Seems that I write about the weather a lot. Does the weather influence shopping habits? I'm not really sure.

I certainly would not have expected to find a sale on the day that a tropical storm, recently known as Hurricane Hermine, hurried through RVA. No serious effects, but the day has been gray and rainy, with 2 brief power outages ( so far!).

So I was surprised when, returning home from the dry cleaners, I saw a fresh and only barely wet Garage Sale sign. I turned my car to follow the sign's arrow without even giving it a thought.

At the end of the arrow, I found a rain soaked front yard with some mediocre furniture and 3 tired looking people sitting in it. Can I go inside? I asked. Yes, please, they replied. Inside, I found a small and tumbledown house that looked as if it had been looted. Things were kind of tossed everywhere and none of them had prices. This could either be very bad, or very good.

I went quickly through the downstairs rooms and found nothing exciting. Even the kitchen was picked clean. Is there anything in the attic? I asked. The tired looking woman in charge said that she   really didn't know, but that I was welcome to go up there. An unfamiliar attic on a rainy day? Fabulous!

I enjoyed combing the attic, but didn't find anything that really needed to go home with me. I rechecked the kitchen and headed outside. Not one shed, but three! Seemed like more shed space than house space. Sniffing for McCoy flower pots, I headed into the first shed. Pretty empty. The second one was the same. In the third shed, I found an interesting box. Full, not of flower pots, but of old kitchen items. At some point in the past, the homeowner had apparently updated her kitchen, bought new stuff from Target, and banished her MidCentury treasures to the third shed.

I returned to the house with a few things. I told the woman that there was a great box of depression glass in the smallest shed, and that  it might fetch some good prices if she wanted to bring it inside. She looked at me as if I needed medication. Not worth it, she said and then elaborated. Her mother had moved with her to Florida; they had all they wanted out of the house; she was not going to have another sale; the rest of the stuff was  going " onto the swale".

So, for a dollar, I bought a few delightful old kitchen pieces. My favorite is the small red Pyrex leftover container with a lid. It is a piece that I have longed for over the past few years.

Since I returned home, we have had more rain and another power outage, now over. I may go back over after dark and see if I can find "the swale". it may have some good stuff on it.