Hunted:: Gathered: 06/12/11 Part I

IT'S A DOGGY-DOG WORLD  (love Modern Family)


Hey fellow thifters! I hope everyone had a great week this week. My week's adventures were like that of a comedy film. It all started early on a Saturday morning. I had planned a route of garage sales. Well, I happened to find one just around in my neighborhood as I was headed to the first place. Of course I had to stop by. I didn't find anything there but as I was leaving I found a little white fluffy dog wandering the streets. She looked lost. I pulled over and got out of my car. I walked over to her, close enough for her to be curious but far enough as to not scare her away. I kneeled down and called to her. She hesitated and then walked over to me. She was a friendly little thing. She didn't have a collar and her coat was heavily matted.

I picked her up and put her in my car. What was I going to do with her? I hadn't figured that out yet. Since it was early I decided to go to a couple of the sales I had planned out. I drive a HondaFit and the backseats were folded down so she had free reign over the entire back of the car. I arrived at the first place which happened to be a hoarder's estate sale. There were tons of vintage furniture, lamps, suitcases and other housewares. I saw a few things but didn't get them because I was worried about the furry little girl. I made my way back to my car only to find her sitting in the driver's seat!

As I drove around I had the back windows open. I love seeing dogs sticking their heads out the window enjoying the ride and this little girl was no different. It warmed my heart. I went to another estate sale and this one was filled with promise. The lady who lived here loved crafting and hippos, and I thought I loved hippos. There were several tables filled with all of the possible hippo figurines you could ever imagine. The walls were riddled with hippo prints, cartoons and paintings. Hippos were everywhere! I was tempted by a couple of the figurines but ultimately decided to leave them.

As I tried to quickly make my way around the house I got stuck in your usual estate sale traffic jam and was next to a bookshelf. That is where I found these two lovely teak hippos. 

I had seen the Zoo-line hippos before and I thought these were them but I didn't see a mark. I loved them regardless. I had seen the lady hippo before but I had never paid attention to her pearl earrings. How fun are they? Upon further inspection at home I found that the lady hippo has the Zoo-line copyright and the male one has a J.V. Orel copyright. The Zoo-line hippos don't typically have the drilled holes in them like my male one does. I'm assuming that it is J.V. Orel's contribution to the line since I've seen other adapted figurines by him that hold cocktail utensils/ desk accessories. There was a third hippo but she was in bad shape so I left her behind. After buying these I went back to the car to check on the little girl and she was in the driver's seat... AGAIN!

It was getting close to the time that most businesses open so I needed to find a way to take her to the local no-kill animal shelter. The problem was that I didn't remember how to get there! The boy was on a bike-ride so I couldn't call him to tell him to look it up. Well, I did what any thrifter would do. I went to the local Goodwill and asked one of the ladies at the register. Luckily one of them knew where it was and I wasn't too far from it. Phew.

I arrived at the shelter and asked them to check her for a microchip. No Microchip. I then told them the story and they proceeded to tell me that they don't take dogs in until Tuesday. That is when she would be checked out by a Vet. and Behavioral Specialist. I start to panic because I never thought I'd be bringing her home with me. They ask me if I can keep her till then and I say yes even though I am trying to figure out how I am going to get away with it. (My apartment complex has a strict pet deposit and monthly pet rent.) What else was I supposed to do? Luckily they were more than willing to provide me with a pet kennel, dog food and a leash. Off she goes with me again, this time in the kennel.

I was on my way home when the boy called me and asked me what I was up to and where I was. How am I going to explain this one?! I tell him where I am and that I've picked up a dog. I heard the shock and disbelief in his voice when he asked "You did what?". I told him that I was on my way to the other no-kill shelter to see if they could take her and he breathed a sigh of relief. Turned out they didn't want to take her. Home we went. The boy was there as he had just gotten back from his bike ride. He saw that I didn't have the dog with me and asked if the shelter took her in. I told him that she was in the car. I grabbed a really quick snack because by that point I was starving. He walked down with me to take a look at her and I could tell that he liked her. She jumped all over him and gave him kisses. I briefly imagined the time when we would get one of our own. As a final resort I decided to drive by the area where I found her. A few kids were playing outside and I asked them if they recognized her. One of them said "yes, I think that's princess". He pointed me in the direction of her home and I knocked on the door. It turned out the owners didn't even know she was missing. They thanked me and I left. Meanwhile I was left wondering if I did the right thing. She was matted, she didn't have a microchip or collar, they didn't know she was missing and who knows if she is up to date with her shots. I tried to be positive and reasoned that she did seem like a happy little girl and that she was better off there than at the shelter.

Sorry about the doggy story but I haven't had a doggy in years and so I treasured those few chaotic hours with Princess. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I ended up going back to the hoarder estate sale and brought home a rocker and ottoman set that was designed by Takeshi Nii in 1958. Since the chair was outside I had no idea of the smell that it had until I drove around with it. It was the 'my cats have done their business all over it' smell. I picked it up as a restoration project. I thought it just needed some deep cleaning and conditioning but boy is it turning out to be complicated. Some of the screws need to be replaced but I can't even find them online! I've taken the chair apart and scrubbed the canvas over and over and still can't manage to eliminate some of the stains. Does anyone have any suggestions? Does Oxyclean work miracles?

I also bought a HUGE painting and a couple of vintage suitcases. That's my queen headboard at the bottom for reference.

The blue and gray suitcase are the latest acquisitions. They are perfect for hoarding storing the goodies I bring home.

Would you have said no to this beautiful decanter? I really should have but I have high hopes for this baby.

That's it for this week. Now it's your turn and you can do so here if you haven't already: