Estate Sales & Farmers Market

Today I went to an estate sale at a condo that overlooks the water. It was a pretty sweet pad, but it was pretty outdated and the people who called this place home for probably the past 25 years have either passed away or are in a home. I always have strong emotions when I go to one of these estate sales because you enter a person's home and you basically pick through every closet, drawer, cabinet, nook and cranny. Usually by the time I get to one of these things, the house is pretty much turned upside down. And I can't help but be saddened when I'm there because its a person's whole life that is just being ransacked by complete strangers. You can learn so much about a person that you have never met because you see what their tastes are, how they decorate or the condition of their house. But I can't let it bother me too much because this is how I plan on furnishing my future house. Especially because I can't afford to buy any new furniture or housewares by the time we're through with this whole purchase.

So I figured I'd share with you the couple of purchases I made at this estate sale today. First off my ma inlaw went there super early and scored me the hubby a Kitchen Aid Mixer! Wow that's awesome. And she only paid $50 for it. That's even more awesome considering that one of these things brand new goes for around $250 big ones. And the one we got looks like it was rarely used considering that all the attachment mixers still had the plastic on them.

By the time I got there it was pretty picked over. You really have to get to these things early. But I found a great table top easel which means no more ghetto rigging my canvases when I want to paint. It will also make set up and break down a whole lot easier.

I also bought a whole slew of wooden utensils as well as 8 napkins! All in all I dropped a whopping $12! Garage sales and estate sales are so great! Next time you see one you should pull over and check it out. You never know what you are going to find. Some of my previous scores include vintage bikes, glass jars, a bookcase, tons of kitchen wares, a Lowe Alpine hiking pack, just to name a few. You can't beat that.

I then shot over to our neighboring town of Locust Valley where a small farmers market was going on. It was only one farm stand, but that was good enough for me considering that I only planned on picking up a few veggies. I ended up with the biggest head of lettuce I've ever seen! Peas, zucchini, mixed greens and a garlic clove rounded out the rest of my purchase. They are a local farm based out of Riverhead which is about 60 miles east of here. Tonight we made huge salads and they were delicious. The difference between farm fresh and store bought produce is unbelievable. I'm really trying to avoid buying our produce at the grocery stores and its obvious why. The freshness and taste can't be beat. Plus we want these local farms to be able to survive. And here on LI they are all becoming rare. Developers are swiping up all the farm land around as fast as they can and building these huge sub divisions that are so depressing. I hope that more people around here will catch on and help support these farmers so that they can continue to grow fresh food for us to enjoy. Remember No Farms No Food.