Saturday, June 23, 2018

Retro Y'all!

Still jumping.  In place, mostly.



Someone should do one of these rap battle style brags about being a junker.  Seriously.

Big sale at the Peddlers Mall today.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Retro Y'all

Been doing a lot of jumping lately, but feel I don't have much to show for it.  Oh well.



At least I'm still getting my clothes on the right way.  Seriously, was that not the stupidest gimmick ever?

Comic shop sale today.

JUMP! JUMP!

Monday, June 11, 2018

Not quite a ramble, yet not quite a post

I am seriously trying to get back in the groove here.  I have things I want to say, even if no one is left to read them. I am committing to blog every day this week.  How about them apples?

Last week was our junk set out week, but the trucks seem to be running behind. Our street and the ones around us have not been cleared yet.  That means two things. First, I still got some hunting to do. Second, I've got a chance to clear a few things out of the shed really quickly.  Yay on both counts!

That also means I'm being quick and brief here.

Our washing machine gave up the ghost recently.  It was almost 20 years old, so it's not surprising.  The new one finally arrived yesterday.  So I am also doing laundry.

Sales suck right now.  Didn't even go to my absolute favorite church sale on Saturday.  I will, however, be going to the Comic Con in Frankfort next month.

Tucker and I are bachelors this week.  Keith is out of town for job training in Owensboro.  I am seeing cartoons and pizza in our future.

I have some pics to share, but I got a new phone last month and I just realized I don't have Dropbox on it yet.  Getting ready to rectify that.

We went to see John Prine over the weekend.  It was an awesome show, as always.  The opener was a 'young man who was new to me, Colter Wall.  He's got to be the oldest musical soul I've heard since Gillian Welch.  Like her, he creates this traditional-sounding music, with an overlay of gothic, ethereal, haunting sadness.  Imagine Woody Guthrie and Marty Robbins mixed together and interpreted by the titular riders from "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and you kind of get the idea.  Of course, I loved him.  And, of course, he's your Music for Monday.  Enjoy.



I'll have more to say about the concert tomorrow.

Saturday, March 03, 2018

Retro Y'all!

Believe it or not, I woke up this morning reciting this one as some sort of bizarre Shatneresque spoken word performance.

C'mon!  C'mon! C'mon!
Do.
The Loco.
Motion.
With ME!



Did anyone else ever have to do this in 6th-grade PE?  Like every Friday?  Or at least on the Fridays when there wasn't square dancing? (Seriously.  On all of the above counts.)

I'm off to the first church sale of the season!  Plus a new Peddlers Mall opening!  Plus half off Saturday at Goodwill! Plus 75% off at a thrift I don't normally go to! 

There WILL be a Mazda shot tomorrow!

All together now:

Jump Up!
Jump.
Back!

Now.
I think.
YOU.
Have got.
THE KNACK!

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Friday, February 23, 2018

Set Out Finds!

Like I said on Monday, Junk Set Out was not as extensive this time around.  This is pretty typical for the winter set out.  Fall and spring are always going to be bigger.  The only time the winter set out is really spectacular is when we have a really mild winter.  Nevertheless, I did find a couple of good Mazda-loads of stuff.  Honestly, as long as I can find even a few things that will sell. I think it's worth it.

Everything went right to the mall, which is where I took these pics. As usual, I only took pics of the highlights.


I kept running across safety cones in various piles, so I decided that I needed to grab a couple.  The tall one in the middle has been signed by a lot of people for some reason.  The white and black thing on the right is a pan drawer from an old stove.  I thought it was interesting.  The small black table had pebbles or tiles or something glued on the top and then removed.  I figure that makes it a good DIY project.



Nearly everything in this photo has already sold. Right after I took the pic, I went to the restroom.  When I came back, the blue folding chair was gone.  Someone had bought it.  I did not need another trunk, but I can't resist them.  Not only has it sold, but one of the other ones I had at the booth has, so now I actually need some!  I always grab media racks.  Even in this age of streaming and downloads and clouds and such, there are still people who own and use physical copies of media.  Many of them shop at flea markets.  The suitcases were all nested inside each other, along with a matching purse and the keys for all of them.  Out of this whole lot, the only things that are left are the largest suitcase and the chair on the left.



A crate of old counter-weights for doors.


I am always excited to find a wheel or two.  A guy came by and bought this one right after this pic was taken.


It is probably too early for orchard-style baskets, but I found five in various sizes.


The basket on top is not as old as it may seem, but it has sold. I love my large spools, even when they are plastic.  You need to enlarge this pic and read the painted sign in the middle.  Apparently, someone gave the kids the ends of trim from a project to decorate, which is cool. I found a whole batch of these.  I did not even see the Fleur-di-lis on the cutting board in the back when I picked it up.  The old brush was buried in a whole bin of toys I picked up.  The silver bowl was the first thing I picked up.



It has these little engraved tabs around the edge.  I thought at first I had some kind of vintage cigar ashtray, until I realized the  engraving includes a web address.



Drawers, gates, and fruit crates--oh my!  I needed drawers, too.  Sadly, there were no windows and I really need those too.  The black chair was the only find (other than a bunch of reno debris) from the house at the bottom of the hill which usually always has a HUGE pile of stuff.  The tee-ball stand is Little Tikes--my old friend.


Final find--sweet blue chairs with woven seats.  These were sitting on the curb in the rain.  I thought the seats were never going to dry out so I could put them in the booth.  It took three days!

And that wraps up this set out.  Now to count the days until June!

Thursday, February 22, 2018

A Look at the Booths (Part 1)

I'm still working on the other spaces.  I decided to stay in and rest yesterday, since it was raining,  I've been trying not to have too much downtime post-treatment, but I really do better when I have a day or so off.  I'm heading back over today, so maybe I'll have more pics after that.

Typical comments about the horrible lighting at the place apply.

Anyway, here's what's been done so far:


This is my main vintage/primitive/decor booth, which is one of my most popular.  This is the right half of the booth.  I've been working on thinning it out, re-zoning the merch, adding more small furniture, and cleaning things up.  Since I took this pic, the chair and wicker hamper have sold, along with the green chairs in the back.


 This is the end of that booth.  The first shelf here is all Louisville Stoneware and Bybee Pottery.


This is the left side of that booth.  That white shelf in the foreground is what started the whole process.  I sold the shelf that was sitting there and did not have one to replace it.  A vendor friend was looking to unload that white ine cheap, so I took it, only to find out that it was six inches too long to fit in the spot where I needed it.  This prompted a game of Booth Tetris to get the shelves in the right places, which meant I had to take some things of of them.  At the point I was thought: "In for a penny.  In for a pound."  And the booth re-do began!


 This is my salvage booth, which now needs more work done on it, because I added a bunch to it with the Junk Set Out haul.


Finally, there's a rent special on right now.  Rent a new booth for two months and get the third one free.  I decided to do it, because we were anticipating getting some large items from my mother-in-law.  That has fallen through, but I've ended up making several trips a week now to the Mount of Sorrows to haul stuff off of it, so it's working out well.  In this pic, the rolling cart in the foreground left has sold, along with the chair beside the painting of the lady.


If that last space looks kind of familiar, that's because I rented it a while back, but gave it up because I could not deal with the fire extinguisher pole.  I took it again, because it was the only space in my aisle that was available.  I'm not willing to walk any further than I have to when I am stocking and cleaning.  This space will go away once the rent special ends.  As long as it helps me clear a bunch of stuff out, it will have served its purpose.

 I have a goal set to move into a smaller storage space by June of this year.  At this point, I only have three large items left standing in the way of that move.  Thanks to this new space (and the booth re-do), things have been moving along pretty quickly. 

I'll share the set out stuff tomorrow.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Monday Rambles

LOOKIE HERE!

It's Monday!  I'm rambling!  Will wonders never cease?

QUESTIONS WHICH DEMAND AN ANSWER


Has my forehead always been this wrinkly?  Also, is my hair thinning?

STRANGE WEEK

This is going to be an unusual week for us here.  I have treatment tomorrow.  If I feel up to it, I'm going to go see Black Panther afterwards.  If not, I'll be seeing it later in the week, for sure. 

Keith is heading to Arkansas after dropping me off at the cancer center.  It's moving day for his mother, and he's going to help out.  It's been a long, stressful journey for everyone concerned--one that demands its own post.  Tucker and I will be holding down the fort here.  Woo hoo!  Cartoons all the time!

WRAPPING THINGS UP

After today, I should have the big booth redo I've been working on for several weeks now completed.  I've just got a few more things to do, including taking pics, and I'll be able to do the big reveal here.  This has been a real challenge this time around.

Just as soon as I would get one part done, a really large prominent item would sell, meaning I'd have to start on that part all over again.  Then junk set out hit last week while I was still working on the booth, adding in more big, new stuff to deal with.  On top of all this, Keith has been inspired by his mother's ordeal to start downsizing, which means more things for me to deal with. (So. Many. Books.)  On the other hand, getting that crap out of the house has been nice.  We even got a new bed to celebrate.

Speaking of junk set out, it was kind of short this time around.  It rained off and on. It was cold.  Not much stuff got put out.  Regular spots didn't participate. Then, the trucks came through extremely early in the week and it was all over.  Despite all of this, I did get two mice Mazda loads of stuff.  I just finished getting pictures of it all, so I'll be sharing those too.

MUSIC FOR MONDAY

Not much else to talk about right now, so let's cut right to a very special Music for Monday.  Seriously, even if you normally skip these videos, check this one out.  It's awesome!



Old Sesame Street kicks ass.

Have a good week!  Watch out for wrinkly foreheads and buckets with holes!

Monday, February 12, 2018

No Ramble Today!

Sorry, everyone, but I won't be rambling this week due to EXTREME busy-ness.  Due to partly to circumstances I could not control and partly to my own poor planning skills, I am smack dab in the middle of Junk Set Out AND a massive booth re-do.  I barely even know what my name is right now.

I'll get some first looks at the booth re-do and the first finds of the set out later this week.

In the meantime, enjoy this little bit of booth staging humor:


Also, here's the latest odd couple to cross my path:


When I bought the bird hatching figurine, the cashier told me that I would never sell something that ugly.  In one of those wonderful twists of fate and junking, she was the cashier who rang it out a week later to a customer who was totally tickled to find it!

I guess I can also give you all some music for Monday:



Hope your week is filled with happy teddy bears, decorated wig heads, and--of course--the right shoes!

See ya!

PS Lok at it this way:  It may not be rambly, but it is on Monday!  Woo hoo!

Saturday, February 03, 2018

Retro Y'all!



C'mon, Willie!  Get outta here!

It's three in the morning already and Mammaw has to get up in a few hours to get ready for the Beauty Pageant!

She needs her beauty reat!

Scram!

Shoo!

While Mammaw defends her crown, I'll be busy at the Goodwill half-off sale and the 2nd anniversary sale at the vendor mall across the street from the Peddlers Mall.

Thursday, February 01, 2018

Musical Math

The Great 
John Prine

+

The Late, Great 
Tom Petty

=

Total
Freaking
Awesomeness!!!


Enjoy!

Special Thanks to Keith for sending this to me!

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

A Poem What I Have Wrote

By Michael Edward Mitchell
Age 53

Hercules and Isosceles
    Were going to the Ball.
Said Hercules to Isosceles:
    "You're the tallest one of all."
Said Isosceles to Hercules:
     "By Jove! I think you're right!"
Then Hercules and Isosceles
     Strolled off into the night.



 Eddie-tor's Note: I couldn't sleep the other night, and this was the result. It was inspired by something one of my former Adult Ed students said one night when we were studying triangles.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

To Ramble or Not to Ramble?

On a Tuesday, that is.  I'm getting closer to Monday!  Still no cigar though.  Oh well, I don't smoke anyway.

WEATHER REPORT

We ended last week in the 60's, then came into the 30's this week.  Winter in Kentucky.  Ain't nothing like it.  At one point, they were calling for snow for this week, but not any more.  Good.  We already had one good, lasting snow this winter, and that's enough for me.

EEK!

So, I was wandering through the Peddlers Mall the other day, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye.  I turned my head and found myself face-to-face with this:


There, in a showcase across from my booth, is a Wookie head!  I can just imagine the Emperor Palpatine sitting on a throne somewhere calling out:  "BRING ME THE HEAD OF CHEWBACCA THE  WOOKIE!"

According to the price tag, this was part of a limited run of 5,000, because, I guess, there aren't that many Star Wars fans who are into decapitation.  Also, Wookies have bad dental hygiene.

AND NOW IT'S QUESTION TIME!



Why so serious?

I always seem to be frownie in my selfies.  I think it's because I'm concentrating so much on making sure all my hair is in the picture.

Also, hair up or down?  Vote in the comments.

SPOKE TOO SOON

It never fails.  Every time I mention that sales are going strong in the blog, it seems like they immediately slow down.  Wednesday and Thursday last week were just "meh."  But Friday and Saturday were great.  I straightened out my showcases the other day and have sold something out of them every day since.

Friday was also a big furniture day.  I even sold one of my shelves, which meant rearranging that booth to make room for a new shelf, which was a little larger than the one that sold.  That started on Saturday and has led to a total booth redo that is still going on.  I'm in the midst of redoing all my spaces, but this particular one was low on the list.  Now, it's taken over!  It's looking good, though.

MUSIC FOR MONDAY

(Er...Tuesday)

Okay.  That's enough rambling.  It's treatment day, so I need to find clean socks and scoot out of here. Enjoy this bit from OMD, which combines two things I love:  80's synth-pop and stories of the saints.


Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Super Sexy-Pants Midweek Ramble!

I keep trying(and failing) to get an actual Monday Ramble out, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.  Let's go with this one for this week, at least.

First up a question:


Do these sunglasses make me look all, you know, celebrity and stuff?  (Probably not.  The scraggly-ass goatee is looking particularly scraggly-ass here.  Brad Pitt can pull that shit off.  Me?  not so much.)

Cold, windy and wet this week, but no freezing temps and no snow.  We've had too many days of that over the past couple of weeks.  I declared a little while ago that I wasn't leaving the house until the temp was above 20, then promptly spent several days drinking hot chocolate, eating pie, and watching cartoons.  I am so over this winter.

I have definitely come to understand why some large mammals hibernate during the cold months.  I'm wondering how I can sign up for that program myself, since I am also a large mammal.  I just need to find an electric blanket that will stay on for three months and teach the cat to feed himself and scoop the litter box.

I'm working on a major booth redo, but it's going painfully slow.  I'll have pics when I get done, if I get done.  It's been a good January, sales-wise.  I haven't really had a post-holiday dip, which usually happens after New Year's.  I've been on a bit of a roll since the week before Christmas, even with the store closing for a couple of days due to weather.  Small furniture and higher-priced items are really moving right now.

2017 was kind of average as far as booth sales went.  I set a huge record in March, then crashed hard in April.  Summer was better than usual.  Fall would have been, except that I took an extra booth during a rent special to try and move some furniture, then barely broke even.  I ditched it when the special was over.  November and December were super-good.

Tine for another pic.


That was my anniversary gift from Keith.  We decided not to do Christmas presents this year, just a small anniversary gift each.  My collection of Batman shirts keeps growing.

Tucker is starting his daily rampage through the house.  It's crazed kitty time!  (Or, as I like to call it: "Go, Speed Racer, Go!")  Life with kittens, I tell you.

I made a super-major comic score at an estate sale last week.  Nearly 100 issues of one of my primary comic obsessions.  I plan on sharing it soon.  I actually want to do an in-depth sort of look at the four kinds of comics that make me go "Squee!" when I find them.  One them you can already guess, vintage romance comics.  I'll go ahead and surprise you all by saying that none of the other three are Batman or Wonder Woman.

And with that, I'll leave you with some Midweek Music.




Sunday, January 21, 2018

2017 Recap (Final Finds Unseen)

And now we come to the end of this journey through the unblogged finds of last year.  Time to wrap this puppy up.  I've got other topics to expound upon.

 Everything in this post was a curb find.  I'm keeping my commentary to a minimum this time.




Please to ignore the fat, pasty ankles in the mirror.



I thought this old wooden outer casing for a clock would make a great niche for displaying stuff.  It sold the day after I put it out.


Randomness.  I like randomness.


This wrestling belt is not a toy.  The belt is leather and the metal plaque is heavy.  I think it may have been some kind of athletic award.


More randomness.  I remembered to stand clear of the mirror this time.


Of course, there will be windows.  There are always windows.  Also a door.

And that was 2017 in junk.  Onward to 2018!

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Retro Y'all!

I've come to believe that Waylon Jennings doesn't quite get the credit he deserves as a songwriter.  For some reason, when people talk about the great country music songwriters, he doesn't seem to get mentioned often.



Fun Fact;  According to Wikipedia, this song was inspired by an article Jennings read about Tina Turner.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Comic Book Friday: Big Flea Finds

There wasn't a lot of good comic picking at the last Big Flea.  A couple of the usual dealers weren't there, and several that were did not bring their cheaper stock.  Oh well.  At least the comic shop will start having sales again soon.

I did find a couple of things, but not too much.


You all know I love me some old romance comics.  Typically, though, I stick with the DC comics, as they are both the cheesiest and the best quality.  This one is from Charlton, which was kind of a bargain basement comics company overall.  I got it because I liked the cover, which has an interesting and uncommon art style with all the shading. Charlton wasn't generally known for doing unique stuff like this.  The cover itself reads like this could be the comic version of the "Me Too" movement, except that you just know in the story she's going to fall in love with the creepy boss. 



I already have this one in several versions, so it's going to the booth. Also known by the title Barefoot Gen, this is one of the most powerful manga I have ever read.  The cartoonist lived through the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima, and the comic tells that story.  It's graphic, intense, and not for the faint of heart.  It's also incredibly timely right now, as we have leaders bandying the prospect of nuclear war about like it's no big thing.  I highly recommend this book.


Thirteen Going on Eighteen  is a teen humor series by John Stanley, who wrote and drew the classic Little Lulu comics.  His work has a style and flair to it that I have always loved.  


More romance comics, this time from DC.  This was the second-to-last issue of Young Romance, which ceased publication in 1975.  The romance genre in comics did not survive the 70's, sadly.  I got this book and the one below from a dealer who is always at the Big Flea.  I usually buy manga and Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew books from him.  He's had these comics forever, but wanted ten bucks each for them.  Not from this romance comic geek. He'd marked them way, way, way down to a much more reasonable price, so I picked them both up.



And that's the comic book update for this week  I'm going to work really hard to make this the regular thing I intended for it to be this year.

I'm off to an estate sale today that is supposed to have not only old comics, but one of my other comic obsessions.  At least, according to the pictures.  The person running the sale has caused some problems for me in the past, so I generally give her sales a wide berth, but I can't pass this up. Wish me luck!

Thursday, January 18, 2018

2018 Finds So Far!


Before we get started, a word from the producers:


Once more, for those of you who happen to be reading this blog while lying down:


I've got one more 2017 finds post, and I'm contemplating making a post of some even older finds that I photographed but never shared.  I normally wouldn't bother with something older like that, but these things are kind of cool.

However, for today, I wanted to show some things that have crossed my path since the beginning of the year.  I really want to stay on top of sharing stuff this year, so these need to go up before too much more time passes.  Everything in this blog came from the New Year's Big Flea (including the Welcome sign above), first week of January shopping at the thrifts, and some trash picking.

In case you didn't know, early January is a good time to go thrifting.  Most non-profit thrifts get hit with a huge lot of last minute donations at the end of the year from people trying to eke out a last minute tax deduction.  One of the Goodwills here in town keeps their donation drop off open until midnight on New Year's Eve to accommodate people.  This large influx of stuff means a smorgasbord of new stock hitting the sales floor during the first week of January.  At one store I went to, four carts crammed with new stuff came out in the hour I was there.



I picked up an instant vintage clock radio collection at the Big Flea.  I saw them early in the day, but didn't buy any at that time.  I wanted to go back after I'd seen the whole show and pick up a couple at that time.  When I went back the dealer was in "Let's Make a Deal" mode, and I ended up walking off with the whole lot for a super, super price.  That's why I go on the last day.

The one on top is an Emerson.  It's also my favorite.  It's got some damage on the back, but still displays well.  The one on the bottom of the stack on the table has a real wood outer shell, which is just crying for an inventive DIY-er to make it over.  By the way, the table came out of my storage stash.  I've been on a small furniture roll since the week before Christmas.  I can't keep it in stock.

Speaking of small furniture, the pics don't do the pattern on this vintage kitchen chair justice.  It's amazing in person.  Goodwill find.



I'm normally not one for these cheesy, faux-primitive signs, but they were really cheap.  I thought they'd be good for Valentine's.  Big Flea.


This cute Kitten with Mittens looks kind of like Tucker, except that his eyes are amber-colored.  Also, his mittens are sparkly purple. Goodwill.




I love it when I find things with an OUTRAGEOUS original retail price tag in thrifts.  This one is on the bottom of this:



Which just blows my mind, since it looks like an ordinary bathroom trash can.  It's made out of a hard plastic, kind of like Melamine, but thicker.  I have a feeling it would shatter if dropped hard enough.



Cute, handmade blue step-stool.  Goodwill.



These cute, Day of the Dead-style skeletons are hanging out on a clear Pyrex bowl.  I didn't know Pyrex still made things with designs on them.  Goodwill.



Since I do go to the Big Flea on the last day, I usually run into lots of dollar deals.  These were even better:  two for a dollar deals!  I love the designs on these pieces.  The figure in front is a cute pig.  The eggs in the middle are salt and pepper shakers.  There is also a bird figure that I couldn't find for the pic.



An odder couple I cannot imagine. Big Flea.


Mini oil lamp collection. Big Flea.



Does anyone know anything about this character.  I've drawn a blank in my searches. The only thing I found was an expired trademark application taken out by the Weekly Reader people.  (Remember them?)



Cute vintage metal tray perfect for Valentine's.  Goodwill.



Sweet original painting.  Peddlers Mall find.


I love educational comics of all kinds.  These are for my collection.  Big Flea.


Couch Potatoes.  Goodwill.


The second-hand store down the street from our house cleaned off its shelves over the weekend, so I cleaned out their trash shortly thereafter.  Picked up a lot of stuff that will be great for the booth, but the only blog-worthy bit was this 1980 Smurf wind-up toy. The little knob is missing from the winder, but it's still awesome.

Speaking of trash-picking, we are now only three weeks from the next junk set out.  Not that I'm counting or anything.