Yard Sales and Used Goodies

My whole life I have been a collector, with a particular knack for finding great deals. While this has brought me much pleasure, it's a facet of my personality I've had to examine living in the motorhome.

For the first year or so, I wouldn't allow myself to go to a flea market or yard sale, for fear of over cluttering the rig. But that wasn't to last for long, the lure of the used deal calls to me, even as we travel.

I believe I've finally worked it out to where I can have the best of both worlds (sort of) There are a lot of things in Cholula Red that are semi permanent, such as rugs, dishes, towels, etc. Now when I go to a yard sale or flea market and find something truly special, I make sure that there is a use for it in the rig While this often means getting rid of something already in the rig, it's working out fine for us. It makes me feel fine to get something new and be able to pass on whatever it's replacing to someone else.

Today was a perfect example. Our living room rug has been looking really shabby, definitely on its way out, so that's been in the back of my mind.

On our way to do some grocery shopping, we saw a sign for a yard sale and off we went. I strolled around outside and started talking with a gent who seemed to be in charge. It turns out that a lady is moving and he says there's lots more in the house. As soon as I got inside, I noticed a beautiful red Chinese carpet. It looked just perfect, with a delicate design of symbols and birds. I checked it out carefully and found it to be in fine condition, lightly soiled (not a problem) but tight and heavy, a perfect choice for Cholula Red. I asked the lady how much it was and she went into a long explanation of what a great carpet it was and how she would include the special Oriental carpet pad that she had bought specially for it (she said the pad cost almost as much as the rug). I was getting ready for an exorbitant price, when she said "Do you think $25.00 is fair?" I agreed that it was more than fair and loaded it in the car.

Here's a photo, but for some reason, it makes the rug look all mottled, which it isn't. But I wanted to show you our new rug, it certainly brightens the place up!


I continued looking around and noticed that there were lots of birding books. Ever since we spent last summer communing with the hummingbirds at Manzano, we've found ourselves more and more fascinated by birds of all kinds. Of course, being here at the bosque has only added to our interest. I started looking through the books and found six hummingbird books and about a dozen other books on birds. Since these are usually $10.00 to $20.00 apiece, I asked the price and was thrilled to find them only fifty cents each! While we wont be able to keep them all, we'll take a look and then pass them off to others who are also interested in birds. That shouldn't be too hard, here at the bosque!

All in all, a great day at the local yard sale.

We've decided to stay here at Birdwatchers RV till January 7, so we can celebrate Christmas with the cranes. Hopefully. before we leave I'll be able to get some good pictures to share with you.

Life is really good.