Greening My Life #onesmallact at a Time

Fred's "new" hand pump

This weeks #onesmallact is one of my favorites. Shopping at flea markets, garage sales and antique stores.
It is a preferred activity for many reasons first being: The Thrill of the Hunt.
Yesterday morning Fred and I headed out (in the unreasonably cold for Cinco de Mayo weather) to a local Flea Market/Antique Show event to search for spoils. My goal was to find materials to use in my jewelry designs and Fred  was looking for tools. We both scored. I came away with a small bag of shiny rhinestones, pins, whistles, a tiny perfume bottle, 2 old brown baseballs and some old medals. They are all destined to become Salvaged Style.
Fred came away with an old water pump. It was once painted red and now has a fantastic worn patina. he also found an old bow saw, a hammer, a wooden barn pulley, and a wooden mallet.
Second reason: Hunters and Gatherers are great people. We ran into some old friends and met some interesting vendors with fabulous stories and a wealth of knowledge about their treasures. My favorite interaction of the day was with a very elderly woman selling items as Vintage as herself. She was not a casual person but very well dressed with perfect makeup, beautiful skin and her soft silver hair was pinned into a french twist. Even sitting on a bench covered with a blanket and fur lap robe she looked regal. I didn't want her to have to leave her warm nest to assist me so took the items I was interested in to her.  As I knelt beside her on the grass she inspected each one carefully, commented on it's provenance, and after a bit of discussion we came to a mutually agreeable price. She was delightful.

Treasures destined to become Salvaged Style.

Third reason: Why buy new when you can own something with History?   Do mother earth a favor and recycle a little. Old is charming, previously owned has a story to tell and  if you have enough imagination nothing is wasted. I talked to my Mom this morning and she told me how my brother and Sister-in-law found all new (to them) lawn furniture while garage sale shopping yesterday Way to go Tamie and Dave!

Bow Saw

It was a great morning. We were entertained by a well run event and interesting people, almost stuck to the budget ( the pump put us $20 over)  and we didn't get carried away with purchases that while great bargains, we had no need for in our home. Giant win.