Oh, my, the stories our driveway could tell if only it were a blogger like me. Since it’s not, I’ll fill you in on a couple of recent adventures our driveway has helped us take.
But first, a quick side story about the little yellow car sitting there all sparkly clean. It’s almost ready for a new owner.
Since the return of our youngest daughter’s car, each morning we look out at it sitting there in the driveway.
We shake off the memories of when she would drive in and out of the driveway back when she lived at home. My, that’s well over 7 years ago. Where has the time gone?! Anyhoo, we’ve been contemplating how we’re going to sell the car as we don’t need it. It’s a 2002 model, so it’s almost 20 years old. It was used when we got it. It, like our driveway, has seen better days. But there’s still some life in it. Soon, we’ll park the car at the end of the driveway with a For Sale sign on it and hope for a buyer to stop by.
We’ve primed the end of the driveway with some bait. Free bait. Some stuff left from kids, some left from a renter we evicted, and some stuff we no longer use. We are DONE with the idea of a thrift sale. Free for all is way more fun to watch.
Remember the ugly shoe stories I told you a couple of years ago? How it took me forever to tell you about the nightmare? And I finally showed them off to you? Ever since then, I’ve wanted to get rid of them. I’ve moved them from the closet to a donation box last year. Along with a gift bag that I never used. Yesterday the shoes and other stuff all made their debut at the end of our driveway.
Mr. and I parked all the stuff there right before we took a drive to the store to get some flowers and steak. I had a hankering for flowers that weren’t grown from seeds that the birds ate as they sprouted, and Mr. had a hankering for steak on the grill for dinner. Fortunately, the little yellow car gets pretty good gas mileage. And it runs like a charm, minus the A/C not working… It is a fun car to ride in with the windows down. Reminds me of the drives I would take as a teenager in my Gremlin that didn’t have A/C either.
Mr. dropped me off at the greenhouse and he headed to get steaks and a car wash. Believe it or not, we can do all of that kind of stuff on the same road just 4 miles from our house.
Lucky me, the flowers were 50% off – because, well, most people have already planted their gardens. They’ll do fine in my garden pots, I hope. At least they’re too big for the birds to pluck out.
Unfortunately, Mr.’s quest for a deal on the steak lead to him to purchasing New York Strips ($15.99/#) instead of Ribeyes ($18.99/#). Holy crap, thank you to the current administration in the WH for the rapidly escalating inflation! 🙁 The steaks were delicious – we didn’t have any sides, except butter to dip it in.
That reminds me, I’ll have to fill you in on my bloodwork results after a year of eating low-carb, healthy fats. That’s a different story for another day. You’re going to find it interesting.
As we drove back home from the store, I thought about all the trips we took during the summer or spring breaks with our kids. Ah, the memories of every drive, every stop, every adventure park, every photo taken to capture the moments. I framed some of the bigger events.
I feel for the families who are traveling about, now that there’s the freedom to roam, with gas prices rising rapidly, right along with meat and lumber. I hope their stimulus checks help them afford some fun.
As we pulled into our driveway and parked the car, we saw a minivan pull into the end of our driveway. The free show had begun! We went into the house and watched from the kitchen window. Creepers we are. The shopper carefully went through every box, made several trips back and forth from the pile to her car. She took the good stuff. Including the shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY the shoes have a new home. I wonder if she’s happy with them or if they’ll find their way to a free box in her driveway?!
She did take the pizza oven, but she didn’t take the popcorn popper. That’s odd??!
So I made a note instructing the next shopper what’s what.
I walked out on the hot pavement to the pile and stuck the cards on the items. I wondered if my ugly shoes would’ve melted on the pavement? I think all of those thoughts may have been due to the wine I was sipping as I watched the show of shoppers stopping by? I also thought I saw an animal on the pile when I returned to the window. I used my binoculars and thought it was a rat. Mr. and I walked out there together with my camera to catch it in action. It turned out to be a snow scrapper that someone had looked at and left standing up in the box. I didn’t watch the pile any more after that.
We left the pile out there at the end of the driveway overnight. Night time shoppers don’t like to be watched.
I’m off to take a stroll out there this morning to see what’s left. Maybe the rest will go today? I’m guessing the vintage juicer might end up in the trash?!
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “drive.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
PS – Share your best driveway story with me (us). Do you put stuff out for free? Do you have any idea how much it would cost to redo pavement?!
Nice idea to put items out there for free. We’ve done the same occasionally, and they get picked up by people pretty soon. My problem is if I see free things like that I want to bring something home, and I really don’t need any more things!
Good luck with the cute yellow car. 🙂
Thank you, Barbara, it’s fun to share free stuff. We do think that some of it will find it’s way in a thrift sale with a price tag on it, but if that’s how folks make some money, more power to them! I don’t stop at the free things either – but have and typically bring something home too! LOL!
Thanks for the car wishes too – I think that’s going to be a harder deal to make?! Maybe if we throw in a popcorn popper for free?! 😉
I hope you get your asking price for the car, I’ve put things at the road too like our daughter’s crib. It went fast! The steak looks delish!
Thanks, John. We’re going to lower the price since we don’t really want to fork out the extra $ to fix the A/C. Hopefully we’ll sell it. Otherwise, it’s all insured, licensed, and the heat works so we can drive it for short trips around town. The steak WAS delicious! Your chili looked yummy as always!
Thanks! It’s probably a front-wheel drive so it’ll do ok in the snow. If I were to move back to Michigan, my truck would be in storage all winter.
Yes, it does pretty well in the winter. Mr. and I both have 4-wheel drive on our vehicles so that we can get around if needed. Winter driving definitely changes up the driving experience.
I don’t miss winter driving one bit. I have some bad memories of crashes I was in because of that stuff! Or the chipping away at slush in the wheel wells then pushing it out of the garage…
Yes, those are the unattractive parts of winter for sure!
Nice score on the plants – I wonder if they’re discounted yet around here. I’m waiting for a new planter stand for my deck and once it arrives, I will fill it with whatever I find. 😂
Thanks, Laurel, great to hear from you! I was tickled to find the 50% off deals. It pays to be a procrastinator I guess. I wasn’t going to go shopping, it’s been unbearably hot here and I didn’t want to punish plants that are watered regularly in the store. I’m glad I went, the flowers with blooms are bringing me small moments of joy as I walk around the crunchy grass. I bet you’ll find lovely plants to enhance your deck. I’ll look forward to your photos on IG! 😉
A charming and fascinating piece to a city dweller like me, with few options for getting rid of stuff! Many here actually pay a service to take away our accumulated junk!
But Shelley, you let your political slip show, and in such a biased way! I went to Google before writing this because what do I know about inflation? I Googled “causes of current inflation.” I didn’t find one single expert who blames it on Biden’s actions so far.
What he does going forward? It may make the inflation worse — by putting more money into the hands of many Americans who’ve been growing their savings during the pandemic. I’ll be watching, and hoping like everyone else it won’t happen.
But the wild economic changes America’s already undergone thanks to the pandemic must be considered a major factor in rising prices both that started shortly after the virus got a foothold and is now threatening to become a world-wide inflation.
As I’m reading, Shelley, I’m learning. Inflation usually is brought about by a confluence of several factors — some say up to 5. Here’s just one put forth by Henry Olson, a Washington Post reporter described as widely respected as a thought leader in American politics and conservatism, about what could happen here:
“A pandemic-weary population may be even less inclined to shop for bargains than normal. If that happens, prices could easily soar as consumer confidence returns.”
One way or another, the pandemic has caused economic upheaval. If the Congress can work in a bi-partisan fashion to help shape Administration policies as a small group is now apparently trying to do, we may just be able to hold inflation down. I’ll be watching and hoping.
Ellen, thank you for sharing your thoughts. It’s great to hear from you. Your thoughts always spark my thinking. I tip my hat to your political slip too.
LOL – I used to trust Google searches, but don’t anymore. I now use duckduckgo for my search engine. It’s amazing to see what ‘other’ news is out there for people to learn from. If one searches for inflation information and it all comes from experts who are employed by the .gov or the MSM they benefit from inflation and you’ll get a biased take.
And, yes, remember too that I’m by no means whatsoever an expert. I’m a simple gal, in a rural area. All I can tell you is that last year at this time gas prices were not this high. In fact they were less than a dollar/gal in March. Last year at this time meat prices (which I know you don’t shop much for) weren’t this high either – I take my expert Mr.’s opinion on that as he does the weekly shopping. So to me, the prices are inflated and this time it isn’t due to orange man. 😉 We’ve also pondered a new car, 1 month ago interest rates were less than 1% this week they went to 4.5%.
Fair enough personal examples for me to share?
Amen to bi-partisan wishes for the future. I too will be watching and hoping.
PS – I’ve missed our friendly banters – thank you for the smiles today, it is truly great to hear from you. xoxoxo
Enjoyed your response! If I were married, I’d take my husband’s word above Google’s or anyone else’s, especially if he’s as smart, capable and kind as your guy.
The point I was aiming at was that articles about inflation (from sources whose creds are truly irrefutable *) they confirmed that economic changes really can’t be traced to one person’s policies. That’s why I never credited or blamed Orange Man for our economic ups and downs, and why I won’t do it with Sunglasses Guy : – ).
[* Shelley, for 18 years as peer counselor for the New York State DOL, I wrote the health newsletter and referred hundreds of “clients” to life-effecting resources. Researching to verify information and sources became second nature – my reputation depended on it! ]
Thank you, Ellen – ditto to you and your response.
Your expertise is commendable and your reputation is sound to me too. I know you’re conscientious and want to help people by sending them to trustworthy sources. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you find Big Tech censoring information is helpful to people who are researching nowadays. It’s quite maddening to me, thus the reason I use duckduckgo.com for my search engine instead of G. DDG doesn’t censor info, it simply shares the info.
PS – LOL what is with those sunglasses anyhow – is it to avoid the sun that causes orange man coloring? 😉
Groceries are skyrocketing. I was hungry for steak but ended up with pork shops. I hope the driveway stuff finds its way to someone who will get good use for it. Have a good day and good luck with the sale of the car
Hi Alice, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, grocery prices here keep going up too. We’ve done the pork route many times too since steak went up so quickly.
All of the stuff found a new home except for the dog cone. We’ll recycle that or donate to the local animal shelter.
The car … well, we’ll see how long it sticks around the end of the driveway. There are currently 3 cars in less than 2 miles sitting in yards for sale. 😉
If you decide to get rid of the car and can’t get someone to buy it, how about donating it? Mary and I did that with my old car, which was over 20 years old and needed work. A lot of charitable organizations accept them as donations and will sell them and give you a tax deduction. Just a thought…
That’s a great idea, I didn’t think of that. Silly me! I’ll check around town to see if anyone is accepting cars.
Try Catholic Charities. I think they accept cars.
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ve added it to my options list.
I hope the rest of the driveway stuff goes the way of the ugly shoes. I had to laugh when you said you put them in the pile and they went. Maybe one day you’ll see someone wearing them around town 🙂 🙂
All the stuff went except for the dog cone. We’ll just recycle it or donate it to the animal shelter.
I will bust out laughing if I see someone with those shoes on…! I’m so impressed that they are gone and out of my life (except for the memories)!
and the photos on the internet forever
LOL! Yes, there’s that too!!!!
My husband is finishing up a remodel of his brother’s house so it can sell. It’s on a busy street. He’s able to put ANYTHING out there and it’s gone in minutes. Seems amazing to me. I have never put anything out at the street to get rid of it, but I agree, a garage sale is too much work for the amount of $ you’d get for most stuff I have. Much more fun to just give it away.
Hi Dawn – thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your brother’s street/project sounds like one of our rentals. We did the same thing – and I agree, it’s amazing to see how quickly things go.
Everything (except the dog cone) went. I’m gathering up another couple boxes of stuff to put out next weekend. It’s cheap entertainment for us. LOL!
Sorry, no garage/sidewalk/driveway sale or free tale for me to share Shelley. I’ve never used a popcorn popper … there was the Jiffy Pop package over the stove from eons ago and the rest I made (sometimes burned) in the microwave.
I remember those Jiffy Pop packages. It’s probably good you’re not into popcorn anyhow. Burned popcorn especially!
That’s what I heard on the news about people who work in popcorn plants – it’s a carcinogen.
Exactly – we gave it up years ago after hearing about that. And we also gave it up with our new diet. Don’t miss it at all.
The ugly shoes!!! Would you believe I’ve actually seen this exact style advertised as bunion correctors? It makes sense now. Plus I feel bad scorching them like I did when it turns out they have an actual purpose. Just send me to my room…😒for a nap.😊
LOL – you remembered the ugly shoes. And I fell for that ad – the model had such nice feet, it made the shoes not so ugly! Don’t worry about teasing, I love teasing because it keeps me on my toes 😉
The magic of photo editing: making ugly shoes look good enough to buy! I’d have been tempted to buy them too. LOL!
Exactly – don’t fall for their trickery – shoes must be tried on before buying. I’ve fallen for it twice now, not going to catch me a third time! LOL
I just received a non-vintage juicer for my birthday–it’s fun for the kids, too, and a great way to sneak in extra dark leafy greens. A little spinach in the juice tastes fine! Nice to give the old stuff away–garage sales are a pain!
That’s awesome – vintage juicers are great. Yes, sneaking in the leafy greens is easy in smoothies!! Way to go!!