Sunday Wrap Up - COUNTRY Garage & Clearance Sales, an op-Shop AND the Market....!

Happy Easter....!! Well I don't know bout you but I've had ONE HECK of an Easter break & I still have ONE DAY before I have to go back to work....YAYYYYYYYY....!!

OK....So to recap....Mr SVJ & I left for Bonnie Doon to visit my gal pal Wendy for some serious serenity / junkin on Friday morning around 7am....Blame it on the CRAZINESS of my day job recently or perhaps the fact that I'm trying to fit a little too much into the 19 hours a day I have available to me but I seriously STUFFED up with what was going to be happening in so far as the whole 'junkin situation' was concerned....!

OK so Wendy WASN'T having an Auction....She was having a garage sale....DON'T STRESS though as there WAS an auction which I'll yack about shortly....!!

We arrived WELL AFTER it had started & I was having an aneurism thinking I'd missed out....HA....I spent $45- & snagged some amazing pieces....Pics 1 - 3 show a yard long roses print, English cottage scene in an AMAZING gesso frame, 3 Aussie Country Style Magazines (MORE great pics for my design folder), 2 x rose china plates, Brockoff biscuit barrel, red chippy metal tool box AND a scrolly magazine rack....!!!

After a quick cuppa & a catch up, we headed off to visit with Wendy & Keith's friend Keith Pollard....Keith is a local identity with a passion for collecting....To give you an indication of the MASSIVE size of this AWESOME private collection....Ken has around 40 wool presses & 100 tractor seats & has at least FOUR BUILDINGS devoted to housing his 'stuff'....I took MASSES of pics & will actually devote an entire post to this amazing guy....Suffice is to say we had a BALL....!

The pic below is an insert from a Victorian cast iron bed head Ken graciously allowed me to buy from the 'scrap pile'....$20- wall art....S-C-H-A-W-I-N-G....!!!

Now the rest of the day involves another post again as Mr SVJ & I walked up the top of the hill behind Wendy & Keith's farm & played tennis....Suffice is to say....Serenity....Serinity....SERENITY....!!!

Saturday morning saw a division amongst 'Camp Serenity' with Keith, Mr SVJ & Co heading off to play golf, while Wendy,Kelly, Liz & I headed into Mansfield for some Garage Sales....ahhhhhhhhhh....Let's see what $9- can get you in country Victoria on Easter Saturday....!!

My first score was this SUPER COOL tin globe at a TINY TWO DOLLARS....I was so stoked to find this....I want to line a shelf in my office with them as the lovely Colleen has done over at Fresh Vintage....Colleen's GORGEOUS collection actually features as the picture for March in Sue's Junking Calendar....Sue of course IS Vintage Rescue Squad & I suggest with GUSTO if you want a GOOD belly laugh that leads to snorting ** guilty ** & want to read about some WAY COOL 'stuff', you visit these blogs....NUFF said....!!

Anyways.....back to my Garage Sale haul....Let me see....Oh yes....I also scored one of those heavy cardboard files FILLED with wooden cotton reels, a hammer....The patina of which is so YUMMY....Can't WAIT to use that....It's resting in my tool box as I type....A magnifying glass....Every GOOD junker needs one of these....hahahahaha....Oh & a compass....Pairs NICELY with the MG I thought....It has a loop & will find it's way onto a necklace....Both of these are oldies hailing from Japan....And last but by no means least is the lovely litho you see of the Collie dog (aka Lassie dog) & the lamb....THAT would you believe was an INSANE $0.50....All I can say about the Garage Sales I attended in Mansfield is WOOFREAKINHOO.....hahahahaha....!!!

Once we'd refuelled with breakfast at a local eatery in main street Mansfield, we headed into St Vinnies for a spot of Op-Shopping & this is where I scored this black corduroy WITCHERY jacket for a SILLY $9-....I can ONLY imagine it would have cost somewhere around the $150- mark a year or so ago & it is in PERFECT nick....Don't you just LOVE the bound seems....** sigh ** I'm chuffed to say thanks to some MIGHTY hard work on the Tready at 4.30am EVERY FREAKIN morning...It fits like a glove.... :o) !!! My aim is to be a well heeled Junker....hahahahahaSNORT....!!!

Once the guys made it back from Golf, as much as I would have LOVED to stay at Wendy's & Keith's, we bid our fond farethewells & headed off to Molesworth for the annual Easter Clearance Sale....!!!

I swear to you now in ALL SERIOUSNESS....I almost CHOKED when we walked through the gate & I spied ROW UPON FREAKIN ROW of the most AWESOME COUNTRY JUNK....My poor heart....There was so much STUFF they had two auctions running simultaneously & I skipped from one to the other....Now I didn't get a LOT of stuff but the $54- I parted with was some of my BEST SPENT dollars EVER....!!

I scored these two GREAT kitchen tables....The one on the right has a YUKKY top that I'll remove & Mr SVJ will shorten the width to make it into a console table....We may even give it a bench at the bottom for extra storage....It will need to be painted unfortunately as the paint is coming off in fat strips....!

The second table is so YUMMY....Made of kauri pine, it will need to be cleaned & re-glued & have a VERY light hand sand to take off some of the peely paint at the edges....NO biggy....!! The top that did have a piece of lino stuck to it will need to be sanded & have a clear finish....hmmmmmm....POSSIBLY beeswax applied....I'll see how I'm feeling about that one....!

I also scored another Italian wine bottle....A clearer bluey green one this time AND a half gallon imperial bottle as well as the NIFTY chippy red metal tool box insert....The ABSOLUTE best thing I bought though.....DRUM ROLL please, were these FAIR DINKUM AWESOME factory card holders....B-E S-T-I-L-L M-Y B-E-A-T-I-N-G H-E-A-R-T....!!!

21 years ago I worked at the Yakka factory in Wangaratta (long closed with production moving offshore to FREAKIN China.....yeckkkkkk yeckkkkk & DOUBLE yeckkkkkkk)  Anyways.....Every morning I would take my card out of one of these numbered slots, pop it in the clock punch machine which sat between the two metal card holders, & pop it back in it's slot.....At the end of the day, you'd punch out & put your card over in the OUT box....The next morning ALL the cards would appear as if by magic back in the IN box after the office girl had counted the hours noting them in red on the card....!!!

The MOMENT I spied these beauties I saw them in my minds eye mounted on the wall in my office/work room.....I waited ALL day.....ALL DAY in the hot sun with no umbrella, no sunscreen & NO hat.....When the Auctioneer picked one up & held it above his head & said, "What am I bid for these?" I moved forward, gave my 'don't mess with me stare to the sea of eager faces around me & said in my most authoritative voice, "Five dollars"......Heart beating like a drum my eyes swept the crowd & there was a silence I'd not encountered the entire time we'd been there....The Auctioneer looked around & at the lack of bids said, "Then I guess they're yours Little Lady."

I was so happy I could have exploded....SERIOUSLY....I wonder if it was the STARE.....hahahahahahaSNORT....!!  I've removed the numbers & scrubbed each piece.....If I EVER finish this post, I'll go out & introduce them to 'poly', put the numbers back in & Mr SVJ will mount them for me....!!  They are going to keep track of the 5000 projects I currently have on the go.....!!!

All in all I had a BLAST & CAN'T WAIT for next year....I'll be taking some tools, my van AND a trailer though....!!!

OK we're on the HOME STRETCH....Though if you're drinking coffee you MAY want a top up....hahahahaha....Daylight savings ended yesterday (It's OK....I ONLY cried for an hour.....SO LOVE my daylight savings..... ** mope ** !!!) but I wasn't fooled....I took advantage of the EXTRA hour & caught up on some MUCH NEEDED & required zzzzzzzzzz's before springing out of bed at my usual 4.30am & heading off to the Market....** NB: Sunday is the ONLY day I don't do the Tready at 4.30am.....I do it when I get home from the Market instead...! **

It was a GREAT morning.....Starting with a BIG BELLY laugh at my Friend Trevor's expense as he forgot DS was ending & arrived an HOUR EARLY.....hahahahahaSNORT.....Then as usual I spent time socialising with vendors & buyers as I scoured for Treasures, met up with Mr SVJ who rolls out of bed at a more respectable 8am for breakfast & ended with the $130- worth of YUMMINESS you see below.....  :o) !!!

Now because I've been at this post SO LONG I'm going to bullet point my finds to save some time:

1. 3 x Marchants bottle with GREAT red & white graphics....Stoppers included....!
2. 2 x Hoffman mixing bowls....Red & green to go with a blue one I have....ALMOST have the set now...!!
3. 4 x rusty coat hooks....Always always ALWAYS need these for 'projects'....!!
4. LOVELY shaped bottle just waiting to be utilised as a vase.
5. 2 x rustic funnels....Projects projects PROJECTS....!!!!
6. GORGEOUS chippy green galvanised (my three FAVE words) tool tray..... ** sigh **
7. SEXY (been nicely oiled) wooden box for Mr SVJ's YUKKY tool magazines he INSISTS on having on his side of the couch......yeckkkkkk....!!!
8. DIVINE divided wooden tray with handle (lower right side)....The patina of this piece is STUNNING....!!
9. 4 x rectangular patty pans & 8 x jelly (?) moulds....I do a whole ORGANISATIONAL type thang with these....  :o) !!
10. 2 x BEAUTIFUL French cardboard soap boxes....KILLER graphics on these....!!
11. Grey leather clutch.....I may use this as my NEW Market purse.....Big enough to hold my notebook & phone & has FOUR compartments to separate my moolah....!!!
12. Two LOVELY funnels.....Dare I say....P-R-O-J-E-C-T-S....??!!
13. And the pice de RÉSISTANCE (sp?) has GOT TO BE these SEVEN rusty 1950's garden stake/drink holder things....I used to find these ALL THE TIME in Hard Rubbish but have not done so for at LEAST 5 years.....These (most of them) will be KEEPERS & I'll use them in the garden to hold stubbies when we have Barbies or to hold tea lights....They were a C-R-A-Z-Y $2- each.....YAY ME.... :o)

Ooh & NEARLY forgot....The last pic shows three VERY SWEET velvet flower brooches ($2- a pop) that I bought to CELEBRATE a new phase in my work life....After some serious stress over the last couple of months my REAL JOB looks like it may evolve into something a tad more fulfilling & challenging than it otherwise has been for a while....I was looking for some jaunty colourful scarves but thought these would do just nicely....They will certainly make me smile when I look down at them each day.....!!!

All in all a FABO weekend filled with the five F's.....Friendship, Fun & FREAKINgreatVintageTreasures.....!!!

To my FAVOURITE Friend Wendy, THANK YOU so much for having us, for accepting me as I am & for your continued ENTHUSIASM AND support for each & EVERY hair brained scheme I squeal down the telephone at you....Of ALL the Treasures I have EVER found.....You my Friend, are the most valuable.....!!!

Here's hoping EVERYONE has a Friend like my mate Wendy....!!

Cheers,
Tamarah  :o)