The Life of Mrs. Miles

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My gift for you today was inspired by last weekend’s yard sales. Read on!

Rival Ice-O-Matic HAPPINESS!

It was the second-to-last yard sale, the last Yard Saling Day with our folks who were enjoying the tail end of a two week visit with us. When we pulled up on the highway, we all hesitated as the house looked on the run-down side and the tables looked a huge jumble of ‘stuff’. As there had been only a half dozen sales this particular Saturday, we relented and headed in.

There turned out to be far more on the inside which had not been visible to the road, and there was the usual collections of books (the kind my brother calls ‘Bodice Rippers’ – you know the type, the mindless romance ones) and old magazines, chipped knickknacks, Corelle dinner plates, horrible old painting prints and paintings on velvet (I suspect these will come back into vogue again in the future) But, buried in amongst all this something shiny beckoned me.

It had a chrome top and a crank handle and an imagination stirring name ... ICE-O-MATIC and it was love at first sight. I HAD to have it. I scooped it and clutched it tightly to me as I made my way through the rest of the shoppers to find Miles.

When he spied my treasure, his face wrinkled up with something akin to fear, as he queried me “What IS that?”

I replied “I have NO idea, but I want it.”

He gave a wary glance at it and, shrugging his shoulders in obedience said “Allllrightttt....” as he made his way over to our Mom.

See, Mom is our ‘front’ person. Where I would be timid, or feel silly making an offer on an already priced item, Mom is Fearless and Relentless. I’m sure she must have roots way back to some race of people who have bartering and bargaining in their genetic makeup – some culture where one is EXPECTED to haggle over the prices, for she seems to THRIVE on it. I’ve watched her intimidate the most determined people, causing them to reduce their ‘FIRM’ price tags to mere pennies. I’ve snickered (in awe and embarrassment) when one woman told her that the items for sale had personal value, that they were special to her, thus the FIRM price... to which Mother replies “If it was REALLY that special to you, you wouldn’t be selling this item in a JUNK sale!” And watched as the woman caved – letting that supposedly $25 pair of hand painted wine goblets go for a mere $2... You getting the picture here?

So, Miles ferries the Ice-O-Matic over to Mom and she tracks down the money-person. I’d thought a few dollars would be a reasonable offer. Mom thought a dollar – so she offered 50 cents. The lady wanted to know what it was, so to better determine the value, but none of us had a clue. Being so, the lady let it go at 50 cents – and so here was me doing a DORK dance. Miles, on the other hand, backed away in fearfulness when Mom thrust it in his arms. He got this panicked look on his face. Mom barked “What’s the matter?” (with a laugh in her voice), to which Miles replied “Ummmmmm...” and being MOM she knew immediately that he did NOT want to be seen carrying my Treasure. Haha! Mom let him off the hook and he made an prompt beeline for the trunk of the car (where Dad, bless his heart was idling for us) Mom and I had a little laugh at our obedient Son/Husband... (he’s so CUTE when he’s shy like that!)

Later, when we arrived home, I polished my little machine up, then hunted it down on the internet to discover what it really is. Turns out its a Vintage Hand Cranked Ice Crusher. You can read more about it by clicking HERE. I’ve seen them on the net priced at Ebay all the way from 99 cents to MUCH MUCH more, if in good condition. Some place in the UK wanted $50... not a bad day’s saling. THANKS Mom!

AWWWWW.... SomeBunny Loves My Bloggie!

A special thanks to BUNNY who’s given me this award for my blog. Muah! This is SO appreciated Buns! (LOL – is that an ok nickname? ROTFL!! Perhaps I should make that Bunns...)