Monday Rambles

Welcome back to my life, as it was lived last week.  Yard sale tales and pics start on Wednesday.  I decided that they really deserved a post of their own, rather than being crammed in here.  There should be posts every day this week, in fact.  I hope you'll stop back.

We do have an important bit of business to deal with first, however.  The identification!  I got a lot of interesting responses to my request for information about this:

 

I put it up on Sir Thrift-A-Lot's Thriftasaurus party, hoping it would get some response.  I don't often join link parties, because my aesthetic is so different from other junk bloggers, but Sir-Thrift-A-Lot shares my love of pop culture from the past, so I felt he would be a good place to go. 

I picked up a few new readers from the link-up, which is always nice.  Welcome!  I also got a response from the good Sir himself!  Whee!  It turns out that he took it upon himself to research this little baby and found a similar item on eBay, which also contains key info that mine lacks, namely the words "Happy Birthday!"

Now to be fair, the ever-wonderful Shara suggested that idea in an email to me first, but the noble Sir is the one who confirmed it with evidence!  Thanks so much to everyone who added info and guesses to the quest.  I, myself, am a little heart-broken that it's not belly buttons, mainly because I get all sorts of odd ideas about how one could "enjoy" a belly button.

This does lead to a new mystery:  why doesn't mine actually use the word "birthday"?  I am guessing that it may have been a part of the packaging that has long since been lost.  Vintage finds, you are so enthralling, yet enigmatic!

Last night, I broke last month's sales record, so no matter what I do this week, I'll have a record month for the third month in a row!  Not even the fair slowed me down!  Good thing I found some good stuff over the weekend. 

I put my fall/harvest-themed items out last week, and they have already begun selling.  I don't really have that many, just a shelf or tow.  It's kind of a lead-in to Halloween for me.  The first Halloween load goes out next week and should all be out by mid-September.  I'll also be putting out a shelf of (gulp!) Christmas this week. Actually, it's already out.  I'm just going to move it to a more prominent place. 

I leave a bunch of Xmas dishes, especially Santa Coke glasses, out all year on a bottom shelf.  They'll sell bit by bit through the year and keep an out-of-the way shelf looking full.  I'm going to move them up a bit, so that I can begin adding to them a little at a time for a while.  I have enough space now that a little corner of Christmas won't distract from everything else. 

It pays to think like a retailer at this time of the year.  As people's minds turn to gift-giving, they often turn away from secondhand shopping venues, especially the true flea markets.  Stacks and stashes of decor items drive my sales from October through December.  That, plus new, unopened items, will keep me hopping this holiday season.  I want to keep my sales streak alive.

Today starts a new session at work.  I'm not totally sure what I am supposed to be doing.  The boss hinted at changes, but didn't really elaborate.  I'm heading in early to see what's up.  Friday is my next follow-up scan at the cancer center.  I'll get the results next Tuesday.  This week marks one year since my treatment ended.  I'm going to try to go to Goodwill in celebration!  This weekend is the big flea.  Labor Day is one of the twice a year antique wings out there, so I'll head out there on Monday to hunt for bargains.  Lots of dealers will have dollar tables on the last day.

Over the first two weekends in September, there are two different community sales in two nearby parks. I am debating setting up to sell in at least one of them.  It will depend on whether I can get anything pulled out of the shed and priced or not.  I do need to get back in there and work some more.  The next junk set out is coming up in mid-October.  I need to purge, so I can scrounge.  I'd like to do one more yard sale at the house, but I am running out of time for that.

I'm tentatively committed to crawling the Highway 60 yard sale in October.  There are several highway/route yard sales that crisscross Kentucky, including the mega Highway 127 sale that cuts through part of the state.  I tend to prefer the ones the begin and end here, like the 60 sale, especially when they cross through the part of the state I from whence I hail. 

I found out that there is even a sale that cuts through my old hometown.  Of course, I found that out two weeks after it happened this year, so it's on the list for next year.  I may even combine that sale with the graveside visit.  My mother would appreciate that.

I've rambled a lot today, huh?