Nice people, good stuff, and a crazy lady

  People can be really nice. Running into people like the crazy crabby lady I met up with last week can make you forget that. She snapped at me, "I can't take that! I don't have change!" when I tried to pay her for my $4.45 with a $20 bill. She really wouldn't give me change, even though her garage sale was open and lots of people were shopping it. I made arrangements for Ken to come pick my stuff up and pay her later in the day. I really didn't want to trust that he would do it though, since Ken has a problem with getting around to stuff, and there was something I was excited to have found for Emma in the goodies. (Forget it Emma. No spoilers. Wait until Christmas.) As I was leaving, a lady sidled up to me and said," I don't know how she can not have change. She's been running this sale for three days. She has change." I was sort of stunned. I asked a young guy sitting in a chair nearby and texting on his phone if he had change. He turned out to be the lady's son or grandson, I think. He said she would give me change and was surprised when I said she told me she didn't have any. He proceeded to tell the lady she needed to give me change. She freaked out, claiming she couldn't bring out her money until they were set up. "We are set up." he told her, and made her go inside with him to get the money, muttering about "crazy obsessive compulsive woman". I felt a bit awkward.We could hear them shouting at each other inside the house. When they came out I paid, got my stuff and left, with him muttering about having to 'put up with this crazy obsessive compulsive lady ALL day!'.
  But I lost my point. I have run into so many nice people. Maybe that's why she was such a shock to me. This past weekend I arranged another barter. Some nice people let me pick up some of their hickory nuts, and even helped me do it. I'm taking them some of my garlic. (It multiplies like rabbits in my yard.) Another nice lady gave me some tomatoes from her garden when I offered to buy some.It was a nice, friendly weekend. And I got some cool stuff. I found this:

It's Tammy"s Ideal House! And I always thought that was a huge Victorian mansion...

  It's missing all the furniture and stuff from inside, but it's still pretty neat.

And I've never seen one in person before. The lady selling it explained that she had had a lot of people ask her about it, and she'd had to "explain that Tammy was Ideal's answer to Barbie" . Poor Tammy. Nobody remembers her any more!

The back of Tammy's house.

  I also found  a couple pieces of vintage Barbie and Francie clothes,including Francie's Dreamy Duo robe,and a boat load of vintage toys and good stuff.   It seems like some weeks everybody puts out their old things.
  I also got some beautiful mint records for 20 cents each,and something I have wanted for years: a set of Friendly Village dishes, for only $30!
  We're still having yard sales because at the beginning of the summer it rained for nearly three weeks. Everybody is still trying to catch up. I need to be careful spending though, because Thursday is the big Barbie auction. That should be fun, but frustrating. I collect on a budget, so the auction often is out of my price range. Luckily I can deal with fixer upper dolls. I don't insist on mint, because I can't afford to. But I've learned to improve my finds. I've even had comments on how nice my dolls' hair is.(Are?)
  Oh, and good deeds can sometimes be rewarded. A couple of weeks ago I met Donna, whose boyfriend undercharged me. If you read this blog you remember I was driving home when I realized I needed to go back to her house to pay her another $20 and take her a cake recipe. On the way to Donna's to do that Tuesday I found this sat out by someone's driveway with a sign that said 'Free Take'.

  It's bigger than it looked from the car. I may donate it to Goodwill because it's way too big for the space I (don't) have. While we were at Donna's she was having trouble with her computer, which Ken helped her with, and she gifted Ivy with a waffle maker. See what I mean? People can be so nice.