Flea markets

So it's coming into my favorite time of the year, the time for festivals and flea markets. Yesterday we hit a flea market/tailgate sale at my old college. You all know that among the mostly junky stuff are buried treasures. Not that we get to them at the crack of dawn, but if you go later in the day, the sellers would rather lose a few dollars then wrap the item up and load it back into their vehicle. I got a few treasures-one of which was a Royal Copley cat planter (the photo is one like mine and it looks like my cat). Before I go into details, make sure you wear dark sunglasses and haggle a bit. After many years of going to these kinds of sales, you know the good stuff. I would do so well on the BBC America show 'Bargain Hunt'! So the guy wanted $15 for this. I pretended I thought it was a pitcher (so lame) and he corrected me and said 'no it's a planter'. So I said how about $10, and he said how about $12 and I said ok. He didn't have change for a $20 and Brian came up with $4 for me to add to my $7. All the time this guy is telling me it's a Shawnee pottery item. He didn't know he was actually being helpful.
So after I got home, I hopped on eBay and first did a 'Shawnee cat planter' search-nothing. But, there were items that were designed and painted like mine and they were Royal Copleys! I did a search again using 'Royal Copley cat planter' and someone was selling the same item for $9.99. I was a bit bummed, but did a google search and Ruby Lane antiques came up. They were selling the same cat planter-two of them for $45 and $55. Yeah! Even at half price, I did well paying $12.
I also got a cute Children's book (lithographs)from 1893, a cobalt
blue Bicentennial bell, a Hallmark ornament of a bunny cross stitching and an old chef salt shaker.
We went up to my hometown and hit Super Sunday. More vendors! I found a table where they were selling Precious Moments and Charming Tails items are great prices. Unfortunately getting there late, they were pushing the last of what they had, but what I bought I was happy with.