Aggressive shopping - more partying

Robert showed up about 9am, as discussed. I had already been up, had a cup of that red Indian tea, and brushed my teeth by then, so I was pretty much ready to go. I had read on his blog it is his birthday on the 6th, so I had a birthday card for him.

We started off going over to White Horse Road. It was a good day, despite the fog, and there were a good many people over there. Not much glass, but I did pick up a pretty little Queen Anne berry bowl. Didn't get that great a deal on it, but it is a cute little thing. I paid $4, and book value on it is $5.

Queen Mary 4" berry bowl in pink by Anchor Hocking Glass Company, circa 1936-1949

As we were pulling out of White Horse, Robert tells me he has never been to a flea market before!! Needless to say, I was agog. I was also upset that I had taken him to a small flea market for his first time. There was nothing to do but go on to Andersen and do it right!

We drove on down, and he was just amazed at the size of it. It is a spectacle - especially for newbies. Before we had gotten out of the first yard sale section, I had already picked up a Fire King pie dish. I already have one, but I don't think I have this size, and for a buck, I just couldn't pass it up!

Fire King 8 3/8" pie dish in sapphire blue, circa 1942 -1950 (the blue is very light, and hard to get to show up in pictures)

We went on to the larger yard sale section. There was a pretty good crowd today, but not a lot of glass. I found a little crystal Colonial tumbler, but figured it wasn't worth the $4 the guy was asking for it. But as we went on, it called to me. That's in large part how I judge what I buy these days. Sometimes I'll pass up a piece, only to discover that I just have to have it. And it was such a cute little thing. After an unusually protracted search back (I usually pretty much have photographic memory as to where I find a piece of glass), I found it and picked it up for $2. Book value on it turned out to be $16, much to my surprise. Once again though, on the crystal pieces, I kind of take book value as an abstract thing. Still, it is cute as a bug, and I want to put toothpicks in it.

On the way inside, I found free "sham-wows". This is the latest wonder product to hit the flea markets. Apparently the latest round with the copyright cops down there has them being pretty careful though. They were calling these "super-chamois" today, even though they were clearly the stuff being sold on TV. There were just some laying on the ground outside one of the sheds. There was no one looking for them, and I knew if I left them there, someone else would pick them up. So in the bag they went. I did feel kind of naughty doing that.

Colonial "Knife and Fork" 4" 5oz. footed tumbler in crystal by Hocking Glass Company, circa 1934-1936

It always amazes me that something so old (at least 70 years old) can make it through still so beautiful and functional. That is one of the wonderful things to me about old glass. I had to take out my little tumbler and admire it over lunch. Robert seemed pretty surprised when I mentioned how old it was.

We stopped for lunch at the little taqueria at the Andersen Jockey Lot. Usually when I'm down there you can't get a table because they're packed out, but we hit it just right today and got in before the lunch rush. We had chilaquiles, and they were pretty good, although I like the ones at Corona's better. This was the real deal though, you could tell. They sent out the one girl that spoke English to translate the menu and take our order. These were pretty spicy too!

After lunch, we finished up the Jockey Lot. Robert saw the whole thing, puppy row and all. I usually can't stop there when Russ is with me because Billy has made it my job to make sure Russ doesn't come home with another puppy. If he does, we'll both get it! But I didn't have to worry about that today.

Usually by the time I do both flea markets I'm all in. But for some reason I was still itchy to shop - even though I had found glass already. But Robert was game, and I had kind of promised him a day of it anyway, so on we went. We did the thrift stores, but I didn't find much of anything else. I got a surprise for Justin that I decided he had to have, and got a good deal on some shelf paper. He bought some shirts. It was still fun to go and dig. We went by that new antique store out on Poinsett, which was closed AGAIN. I'm kind of mad at them. WHEN exactly are they open??

We came on home and Robert helped me switch out the screen door for glass before he left.

I lay down for a while and tried to take nap, but was too keyed up.

***

Last night when I was over at Miss Kat's, it came up that Russ and Billy were having people over tonight, but I hadn't been invited. But Russ texted me shortly after to invite me. It was a nibbles party where we were all bringing something. I decided it was a good time to try the recipe I got for that heavenly artichoke dip that David makes. I offered, then threatened, him with sexual favors to finally get the recipe.

I decided to make a half batch, since he usually makes a 9" x 13" pan of the stuff, and I didn't want to have a bunch left over. It is sinfully good, and terribly fattening. Basically, it's a blob of molten cheese with a few artichoke hearts thrown in to make it socially acceptable to eat that much cheese. It went together fairly easily, and I popped it in the oven while I finished getting ready.

I showed up over there a bit after 7. It was a really nice get together. Miss Kat and dana were there, as were David and Brian, and Lori. We hung out and talked and smoked, and basically just enjoyed each other's company. The dip was a hit. Out of a 2 quart casserole, I ended up taking about 2 cups of it home. Eventually, the heavy party schedule we had all been keeping told on us, and people started peeling off. It was a lovely evening though.