Am I a vampire? Well, at least I am a sucker — for markets featuring bloodsucking insects. Also, for bar coot sales and carroty chops.
That is to say, I enjoy attending flea markets, car boot sales, and the occasional charity shop Sometimes I even go with some wildly unlikely purchase in mind, and occasionally, against all the odds, I find that very thing.
Recent acquisitions at the past two Saturday versions of our local flea market gave rather unexpected gains, although unsought-for. The first was a pogo stick. This is something I have not been acquainted with personally, but knew from comics. I recall with glee in Perishers when a pogo stick with Boot the dog on board was collecting all the other characters along the way.
Anyway, R went for it bravely and has got to over 50 bounces at a go, so far. J declined trying it, without thanks. Other scores are Younger Daughter 2, and me 1-and-a-bit. Well, at least I got on board! Much Better Half is also in the non-trying category.
The latest gain was a bit synchronicitous. On our way back from Oribi Gorge a few weeks ago we saw a number of bicycles carried behind cars — a race or something — and noted that the racks were resting insecurely (as I first thought) on the towbar. However, when we watched the movement they actually seemed a lot more secure than our one that straps onto the boot, and we started looking enviously at the cars boasting them. ‘Give me a use for my towbar,’ muttered YD. ‘We never use a trailer.’ So I was delighted when I saw one of them in perfect nick on Saturday at less than half the 2012 original price. Examination showed me why they are so secure. Not only has it got a really powerful clamp, but a scissors action means that the weight of the bikes also helps secure it. I grabbed it. The current new price, I discovered, is quite a bit more than the 2012 version.
There is my (t)rusty steed on board,
Are any of you fans of second-hand bargain-hunting at such sources?
© June 2018 Colonialist
Colonialist's Blog 
I love finding used items at flea markets or garage sales. You can pick up stuff you really aren’t interested enough in paying full price for. The pogo stick is fabulous find. (I am not very good on them, but the kids love the challenge.)
There used to be a saying “No matter who you need or are looking for, at this exact minute someone is about to throw it away.” Seemed to be true in college.
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Never mind interested enough; can’t afford also applies!
I was really surprised to find the pogo stick; I can’t remember having seen any around before, even in stores.
I wish someone would throw a priceless old master in my direction.
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The universe smiles, but no canvas.
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a bike rider? nuff said
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From early boyhood I have regarded the bicycle as one of the most inspired inventions ever. It converts ordinary human effort, and gravity when the incline is in one’s favour, into the ability to travel so much faster and more easily than could ever be achieved on foot.
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Must admit that when I was a lad in London I was lost without my bike. My mother bought it second hand for 2 quid. after the war, and it more than paid for itself with the errands I ran for her.
When we left England for Australia in Feb 51 I gave it to a young lad in the street who had come to live with his aunt. Both his parents having been killed in a raid. Really good lad, probably the nicest boy who lived on our street, we were mostly rough and tumble Cockney ‘kids’. I’ve never forgotten him his name was Brian Heyward;
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I would lay odds that he still remembers that gesture with gratitude and the bike with fondness.
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If he’s still alive he’d be about 80 now
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The late husband was definitely into second hand bargains and could often turn them into something useful. Unfortunately, after he died and we were left to sort through the ‘bargains’ we found much of it was of no use at all!
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One has to have a will of iron. The essential questions are: is it really cheap, is it in good or quickly fixable order, and do I have a real immediate use for it,
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So true but fourteen lawn mowers!
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Ouch. Overkill, or overmow!
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Apparently you never know when you’ll need that spare part!
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Yes, I know that theory. I also know that the same spare part seems to give up the ghost on all of them!
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We hung on to an old one (“they don’t make em like that anymore”) and we replaced the Ride On with a brand new shiny version. Thankfully, the son-in-law is not a hoarder but he’s taken over where hubby left off and is always looking for something to fix.
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As long as he uses or disposes of the fixed items!
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Yes this one listens to his wife!
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I love garage sales!
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So do I, but they don’t feature largely here for reasons unknown. I suppose selling things at markets or online is easier.
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envy envy – the tow bar bike carrier and the bike… forgot I don’t have a car so no need to envy the towbar – but it is what I was looking for when using son in New Zealand’s car last January. On the rest – I am more in the shedding stuff mode than bringing back, but see your pleasure. Keep practicing the pogo – you never know how your skill might develop
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As I said below, I should be in shedding mode, which does not mean adding to what is in sheds. I suppose driving a pogo is a useful skill to have acquired before one gets to the age of eight … er, in my case, eighty.
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Our current situation precludes us from rebuilding the store of stuff we had . . . stored.
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I should also be in heavy shedding mode, but the thrill of the chase gets to me!
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