The better part of today was spent traveling up and down Highway 127 for the WLYS. Lasting 4 days, spanning 450 miles and 4 states there is something for EVERYONE at this thing. I try to go every year but this year actually had a bit of money to spend. Here is some of what I picked up.
Weed eater – $5
Not sure if it works as it was out of gas. The motor turns so I am hopeful. It came from an estate sale so we shall see.
Donvier Ice Cream Maker – $7
I’ve been wanting one of these for a long time. No rock salt, no electricity. Just place the cannister in the deep freeze for a while and it gets cold enough to make 1 qt of ice cream. mmmm
Storm Window w/screen – $5
For the as of yet unmade second cold frame. Its too small for the 4×8 frame I’m making this fall but it was in such good shape I couldn’t pass it up. Everyone needs 2 cold frames right?
Phullostachys Bissetii – Bamboo – 2 gallon pot – $10
I’ve been wanting some bamboo for a while and this stuff is supposed to be hardy to -20F. At least that is what the guy who sold it to me said. I’ve seen it growing in his yard for several years so it should do fine here.
6 (or7) local high school yearbooks from 1959-65 $20
I have a web site where I scan old yearbooks and put them online. This was a great deal for these books and I’ll more than make my $$ back on ebay once I get them scanned, indexed and put online.
Rotating metal sun spinner – $35
I LOVE this thing. It is made out of stainless steel, very heavy duty. When it spins it is made in such a way that the light reflects off the fins and it appears that light is moving either inward or outward depending on the direction of the turning. I picked up the middle sized one which is about 1 foot in diameter. A local couple sell them, a friend of theirs in MN makes them and they are awesome. They have probably a dozen or so different types and colors. There was a really neat cross that looked like it was vibrating with light.
Tomorrow we go back out to look for more goodies.
oooh. yearbooks. I never thought I’d find someone else so obviously intrigued. Most recently, I was delighted to look through MIT yearbooks when we visited the museum slightly off campus in Cambridge.
Rachel – you might be interested in my two sites dealing with yearbooks I’ve scanned and indexed. I am going to have to give up the second one as my free time isn’t what it used to be.
http://freepages.school-alumni.rootsweb.com/~schoolpics/
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/schools/
I started collecting and posting yearbooks several years ago when I scanned and posted my aunt’s book from 1949. The oldest one I’ve done is from 1916 and the largest I’ve indexed (not totally scanned yet) is Univ of Cincinnati at over 400 pages.
Jealous! I think HGTV had a special on this didn’t they? I would love to stock up for my eBay auction. I find anything a bit unusual gets the most bids. My biggest sale? A handcarved bear nutcracker that I got $360 for.
BTW, loved the little video of your spinning sun.
I love the sun spinner! Does it also scare birds/squirrels?
Dianne –
Wow – $360! That must have been some nutcracker.
OldRoses –
My friend purchased a red hummingbird spinner. She placed it about 6′ from her hummingbird feeder. They do stop to take a look before moving on to the feeder but don’t seem bothered by it. Not sure about the other birds or squirrels.
Hi, Kerry – Followed your link over from davesgarden.com just now. The sun spinner is really cool! I think it was Wal-Mart where I saw a hummingbird one, maybe the one your friend has, and I wondered what they looked like when displayed. That’s really neat.
Thats a cool item that you found, our Iowa 100 mile yard sale was on hi-way 141, I wish I could have made all 100 miles….not enough dough or gas! LOL! But the 20 miles was fun. I did’nt find any yard art but I got some great ideas along the way.
GW –
I’ve never seen them at Wally World actually I hadn’t seen them till this weekend. Very captivating.
I briefly checked out your blog as I didn’t have time to go through it but I do want to spend more time checking out your site.
Jill –
I didn’t realize there were other long yard sales. Its a neat concept isn’t it? An excuse to get out and spend a little money and come home with LOTS of goodies. What more could a person want?
woooo hoooo the weed eater works!
The spinning yard ornament is wonderful! I’ll have to get one ……..some day 🙂