My niece Evie made it to the finals in several events for her state swim meet yesterday. Great for her, but good for me too since it gave me a chance to go shopping before going to see her swim in the finals. I went to the Goodwill Outlet on the west side of Indy because my parents were having lunch, and it seemed to be the closest option to Evie’s meet.

The first great find of the day was a vintage cooking set – similar to one I remember playing with at my Granny’s house when I was a kid. It looks like it was designed to be something like an easy bake oven – with a power cord that had been cut off (probably for the best since it was a little rough…and definitely old). I loved the stove, but the thing that delighted me about it even more was finding a little note tucked inside along with some of the tiny metal pots and trays that said it had been owned by Janet Kinsey Beanblossom and she’d received it around 1944.

I was also surprised to learn a little more about the creators of another object I’d found – a tiny dollhouse dresser. I had to scavenge through the bin to find all the pieces, and didn’t notice it at the time, but it seems to have been signed by its creators on the bottom of one of the drawers.

The next great treasure of the day was a 1919 Singer Sewing Machine. Whenever I find a vintage machine I love thinking about all the outfits or home decor items that had been sewn on it…and all the hours that its former owner would have spent on it stitching those items. Admittedly, this one is in rough shape…but it is still a treasure…having survived for more than 100 years and also surviving the Goodwill Outlet bins. I found the base earlier in the day but didn’t see the machine…so I ended up letting the base go…but I realize in hindsight that I should have grabbed it and put it back if I didn’t find the machine…because I later discovered the top of the wooden traveling case…and then the machine itself.