You know we’re truly headed for summer when colourful yard sale signs start sprouting up all over town like the perennials in your neighbour’s flower bed. Unlike peonies and poppies though, second hand sales can be dangerous territory for some of us.
Because I love a bargain, it’s tempting to forage among the wares like a hound hunting for truffles, filling my tote bag with treasures, only to realize when I get home that these objects now need new places to live. Reality check: I should be getting rid of used stuff, not buying more of it.
But how do you not? These are bargains, they’re great deals; in some cases unusual artifacts one might never come across again! I’d be nuts to turn down an opportunity to become the proud owner of an original Feather Touch knife as seen on T.V. in the 1970s and no longer available. I always wanted one like my mother owned, now here’s my chance – a terrific buy for a loonie! (Interpret that phrase as you wish.)
And what about clothes and equipment for babies and kids? Numerous pint sized relatives of mine have been supplied with next-to-new fashions at a fraction of the cost. Then there are the toys. And the books. And an array of apparatuses for bathing, conveyance, feeding, sleeping and jumping jollily. This second hand stuff is a gold mine, especially if your supply of gold is limited.
Some people have a talent for scouting out good quality clothing and footwear for their grownup selves too. Others haul home funky furniture finds or nearly new tools. I gravitate toward anything with pages to be read or written upon, and storage setups for books, binders and photographs, including those that really belong in a different garage sale. Mine. The problem is I’m not motivated. Maybe in the fall.
The best trick ever for getting rid of stuff? Move. It was remarkable how many items went to family, friends, neighbours and charities the last time I changed residence. Coffee tables, lamps (pole and swag), patio furniture, wicker ware. Books I’d read once and would never read again. Books I’d never read. Kitchen gadgets that had lost their novelty. Ditto with exercise equipment. And of course piles of garments taking up the closet space of someone who ironically never has a thing to wear.
Often it’s not the object itself but its sentimental value that prompts me to hang on to an item. I had a dickens of a time parting with one particular skirt. Although no longer in style, it was well made and in good shape, having been worn only a few times. A souvenir of my first trip overseas, it was one of those pretty, feminine, ruffly pieces meant for summer festivals and wedding dances. Unfortunately it had become too small (possibly because I grew larger – go figure). There was no way of altering it to fit. But I loved it so!
I fanned the skirt out over the living room carpet to admire it one last time. Then it struck me. Why not take a picture and save that? So I did. An hour later, there was a pile of giveaway garments on the couch and an assortment of photos for posterity in my camera.
I still use this method to soften the blow when a treasure tugs at my heartstrings and I know it has to go. Thanks to my little farewell-by-photograph procedure, closet space gets freed up for other things.
Excellent!
Yard sales, here I come.
Lorna Blakeney is an avid writer who enjoys photography, history, travel, and genealogy. She was born and raised in Prince Albert, earned a B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan, likes to walk, and loves coffee shops. Her column appears the first Friday of the month.
