Niles is Rockin'

Friday was the start of garage sale/flea market weekend in Niles. At one point we didn't know about the Saturday garage sales, and now there were at least 3 g sales on Friday that I know of. I found 5 balls of mint green cotton, 1 yellow cotton, and 6 balls of a dusty green wool for 50 cents a skein.

Friday night we took a walk and Will finally saw the two pelicans. I've seen them twice, but he wasn't with me either time.

I don't really need anything, but you know how that goes. I donated about 3 or 4 bags of things to the local silent film museum so they could resell it at their garage sale. My neighbor (who might just be smaller than me) was donating a bag of clothes, so I went thru them first and found a dress, a skirt and top, and a cotton Eddie Bauer dress with a matching jacket.

Saturday morning we left the house about 7:50 am. My friend Holly from SJ and Darlene and her daughter and granddaughter came with us. I found a lovely black cardigan for $2 (I have to replace mine every few years because I wear it so often), a t-shirt that was marked $2 and I asked the guy if he'd take $1 and he screamed for his wife, she didn't answer, so he said "I'LL take $1), a white step-on trash can just like our metal one that is looking bad, a Sue Grafton book for 25 cents, and a book about Washington/Oregon from Discovery Channel for our upcoming road trip for 50 cents, and a Melmac gravy boat for a friend who has a 50s kitchen for 50 cents. Friday's yarn is also in this picture.All but Darlene and Co. walked around for about 4 hours! Will was tired after, so Ziggy came up to give him some love.

On Sunday there were even more people around the town walking and having garage sales than there were on Saturday. There was music at the Niles Plaza, and this picture is of my favorite view from the Plaza looking at the town. Look at all the booths. Unfortunately, the Antique Faire has a lot of booths that are NOT antique, and when I mention it, people have all kinds of excuses - eBay has taken away dealers, the economy, etc., but I've been to the Pleasanton Antique Faire and there is no "foreign plastic crap" as I call it.

Our neighbors have an annual Fish Taco lunch that is always DELICIOUS!

After listening to music, we walked back home, passing a church that has "buck a bag" after 2:00 pm. Inside the church is a zoo during regular flea market hours, but outside I found 9 skeins of Crystal Palace Whisper yarn marked $10, so I got a bag, put the yarn in it, and proceeded inside. For some reason it didn't drive me straight out, and here is what I found to fit in my $1 bag:
two padded hangers, two flags, a Tupperware-type container, two dishes (for bringing potluck things to people's houses), a rust scarf, and a Lids Off thingy to get lids off jars, along with the yarn. ALL for $1. Rock 'n Roll.

I also found a few 25 cent items at a neighbor's g-sale.

I think garage sale season and summer are officially over. This coming weekend is Labor Day Weekend. Wow! Wasn't it just Memorial Day, the start of summer?

Pictures!

We didn't realize when we moved to our house, that this beautiful scene was part of a walking trail that is right near our house. BONUS!
And for those of us who love trains, we got to see BART and a freight train going by at the same time on our walk.
I had my camera with me because the night before I walked with a neighbor and we saw two pelicans in the water. The emerged from the water and flew over our heads toward the bay. I didn't have my camera, nor would I probably have been able to capture it on camera since it all happened so fast, but it was awesome.

Another yellow squash is almost ready to be harvested. They grow slowly, but how many do I need at once? I would share if I had more.
Is this gorgeous? I take no credit. It was planted here before we lived here, and all we do is water it.
The avocados are coming back, and there are a lot of them. They are still small, and I've already found a few on the ground. I hope the *&^%$ squirrels keep their little rodent teeth off of these.
Today was a good day for garage sales! I found these cheap serving pieces all for 25 cents. They are perfect for potlucks when I don't want to bring my own cutlery. (Not the bowls in the back, just the cutlery that Mow Mow is checking out).

These are our dishes and I found 6 for $5. We have one or two with chips, so this will be perfect. I knitted a felted hat a few years ago, but it came out too small, so I think I'll try again. I paid $3 for all.

I hope this makes a nice scarf. It's Crystal Palace yarn that was $1 a piece ($2) at another garage sale today. Someone I know who is the mother of my husband asked for a red scarf, so this has red, orange, etc. It's hard to find the right red without knowing exactly, so this should work since it's got several shades in the red/orange family.
And for my cousin Barbara, one of my few blog readers, here is a picture of your favorite cat. This is also my Facebook profile picture at the moment. See what you're missing by not being on Facebook?

I'm back!

I haven't posted much lately because I think it's boring without pictures, but I finally put up the $5 to upgrade my picture capacity, and then it took longer than expected, and blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, I'm back.

We have been having some busy weekends, most of them staying right at home! The new town plaza has music twice a month, and the two we've attended have been EXCELLENT . As is always the case, everything goes on at the same time, so we had to leave the Plaza concert early on July 25th after only hearing only two of Ron Thompson's songs, but being there for Dr. Elmo & Wild Blue ("Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" which he sang even though it's July!) and Niles' own Michael McNevin, to head to our annual trek to Chouinard Vineyards with our friends. The six of us have been doing this for several years now.
The first year we bought tickets for 3 events, but we found it was difficult to get people to go. Logistics and dates are always hard to coordinate. We pay by the car, so we buy one car ticket for one event, and how ever many you can fit into the van for our designated driver, Will can go. We figured out that the maximum is 7, but the most we've had is 6.

The first time we went, our guests bailed a few days before because something came up, so it was just the two of us. We brought PB&J sandwiches and fresh strawberries, and froze! We were about to leave early, but Will found a huge blanket that he keeps in his van, which I used to question every time I saw it, so we bundled up and stayed. We've also gone when it's been so hot we were fanning ourselves the whole time, but this time it was perfect. We each brought food, and while the PB&J time was good, this was so much better! We're not sure about next year because, while we don't bring a picnic, and there is no wine, the concerts at the Niles Plaza are pretty good, close, easy and free, although the cost for a car at Chouinard is not an issue.

I've been posting more to Facebook than this blog. I have a love/hate relationship with FB. Some of the posts are dumb, boring, and everything comedians joke about them being, but on the flip side, it's fun to communicate with people by posting comments and pictures, and seeing their pictures and posts. The dumb posts are mostly comments on "groups" to which I "belong" but those, too, are their own bit of amusement.

It's been an oddly cooler summer than in past years, but I don't mind since 70 degree temperatures (72, to be exact) are my favorite range; but waking up to overcast, mid to high 50s and wind isn't much fun when I have to walk from BART to a client's office. I like the walks, but not being cold.

I hope everyone is enjoying summer.