Phew! The yard sale is over

Whew, what an intense week. We finally had our yard sale.

Comically, after the last yard sale we had three years ago – which we vowed would be our last – a reader said, "You know you should never say never again." S/he was right, 'cuz here we are again.

We managed to target – literally – the only weekend in which rain was not predicted, either during the crucial set-up phase, during the weekend itself, or during the breaking-down phase.

As with our previous yard sale, we had items stored in several locations, waiting for the opportunity to sell them. We also planned to make multiple "sweeps" (as we called them) through the barn, the lofts, various sheds, and of course the house to remove everything that was superfluous.

When she moved out, Older Daughter also earmarked a great number of things she no longer needed, including a mountain of clothes. (I don't know where she gets her excellent taste in fashion, because it sure as heck isn't from me.)

We spent a long time combing through our possessions, being a lot more brutally realistic about what we did and didn't need. Those two baskets made from branches I used almost every week to transport food to our neighborhood potlucks? I haven't used them since we moved. Some extra blankets beyond what was necessary for house guests? Gone. A water pump Don bought second-hand years ago and has been taking up space since? Up for sale. You get the idea.

Next, we had to make sure our driveway area (which is very large) was clear of anything unrelated to the yard sale. Specifically, we had to get rid of the mountain of firewood, which is why we put so much time into splitting and stacking it.

With the firewood put up, that cleared a lot of space.

Next, Don used the tractor to pull this massive trailer from against the fence line and position it broadside across the driveway. This served two purposes. One, the trailer itself is for sale; and two, it would allow us to display items on its surface where people could see things from all sides.

We had an old and absolutely filthy propane stove we removed from our last house and which we've been storing in various barns for probably 20 years. We kept it because it's the old-fashioned kind that has a pilot light and therefore doesn't need an electrical ignition (they don't make them anymore) and we thought it would be nice to put it in a guest house. We decided to sell it.

It took me hours to scrub, vacuum, and polish it as best I could. Don't worry, the bottom photo is only halfway through the process.

Don started transporting tractor implements we no longer needed from the barn area behind the house to the front driveway.

Ironically, this six-foot yard rake is one of the first things we sold.

We had a number of old wood stoves we'd accumulated over the years. Don used the tractor to move them out of the barn.

In the days preceding the opening of the yard sale (which ran Friday, Saturday, Sunday), we kicked things into high gear.

After splitting and stacking the firewood, we reserved twelve smaller logs of roughly the same length to be used as table legs.

We screwed down sheets of plywood to make display surfaces.

We dusted off unneeded shop tools.

We rigged up a clothes rack by using a 22-foot steel well pipe rod. At first we (naively and optimistically) simply attached the rod to the uprights using Gorilla tape. Let's just say it didn't work. We ended up bracing the rod with 2x4s, which worked beautifully.

The clothes rod was held up by two shorter pieces of rod, inserted through a wooden base Don had made years ago and then pounded into the ground with a T-post pounder, then later reinforced with the 2x4s. These babies weren't going anywhere.

As a result, we were able to hang all of Older Daughter's clothes to display them.

Some things we just grouped on "$1 tables" and "$5 tables."

We tried to group things in sections: The clothing section, the furniture section, the tractor-implement section, the farm section, etc. Not everything fell into neat categories, but we tried. This is the camping section.

The furniture section. Most of this is furniture we were selling for friends.

The tractor-implement section.

The woodstove section.

We printed clear signage explaining what an item was and how much it cost (and of course, we were willing to dicker).

Finally, we put up signage, starting about a mile and a half away and guiding visitors our way.

We also put up a hasty sign directing people to a neighbor about a quarter-mile past us who was also having a yard sale, capitalizing on our efforts. We always told visitors to be sure to see what the neighbors had too.

After all the frantic prep work, the days of the actual yard sale were far less busy. We simply had to wait for customers.

Over the three days of the sale, we met many lovely people – and a couple who was not so lovely. This couple, annoyed that we politely declined their lowball offer on our brush hog, actually tossed some garbage out of their truck before they drove away. When I went over to see what they tossed, it was – I kid you not – clumps of soiled toilet paper. Ewww.

As the sun went down on the last day, Don drove around and removed all the signage, then parked the car broadside across the driveway so no one could get in.

Today we're boxing things up for donation to various thrift stores. We have a fairly small pile of things to just throw away. We also took photos of all our big-ticket items that didn't sell so we can put them up on Facebook Marketplace.

Our goal is to put nothing back in storage, with a couple of exceptions. This torn-up wool blanket once belonged to my grandparents. It would be one thing if someone could use it for a project, but I can't bear the thought of it being tossed in a dumpster, so I'm going to hang on to it.

It's a good thing we had the yard sale this past weekend. We have rain moving in again next weekend, so we'll have to make sure everything is put away and under cover before the weather changes.

Both of us are wildly relieved this project is over. Planning and implementing this took a lot of our time and bandwidth. Now we can relax a bit and move onto other tasks.

Can I say "Never again" this time around?

Another "final" yard sale

If this blog is a little quiet over the next few days, it's because Don and I are having a Huge Yard Sale and we've been elbow-deep in getting ready for it.

This yard sale has been delayed numerous times. We had been watching the weather for weeks.

It was almost uncanny how the weather stayed clear during the weekdays, but had ONE SPIKE of rain at some inconvenient time, solely (it seemed) to interfere with setting out merchandise for sale.

Finally it all came together with a nice long dry stretch, so we've been doing yard sale prep like crazy.

So standby until early next week when I'll have a full write-up on whether or not we were successful in offloading a large amount of unneeded possessions.

The last yard sale we'll ever have

For the past few weeks, Don and I have been consumed with preparing and implementing a massive yard sale.

This sale was, literally, years in the planning. Since we downsized from a 3600 sq. ft. home to a 1400 space (further reduced to 1000 sq ft after Older Daughter took over her suite) – and additionally downsized from a 20-acre homestead to eight acres – the result was a lot of stuff we no longer need or want.

This meant it got stored in the barn. The barn was in horrible shape, disorganized and stuffed with items we had earmarked for a yard sale.

Yet the yard sale kept getting postponed as more important projects took precedence.

But we needed to get the barn cleaned out for a variety of reasons, not least of which we want to build the necessary infrastructure for cows (feed boxes, calf pens, milking stall, etc.), as well as have space for hay storage.

Over the last year, we've gradually created order out of chaos. Don built his "man cave," which is not just a dedicated space to store his tools, but has the added advantage of having a sturdy loft over the top where we can store items we seldom need but don't want to get rid of (such as Christmas decorations).

We also moved a bunch of firewood left behind by the previous owners, and which had dominated one corner of the barn. Moving this wood freed up enough space to use as a landing area for consolidating potential yard sale items. As you can imagine, this space got packed with stuff, and over another year's time, it got even more packed as we gradually sorted items.

As the months went by, those stacks of unsold items became increasingly irksome. We needed the barn space. We had plans for that barn space. In short, it was time to get rid of all those unneeded things.

But – as many of you doubtless know – executing a yard sale is not easy, especially in a rural area. In addition to signage and advertising, we needed to make sure the weather was good, everything was displayed property, and everything was labeled and priced. Groan, what a task.

So we finally picked a weekend and started getting ready. We transported items out of the barn and began piling them in the side yard of the house. This was a slow process and took perhaps two weeks, working between other tasks and projects.

The piles got bigger and bigger as we brought more items out. However we didn't want to start putting things in the driveway (where the sale was being held) until (a) we were certain the weather would cooperate; and (b) we didn't want to attract too much attention in advance of the opening of the sale.

And then the weather changed. Whereas before it had been dry, suddenly we had rain expected. And not just any rain; potentially we had as much as two inches coming in one day!

We were fortunate that the items were all in the side yard. We clustered everything more tightly together and covered them with large tarps.

As it turns out, the weather entirely passed us by. We didn't get a single drop of rain. "I don't think I've ever seen a worse foul-up of a weather prediction than this one," Don remarked.

This weather uncertainty postponed the yard sale for a few more days. Last week, we made a frantic last-gasp effort and got everything out in the driveway. It took days to move, arrange, label, and price everything.

Oh, and clean everything. After two years of sitting in the barn, lots of things were dusty and dirty.

We moved heavy items, such as a number of woodstoves, with the tractor.

We had a corner for free stuff...

...including a box of magazines.

I even had a selection of canning jars I was willing to part with.

We consolidated furniture-related items into one area for a "homey" look.

We had books, records, tapes, CDs, and office supplies in the shadiest corner.

Random items were grouped in various other places.

On Thursday night, as the sun went down, Don and I finally finished pricing everything. We were exhausted. As is typical whenever we did a craft show (we've done dozens), we fretted and anticipated the worst. What if no one showed up? We had contingency plans just in case.

The last thing we did, of course, was put up signage. We made sure it was bright in color, easy to read, and backed with plywood to keep its shape.

But of course, just because we were holding a yard sale didn't mean our other obligations stopped. For example, I work an online job Thursday through Saturday. So on Friday, while I was both minding the yard sale and working, I set up my computer under the woodpile awning, which became my home away from home for two days.

Interestingly, this lady landed on my computer speaker (since I was playing my usual Baroque selection) and just grooved for perhaps an hour or so. No doubt she felt the vibrations of the music. Who knew wasps were classical music fans?

More predictably, I watched a number of spiders living in the wood, catching meals.

Friday morning dawned, and we held our breath. Would anyone show up? Was the signage effective?

We shouldn't have worried. Friday was steady and productive, with customers arriving at an easy pace and eager to see what we had available.

Throughout the day, of course, we became a captive audience for those who felt compelled to share the story of their Great Aunt Martha's gall bladder operation.

And yet for every anecdote about gall bladders, we had the chance to meet lots of local people who were fascinating and pleasant, and came away with a stack of connections for everything from a possible Jersey heifer for sale to a shared interest in Renaissance Faires. We were also gratified to hear several compliments about our signage.

As was expected, sales were less brisk on Saturday and Sunday, but still nothing to sneeze at.

So here it is, Monday morning. The yard sale – at last! – is finally over. Don now has the time to concentrate on other projects. My task this week will be to divide the remaining unsold items into several piles: Things we will sell separately through the local Facebook Marketplace; items to donate to a local charity thrift store; pieces we'll give to friends and neighbors; and stuff we'll just throw away. A very few items we'll keep, in the spirit of "If it sells, great; if it doesn't sell, we'll use it for such-and-such."

At any rate, a large section of the barn is now cleaned out. That was the whole purpose.

This will be the last yard sale we'll ever have. In fact, a neighbor asked if she could purchase our signage for when she holds a yard sale of her own. Purchase the signage? Heck no! Just take it. It's yours. We'll never need it again.