Yard Sale Bonanza

Began another glorious, sunny morning with The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That. Nick and Sally learn about "Reindeer Games" when the Cat brings them to meet another caribou who'll help them figure out how to find their sled in the snow. "Along Came a Spider" who taught the Cat and the kids how to make nets and how a spider weaves its web.

Headed out around quarter of 10. Spent the next few hours in Audubon, checking out their town-wide yard sale. I'm glad I got a chance to do this. Last year, Audubon's town-wide yard sale was later in April. Not only did I work too early to do it, but I think it rained for part of that morning. It was perfectly sunny and in the mid-60's, if a bit windy, a great day for riding around, looking for good yard sales.

I probably missed a lot of the better stuff, coming out as late as I did, but I still made some good finds, starting with two early Backyardigans DVDs, Cave Party and Polka Palace Party. The American Girl historical story Meet Marie-Grace and a hardback copy of Garfield On the Town, came from a sale to raise money for Audubon's Recreational Center. The third was an old paperback copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Picked up five records from two different houses. My best find here was a Peter Pan kids' LP that my family actually owned in the 80's, featuring adaptations of Thumbelina and Hansel and Gretel, along with an original story about a lonely lighthouse named Blinky. The others were:

Super Stars Super Hits - Collection of late 60's pop hits.

Dancer - Another K-Tel collection, this one focusing on dance-oriented pop tunes.

The Divine Miss M - Bette Midler

Breakaway - Art Garfunkel

I was on my way over to Simply Soups for lunch going down the White Horse Pike when a branch got stuck in my gear. I wasn't hurt, but the chain came off my bike. Damn it. Good thing I wasn't that far from Simply Soups anyway. They're a small local restaurant that specializes in simple soups, sandwiches, and baked goods. I got in shortly after 1. They were still pretty busy with the lunch and yard sale crowd when I sat down with my cornbread, can of Diet A&W, and cup of Chicken Orzo Soup. The soup was nice, with lots of thick shredded chicken hunks and huge slices of carrot.

I got lucky. There's a small car repair shop about a block or so from Simply Soups. I'm glad I remembered they were there. The boy who was working there was nice enough to get the chain back on my bike and oil it so I could get home.

When I got in, I put everything away, then spent the rest of the afternoon writing. Luke's training with Yoda is continuing. He's learned how to lift things with his mind, how to run further and jump higher, and that when your mentor tells you not to go into a dark, spooky cave with your weapon, you'd be better off listening. However, Luke's powers falter when he's unable to get his beloved horse Tauntaun out of the same swamp-monster-laden bog he and the other two were trapped in during the last story. Yoda can get him out, but he's disappointed that his student thinks he can't.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Kashyakk, the repairs on the Falcon are going slowly, but surely...and so is Han and Leia's relationship. Han continues to argue with her during the day and be tender to her at night. Cecil (Threepio) hates the outdoors - he just wants to get out of there. The peace is about to be shattered when Leia hears something in the woods...something that's ready to attack the Wookie herds...

Broke around 6:30 for dinner. I made Merlin's Baked Chicken and defrosted frozen green beans and almonds. Had them with the last of the biscuits and croissants from Wednesday evening while watching The Three Stooges Meet Hercules. In this later-day Stooges outing, the trio are three pharmacists who help a young scientist and his girlfriend with his time travel machine. They land in ancient Greece, where, after two stints as slaves on galley boats, the scientist builds up his muscles so much, he's mistaken for Hercules. The Stooges take advantage of this to have him fight local beasts and earn them enough money to make it back to Greece, but the real Hercules doesn't like their using his name one bit!

One of the better and more creative of the full-length Stooges films of the early and mid-60's. I especially love the four taking over the slave ship. Nothing absolutely necessary, but fun for kids and Stooges fans.

Finished the night with a nice, hot bath. Ahhh. It felt so nice to soak for an hour in rose-scented bath salts while reading fairy tales and listening to the Broadway Cast Album for The Scarlet Pimpernel. Very nice end to a fun week.