What You Might Find on a Sidewalk in Berkeley

Remember our trip to Berkeley several weeks ago?  We were walking down the sidewalk between antique stores and saw a sign that said, "FREE".  Behind it was a stack of furniture and 4 black shutters.  I couldn't believe that someone was giving all that away.  It's a good thing I didn't have a truck or a garage or lots more would have come home with me, too.

Today I cleaned them up a bit, took off the hinges, & added hangers to the back.  Jordy helped me hang them.

BTW, what do you think of our bench?  lol...  The table is new.  We had to take the back seat of the van out to get it in.  Then when we moved the table in we sat down & decided to leave the van seat there so everyone would have a place to sit until we found more seating.

So let me know if you have a bench for sale.  Maybe I should go back to Berkeley and see if I can find a free bench on the sidewalk!

Here's What We Bought on Our Antiquing Adventures in Berkeley

 Actually, this is just a part of what I bought...

This little display stand is what I was most excited about.  Judging from the labels on it (patchouli, maddipal, citronella, sandal, musk, jasmine, etc) I'm assuming it was made for incense sticks.  But I think it'll be great for displaying my bracelets!

Also bought a straw hat to decorate for when I work at RWAP.  After last week when I got sunburned at the parking lot sale I think I need a wider brim!

 The clear plastic bottles  in the photo above and these little goodies came from a Japanese dollar store.  I'll show you later what we're doing with the plastic bottles.  I needed jute to tie up my monster tomato plants (not yet on my neighbor's side of the fence, but close) and I love the Japanese craft tapes!

 I also love the Japanese/French labeling.  I think these roses may go on the straw hat.

These old microfiche boxes came from the East Bay Reuse Depot.  I guess the library doesn't need microfiche copies of the New York Times anymore.  It was filled with the individual boxes that I'll be reusing to ship my jewelry orders from Etsy.

Lauren found another frog for me.

And lots of little bits for jewelry!  Great embossed wrapping paper from the Japanese store.  And a lovely old reindeer that wanted to come home with me.  We found it in the scary out building at the antique shop I mentioned yesterday.  I brought it up to the lady at the front.  At first she told me $1.00.  Then she said, "Oh, it's got a broken leg.  You can have it for 50... oh, you can just have it.  I'll catch you next time."  A little superglue and he'll be as good as new.

And it's all on our new dining table!  I'll have to take a picture of that for you, too.  It's decorated right now for our Canada Day party.

Our Antiquing Adventure in Berkeley

I just had to share these pictures with you.  I wasn't expecting to take photos today so I didn't bring my camera.  These were all taken on my phone with very little editing.  Not bad, but not as good as I would like for my blog readers!

The girls and I decided to go shopping in Berkeley today.  We went to "the best thrift store in the Bay area first."  I wasn't too impressed.  Then we went to Naan N Curry.  The most delicious naan I have ever had -- garlic!  I had some kind of chicken curry but I don't even remember what it was called.

We walked around for a while enjoying the eclecticness of Berkeley then went back to an antique shop we saw.  It was UNBELIEVEABLE!!!  I had a handful of goodies, all unpriced, and the cute little owner said, "How about $10.00?"  I'll show you what I got tomorrow.

Then her son said, "There's more around back if you want to look."  So here we go around the back... The truck was the first sign of what was to come.

 Don't run!

Behind that sign was a stack of tricycles and big metal Tonka trucks.

 There were body parts all over the place in the back yard!  Signs, furniture, benches, and several out buildings.  Not to mention what was hanging from the trees, which I didn't even take pictures of.  Including a carnival horse!

 We had met another customer inside.  He reminded me a little of grandpa.  He saw a "Turtle Crossing" sign that Jordy had in her hand and told her that if she didn't buy it he would.  Seems he has a pond full of turtles and they keep crossing the street.  So she gave up her sign to save the turtles!  He didn't look like the kind of guy that would be buying doilies, but that's what he was looking for.

He called over to us "Didn't one of you have a camera?  You've got to come in here & take a picture... I think that's a Rolls Royce!"  Yep, right behind the sofa and underneath the deer head.

 Lots of architectural salvage, too.  I kept thinking -- "Hope there's not an earthquake while we're here.  They may never find us."

Jordy liked all the windows.

 The other outbuildings were stacked high with furniture.  

 This is just ONE of the huge stacks of chairs that caused Jordy's Facebook status earlier today.

We felt like we were in an episode of either American Pickers or Hoarders!

 Then we went over to another of my favorite stores, The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.  You never know what you'll find here.   The store is aimed at school teachers and has lots of leftover supplies.

These bins reminded me of church before VBS.  You can buy egg cartons, tp rolls, lids, baby food jars, etc.  Everything sorted very neatly and really pretty clean.

There were also shelves of games and books.  A teacher's dream.  Lauren bought some books for 25c each.

I think that's enough pictures for today.  Tomorrow I'll show you some of the goodies we bought.

Another Trip to Berkeley

Guess what?!? I went paper shopping in Berkeley again on Tuesday with some friends. I even put the camera in my purse as I was leaving... then I completely forgot to take pictures!!! We were too busy shopping, talking, and looking around to take pictures. But I did take some pictures of the little surprises I brought. Here they are all wrapped up & ready to go:


L is for Linda...

A is for Angie...

Jordi was amazed when I told her I only bought ONE piece of paper! That is so unlike me! But I did find some other goodies:

So, that was Tuesday. Monday after Glenn got home from work we went bike riding. He found a trail that wasn't too steep for me -- Regency Trail in Clayton. And, of course, I fell right after we went through the cattle gate! Only the second time I've ever fallen on the bike. It wasn't too bad. I landed on the dirt and don't even have any bruises.

Lauren's softball team lost another one. But to a good team. She's at practice now then she's going out to eat with the Senior Staff for their last meeting together. So that leaves me at home with no car. That's okay with me. I needed to catch up on some things here -- including the blog.