Estate Sale-ish

  

Last week my sister and I picked up a past habit and went to a semi-local estate sale. 

 We used to go these sales regularly but then

The Plague happened.

And all the sensible people stayed indoors and away from crowds.  When things got a bit better and we sensible people decided we could get out, properly masked and able to social distance, my sister and I found our schedules had changed and the estate sale outings pretty much stopped.

However this one caught my attention as the Ringmaster of the 3-ringed circus called an estate sale advertised this as a “re-do, everything must go, two days only, sale, sale, sale!”  Both sister and I were free and off we went. 

This particular sale was being held in the thriving metropolis of Edna, TX – about an hour’s drive.

With a population of 5499, Edna is the gateway to 11,000-acre Lake Texana, which covers the site of Texana, Texas.  (Yes, they flooded Texana, Texas, a ghost town near Edna. The community was one of the earliest Anglo-American settlements in the state. The town flourished as late as 1880, but when the railroad bypassed the town, it rapidly declined. The site now lies under the Lake Texana reservoir.) 

Now, sister and I made one mistake, that being we thought we knew where we were going.  And, no, as it happened, we did not.  I don’t know that we would have gone if we knew what to expect because Siri led us here . . . .

Look carefully between all the brush and you’ll see the house.  Up close and personal, it looks like it’s about to fall down.  I’m thinking the insects, rodents, and other undesirable things are holding hands and that’s why it’s still upright. 

My guess is the house started as a typical four room house from the 1920’s.  Then, it just “growed like Topsy”.  Windows look into rooms.  Rooms open into rooms.  At some point, someone then divided the rooms into smaller rooms using cheap wall board.  Sister and I decided – perhaps a boarding-type house for people with no other place to go??  Maybe.  Local brothel?  Possibly.  Old folks home?  Gods I hope not.

We walked around outside for a few minutes (some enterprising person had mowed a path around the 3 out buildings (a term used loosely for falling-down-lean-to-shacks) and peered in.  Pass.  All were full of junk - rotting wood and rusty stuff.  You couldn’t even get in without climbing over said rotting wood and rusty stuff.  We saw a couple digging up bulbs from the weeds out back. Hmmmm - bulbs.

Brave souls that we are, we headed to the house itself.  Ohmigod it looked like a tornado hit the place and then someone ransacked it.

Surprisingly there were people looking through the piles of godonlyknowswhat and carrying things out for purchase.  And, I expect they paid a pretty penny for whatever as the ringmaster of that horror show was charging out the wing-wang! 

We did walk back outside for a bit and, here’s the sign of a true gardener –

carefully pulling up narcissus and iris out of the hard-as-rock dirt and weeds (yes, that’s my sister).

And, then we drove back to big W.  An interesting outing.

We are having winter now (it’s an overcast damp icky day of 35 degrees) and I’m going to move to the sofa, get my blanket, a cup of hot tea and turn on mindless tv!

 

21 Jan 2022