Monday, May 24, 2010

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free (or significantly reduced anyway)


Scott hates closeout stores, to begin with. There is no doubt about that. You must remember this or nothing that follows will seem wonderous...

(Photo: Scott toting my treasures to the car. Aww!)

Yes! I finally made it to Ollie's, a Big Lotsyish store filled with near-expireds and overruns. I adore these places, because I love a good treasure hunt, and you have to sort through a lot of horrible crap to find the nearly-free diamonds in the rough.

Scott hates these places because he sees these finds as something akin to blood diamonds--the gems found tempered by the knowledge that someone worked long hours making the useless junk we dug through to find them. I can definitely see his point, but hey, Martha Stewart Stamp Sets $1.49! It's Martha, people!
Purty bird stamps are not to be scoffed at, and as I mentioned on the Fiskateer message board, I'm sharing some of my treasures with my loyal fans. I picked up an extra set of these wee little avians and will be giving them away to someone who takes the time to leave me a comment on this post. Don't worry, I'm not going to force anyone to push my blog all over hillanddale, foisting links on your friends, message boards or blog followers. I just want to know what species of bird is your favorite (I'd love to know why, too, but that's not mandatory). Mine is the cormorant, thanks to a freaking fabulous poem by Richard Brautigan:

The Castle of the Cormorants

Hamlet with
a cormorant
under his arm
married Ophelia.
She was still
wet from drowning.
She looked like
a white flower
that had been
left in the
rain too long.
I love you,
said Ophelia,
and I love
that dark
bird you
hold in
your arms.

(Ha ha, I got you to read poetry!)

If you have loved and read Hamlet as many times as I have, and you have seen cormorants with their awkward, teenage bodies and their near suicidal drop into frigid, black waters, you can probably also understand what I love about this poem. Anyway, I was going somewhere with this. Oh yeah, free stuff. Name a bird you like. I will draw a name in a week and one of you with win these stamps* and a lifetime supply of Turtle Wax**.
There is one thing Scott does enjoy about these stores and that is playing a game I like to call. "I can see why this was so popular." in which we find the least appealing item in the store. The winner this time?

3-C Cranberry Sauce: The Industrial Strength Cranberry Sauce
I made up the slogan, but not the name. And look at that photo. Food always looks great when you photograph it with an instamatic! Mmm.
So that's it for now. Give me your birds, and if luck is with you when I pick a number next week, I'll let you know.

*Really!

**Not really.







29 comments:

Jen K said...

Seriously, that cranberry sauce is going on my t-day table this year. YUMMO! (hahahaha, yeah no).

Regena said...

Hi Veronica...How sweet of you to offer this Rak..I love all kinds of birds but my fav.is the chickadee..thanks for the chance

Maxine #6215 said...

My favorite bird would be the Cockiteal (I know spelled wrong), but my mom had one when I was growing up and she passed him on to my son when he turned 5. My son is now 16 and the bird just died last year. Long time....especially when I can remember mom having him when I was 13 and I am 41 now!

Unknown said...

Hi Veronica, Enjoyed your lil' story.... Wow, those are great stamps! We don't have Ollies in Canada. My favourite bird would be the Robin, cause thats usually a sign of spring.... LOL except this year....today it took to Rain that turned into snow... ugh...
Thanks for offering this RAK.
Have a lovely Weekend!
Maureen
Fiskateer #6745

Viji Siddharth said...

That is so cool veronica!! btw i love your profile pic on the MB!! My favorite bird is parrot! LOL because in all the bollywood movies they make the parrots talk!
viji5858

Unknown said...

My favorite bird is a blue and gold macaw! I had one and had to give him up to a rescue as I was having shoulder surgery and wasn't going to be able to take care of him properly during my recovery process plus I have other health issues that prevent me from taking care of him. It's been 3 years since I got rid of him and it seems as if it was yesterday! Also a close second is a cockatiel as I always had them as well before my illness! Thanks for the chance at the RAK!

BethW said...

Great find Veronica-my favorite has to be our little finches. We a pair nesting on our back porch now!

Kari said...

Hi Veronica...you are awesome to offer this RAK. I too love all birds, but my favorite is a Cardinal. I love the bright red color of the males. Have a great holiday weekend!!
Fiskateer #7056

DonnaWoods said...

Donna 6036 here - I love Flamingoes - I have no poetry to back me up though. I really have no idea why even. My bathroom has the Flamingo theme going. Even my birthday was teeming with them. I wanna go to your Big Lotish place!
I love diamond hunting too. Thanks for sharing your fun find!

kellyisascrapdiva said...

Hi Veronica, my favorite bird is the hummingbird, thanks so much for the opportunity!

Tkat said...

my favourite bird would be the oriole or the gold finch. they're both sooooooo beautiful! :) have a fab day! :)

Rosalee said...

Awesome stamp set Veronica. My favorite bird is the kill-deer bird. (Anyway I think that's what they are called.) And when it comes to geese, I love the Canada Goose. Thanks for the great chance
Hugs, Rosalee

Unknown said...

Veronica, I love reading your blog posts. You would be hoot to talk to all the time. My favorite bird would be the Tucan. It reminds me of Ecuador.

Patty 2262

Gail said...

Hey, how great! I like flamingoes!
Don't know why, must be the color!
Thanks for the chance!

Anita T said...

my favorite bird is a humming bird. i just think that they are fascinating...seeing them fly and be able to hover and dart in and out.

Lisa's Scrap Site said...

HI VERONICA,I LOVE A RED BIRD,CARDINAL AND A KENTUCKY BLUEBIRD.THANKS FOR THE CHANCE.

Kelly Sas said...

OMGosh Veronica your post is hilarious today! This store sounds local? I LOVE stores like this were you hunt for.... you don't know what, but when you find it you are so excited! My favorite bird is a Blue Heron. This are huge Jurasic Park looking rare birds that we are blessed to have live near and hunt in our lake.
Kelly
#6558

Amy Golden said...

I guess mine favorite little birdie would be the Carolina Wren, being from SC I guess! Thanks for such a fun and great chance to win something ! I love MS!!

billiejo said...

That's just the stamp set I've been looking for. I have many favorite birds, starting with whatever bird I can watch at the moment. LOL! I love diving with birds, so all underwater divers are on the list, along with the fun to watch road runner. Top on my list is the eagle. I've been lucky enough to feed them in the wild and their grace and beauty is amazing. And, lets not forget the blue heron or any of the other "pet like" birds that lived on my front porch for so many years. I guess I love birds. LOL! Thanks Veronica, for sharing such a great find.

kim said...

Hey Veronica! Please don't put me into your RAK. I just wanted to stop by from the fiskateer board and check out your blog. What a great story and find. Our Ollies had the same treasure. I haven't had time to play with my set but after visiting I so want to dig them out again. lol. Thanks for sharing and good luck to the winner.

Kathy said...

That is such a beautiful set, and at a great price!!

I can honestly not give you a bird favourite, as I am an avid birdwatcher. I do a lot with my class, in fact the next 2 days we'll be spending on an annual spring bird count.

Thanks for the gracious give-away!

Unknown said...

I had never had a favorite bird until I met my husband and his family who are avid bird watchers. They took me out on a bird tour of Eastern Oregon where I saw my first flock of snow geese, which I now look for whenever I see large flocks of birds flying overhead.

Crafty Diva said...

I love the black capped chickadee. Every early spring he greets me with his sing-song call and then we call each other back and forth until he finds a mate and realizes I'm not who I'm pretending to be! LOL!

Marianne B in AZ said...

I love quail. We live out in the country have lots of bushes they can hide under. They really are fun to watch. I especially love it when I see them with their little, tiny babies following in a row across a street. When the wind is blowing they can hardly keep up with Mama!

Thank you for thinking of your Fisk-a-friends while you were shopping!

Marianne

Marla said...

Very sweet Veronica - I love STORES like this!! I have a blast at my local BIG LOTS!!! Thanks for a chance to win a new stamp set. My favorite bird is the bluebird!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing a beautiful stamp set! That was a lucky find!! My favorite bird is a Goldfinch.

Robin Stewart said...

I feel I should say Robin's because that is my name but I feel like i was often tortured for sharing the name with the bird. I must say Chickens because they are very useful and we love to collect the eggs.

Unknown said...

I really like your stories i found them very interesting and your blog as well .

6300

goldyfish said...

My favorite is the cardinal. The reason is that the red looks so regal.