to pick up a couple of things at the store after I got home, and noticed they already have their Halloween candy out.  Soon they will have the Christmas things out.  Time moves on... Stampaway 2015 will be here before you know it!