Dig This Treasure!

First off, Happy Fourth of July! Eat all of the hot dogs and love your country like you’ve never loved before.  USA! USA!

Ok, so last weekend, Zach woke up early on Saturday and announced to me that he was headed out to some sales.  Zach has dabbled in sales before, but has just recently gotten serious about buying and reselling.  As his sensei, I am thrilled about this.

So Zach returns home awhile later and says he thinks he did “well."  I knew instantly that he had.  The first thing I saw in his arms was a LL Rittgers 1941 set of chalkware baseball players.  Timmy actually bought these in a previous entry, at the Ann Arbor Super Auction.  I assumed that Zach was a blog super fan and knew that these figures are SUPER valuable, but instead Zach said he bought them because "they were old and baseball."  FAIR ENOUGH.  (But also, read the damn blog.)

In Zach’s set, he actually had the really rare catcher figurine, which I have never seen before and also cannot find on ebay. 

So get this.  Zach paid $5 TOTAL for the set.  Insane.  Seriously bananas.  We are rich.  I am probably going to quit my job.  Just kidding, I have a baby and can’t do that.

Zach also bought some old Pan Am ephemera and old Las Vegas ephemera which is on ebay now, so we will see how that goes.  That stuff has always been hit or miss, but when it is a hit, it’s a hit.

I decided that I should probably rush out to the sale he had just visited because it sounded like a goldmine.  The first thing I grabbed was another LL Rittgers figurine.  This one was a solider and I got him for $3.  He has some damage, but still worth the risk.

The sale was interesting.  The house was a mess, but everything seemed pretty collectible.  It just all needed a good dusting.

I didn’t buy anything from this giant garbage pile.  And I also didn’t buy that outrageous puppy sweater below.

I did, however, try to look up vintage blow up dolls on ebay.  My internet wouldn’t work in this house, but that is probably for the best. 

"Cold Feet, The Squirt Game."  NO THANK YOU.

I did end up buying a few things.  This rubber face Pinocchio for $1:

And this Hubley cap gun and holster for $20:

Stay tuned for more adventures with Zach, and a sale where Sarah almost got charged $75 for 40 postcards.

Now go eat those hot dogs!

-Erin

On Saturday, I returned to Ann Arbor for “The Super Auction” with Timmy.  He was on the hunt again for some nice sports items and I was just looking to get out of the house.

If you don’t remember, “The Super Auction” is held on some farmland inside a giant barn just outside Ann Arbor.  If you also don’t remember, things often sell super high here.  Maybe that is why it’s called “The Super Auction” because it is SUPER expensive.  Seriously, it’s like people save all year for this thing or something.  And then they show up dressed like hog farmers but carrying mega bank.

There were three separate auctions happening when we showed up:  a sports memorabilia auction, a toy auction, and a vinyl record auction.

That Jolly Roger boat pedal car above sold for $900!  It was really neat and some kid will be riding in style.  Actually, probably not.  Some old man will probably have it on display in his man cave or something.  The other pedal cars actually sold pretty cheaply…all around $100 or so.

I don’t know what you are supposed to do with this giant train, but I wanted it!  It was sold by the time I got to the auction though.  Whomp whomp.

I also loved this ride on horse guy.  My dad forbid me to buy it though because he said it looked very “germy.”  My dad is OBSESSED with germs.  He is like Marc Summers—just totally insane about germs.  And if the stove is turned off.  He is also insane about that.

What I did buy was a giant stack of records for $5.  I shouldn’t even say “stack” because it was a straight up haul.  Zach asked me to buy him records at random and he got his wish.

I also bought a box of random doll related things for $20.  I took a chance on it without even sorting through everything because it was one of the cheapest prices for an item I had seen all day.  There was some good stuff in the box that I will be putting on eBay.

That tin doll IronRite machine above is SO CUTE.  It runs on batteries and still works.  I haven’t found a way to justify keeping it yet, but I am sure I will.

All dolls need their own doll flatware set…just FYI.

As for Timmy, he bought a million things because he is apparently a secret baller.  The best things he bought were some old Lafayette Rittgers baseball figurines.  These ceramic art pieces are from the 1940s and my dad had never seen them before despite all his years of collecting.  The studio where these were made was out of Chicago.

He paid $80 and from looking at eBay, he got a great deal!

And to top things off, Zach found some good records in the lot I bought him.  We spent part of Saturday listening to random folk and funk singers and it was delightful. 

-Erin

Less than a week before lil’ Everett arrived, Erin and I went on our last sale-ing excursion for a while. It wasn’t incredibly fruitful, but we did both find a couple of treasures. 

We started off in nearby Redford and hit up a sale that was very old lady-ish, but full of stuff, so that made it fun. 

I believe the woman was involved in community theater because there were some clothes there that seemed more like costumes than regular outfits. The whole attic/upstairs was filled with clothes/costumes. 

I had grabbed a bunch of clothes but when I went to check out, I noticed that a number of them were stained or grosser up close than I had realized, so I ended up putting a lot of it back. Erin grabbed this coat right away and told me it looked like something I’d buy because I love “quilted things”… that girl is right! I do! But this coat was horrid. 

There was a moment where I convinced myself that this coat wasn’t gross. Thank god I came to my senses. 

I really wanted this fabric artwork (the heart, not the elephant) but it had some water stains on it… whomp whomp. 

I thought this booklet was so freakin’ hilarious looking. 

In the end, I came away with these hideous shoes and that gingham shirt. I had to throw the shirt away because it was more stained than I realized (the woman threw it in for free because there were some small stains on the shoulder)… I liked those shoes a lot but now that I look at them… I don’t know! 

Next up on our list was a sale in Farmington that again, had a few cool items. I love these old prints… we see them a lot and sometimes they’re really pricey, and other times just moderately pricey. Who can tell me what they are, exactly? 

There was one at the sale before as well: 

Ahhhh! What are they?! 

Ok, back to the sale–there was a mix of antiques and oddly sexy stuff at this sale. 

That about sums it up. I walked away with a Halloween decoration that I’ll tell you more about on Halloween, and this cool old book. 

I can’t find a record for it anywhere–not even in our special library databases. I did discover that “Brownie Brace” is a nickname for a woman named Elizabeth Hanchett Brace, who appears to have written some other books that are less obscure. The illustrations in this book are super cool and art deco-y. 

Is that even art deco? If I’m wrong, someone correct me. It’s one of my favorite illustration styles so I want to know if I’m wrong! 

We went to two more sales after this, both in Dearborn. This is the only thing I came away with: 

And I’ll let Erin tell you more about the sales. But before she does that, here’s another picture of that adorable baby. Spoiler alert: Still super cute. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I had no clue that this day of sale-ing would be our last for a few weeks.  I thought for sure we had at least one more week of sales before Everett came.  Alas, my water broke a week early and the rest is history.

Somehow I managed to keep it a secret from Sarah that I actually knew the lady whose house the first sale was held at.  She is friends with my 85 year old neighbor and recently moved into assisted living.  Sarah’s sleuthing skills were right on–the lady was in a theatre group.  Zach and I actually go to their plays every few months.

I was in the basement of this sale and saw this:

A pencil sharpener.  Nothing fancy about that.  Except there was a group of three teenage girls walking around and when they saw this pencil sharpener, one of them said, “Was this a school?  It must have been a school down here.”

This totally blew my mind.  Younger generations are apparently only familiar with pencil sharpeners in school settings, so these girls automatically assumed this must have been some sort of educational facility.  Except that it looked like a totally normal basement and was clearly NOT a school.  So insane.

Also totally fascinating was why Sarah didn’t buy this:

First of all, she is OBSESSED with llamas.  And secondly, she loves her some giant wall decor, like that fabric heart thing above.

I bought a Seiko automatic watch at this sale because they usually sell for good money on ebay.  This one is in really rough shape though, but for $4 I figured what the hell.  Zach is a mega watch collector and said that some guys like beat up watches because it gives them a “story.”

At the second sale, I immediately zeroed in on this baseball bank.  I knew Timmy would want it.  It was priced around $30 though, which I knew was crazy.  I decided the best plan would be to call Timmy on my phone where I knew the guy running the sale would hear me.  By hearing my side of the conversation, I hoped the guy would realize that I really wanted to buy this thing, but also that the price was of great concern.

Sure enough, the guy heard me describing the bank to my dad and then also heard my reaction to my dad obviously saying the price was too high.  I acted kind of disappointed and like I was going to put the bank back.  The guy running the sale said, “That’s worth $200 on ebay you know.”  I was super polite but also wanted to be like, “UM NO WAY JOSE.”  He ended up selling it to me for $20, so I was happily victorious.  

At one of the last sales we visited, I picked up this giant stuffed monkey.  He’s from Howdy Doody or something like that.  I forget his name.  He was $15 but I am hoping he will sell for more on ebay because he is gigantic.  Smaller ones seemed to sell for $30-$60.  

I made the mistake of seating this guy at my dining room table when I got home from sale-ing.  In the night I got up to drink some water and he scared the sh*t out of me in the dark.  I thought a really ugly toddler broke into my house and was pulling a Goldilocks or something.

Anyway, I can’t make any promises but I am hoping to take a break tomorrow or Friday from raising a tiny human and instead hit a few sales.  Sarah is doing a great job keeping up the blog, but I am hoping to still pull my weight.  Wish me luck!

While I’m incapacitated, there’s a whole lot of stuff I want to catch up on writing about. The first is something I discovered yesterday! At that folk art sale, I had purchased a big slide case filled with old stereo slides from the 1950s. It was marked $65 but that awesome lady sold it to me for $20. 

I started sorting through the slides yesterday afternoon, since it’s easy to do that while you’re laying on a couch. Most of the slides were family pictures of holidays and vacations, but toward the end of my sorting, I found this box: 

Unlike Erin (thanks to Timmy), I know nothing about sports or the Detroit Tigers, but thought this sounded promising. After a little digging, I discovered that Denny McLain was a pitcher for the Tigers in the 1960s, and is famous for winning 30 games in a season. Now he’s famous for a scandal involving gambling and broken toes. Oh the irony. I guess Denny and I have more in common than I thought.

Anyway, the slides in that Kodak box are of that winning/record setting game in 1968, and the pictures were taken very close to the field. 

Pretty stinkin’ cool! Anyway, if you’re a fan of the Tigers, they’re up on eBay right now! 

-Sarah

We hope you all enjoyed our Part One recap of the trip we took to Antiques Roadshow.  It was a really long read, but thanks for hanging in there!

Today’s entry is all about some of the cool people we met at the Roadshow, and perhaps more importantly, the treasures!

Before Sarah, Zach, and I arrived at Cobo Center in Detroit, my dad had already been there early that morning.  He unfortunately had to wait in the crazy long triage line to get in (more proof that Timmy needs his own blog and thus press credentials).  Luckily, he brought a chair for the 3 hour excursion.

People actually started offering him money for the chair because they were so exhausted standing!  Anyway, Timmy also brought two items for appraisal.  First, a 1948 Babe Ruth watch and second, a Ty Cobb signed check. 

His appraisals went really well.  Much better than my illegal scrimshaw one.  The Babe Ruth watch is from 1948 and is a “caricature watch.”  The most famous caricature watch is from the 1930s and features Mickey Mouse. Other notable examples are The Lone Ranger and Dick Tracy.  

My dad found this watch at an estate sale about 5 years ago.  And the tale is a really great one. The sale was of a baseball collector.  If I remember correctly, the man had worked for the Detroit Tigers, so the house was packed with all sorts of Tigers things.  I wasn’t there, but my sister went with my dad, and they both brought giant bags to load up.  While waiting outside, my dad chatted with another guy waiting.  My dad explained how he collected all things baseball, and the other guy said he collected only vinyl records.  

Inside the sale, the stranger my dad had met walked up and handed my dad this Babe Ruth watch. He said, “Hey baseball guy, I found this for you,” and proceeded to hand it over.  Such an INSANELY kind gesture, considering that I’m about to tell you what this watch is worth.  

My dad paid $90 for the watch at this sale, and flash forward, he’s here at Antiques Roadshow. The appraiser was shocked to see the watch in its original box, with its original plastic baseball case, and with all of the paperwork inside (even the purchase receipt).  He appraised it at $3,000!

This is my dad’s most favorite possession, and he was thrilled by the value.  Of course, he will never sell it though!

The Ty Cobb check ended up valued at $1,200, which was also more than my dad expected.  He bought it in the 1970s at a sports card show for $125.  Apparently Ty Cobb’s family sold a bunch of these checks from his estate after he died in order to raise money for his foundation.

Everyone we met at the Roadshow had just as much fun as my dad, even if their appraisals weren’t as high.  

Karen brought a baby doll from her childhood.  She would change its diapers while her mom changed her sister’s diapers.  It appraised for $15.  I think this was because it was vinyl, and not bisque or composition.  Still a very cute doll!

We also met Debbie and Susan, sisters from Royal Oak.  They brought their great-grandmother’s Homer Laughlin pitcher and an old alabaster and marble framed bust.

Debbie thought that her entire family might end up fighting over this vase, but said she reconsidered when it appraised for $75.  She said everyone assumed it would appraise a bit higher because of its age, but that they will still all cherish it a lot!

The alabaster and marble framed bust was purchased by Debbie’s and Susan’s mother at a church rummage sale.  At the time, their mother paid $80.  The bust appraised for $500-600, which was a great surprise!  Maybe the family will fight over this item now instead of the vase! 

At some point, I saw a woman walking around carrying a Dream Baby doll.  I practically bum rushed her.

Jayne and Sue got this doll from their aunt.  They remember seeing it growing up, and knowing they couldn’t play with it.  The doll is from the 1910s or 20s and is made by Armand Marseille.  It appraised for $75-100, which I was shocked by!  I thought for sure the doll would be worth more because it was in amazing condition.  I do have a soft spot for Dream Baby dolls though, so I’m biased.

We saw lots of other amazing treasures at the Roadshow, and some of them I suspect will be shown on the program when it airs.  

Kachina dolls!  I would probably give up my first born child to own these (sorry Zach).  I don’t love all Kachina dolls, but that furry guy in the front is exquisite!

I don’t even know what this next thing is, but Sarah would probably give up her first born for it (she really likes Peanuts stuff):

We had several people ask if we saw this velvet John Lennon portrait roll by:

And yes, yes we did.

We also saw this giant buffalo roll by:

But what was the COOLEST thing that Detroit brought to Antiques Roadshow?  Well, we didn’t know!  But Marsha Bemko, the show’s executive producer, sure did!  Stay tuned for Part 3 of our recap, when Marsha reveals the highest priced item at the Roadshow!

-Erin

Update from Sarah: This is sort of a non-update because I don’t have much to add! Erin got it all right! The one thing that surprised me was how positive every single person was who we talked to. They had to wait so long to get their items appraised, but all of them said they had a great time and loved the chance to meet a whole bunch of new people while waiting. I guess that’s the midwest for ya!    

After my strikeout the day before, Zach and I decided to stop by a nearby estate sale last Sunday after we went out for breakfast.  The pictures of the sale looked good, but when we arrived, the signs told us that the sale was in the basement only.  I figured that this meant there wouldn’t be very much for sale, and since we were there on the last day, that everything would be picked over.  

The sale was in fact small, but there was still a lot to look at.  Because of the confined space, I didn’t take any photos.  Here are our great finds though:

I found two giant foam fingers (Tigers and Red Wings) for my dad.  These aren’t particularly valuable, but they make great display pieces in a collection.  In time, these will look “vintage” and will be a nice nostalgic reminder of going to the games.

You can also see there are two pieces of Brigg Stadium memorabilia.  Zach noticed these in a display case at the sale, and I completely overlooked them.  They were already priced reasonably, but the seller said he would reduce the prices even more because it was the last day of the sale.

My dad was so happy about the pin on the left.  He said it is really rare, and he doesn’t even have one in his collection (he has a HUGE collection of Brigg Stadium stuff).  The item on the right is a pen topper, which isn’t as rare, but still very cool.  

I found this great lead alligator:

He is currently living on our kitchen windowsill, guarding my bisque chickens.

So when we went to check out, Zach and I realized that it was a cash only sale.  The guy running it told us $20 for everything in our pile and we started counting our money.  We had $14.  I was about to ask the guy what I should take out of the pile when he said, “Good enough. It’s all yours.”  How nice is that?!  We were thrilled.

And then, as we are about to leave, the seller guy says, “Oh hey, have fun hunting for TREASURE this summer.”  First off, I have never seen this guy before, so I don’t know how he knows I go to estate sales in the summer (or ever).  This could have been my very first estate sale for all he knew.  Second, he used the word “treasure!”  This leads me to believe he is a secret reader of this blog, which is AWESOME if true.  

So hey mystery man, if you are in fact reading this blog…HELLO!  And thanks for the mega deals!

-Erin 

The Plymouth auction hadn’t been in action since before the holidays, and the crowd last Saturday showed just how excited everyone was for its return.

Zach, Timmy, my sister Lindsay, and I got there super early and snagged some third row seats.  The people in front of us had a clever way of saving their seats:

There were not enough chairs in the place to accommodate the crowd, and I am pretty sure there wasn’t enough oxygen either.  It was hot and stuffy, and very very loud.  The chaos was clearly annoying the auctioneer, and he would repeatedly yell for people to quiet down or to move away from the front tables.  Most of the time I had no clue what was being auction off, and in deja vu of last week, kept asking my sister.  She usually had no clue either.

For the most part, everything was garbage.  Actually, I shouldn’t say “for the most part,” I should say for the WHOLE PART everything was garbage.  We stuck around though.  Even if we didn’t buy anything, this auction is always entertaining.  In fact, our favorite “regular” was mincing about, wearing his pajamas and talking in a volume similar to when your ears are completely plugged up.  I think he ended up buying a box of markers or something.  

Zach ended up with some cool woodblock prints that he has already framed and hung up in our bedroom.  These were a steal at $5 for the whole lot.  No one else even bid against him.

He also bought this old “camel saddle stool” which I am not going to pretend I know anything about.  From what Zach has said, these stools are modeled after actual camel saddles, and were popular in home decor during the 50s and 60s.  Zach set a limit of $30 on this item, and luckily he won it for $27.50.  

It is all leather on top, which we have since cleaned and polished.  The stool is now being used as a footrest in our living room.  To be honest, I was skeptical of this purchase, but now that it is clean and has a nice spot in our house, I am on board.

Timmy bought some diecast toy car that was sold during the 2003 All-Star Game.  He actually worked this particular All-Star Game for the Detroit Tigers, and wanted the car in commemoration.  It came with a World Series car, which he is going to sell on ebay.  

Lindsay ended up with 2 giant boxes full of Beanie Babies and Beanie Buddies.  If I had known she wanted Beanie Babies, I definitely have some to offer.  Remember this?

At some point, everyone was ready to get the hell out of there…except me.  I had been holding out all night for one item, and I was NOT going to leave without it.  FINALLY, after being at the auction for almost 3 hours, and watching people pay $9 for scissors, my item came up.  And I won!  Here’s what I got for a mere $5:

A whole bunch of ornaments that look like Chicken McNuggets!  If you recall, I had my first ever McNugget a few weeks ago.  I can’t say I am a huge fan of real nuggets, but these ornaments are the cutest!

So overall, a fun night.  Not the most lucrative or unique treasures, but treasures nonetheless!

-Erin

Last Friday, I saw a listing for a sale that sounded amazing and awesome.  It was described as being on 12 acres and packed with antique delights.  I thought the sale looked so good in fact, that Sarah and I should make a special effort to leave extra early that day to get to it.  Sarah seemed to disagree:

The “look at my horse” part was related to the cast iron horse I blogged about the other day.  At this time, it was blowing up on ebay.

Anyway, we did end up going to this sale.  And Sarah did end up being partially right.  The sale was not 12 acres of treasures after all, but it was still a really great sale (Sarah will disagree on this part).  There was a lot of glassware/dishware, including Wedgwood and Johnson Brothers.  One of the “Game Birds” plates I featured on Thanksgiving was found at this sale. 

There was also cool taxidermy to look at, although it was priced really high.

And check out this pool!

That’s a big ass pool.  You could look down on it from nearly every room in the house.  

Anyway, the first item I found to buy was this old baseball game for my dad.  I don’t know why I didn’t just buy it and give it to him for Christmas.  Instead, I stupidly sent him a picture of it and said, “Do you want this?”  He was all excited and said that he did.

I also found these amazing bisque chickens from Germany.  Their legs are springs so they bob up and down.  They are in the kitchen near my egg scales. I am crazy about them.

I would love to have a whole army of these little chickens.  And maybe other farm animals with spring legs.  The man running this sale only charged me $2 for these, which was astounding because he was SUPER GRUMPY.  People kept asking him prices and he would exhale really loudly each time before answering.  He would then tell them some crazy price.  

After leaving this sale, we made our way to Huntington Woods.  I was leery of this sale right off the bat.  This bumper sticker greeted us:

WTF?  I don’t even understand what that means.

The inside of this sale actually felt like taking a beating.  It was really filthy and I instantly had asthma.  

Look at that poster hanging on the wall.  It was one of those old cat ones that says, “Hang in there!”  I felt like it was cheering me on, even though I was suffocating and my skin felt all itchy.

Oh hey, a car:

At one point during this sale, I saw some containers I thought were filled with old buttons.  I had found a similar container elsewhere that WAS filled with buttons.  When I opened these containers though, I found some super old rotten corn flakes.  Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything at this sale.  One cool thing I did see though were these old ticket stubs.  The person who went to these shows wrote on the back of each ticket who played:

Sarah got in a fight at this sale, so I’ll let her break that insanity down for you.  I also think she bought stuff here, which is even crazier than the fact that she got in a fight.

-Erin 

Update from Sarah: The first sale was seriously the worst. The guy who runs the company hosting the sale is such a turd. He prices things SO insanely high and is, as Erin described, ultra grumpy when you approach him or ask him anything. Hey bro! Answering my questions is your job! Erin doesn’t remember, but she left another sale he was running empty-handed and annoyed after he told her some crappy repro she was interested in was $100 or something insane like that.

I didn’t mind going I was just so confused about why Erin was so obsessed. The pictures looked bad to begin with, and the sale was no better in person. I bought three old books–two of them were Nancy Drews. I haven’t figured out if they’re first editions or not (they look like it!) but I’m going to be super careful before listing them because one time when I accidentally listed a Hardy Boys book as a first edition and it wasn’t, the Hardy Boys Police (eBay Unit) came after me hardcore.

Anyway, as I was saying, the sale was the worst. Here is proof:

These masking tape signs were all over the house and most of them said, as this one does, “Watch U Step.” Excuse me?

Actually, this one that was taped to a chandelier made me laugh.

I really like the added touch of the smiley.

Erin forgot a sale we went to in between the two she wrote about. I have two things to say about this sale. The first is that we each paid $15 for an item of clothing, which I believe is unprecedented. Erin bought a pair of pink Minnetonkas and when the woman told her they were $15, Erin looked at me and asked if she should buy them. The women said to her, “They sell these for $59 in Petosky. They’re worth it.” Oh really? You go to Petosky for your Minnetonkas? Because I just go to Marshall’s. I bought a Ralph Lauren sweater, but again, $15 is extremely and insanely expensive for an estate sale.

The second thing I’ll mention about this sale is that I spotted this silver rabbit platter that looks strikingly like kokopelli!

Of course I couldn’t remember that word, so I stared at the plate and excitedly said to Erin, “Look! It’s the Native American pipe man!!!!!” She had to sort of calm me down because the sale was high end and I was REALLY excited about spotting the pipe man, so I think she was a little embarrassed.

Erin is actually right about the last sale. It was dirty and gross, but I got a bunch of old photographs for $15. I haven’t really looked through them yet so I don’t know if they were a good buy. I also got this old set of J.D. Salinger paperbacks that’s in great shape, so that was a good find.

She did forget to mention the wonderful art throughout the house.

I’m not sure who would want to document a woman’s body in that position, but there you have it.

Check out the creeper.

Ok, so the “fight” that Erin mentioned was not really a fight… more of an “altercation.” Erin’s pictures accurately represent the condition of the basement of this house. I was unprepared for what awaited me down there, so when I got to the bottom of the stairs, I just made a sharp right and went into this room of junk. There were art supplies and boxes and just CRAP all over. I was really overwhelmed and saw this wicker hamper filled with old books in front of me. There was a woman nearby bending over a box on the floor.

I picked up one of the books in the hamper and she WHIPPED around and said, “HEY HEY HEY that’s all mine! OK, WHERE IS IT?!”–meaning, “Where is the book that you clearly just stole from me?” I was sort of stunned because as soon as she whipped around, she startled me and I had put the book back down immediately and raised my hands. I then looked at her and demonstrated how I had picked up the book and set it right back down, saying, “That is exactly what I just did. I’m sorry. I had no idea that this stuff was yours.” She said to me, “Oh, yeah because it’s not obvious!!!” Uh…. whut?

I said, “It’s really obvious that an overflowing basket of books belongs to someone when you’re in a hoarder’s basement?” She said, “That’s what I’m saying! Don’t you think it looks a little out of place?!?!” Clearly she thought that her items looked particularly special and not junky. I just stared at her in disbelief and then left the room.

Hopefully this weekend our adventures will be filled with less confrontation and kokopelli and more treasures and misspelled signs.