I keep discovering (Not through Spring Cleaning–perish the thought) more stuff to put out on the Big Community Yard/Garage Sale coming up in May (as advertised on the electronic bulletin board downtown at the light). Tons-o-stuff stashed around here; some of it I vaguely remember acquiring, some of it, might as well have come from King Tut’s tomb or the UPS truck from hell.
There are some pretty cool items, like the genuine handmade quilts/throws, mostly in what Grandma used to call “nap-size”, in a multitude of colors and/or patterns; I can even attest to the hands that actually made them(Mother never liked to just sit; she was always working on some handiwork project for as long as her eyesight held out. She made some neat stuff, often in very attractive colors that were impossible to match, one had to put them together with either black or khaki, so as to not look like a case of severe color-blindness or “don’t give a damn-ness”.). Also, she was apt to finish off skeins of yarn by working them all into a single throw of some sort that was totally multicolored. I can identify some of the items of clothing that gave up their lives to make the pattern side of the quilts. The patterns are not real elaborate–no “Log Cabin” or “Wedding Ring” showcases, just squares from whatever fabrics were to-hand at the time–never would have made it as 4-H projects or county fair exhibits.
I also have a fine selection of kitchen towel sets; one of the support groups that I contribute to is always trying to sell me those. I used to be able to hand them off to the Garrettsville United Methodist Church kitchen but not much has been going on there these last two years (Look us up during the 2022 Christmas Walk, you’ve got to lunch sometime.). So I’ve got towels & potholders of all sorts.
I also have aprons. Being a somewhat messy cook (Somewhat??? I’ve put chocolate into places you wouldn’t believe.), I try to always wear an apron while in the throes of creation., otherwise I’d probably wind up with my “fashion statements” all up and down my wardrobe and run out of non-tomato-stained garments altogether. Some of the aprons are kind of funny, most of them are pretty plain but sturdy. I have one that belonged to my Grandma; I’m keeping that. I think that the only times I saw Grandma without an apron was at church. The other Grandma mostly left me Bibles–not big sellers at yard sales. That Grandma was quite likely a sort of what might have been known as a “health nut” today. She started her day with a cup of hot water–not coffee–followed by a cup of tea (tea leaves in a strainer, boiling water–no tea bags for her) and toasted “brown bread” (nobody did whole wheat back then). Grandpa got milk & crackers. (The other Grandpa got a cup of coffee and a piece of pie if there was any left from supper the evening before–in addition to eggs and/or oatmeal) There was always a jar full of those pink wintergreen candies on the shelf in her kitchen in case of visiting grandchildren and she made a simply smashing layer cake with lemon filling and boiled icing –practically levitated off the plate, also soft ginger cookies and chicken-n-biscuits that Colonel Sanders would die for. The other Grandma made sour cream cookies (real cream off the top of the bottle) that made strawberry season even more worth looking forward to. Funny, I remember the sour cream cookies and I remember oatmeal cookies but I don’t recall ever having had chocolate chip cookies in that kitchen. Guess that she used what she had and saw no point in buying any fancy stuff. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they don’t make grandmas like they used to.
Anyway, I’m still looking for more treasures to put out for sale. I don’t know if I can part with my vast selection of rubber stamps that I used to sometimes put on test papers (One of my favorites is a drawing of a buzzard/turkey vulture sitting on a tree limb, looking down at something and saying “Needs work”). Guess what kind of papers that went on. Can’t imagine that the calligraphy supplies are in very good shape by this time–the ink dries out–but you never know. I haven’t printed up a Christmas scroll in some time. The ones that are still hanging around here are destined to become heirlooms, for sure–the monks are just not turning out that many any more.
Also up in the attic is a stash of items that I picked up planning to turn them into Christmas presents, but then my sisters came up with some new scheme for gift exchanges…or I just forgot about the stuff up in the attic. Interesting things there. I think that the cookies might be past their “use by” date.
Ah well, be sure to mark my place on your Big Yard Sale map. Bargains galore! Come early. Plan to stay awhile, as I recount the stories behind everything. Anything I don’t remember, I’ll make something up about.
