Like a blind dog in a meat market

I stopped into my favorite thrift today and an older customer standing next to me said "it's like a blind dog in a meat market". Basically what he meant was that all of us customers were just fumbling around, bumping into everything and smelling/touching everything. Yep, that's about right.

Here's what I bought for $2. A set of brand new melamine dishes by Thomas Paul. I thought they were too big to be dinner dishes but that's what they are. If you like them, you can buy your own set for only $40 on Amazon (I'm keeping mine.) $10 each for melamine plates?? Yikes!!!

I won FIRST PRIZE in the Academy of Country Music Awards contest!!!!!!!!

A while back I entered an online contest sponsored by Dr. Pepper & Arby's to win a trip to Nashville to attend the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony. It was right up my alley, since walking the red carpet, posing for the paparazzi etc, is the sort of thing as yardsalequeen, I am used to doing constantly. Well guess what??? Today I got notification that I won FIRST PRIZE!!!!!!!!!

And as a First Prize winner, here's what I won. A t-shirt. Then I saw an envelope and it felt like there was a gift card inside. Nope, I also won a 5 free song download. "Congrautlations" to me. It was the grand prize winner that got to go to Nashville.



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I go to the doctors later this week for a checkup so I've been walking on our dining room treadmill. Everyone has a treadmill in their dining room, right? I despise running, so I only use it for walking. I've been doing more walking than usual (my normal walking routine is from the parking lot to the store and from the store to the car) so my doctor better be nice to me. 95 minutes spent walking today with NO buying of anything! That has to be some sort of personal best.

Ta-da! My re-purposed swing/glider bird feeder revealed!

And here it is, in all it's glory, is my new bird and/or squirrel feeding center. I love how it turned out. And the best part, years from now when maybe it gets rusty or falls apart, I'm sure I can find a cheap replacement at a yardsale. Heck, I see an old dirty swing sitting on my neighbor's porch right now so there are tons of them around. Other benefits: it's portable so I can move it if I want to rake under it or move to a new location. When it rains, I won't worry about it falling over, like those stupid shepherd hooks seem to do. You may have noticed my new suet feeder is not in the pic, I plan on putting that one off our deck since it doesn't create a mess, like sunflower shells do. There is still room for more feeders and I will probably rearrange them from time to time.

Here's a reminder of what I started with (my old rusty swing with missing back, cushions etc)



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No yardsales yesterday so no yardsale bargains to talk about.

My DIY Repurposed Glider Patio Swing Makeover into Birdfeeder Station

Today was the day I planned for my glider/swing makeover into my birdfeeding station. So it's 95% complete - the only thing left to do is fill and hang the bird feeders. Once I get the bird feeders up (and before it becomes covered with bird poop) I will post an "after" picture.

So here is the official "before" picture, taken in it's natural habitat. Notice the missing back, missing cushions and rust.



Step 1. Removed the swing part. (On the unused part, I tore off the rest of the fabric and will take the metal to the metal recycling place).

Step 2. Used a wire brush and scrubbed the rusty parts to get the rust flakes off.



Step 3. Dug around in bathroom closet to find my unused metal shower curtain hooks. Spray painted them green. Ever since I bought my awesome shower curtain, I didn't need the hooks anymore (but of course didn't even consider throwing them away). The shower curtain hooks are what will hold the feeders onto the frame. At first I thought about buying "S" hooks at the hardware store, but then I checked the price. For a big S hook, they wanted $1.59 or so EACH. I don't think so.



Step 4. Spray painted the swing frame green (I used some expensive Krylon Fusion paint which I had on hand. I bought several cans dirt cheap at a yardsale). The fusion paint is for plastic but it said it was good for metal and wood etc. Notice my current bird feeders in the background. Ever since I decided to make my bird feeder station, I've neglected filling the feeders.




So here is my "before" pic of my current birdfeeding situation mess. (yes, the squirrels opened the light green birdfeeder on the left).


Stay tuned to see my new birdfeeding station complete with birdfeeders.

Got my gutters decluttered

Yesterday was a rare day, I spent an entire day at home. No Walgreens, no CVS, no trip to the Post Office, or grocery store, nada. But I did manage to spend money.

The castle's gutters needed decluttering. Badly. The castle is multi-leveled. That's a fancy way of saying part it's part one story and part two story. It's the two story part that needed the work of a professional. (Yes, I love going up on the roof of the one story part and cleaning the gutters!)

The last time I was quoted a price for gutter cleaning it was $100 (didn't get it done, I just asked a handyman who was doing work at a neighbors for a quote). The second floor gutters hadn't been cleaned in many years. I called a company that advertised $65 gutter cleaning. I figured it would be $65 and UP, but on the phone they said it was a flat $65 and they would clean up the mess and be there the same day. And they were. Sorry for rambling on about gutter cleaning but I am so happy to find a gutter cleaning place who doesn't get scared off when they see how tall our house is. There's no way I would walk around on the roof of the second floor part ...and then stand near the edge and actually clean the gutters??? No way. With their leaf blower they even cleaned the leaves off the back deck which was not even part of the mess they created with the gutter junk. Sorry I don't have pics to show, I didn't want the gutter guys to think I am weird.

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The other day I was at one of my favorite grocery stores (the old Food Lion) and on the way home, I passed a storage facility place and saw cars parked up and down the road and people milling around. So it dawned on me - storage auction!!!! I hit the brakes. Unfortunately I was too late and missed the auction but I did pick up a schedule for future auctions.

Speaking of my fav grocery store, here it is on a typical busy afternoon.


Oh and I got some good news today. It may be good new for you too (if you are a Walgreens addict like me). The manager told me that the store is being re-done on the inside - no more tall aisles filled sky high, it's going to be "low profile". So they will be doing a lot of clearancing over the next several weeks. I don't know if the change will be in all stores nationwide or what. So your mileage may vary.

Decluttered Christmas Tree

So here's what I decluttered the other day - donations ready for pick-up by AmVets. I even asked if they wanted old computer monitors and they said yes. I love that they pick up right at the door and leave the tax receipt. No lugging stuff to the thrift store. I declutterized our Christmas tree, some clothes and miscellany. I think I bought the tree at 75% off clearance at CVS several years back (regular price $59.99, YSQ price: $15). It was pre-lit with clear lights, which worked great, but the tree itself looks nothing like the photo on the box. The tree had lots of big gaps in the branches and overall so-so. So this past January I bought another clearance Christmas tree also at 75% off (so about the same price as I paid for the other one). But it's a Rite-Aid Christmas tree with colored lights. I doubt it can be any worse than the other one. I'll know once December rolls around again, which will be here before you know it.

One thing I always do is go over all junk mail pretty thoroughly. Cuz you just never know when a good coupon may be hidden somewhere. Last week in the weekly sales ads, there was a separate coupon for Ace Hardware. But the coupon wasn't good for last weekend, it was good for THIS weekend (Fri, Sat, & Sun). So I'm sure many people saw it and just threw it out or set it aside but then forgot to use it. The coupon was good for 50% off one item (less than $30). So I bought the below birdfeeder (suet feeder) not for $24.99, but for $12.49 plus tax with the coupon. I have an Ace Hardware store close by so it's not out of my way to go there. I was able to find a second coupon so today I bought an 8-pack of suet blocks for $3.99 (not $7.99) PLUS I found a dollar bill on the floor while shopping! And I know a lot of people didn't use the coupon since when I handed the cashier the coupon (today was last day to use it), the cashier had to consult with another cashier on how to type it into the cash register. I have a ton of birdfeeders (most from yardsales) but every once in a while it's nice to get a spanking brand new one that I don't need to clean out someone else's rotten birdseed out of.



So pretty much my goal in life is not to pay full price for anything if at all possible. Just the other day, long suffering Mr. YSQ was lamenting the fact that I never buy him his favorite Dove Chocolate Easter eggs until Easter is over. (Duh, winning!) But I was successfully able to prove him wrong this year (and that's what marriage is all about, right?) Here is my evidence:



Dove Chocolate bought the other day for Mr. YSQ for .06 (it was on sale for $3, minus $1 coupon that the CVS coupon center printed out for me combined with the $2 Facebook CVS candy coupon.)

I did hit one yardsale yesterday but it wasn't blogworthy to talk about.

Here is a TV

or this other tv




Feel fee to disregard this post. We are thinking of buying this tv so I wanted to do an affiliate link for myself, so that way when if we buy it, I will get my kick-back and I'll use this link to buy it. Just wanted to make 200% sure I'll get my kick-back.

My Future White Trash Birdfeeder Stand

Pictured above is our old falling apart deck swing, AKA my future birdfeeder stand. It originally came with a canopy for shade, which I think lasted one year before the fabric started disintegrating from the hot summer sun. So that got taken off. Then the cushions started falling apart so those got thrown away (I modified other outdoor cushions for it.) Then finally the fabric on the actual swing started decaying so I tore off the fabric on the back part since bits and pieces were falling off and making a mess. I figured someday we'll spend an hour or so and take it to metal recycling and maybe get $3 for it. But then it dawned on me that it would make one helluva bird feeder stand. I just need to remove the swing part. All those swirly things at the top will be able to hold a ton of different type feeders. And since the frame is sturdy, it won't start leaning like my current shepherd hooks do under the weight of 8 lbs of sunflower seeds. So stay tuned, this is the "before" picture. And I plan on spray painting it since there is some rust going on.

I am a surprised that a few of you actually liked that old wheelchair! Yes, I agree, it would be a neat thing to have as a spooky Halloween decoration or part of a haunted house display. Personally I don't have room to store it. Plus, they wanted like $35 for it. For $35, I could buy 70 .50 items at a yardsale :)

Now here's something I wanted to buy but didn't. I just loved this coffee table but I have no room for it and it needed to be refinished. But it was solid wood from Lane, and had an awesome Mid-Century modern look to it. It was $15.



Instead, here is something I bought. An empty box for .25. It's small and doesn't take up much room. I sort of have a collection of vintage bathroom products. Funny how it has laxative action. I guess somehow years ago, nose and butt problems were related.



Still no new car for me. I swear, we have definitely spent more time looking at new cars than we did we bought our house. (We spent a grand total of about 8 hours house hunting before we bought our house). And geez, once those car dealers get your info, they call every other day wanting to help you.

I am on a drug, it's called Yardsale Queen.

Well no yardsales today, but I did go to an outdoor shopping venue that wasn't even a flea market. More like a monthly outdoor craft show with high prices. I bought nothing.

Speaking of not buying things, here are some things I saw at one of my thrifts recently but didn't buy. I am very disappointed in this store lately, it is getting overly crap-filled with high prices. For instance, shoe prices used to be .50 or $1. (I once bought a very nice pair of Dansko shoes for $1 there and re-sold them for $100+.) When I recently checked their shoe prices, on some I saw a $9 price tag. For a pair of nothing special used shoes. No way.

They had a very old wheelchair (who would buy something like this?? I mean, if you needed a wheelchair, you wouldn't use one that was built in 1940 (or whenever). And I don't see it as being something someone would buy as a collectible.)


A shelf for your monitor. I bet the company that makes these is out of business.


$5 for an 'NSYNC bear. $5??? I wouldn't buy it if it was .50.

In honor of my Dad

who died 6 years ago today, here is a polka for your listening and viewing pleasure (it's a cover of Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band; a good polka band will have the ability to take a song from any musical genre and turn it into a polka.) My Dad probably would have known half the people in the video. This video was filmed at his favorite polka place, and the site of my wedding reception (which of course the father/daughter dance was a polka).



p.s. hey, I just saw someone I know in this video - a cousin and her husband. They are self-proclaimed polka chasers. You know how some people who are into the weather go out and chase tornados? My cousin and her husband go out and chase polkas all over the country.

Yard Sale and Garage Sale Buys - Reselling them on eBay

Just a quick note - the yardsale queen message board is smokin' hot! Just in the past two weeks we had board members with some great ebay sales. For stuff that was bought at yardsales and garage sales! One auction was for a pair of coffee tables - they went for over $1000. A clock went for over $700, and a pair of used old sneakers went for over $900!! (ok the sneakers weren't found at a yardsale, but at 20 years old, they could have been!)

And I recently sold a cereal premium freebie - you know a free toy that comes in boxes of kid's cereal? I had lot of 6 of a particular freebie toy go for $41! And something I bought at an indoor yardsale this past Saturday for $3 is up to $50 already! It's pretty exciting! That's why I am using so many exclamation points!

To read the rules of the message board and to join, click here a small portion of the message board can be pre-viewed here. Members who are signed in can see the whole thing.

Bingo, Tag Toppers, Oatmeal, Yardsales & Etc.

Ok, time to finally catch up on what's been happening in the past few weeks. Nothing too exciting but haven't really had time to sit down and write up a bloggy post.

I ate oatmeal yesterday. For the first time in my life. Don't get me wrong, I can eat oatmeal cookies all day long, but cooked oatmeal for breakfast? Nope. You know what changed my mind? Getting a coupon for a free oatmeal at McDonald's (it was in last Sunday's coupon packs.) I can't turn down free food, even if it's oatmeal. It was ok I guess, since I don't really have anything to compare it to. But the price was right.

And in my previous post, I said I was recovering from playing bingo. That is a whole nother way to waste a day. But that also included free food and I won $50 so I can't complain. The only reason why I played is because of pretty much why I do anything in life - because I had a coupon for it. The coupon was good for $25 worth of bingo cards plus a free dabber. So why not? And it came with free soda, danish, lunch and more free soda. I left my house at 8:30am and got home around 3pm. And that $25 pack of bingo cards didn't even include all the games. There were bingo employees circulating around the tables saying things like "Quickie, $50 Cherry, Day at the Races, U-pick-Um" which were special bingo games that they sold cards for. I resisted since I had a hard enough time keeping up with the regular games, which of course, most times were not regular bingo games. Games like double bingo, triple bingo, crazy 7 bingo, crazy kite bingo etc. I came home stressed and exhausted. But full of free soda. And that's what's important - getting my fill of diet pepsi.

At lunchtime, there was a quick break for lunch - which they provided for free. Pulled pork sandwich and a glob of chocolate pudding.



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Then the other weekend, the clubhouse in our 'hood had a mini version of Antiques Roadshow so I went to it. For $2 admission you could bring as much stuff as you wanted and a local antiques dealer would tell you what he thought about your junk. Here's what I brought:



I am currently selling the cake dish for a local elderly woman who is downsizing. I mainly wanted a second opinion on it (to confirm that what I thought it is - an emerald Fenton cake plate). I've had the KISS lunchbox for a good 15 years - I have it displayed with my other lunchboxes in my kitchen. The dealer estimated it to be worth around $100 - and I just recently sold it on ebay for $150. I would rather collect money than have it collect dust. The chopsticks with mother of pearl and the silver thing (it's an Occupied Japan smokers set - ashtray, place to store cigarettes, matchbook holder) are things my dad bought as souvenirs during his service in the Korean War. Never knew why he bought the smokers thing since he wasn't a smoker. The pocketwatch belonged to my husband's grandfather, the dealer estimated it at about $150. And the thing that says "Solomons Island Maryland" is called a tag topper. People would put them on their license plates as decorations. I plan on keeping it (I paid .50 for it at a flea market), but the dealer said if I was to sell it, not to sell it for less than $150.

At the antique roadshow event, it was very low key, just people talking about their junk and eavesdropping and hearing what the dealer thought stuff was worth. It was the next best thing to do besides going yardsaling, of course.

Here's a pic of something I thought was interesting that someone else brought in - Presidential and Camp David cigarettes:


Speaking of tag toppers, I went to an indoor yardsale last Saturday and bought one and have it listed on ebay. Lots of people have looked at it but no bids currently. There is a link to my ebay auctions over there to the left.

And finally, Jacob and I spent our last free night at the hotel for a while. Finally scored a free room on the top floor with a better view. Normally the free rooms are on lower level with limited view.

View from the room:


Ok, two minutes before I took this picture, I had just left the indoor heated pool and ran outside soaking wet to take this picture. So you better enjoy it:


Jacob, of course, playing computer in a new location. The other rooms we've been in, haven't had an ottoman so he had to try it out instead of the computer chair:



p.s. Coming soon, to a grocery store checkout near you, me in a magazine. Nope, not the National Enquirer. Stay tuned for details.

Been Busy

I know I know, a day without a blog post from me is like a day without sunshine. Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I will rectify the situation shortly. I hope.

I am still recovering from playing Bingo on Tuesday.

Talk to you soon.

some random pics for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines's Day - to those who celebrate.


This is why I am glad I just have a basic, regular ole top loading washing machine. I'm sure this thing cost a crapton and a half when it was new. Here it is, needing some sort of belt, for $20 at the thrift store. I opened it up and it smelled mildewy.



Had lunch with DH at a Chinese buffet place last week. I have no idea what this is (I did not try it), but whatever it is, I think it could called pitted eyeballs and served at a Halloween party.



Jacob at ten years of age, is already tired of the paparazzi.


That's all folks, nothing much new to report. Oh but I did do something fun on Sunday, which I will have to blog about. If you can't be out buying junk, the next best thing is being out and looking at other people's junk.

Snickers and Moes

Originally I had planning on staying home all day today and being good and working on ebay. Oh well, I can always try again next week. I did write up some new ebay listings but then remembered that I better go out to lunch at Moes and use a $5 gift card that was going to expire next week. (Every December Moes has a gift card deal that if you buy a $25 GC, you get a free $5 GC but that $5 GC will expire in the middle of February). And I wanted to use it today, to get the most bang for my free $5 buck. On Mondays, my Moes has a lunch special for $5.99 (includes a burrito, chips and drink). Otherwise on any other day you are paying $7.18 for the same huge burrito and $1.89 for the drink). So using my $5 gift card today, I only paid $1.05.

Then went to Food Lion, for some necessities. 6 Snicker bars. They were Buy 1 Get 1 Free (but at Food Lion, they essentially just ring up at half price: .49) So then I used some Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons which scanned at .99 off. So total paid for 6 candybars: .15

Kapoosh and ShamWow!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it again or not, but again this winter, the local hotel gave us free rooms to use again. So this morning after checking out of the hotel, we did some shopping in another city about 45 miles from the castle).

First on my To-Do list was to go to a home improvement show being held in a local arena. I wanted to go for a few reasons: it was free to go. It was pretty close to the hotel location. And I had never been inside the arena before and wanted to see it. Only downside is now I am going to be bombarded for the next 12 months with timeshare opportunities and people wanting to update my kitchen cabinets. But that is my own fault for giving my real name and # on their entry blanks.



Then onto a Honda dealer to look at the CR-7 cars. DH felt cramped in it, so it's not going to make the cut. If you remember, we started looking for a new car last July. DH doesn't like to rush into things, plus, I still wasn't sold yet on replacing my Mazda MPV.

So cutting the CR-7 off the list, there is just one car left. Chances are my new vehicle will be a Toyota Venza. The Mazda CX-7 is being axed since in comparison to the Venza, the Venza is nicer inside. I've never had a Toyota before. Of course, in a perfect world, I would go into a time machine and bring back one of the best cars ever - a "new" a 1988 Plymouth Sundance, with 0 miles, in baby blue.

Then, onto Bed Bath & Beyond. I wish there was one closer to me, I love that store. When I visited my sister in December, she showed me her Kapoosh Knife Holder and I loved it. She had the one in the wooden block and I immediately went and bought one while in NY (since of course I carry my 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupons everywhere I go, just in case). But when I got it home to Maryland, I realized the stainless steel one would be better for me. So I returned it last month to the Annapolis Bed Bath & Beyond store. But they were out of the one I wanted. It's $39.99 at BB&B (less 20% coupon, I didn't pay $57)

So I was happy to find it at their other location today. Plus I bought other things, like how could I pass up ShamWow! towels for just $5.99 (less 20% coupon, of course). They also had Christmas food gift sets, like Knotts Berry Farm Boysenberry syrup/waffle mix sets for $3.99 (less 20%). Originally $19.99. I bought 2.

You probably already know this if you are a regular Bed Bath & Beyond shopper, but save all your 20% off coupons that you get in the mail. Even though they have an expiration date, you can used expired coupons. And you can use one coupon per item. I bought 6 things today and I handed the cashier 6 coupons.

Picture from this morning - a gray day on the bay.

Too bad I don't like pastrami

My deal today was on pastrami. Too bad I don't like pastrami. But I bought it anyway since DH will eat it. It's meat and it doesn't live in water, so it's fine with him.

There are two Food Lion grocery stores within 3 miles of my house. The old one and the new one. The old one is considered the old one for a few reasons. It's been around longer. And it's where all the residents of the nearby retirement community (and me) shop. Lately I've been noticing it has better deals than their other location. Like their *manger specials* at the deli. Plus, since it not as busy as the new one, so lots of things tend to get marked down a lot more frequently than at the other store.

Clutter on Wheels | Valuables Circa 1991

I may be selling my clutter wagon soon (aka my Mazda MPV) and getting a new vehicle that I can clutter up. So the search is on for where I put the MPV's title. Today I totally emptied it out. (I know not to keep the title in the car, but it had to be emptied anyway). It's all cleaned out except for a nickle that is lodged between the center console and the seat but I can't reach it, and that bugs me. Of course I didn't actually clean it out as I went, I just threw everything in a big plastic stripey bag. (If you don't know what a stripey bag is, you need to start shopping at more flea markets.)

I remember looking for the car's title a while ago and didn't find it, but I figured I would check the safe deposit box at the bank one more time. It's where we keep all of our valuables. Except for car titles apparently. And since all of our valuables cannot fit into an actual safe deposit box due to size issues, a while ago (1991) I took pictures of our valuables. So in case of theft or hurricane or something, I would have something to show to the insurance agent. We lived thru Hurricane Hugo in Charleston SC, so I've seen the devastation that a large hurricane can do.



Just look at how awesome our entertainment system used to be. It's where we kept all of our VHS and CDs. And of course we had cable tv, (the cable tv box is under Homer & Bart). Jacob looked at the picture today and asked how old he was when the picture was taken. Like negative 9.

p.s. And I just want to note that my CD collection is much larger now. Since of course, CDs will be around forever, just like my cassette collection.

My impressive centerfold spread

As promised, here is my centerfold spread. See where that pen is pointing to? Yep, it's me and the boy in the centerfold of the exclusive freebie local newspaper.

The other week when we were staying overnight (for free again) at the hotel, the next morning there was a fundraising polar bear plunge, so we had to go watch. And not plunge.

This woman had the hairiest armpits:


I think if the Guinness Book was there, they could have classified it as the world's smallest polar bear plunge in history.


Here's a short video


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We had a dusting of snow last night, so of course schools are closed today.