Monday Rambles

Dang!  What a week!  It turned into all booth, booth, booth!  I didn't get anything else done, including blog posting.  Sorry about that.  Also, sadly for a vacation week, I only got to sleep in one day!  Ack!

Here's a play-by-play:

Monday

Went by the vendor mall I want to move into.  They were very busy on a Monday just after opening, which is good.  I'm still on waiting list.  Sigh.

Did buy a few things there, including an awesome gold and black basket to put in my Halloween display.  I'm going to put bones in it.  I also got a few small Halloween things to fill in some holes.  I have to buy cautiously at this point.  I still want the display to look full and fresh, but I also want to start condensing it to one table.

Ate yummy Mexican food lunch.

Went to Peddler's Mall to straighten, tidy, and stock after weekend.  Had a cartful of items I had taken down to sell in the outdoor sale that needed to be returned to the shelves.  They did not get returned on Monday.

Instead, I bought a ton of items from two booths where the vendor had been evicted.  When an eviction happens, the vendor can't get their stuff until they pay the rent that is owed.  The mall sells it in an attempt to recoup some of the losses, since typically the vendor doesn't come pay and the mall is stuck with the stuff.  Most of the seized stuff is crap.  (There's a reason the vendor wasn't making rent.)

Evicted space.  You can't make rent if customers can't get in the damn booth!

I ended up buying a cartful of miscellaneous stuff, a metal baker's rack, a retro metal plant stand, a work table, and a wooden doll bench.  Even though they're trying to make their money back, the mall really doesn't want to deal with the stuff, so it's really cheap.  I ended up dealing with all that for the rest of the day.

In the cart, I found a couple of bowls marked Hall.  At first I thought they were Autumn Leaves, better known as the Jewel Tea pattern, but there was too much color.  Autumn Leaves doesn't have any green in it.  Turns out, it's a pattern from the 30's called Crocus.  Both bowls are chipped, but that kind of makes me love them even more.  This stuff was made to be used and used, not collected.  To me, evidence of that utilitarian life gives them character.  I hope someone else loves them too.

Not Jewel Tea, but Crocus

Tuesday

Went junking with my uncle.  I sold him a vintage campset from a box lot I bought.  It will sell better in his flea market set up.  He sold me a cool set of vintage bells for teaching music.  I was on the hunt for more religious items, since my religious wall has been pretty well cleaned out.  I did find a few.

Also got word that due to repairs needed from the roof collapse, my booth at YesterNook was being closed off and the stuff boxed up and stored.  Tried to negotiate with the owner on how that was to be done.  Ended up feeling really bummed about that, since I won't be able to have any kind of a sell down on my stuff.

Wednesday

Went to YesterNook to see what I could do.  There is a big-ass hole in the ceiling right outside my booth.  I do not understand how my stuff was not damaged.  The booth across the aisle from me was totally wiped out.

BIG ASS HOLE!

Not thrilled to see my stuff used to block off aisle.

My booth with restricted entrance.  It's empty now.  Everything has been removed.

Potential Big Ass Hole.  This one is right above my space.

Spent the morning packing up my religious articles to move to the Peddlers Mall.  Also moved all my small furniture items out.  Half went to the Peddlers Mall.  Snuck the other half into the YesterNook rough room without permission.  Shhhh.

Bought a couple of table top book racks to use at Peddlers Mall to hold graphic novels.

Talked with the store owner.  Managed to get an agreement to hold out the stuff I wanted to put in the store outdoor sale and to keep my stuff accessible in storage so I can continue moving out.

Took load to Peddlers Mall.  Worked on religion wall.  I hadn't realized how hard it had been hit until I pulled everything off it to redo it.  Normally the stuff from that area fills a cart and then some.  This time, it was barely half a cart.

Did not get items from outdoor sale back on shelves.

Thursday

Went back to Peddlers Mall.  Finished religion all re-do.  I added some shelving that I bought over from YesterNook to give it some new pizazz.  Finally, got the items from the outdoor sale back on the shelves.  Started Xmas display.  Tidied and foofed.

Hit my fave downtown thrift and found a small stash of religious stuff.  Chatted with the cashier a while.  Talked myself out of an end table.

Friday

Sleep in day!  Finally!  Got stuff ready for the Outdoor Sale at YesterNook.  Made a Craigslist ad for my stuff there.   Sorted two boxes of comics--priced some to go to Peddlers and boxed the rest for the sale.  Caught up on General Hospital and Days of Our Lives.

Saturday

YesterNook Outdoor Sale.  Sold about a hundred bucks worth of stuff, including a couple of large items I did not want to move.  Tried to negotiate a deal for some of my large shelving, but I'm not sure if it's going to go through or not.  Would love to not have to move all of them, but we'll see.  Bought a couple of things and had a bunch given to me, including a huge Xmas wreath.  Went to quarter sale at comic book shop.  Bought a stack of comics.  Moved all remaining small furniture to Peddlers Mall.  Stashed boxes of smalls at home.

Sunday

Sorted and priced stuff from outdoor sale.  Put up some new Craigslistings for Peddlers Mall booth. Sorted and priced comics.  Got load ready for Peddlers Mall.  Wondered where week went.

And that was the week that was.  I'm heading to the Peddlers Mall this afternoon after work.  Got to restock, tidy, and foof.  Also going to put out the very last Halloween stuff.  After that, it's time to watch the remaining stuff sell through.  I made rent yesterday, which is the earliest that has happened all year!  Really psyched about that.

This week, I'm going to try and see how accessible my stuff is that YesterNook has in storage.  I don't think there was much follow through on that after all.  I also have to get ready for my own yard sale, which will be Saturday.  After that, I'm taking a load of books to Half-Price Books to sell.  That should clear enough storage room for me to start moving the last of my stuff out of YesterNook.  My goal is to be gone there well before the end of the month deadline.  We'll see how it goes.

Last furlough, I was still tired from chemo recovery and just welcomes the chance not to have to do much.  This time around, it was go, go go!  I think that's a good sign.

Fun Finds: Doing the Research

So I found these little dudes at the YesterNook outdoor sale and could not resist them.

I can't decide whether they are cute or creepy.

They have no markings on them, other than the words "Mattel 1975" on their backsides.  I googled "Mattel toys 1975" and found a pic of one of them from an old Etsy sale.  That sale led me to the phrase "lil guy", which I added to my search.  That then turned up an eBay auction for a Mattel Little Big Guy.  Turns out, these little dudes are firemen and originally came with removable coats and boots. Cool!

And, that, my friends, is how you research your finds!

I also found a couple of other great items at the sale, as well.

This super-cute dollhouse dresser has an actual mirror on it, instead of a piece of tin foil or some such.

I also got this sweet Hummel holy water font.  It's cracked, but for two bucks, I'll take it!  It's likely the only way I'll be able to have an old piece of Hummel.  This one goes in the collection.

I love this mini metal bench that's been painted to look like graniteware.

Just goes to show that shopping can happen anywhere, even when you're selling!

Monday Rambles

I have kind of deduced that my particular chemo cycle runs like this:

Infusion Week:  Feel Like Shit
Second Week:  Feel Little Better
Third Week:  Feel Tiredest of Cycle
Fourth Week:  Feel as Good as I am Going to Get (not saying too much here)
Then it all repeats.
Lather.  Rinse. Repeat.

So last week, I started feeling a little better.  The nausea subsided.  No more puking.  Still very, very tired, but I've been able to live with that, except that it annoys me not having any energy.  The tinfoil is mostly gone, bur Diet Dr Pepper still doesn't taste right.  I can drink coffee without gagging now, so that much is appreciated.

I guess this week I'll be the tiredest of the cycle.  Oh well.  I can deal with that.

The YesterNook outdoor sale went well.  I was under the awning, so I was out of the sun ll day.  I still wore the hat, though.  I sold some stuff, but not as much as I expected.  Mostly, it was books and comics.  Next time, that will be all I bring.  They're talking about doing another one in the fall, which would be fun.

The take for the day was about 60 bucks from the sale.  I say "about" because I was shopping out of my intake, so I don't have an exact number.  After the day was over, I took all the leftover books, LP's (given to me), and comics to Half-Price Books and cashed them in for another 90 bucks!  Not bad overall!

I did buy quite a few things, so I made up for missing the best church sale in town a little.  I also had a lot of stuff given to me, which seems to happen a lot.  I managed to sell a couple of the pieces there, and the rest will keep me stocked for a long while, which is nice.  I'm thinking on laying off the sales for a while.

I managed to get some longer essay posts finished this week.  Two "Junkin' Memories" and one "This is How we Do It."  Feels good to get some of those series moving again.  Look for them on Tuesdays (starting tomorrow) for the rest of June.  It also feels good to get the drafts folder cleared out a little.  I realized the other day that, if I can finish all the drafts I have accumulated, I'll have have a thousand posts published.  I'm working on it!

Speaking of posts, there's one you won't get to see.  I mentioned on Mother's Day that I was working on a post for the anniversary of my mother's death.  I did finish it, but it ended up being a bit too personal to share on the internet, so I set it aside.  Just wanted you all to know.

Got a busy week coming up this week  I'm adding new morning duties at work, which will last for the next three months.  Good to have the summer income, but I'll miss the sleep.  Thankfully, my afternoons are still open.  I should have two or three new posts up, so keep checking back.

Take care!

Monday Rambles

First things first:

YOU CAN SPIT OUT THE WORMS, ROGER!  I'M BACK!!!!

I'm still alive.  Still here.  A little less green and a little less pukey.  I didn't eat much at all on Thursday or Friday, but my appetite started stirring a bit over the weekend.  I'm dealing with major taste issues right now, which makes eating less fun.  Everything seems to taste like tin foil.  I hope that goes away quickly.  It's not appetizing.  In the least.

Soda doesn't taste right, either.  I know I probably drink too much of the stuff, but I can't take the day without at least one Diet Dr Pepper.  Worse than that is the way coffee and tea taste right now.  That one has to clear up soon.  I'm not pleasant after three days without coffee.  Pretty much the only things that are drinkable to me right now are water and fruit punch.  Again, that may not be a bad thing, but I'd kinda like to make those choices myself, rather than have chemo making them for me.

There are other taste issues besides the overt metallic ones, too.  Different parts of my tongue are far more sensitive to regular sensations than they should be.  I cannot eat even the mildest salsas without burning my tongue right now.  If it's more than tomato sauce that has maybe looked at some cilantro, then I can't hang with it.  I can't eat anything with ginger-flavoring, either.  After this last round, I've had to add salty foods to the list.  (But I refuse to give up popcorn!  Do you hear me, chemo?  I don't care if it takes me three days to eat a bag!  I WILL NOT GIVE UP POPCORN!!!!)

You know what else is a challenge when your tongue is like this?  Brushing your teeth.  The flavors and breath-fresheners and mouthwashes make for a powerful whang.  It's amazing the things we don't notice when everything is in balance and working right.

Still, I am feeling better, but just a little.  I think I'll be able to get through this week without passing out at work or puking on my porch.  Thanks so much for your well-wishes, everyone.

Since I stayed close to home this weekend, I don't have any cool finds to report or sales tales.  Sorry folks.  I'll make that up big time next week, since it's the YesterNook outdoor sale!  I'm planning on pulling a bunch of booth duds out and marking those puppies to sell.  Plus, I'm going to have a table of dollar books and at least two boxes of fifty cent comics.  If I feel well enough this week to get into my shed, there could be some vintage leather jackets for sale as well.  And I'm only one of the sellers!  It'll be an event not to be missed.

(It had better be.  I'm giving up what is hands down the best church sale in town to do this on that particular day.)

I have to apologize to some of the folks whose blogs I usually read.  I've gotten a bit behind of late.  I kind of made an effort to catch up over the weekend and will try to stay current.  I hate being so wrapped up in myself that I lose touch with others.  Case in point:  the good folks at We are: clamco.  They've got a heckuvalot going on with graduating (congrats Megan!) and all of the work that comes with prepping for a massive move. Yet, they still manage to turn it all into fascinating reading.  Go check it out and send them some love and encouragement.  I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

I'd also like to say a special "howdy" to my peeps from the ever-awesome Yard Sale Queen forum, who have been checking in on me.  Y'all are awesome!

Mark Your Calendars!

It's gonna be a really fun time!  I'm going to set up with a booth full of special deals.  If you are in or around Louisville, I'd hope to see you there!

I'm having a sale!

For any Louisville folks who might see this:

YesterNook is located at 1041 Goss Avenue in Schnitzelburg.  This is about three blocks from the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Goss.  Find out more at the store Facebook page.

I've got a fun selection of independent graphic novels, vintage chapter books, vintage picture books, vintage textbooks and classic novels!  Come check it out! 

Just a Link Today

I've mentioned it here before, but some folks may not realize it.  I write the blog for YesterNook, one of the stores where I have a booth.  I wrote a story recently inspired by some old photographs that I found in the store.  It's kind of an imaginary biography of these people and a couple of incidents in their lives.  It's the first longer form creative writing I have done in ages and ages, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Monday Rambles

One day last week, I was getting ready for work in the morning, when I suddenly burst into this song.  Right when I got to the line about putting on make-up, I instantly transitioned to this song.  My only thought at the time was:  "People at work today better watch out!"

I have no idea what brought the songfest on, but I think part of it was the end of my chemo cycle.  I go for my second infusion tomorrow, so I think it's filtered out to the point where I'm on the (brief) upswing until the next round.

It was a pretty perky week overall, although I did end up having to take a couple of rest breaks along the line.

Sales were weak at the beginning, but closed out strong. I ended at Peddlers with my highest since Christmas.  I'm in the range I need to be for the larger space, finally.  I hope that I can maintain it.  I did sell several smaller pieces of furniture that edged things along:  a barstool, an old office chair and a CD/DVD rack.  I need to keep my eyes peeled for more stuff like that.  I also had a bonanza day, where I sold over 80 dollars worth of stuff off the St Attica wall.  Someone went home with a LOT of Madonna figurines, plastic rosaries, and prayer leaflets. Then on the next to the last day of the month, I sold nearly 40 comic books.  I get exhausted just thinking about it, sometimes!

I had the same kind of end of the month spurt at YesterNook too, where I sold nearly everything I had in the rough room in one day.  Sometimes, I don't feel so competent about my ability to handle larger items, so days like that give me a much-needed ego boost.

On Friday, I had to meet with my surgeon to fix a boo-boo on Beátriz, my scar.  She's healing well everywhere, but on one end a little fiber poked up through the skin and started to get irritated.  The doc plucked it right out, and everything was fine!  It was a subcutaneous stitch that kind of went the wrong way when it started to dissolve.  Sometimes it happens.

I also had an appointment with my primary care doc on Friday.  I love my doctor.  He's caring, intelligent, talks openly, and listens well--everything you want in a doctor, in other words.  One thing I hate most about this cancer thing is that he's become just one in a horde of doctors that I have to see.  It's just another appointment in an unending line of appointments.  It makes me a little sad.

There really weren't any sales worth hitting this weekend, and it was still quite foggy at 9:00 am.m, so I stayed in.  If anyone had set up in that dense fog, then the stuff would be all damp.  I just didn't want to mess with it.

I'd been intending for a long time to rescue what I thought were a couple of tubs of stuff from the early days of the booth that got buried in the shed.  I figured that would make up the booth load for the week and I would get some shed space out of it.  What I found were nearly a dozen tubs and boxes that I had completely forgotten about, some of it already priced!

I yanked it all out and brought it in the house.  The priced stuff will go to Peddlers Mall today.  The rest of it, I will price over the month and take in a bit at a time.   This kind of takes the pressure off me to find new stuff, in case I have some chemo reactions this month.  I can sit in bed and price stuff, if need be.

There's an added bonus, too.  If I do feel up to the hunt, I can put more effort into furniture and large items, knowing that I have the small stuff under control for a bit.  Woo hoo!  Since I have no idea what's in these boxes, it's also like shopping twice.  Not that I recommend letting shit sit hidden away forever not making you any money, mind you.  I'm just looking for the upsides in being this disorganized.

This is chemo week.  I get my second infusion on Tuesday, followed by IL2 shots on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  It's also a light work week.  I only go in on Monday and Wednesday, for a few hours each day.  That should give me time to rest, if needed.  I'll try to post an update here, if one is needed.

I am taking the liberty of pre-loading some posts for the week, so keep checking back.  There will be some content here.  I'll get back with you when I can.  I managed to do pretty well with posting in March and am back on track with my goal.  I hope to be able to keep that up this month.

Monday Rambles

Cancer is helping me to understand drug abuse.  Not condoning, mind you, but I can better understand the appeal of certain substances, now that I've had to take them for a while.  Take pain meds, for example.  Percocet was a godsend after the surgery!  It was so nice not to be in pain and to be able to sleep well.  I can understand the draw it has for people now, except that  I simply cannot imagine living in that kind of fog all the time.

Another example is steroids.  I had so much energy all last week while I was on them!  I felt like I did before the surgery.  I could get things done.  I didn't need to sit or take rest breaks.  It was awesome.  I also ate uncontrollably.  It's kind of a drag to go back into the land of fatigue and healing, but I know my body needs it.  I'm just glad I was able to get some things done that I had not been able to work on.  Hopefully, that'll at least give me a little bit of a leg up for a few weeks.

One of the things I did was schedule some video posts for the next few weekends, so that I could at least have some content, even if it's low content.  I got some other things outlined, so maybe it won't take too much to get them finished. 

I got a little thrifting in this past week.  Still no special or fabulous finds, but I kind of got tickled over these.  Sometimes, I can't help myself.

Would you say that I have a plethora of Our Lady of Fatima holy water bottles?

Same with weekend yard sales.  A couple of waaaaaay over-priced estate sales and a garage sale.  I did score a couple of cool religious pics, but the one I really, really wanted at the sale was $25!  Because it had a light!  That was so off-kilter, because everything else was a buck or less.  Go fig.

This puppy is huge!  And it was a buck!

Sales are very strong this month for both locations.  I'm kind of back in that old situation of now having furniture at YesterNook and playing the waiting game for it to sell, which I never really like.  Stuff just needs to go as soon as I put it out, you know?  That should be a rule.  Who do I write about that?

At Peddler's Mall, I'm already at last month's total, with half a month left to go.  Nice.  The new space finally has a flow to it and stuff is moving.  I had an 80 dollar day in the middle of the week (!) last week when someone cleaned out a bunch of my religious articles.  Need to do that more often, let me tell ya!

Problem is, I'm about to run out of stuff!  My new space takes a lot more merch to restock.  My winter stash is just about gone.  It's too early in the season for a huge haul from that yard sales.  My recuperation has kept me out of the thrifts for the first part of the year.

I've got a bit of a backlog of stuff for YesterNook, but I don't really want to take it to the other booth.  I kind of select stuff that's the best fit for each destination.  I might have to sort through some of it and pull some stuff, if I don't have a super-score pretty quick.  I think I might have a box or two of stuff in the shed, but it won't be much.  Oh, the perils of re-selling!  Feast or famine, let me tell you!

On the other hand, sometimes it's the odd things that make it all worthwhile.  There's a restaurant down the street from us that also sells flea market finds, but at outrageous prices.  Sometimes, I run into one of the owners at a yard sale, then it becomes a rush to grab the good stuff first, because she has deeper pockets and a bigger vehicle than me.

Anyway, from time to time they just set stuff out on the curb by their back door.  I think it's probably stuff they've gotten in either box lots or buy-outs that they don't want to sell for various reasons.  I've made some good finds there in the past, including a some old Masonic books, an old Hebrew Bible, and a director's chair.

So last week, we were heading home and there were some small things set out on the curb.  I always have to check things out, so we stopped.  I picked up this small display rack, kind of like they use to hang ties on or maybe jewelry.  This is kind of like what I'm talking about:

The one I found was made out of wood and had a little more of a masculine vibe to it, so I really do think it was for ties.  It was tabletop size, and I thought it would be a great display piece for the booth.  I sell a lot of rosaries and religious medals and trinkets, and it was the right size to make a perfect display for me!

Well, on my next trip to the booth, I forgot to take it in, so it was still in the car on Friday.  Keith told me that one of his co-workers had seen it in the car and asked if he would sell it.  She liked it for her own jewelry.  He had told her that it wasn't for sale, because I was going to use it, but I gave him a price to give her.  I didn't think she'd go for it, because it was missing a couple of prongs, but she took it!  He was kind of surprised that I would sell it, but I told him that I could always find something like it to use, if I needed to, but that a sale is something you should never pass up. That's your Booth 101 lesson for today.

It's kind of a busy week for me.  I have two doctor's appointments on top of everything else.  Cancer sure increases the number of your doctors and appointments.  I'm going to try to get some stuff finished and scheduled.  I have a couple of posts that are near completion, so I'm hoping to polish them off.  if not, I have a couple of special videos posted for the weekend.

Thanks again to everyone for their kind thoughts and notes and wishes.  It really does help.  I hope you all have good weeks too!

October Sales

Just a quick wrap up at last month's sales and a look ahead to the next couple of months.  October ended up pretty good at both spaces.  I did have some slow days, but I also had my highest day ever at YesterNook.  While I do wish that there had been a touch more regularity throughout the month, I really can't complain.  I'm moving furniture at YesterNook again and my books are selling well there too. 

The Halloween display at Peddlers Mall did really well.  I had another 75-80% sell through on it, which is the same rate as last year, but with a larger amount of merch this year.  All my skulls eventually sold.  The large skeletons sold, but the smaller ones did not.  I think it's because they were supposed to have eyes that light up.  Since these didn't have batteries in them, they didn't and folks were probably leery about that.  Next year, I'll get some cheapie Dollar Store batteries and put them in, then raise the price a buck and see what happens.

One thing that did not sell well was the costumes.  I still had over half of them left, including an expensive baby costume from Carters.  Next year, it goes to YesterNook.  I think just having them all in a tub hurt the sales, so I'll have to come up with a new way to display them next year.  In the meantime, I'm not buying any more.

I've pretty much wrapped up my post-Halloween clearance shopping.  I scored some of the most awesome skeletons ever for dirt cheap.  They're going to get priced and head to storage for next year.  I'm already excited about it!  The display will be awesome.  I ended up with about four tubs of stuff again.  That amount seemed to work well this year, so I think I'll stick with it.  I'm not ruling out picking up some stuff at a yard sale or thrift, particularly mock tombstones (which sold well) and vintage stuff (which is so freaking hard to find), but I think Halloween 2013 is set.

Now it's on to Christmas!  Oh yeah, and Thanksgiving.  My mother used to say that she wanted to buy a bunch of frozen turkeys and put them in her yard, because no one ever decorated for Thanksgiving the way they do for Halloween and Christmas.  I've got a nice Thanksgiving thing going, but it's not really that large.  If I make it too big, I have lots of leftovers.  I did find some Thanksgiving stuff already on clearance with the Halloween stuff, so I bought it to add to my display.

My Christmas stuff is already selling well.  My new gift items are moving nicely.  I put about a third of them out, and I'm already going to have to restock.  That's a good sign.  Decorations are selling too, especially Snoopy and Disney stuff, and I haven't even put out much of the newer items yet.   I'm anticipating a good holiday season.

We'll have to see how that goes.  Check back next month for more!

The Monday Ramble That Wasn't

What a week last week was, and what a week this week will be.  I pick up extra hours at work starting this week, which I'm kind of looking forward to, but am not totally sure I am ready for.  I have a lot of ideas for what I want to do, but I've not had time to put anything to paper and actually plan it out.

I've also got another matter going on that's going to take some time this week.  I don't want to say anything about it just now, because there's still a lot that I don't know, but in a couple of weeks, I'll be able to fill you all in.

We went to dinner and a play Friday night for a birthday party for one of Keith's friends.  This was someone we both used to work with ages ago.  I looked around the table at all these people we've known for years, but haven't seen for a while, and couldn't help but think:  "Damn!  When did we all get so old?"  I'm planning on going to my 25th (!) college reunion next month.  I wonder what that's going to be like?

Sales were up and down all week.  The up's were waaaay up and the down's were equally so.  Sigh.  I'm starting to think Louisville is at a saturation point of re-sale vendor's malls and it's starting to effect sales.  I can think of like two dozen off-hand.  I'm thinking more here of the flea market-type malls, as opposed the the more secondhand store kind of place like YesterNook. 

There were special events at both stores on Saturday.  I went and helped out at the YesterNook event, which was fun.  It was kind of Halloween-themed, so I went in costume as the Mad Monk of Schnitzelburg!  (Schnitzelburg is the name of the neighborhood where the store is located.)

Flee the Mad Monk!

I got the costume last year at Halloween clearance sales.  The wig I got on sale this year.  It was 4 bucks.  (It looks it too!  But I felt a "mad monk" needed "mad hair.")  The crucifix I am wearing is an antique.  I felt that was in keeping with the nature of the store.  It was actually the first item I ever bought when I was beginning my collection of religious items.  It was five dollars in a now-defunct antique store on the same street as the auction guy.  That was in 1987.  How's that for a junkin' memory?

That hair drove me nuts, by the way.  It got in my eyes and face all the time, especially when I was trying to work on anything.  That cheapo polyester robe sure makes me look fat!  The wig was hot, hot, hot!  I cannot figure out how Dolly Parton does it.

I had the best one day sales ever during the event at the YesterNook, which is way cool.  I got rid of several large, pricey (for me) items.  I didn't do as well at the other event, but I've now sold all of the skulls, but one!  Yay! Skulls gone!  In fact, if I can move out the last skull and a couple of Halloween buckets, I'll be down to less than half a tub of stuff.  I'm at about 75% sell through now, which is what I did last year.  I'd like to bump that up to 85-90%.  We'll see.  

I hit the motherlode of furniture at an warehouse sale on Saturday.  I got a vintage office chair, two stools, two cool black chairs and a couple of industrial retro mail sorters for less than thirty bucks.  I've already flipped the black chairs for enough to pay for the whole load!

The sale was at an old printing firm that had gone out of business.  The people who bought the building didn't want to throw everything away, so they were trying to sell it.  Prices were just  kind of okay, but the guy started making deals on everything I was looking at and it turned into a festival of bargains!   

Here's a point to ponder:  Everybody I've ever known in my life named "Eddie" spelled it just like I do, with "ie" on the end.  I've never known, met or heard of anyone who spelled it "Eddy."  So why is it when I order something that requires my name to be written on a receipt, it always ends up as "Eddy"?  Seriously, people!

Don't Forget!

I'll be there.  In costume even!  It'll be fun.  Everything in my booth is 20% off all day long.  Other vendors will be having sales too.  Plus, there will be candy.  You know you like candy!

By the way...

If you are not busy on Oct 20, I have a suggestion for you.

 

I'll be there!  In costume, even!

September Sales

Well, September is certainly the month I've been waiting for all summer!  Cooler temps and better sales!  The fall bounce has begun!

I didn't exactly set sale records, mind you, but they were up at both sites compared to previous months.  After a long, hot, somewhat discouraging August, that was most welcome.

At YesterNook, I was really surprised by some unexpected furniture sales. I'm talking pieces that had been there pretty much since the store opened.  And they are gone and I am happy.  I haven't been looking for furniture too much of late, because it just doesn't sell that well for me, but now I can keep an eye out for a couple of good pieces.

Meanwhile, at the Peddlers Mall, it was all about books, comics, religious items, and, of course, Halloween!  The killer Halloween display created a most welcome end of the month bump, and all indications seem to be that it will keep bumping for a few weeks yet. I've already sold all my tombstones, lots of the make up and fake blood, many of the party favors, but not that many skulls.

What it all adds up to this go around is a couple of good checks and one very happy vendor!  Let's see how it plays out for this month!

Monday Rambles

Fall has certainly fallen in this part of the world.  We've had wonderfully cool-ish, fall-ish temperatures for several days now.  I am in heaven!  I live for this time of year.  Not too cold.  Not too hot.  I just love it!  Too bad it only lasts for a little while.

I spent the weekend cat-sitting, so I didn't really get out and do any yard sales.  I decided to spend some time reading instead.  Actually, I've been doing a lot of that lately.  I can take one bus right from my front door to the latest incarnation of my work gig and back again, so I have a lot of time for reading.

If you are a whodunnit fan, I highly recommend MC Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series for its warmth, wit, and clever plotting.  Unfortunately, her Agatha Raisin series is an acquired taste that I have yet ti acquire.  Another favorite is anything by the wonderful Sharyn McCrumb.  The mysteries usually turn out to be incidental to the overall plot, but her stories are so fabulously hilarious and delightful that I really don't mind at all.  Currently, I'm elbow-deep in Luis Miguel Rocha's The Last Pope.  I've not quite warmed to it just yet.  I think after this one, I'm going to shift gears back into some manga or graphic novels.  I've got a little stack that I want to burn through and get to a booth.

Sales have been nice lately.  The fall bounce is in full swing.  I like that!  I did have a couple of lag days last week, but things picked right back up.  I'm heading to the Peddlers Mall today to set up this year's killer Halloween display, just as soon as I dig all the stuff out of the shed.  I've sold most of the Halloween/Fall stuff that I've already set out already, so it's time to go all out.  I'm going to try and remember to both take the camera to get some pics and then to actually take them.  It seems so simple, but I screw it up so often.

I hope some of you are checking into the YesterNook blog.  I'm updating on Tuesday and Friday over there.  

Special Announcement!

I've taken on a new project.  Check out the new blog for YesterNook.

Coming soon:  The YesterNook web page!

Monday Rambles

Last Tuesday, I stayed up a little later than usual to work on some stuff for the booths and such.  This caused no end of consternation for Kosh and Chiquito.  Every half an hour or so, they had to come bounding over the top of me, and everything I was doing, to remind me that I was supposed to be in bed.  They alternated this with a couple of rounds of fighting to remind me that I still wasn't in bed.  We finally managed to come to an agreement, with Kosh lying at my feet while I worked and Chiquito off doing, well,  whatever it is that he does.  This lasted long enough for me to take care of things and finally get to bed.  I think it'll be a while before I try that again.  It's not worth the feline hassle.

Cats:  The True Harbingers of the Status Quo.

Junking Rule #637:  Try to Limit the Number of "Project" Pieces You Have Piled Up Waiting for Your Attention.  I've been violating this one of late, which is not a good thing.  The more something sits and waits for your attention, the less money it makes for you.  I've got to admit that I am pretty pathetic about this, because the scope of my "projects" are so pathetic.

It's not like I have furniture waiting around to get painted or fixed.  That would require a level of industry (and mechanical aptitude) that I simply do not and will never possess.  No, I work on a much smaller scale.  Stacks of comics that need to be bagged, that's more my speed.  Bags of buttons and sewing stuff to be sorted and bagged (or jarred).  A few pieces of dollhouse furniture from an old buy that needed some minor touch ups and repair.  (Hey!  I do really do furniture.  It's just tiny!)  A couple of things that have needed a good cleaning before they can be sold.  Linens and fabric that needs to be priced.  A tin dollhouse that needs to be reassembled.  (Screw furniture!  I'm building houses now!)  Jesuses (Jeses?  Jesi?) that need to be put back on crucifixes.

Despite my best intentions, I've got a pile of this stuff.  I started working through a lot of it last week, because I'm going to need to move it from the place where it currently sits soon.  I'd rather take care of it and move it out to a booth than move it across the room.  I made a pretty good dent in a short amount of time, which surprised me.  A couple more afternoons and I should be able to wipe it out.

Actually, I guess you could say that my "project pile" is more of a "procratination pile."  Or, you could just call it "pathetic."

I had an interesting experience on Wednesday.  I went to cash in some change at the grocery and filled up the Coinstar machine!  Seriously.  It not only stopped taking my coins, but it started spitting some of them back out at me.  I hadn't even put in half of what I've got saved up either! I still got over a hundred bucks out of it.  I guess I'll have to try again.  Maybe I need to go to a couple of different groceries to do this?  I wish I had thought to get a picture of the "this machine is full" message on the machine while I was there, but I was so surprised by what happened that it slipped my mind.

My dad got me in the habit of tossing my loose change into a jar or can years ago.  We've paid for all of our meals on vacation trips this way in the past.  Nowadays, I keep one of the big coffee cans around for this purpose, and that sucker is full to the brim!  I forgot to turn in a timesheet a couple of weeks ago, so I didn't get paid last Friday, so the can is now my survival money until next Friday.  I have so many short term gigs starting up and ending with the same agency that I have to keep a carefully annotated schedule of when things are due to keep up with the paperwork.  Despite all this, one managed to fall through the cracks.  Oh well, the next one will be a nice check, at least.

Lord, but last week turned into a booth week!  I was at each one practically every day by the time the week was over.  That's turned out to be a good thing, since I'm going to be hard-pressed to find a time to drop in this week.  I've had some extra work tossed my way that's going to keep me hopping from one end of this town to the other over the course of the week.  I just hope that I've got everything well set at the booths.

I really do think they should be okay.  I spent two days redoing the YesterNook booth--shifting things, marking a couple down, taking a couple of things out.  I did roughly the same for the Peddlers Mall booth, plus I added some furniture.  I also finally created my Halloween shelf and start-up Xmas display at the Peddlers Mall.  Both of them will grow over the coming weeks.  All in all, I think everything is in pretty good shape, unless I have a massive run on stuff.  While that would not be unwelcome, I'm not sure when I'll have time to restock before the weekend.

All of which brings me to the blog.  It's probably going to be a lighter week again, out of necessity.  I've got a couple of posts very near completion, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time to put the polish on them or not.  I'll certainly try, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me until Friday.

Ah, but Friday!  On Friday, be sure to come back for a very special announcement!

Finally, I need to make an addendum to my Tips for Yard Sale Holders post, based on my experience this past weekend.  Make sure you have bags!  Honestly, there's no excuse for not having an adequate supply of bags for your shoppers and their purchases.  You can't go the store without acquiring three or four more (unless you use the reusable bags)!  If you're saving those bags for re-use or recycle (which you know you should be), then there's a plethora of them in your home, ready for your yard sale.

I was at a church sale where several vendors were set up and not one of them had any bags!  Not one.  I bought five or six small items and pretty much reached my limit on what I could carry without dropping something.  That's a point to remember:  People may buy more, if they can easily carry more.

Before I left, I decided to hit the bathroom.  One of the reasons church sales are great is that they allow you to combine a potty stop with one of your shopping stops.  The sink counter top was covered with water.  There's no place to put my stuff so I can pee!  If you didn't know, aim is kind of an important factor for guys and requires the use of at least one hand. Arrgh!  This all could have been avoided with a simple grocery bag!  Bags people!  They're more important than you think!

Booth Updates

I haven't posted any pics of the booths in a while, so I thought I would give you a tour.  I took these the other day in preparation for doing a new Craigslist push for my spaces.  I'm always a little leery about using booth pics, because they always look so cluttered in busy.  Yes, I do have a lot of stuff in my spaces, but it really is more organized than it seems form the pictures.  It doesn't help that it is very hard to get a shot at the Peddler's Mall that doesn't also take in parts of the booths all around me, adding to the chaos.  I try to compensate for that by also taking close up shots of smaller batches of merch to give a better feel for what's there.

First up, the Peddler's Mall.  I have four spaces there:  two single spaces side by side that I have turned into a double booth, a wall space, and a separate single booth where I sell mainly books.  I love the Peddler's Mall because it is unpretentious and a little freewheeling.  I can sell just about anything there, because the customer base is very diverse in background, interests and tastes.  I have quite a few regular customers.

This is a look through the double space from the aisle.

Just keeping it straightened and relatively tidy keeps me hopping!

Now some views of selected merchandise.

Most everything on those round tables has sold since I took this pic.  I tend to have a pretty quick turnover.  Now, if I could just sell the tables.  I bought them to use at the other site, but they ended up being awkward and in the way.  I just want them to go away.

These next pics come from my wall space, which exclusively houses religious articles.  I have the largest selection of secondhand religious merch in the city, or so I believe.  It's a specialty niche that brings customers in and creates regulars.

 Yes, indeed, Jesus lives at Eddie's Attic!

And, if He's here, can His Mother be too far behind?

And then there's my book area.  I've always wanted to be a bookseller.  I really try hard to have an interesting selection at good prices.

 I just love my vintage paperback rack!

 My comic and graphic novel selection is another thing that creates regulars for me.  I've got the largest selection of comics in our mall.

The ones on the table are the most recent arrivals.  As items sell off the shelves, I rotate things from the table up to the bottom shelf and then fill in the holes on the table with new stuff.  I also have a bookcase in the double booth that holds the titles that have been there the longest.  When stuff off it sells, I move books from the top shelf over there and then rotate bottom shelf books up to the top shelf and table books up to the bottom shelf.  It's not exact, but it does help me keep track of my inventory.  I sell a lot of books.  I don't necessarily have the lowest book prices in the mall, but I have the best, most unique selection by far.  I work really hard at that.

I am  totally in love with this smiley face banner and had to share it!

And this is my sign.  The name "Eddie's Attic" was suggested by Keith, because I have been pushing to have the attic space in our house finished since we bought the house.  One of these days, I'm going to have some professional signs made.

And now for YesterNook, my newest spot.  I only have one booth there, but would really like to expand.  My sales there have not been steady and regular enough for that to happen, unfortunately.  The store is a little different from the freewheeling vibe of the Peddler's Mall.  It's a little more distinct, with a heavy emphasis on furniture and vintage.  It's cozy, almost like a place where you want to hang out and drink coffee, while reading Agatha Christie books.

This is my booth from a side view.  Well, most of it anyway.

And some more specific pics.

 AnnaLee clown reads satirical British fantasy fiction.  I am slowly building my selection of books here.  I'm thinking that will help my sales.  I'm having to be more selective in my choices, though.   There's a booth selling nothing but books right down from me, and I don't want to duplicate his inventory.  That would be boring.

I'm also working more comics and graphic novels in, as well.  I'm trying to emphasize Silver Age classic stuff and alternative/independent titles that I think will appeal to the customer base here.

 Mary and Jesus are here as well, but in smaller amounts.

This telephone bench is one of my latest acquisitions.  I have high hopes for it!

Well, that's the tour!  Thanks for stopping by!  If you're in Louisville, consider stopping by to check things out in person.  Maybe I'll be there working.

June Sales Report

Oh, junking! Oh junking!
Why must you confound me so
with good months that turn bad
upon a whim?

And trends most unforeseeable?
With downturns disagreeable?
And futures that seem bright
but turn so dim?

 Tune in next week for more "Overwrought Junking Poetry Corner" right here on Eddie-torial Comments!

Okay, getting serious, now.  I haven't done a sales break down in a while, largely because I've been forgetting to do them, but also because there doesn't seem to be a point to do one in a month where I have to pay rent.  That statement alone seems to sum things up.

I spent some time talking with the manager at the Peddlers Mall a while back.  May and June are always slower months, due to a lot of reasons, ranging from the Kentucky Derby to warmer weather.  And that held true this year for the mall, except that I had a good May.  A real good May.  It had not occurred to me that a vendor could have a strong month, even if the rest of the mall was having a slow one, but it happens.  And it happened to me.

I thought June was turning out that way for me, too.     Typically, the first half of June is slow, but when the real heat of summer starts kicking in, folks start turning back to the indoor settings.  And, right around that time, as sales started picking up in the whole store, mine started slowing down!!!

Seriously, I had a bad run from about the 20th, where my daily sales stayed stuck under 10 bucks.  Ack!  Sometimes being opposite of the trend is a good thing, sometime it's not such a good thing.  I'm doing what I can to counteract that.  I spent some time on a couple of different visits rearranging and shaking things up.  I've got a couple more things to do, so we'll see if that has an effect or not for July.  Hope so.

On the other front, June was the first month at YesterNook where I had sales every day, except for one.  That means I am very close to meeting my goal for the space as far as daily sales go.  Now, I need to start working on getting those daily sales to the level I want them.

Having a better booth space on the second floor has helped me.  People can get into it and see what I've got for sale.  I'm also starting to emphasize the things I know best:  books, comics, pop culture stuff, and toys.  I intend to build on this.  Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to focus on getting rid of a few pieces that have been there too long.  I'm doing a Fourth of July sale to encourage that.  I'm also going to concentrate on getting more small furniture in the spot. I haven't worked that as hard as I should have recently.

It's a continual learning process.  Continual.  Every time I think I've got it down, then I find out there's something else I don't know.  Tune in next month and we'll see what else I've had to learn!

Monday Rambles

That crumbling sound you'll be hearing later in the week is 2007's post record falling as I dash past it.  After that, I'm targeting the triple digit years.  Yay me!

Lord, but I am still tired from the weekend.  We yard saled until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, since we were in one of the larger of Louisville's "suburban cities" for its city-wide sale.  It's big enough that we never get to the whole thing.  In fact, we usually end up in a different section each time, without realizing it.  The streets do not meet in straight corners and often curve and meander around for a while,and then, all of a sudden, you realize that you've circled back around on your path and have no idea how.

The shopping is always good, and I filled the car with all kinds of cool goods, including a whole box of stuff from a retired science teacher--prisms, specimen slides, magnets, etc.  It's one of the coolest buys I've ever made.  Look for some of it to show up in a post later this week, once I get the photos edited.

One thing that I find fascinating about this particular little city is the fact that within it there are several gated communities, including one that you actually have to be buzzed into.  That one was particularly creepy.  Every house was identical, right down to the American flag by the door!  We got out of that one in a hurry, before the Reagantonian Stepford clone reptile people could come and get us.

But seriously, when you consider that most of these small cities in Louisville were formed in the late 70's and early 80's as a part of white flight to the 'burbs to avoid busing and paying property taxes, it's kind of disturbing to see that there are those for whom that insular environment is not insular enough and they have to close themselves off even further!  Whatever world they're living in, I don't want to go there, no matter how many times my bike gets stolen.`

One more bit about these little cities and then I'll go on to other topics.  In the mid-90's when the effort for gay civil rights really ramped up in Louisville, hordes of right-wingers from these little cities swooped down on the city council rallying against it.  One of my favorite memories of the time is one of the public hearing where a particularly savvy Alderman slammed one of their spokespersons hard over it.

"Do you live in the city of Louisville?"
"No."
"Do you pay Louisville taxes?"
"No."
"Then why do you feel that you can come in here to tell us what we can and cannot legislate?"

Speaking of bikes by the way, Keith sent me an article about an increase in the number of bike thefts in our part of town.  One the one hand, it's kind of comforting to know we're not alone.  On the other hand, it's very disturbing to think that someone is out there hopping fences into people's yards with impunity.  That violation of our property is the most disturbing aspect of having my bike stolen.  I did, however, move both of our bikes so that they cannot be seen from the street any more.

Booth sales are holding steady right now.  I've had sales every day at both locations.  I should have rent made at the Peddlers Mall either today or tomorrow.  It'll be a couple of more days after that for YesterNook, but it's coming along nicely.  Yay!

We are in that odd time of year where weekday sales are regularly better than weekend sales.  Yard sale season is in full swing and folks are abandoning the indoor venues to try and beat the dealers to the bargains.  Fortunately, summer heat and humidity are also in full swing, so a lot of them will soon retreat back into the world of air conditioned bargains.  In  couple of weeks, I expect the vacation lull to hit, especially at YesterNook.

My project for the week is to get the Peddlers Mall booth back into shape.  It's a hot mess on a stick right now.  Part of the problem is overstocking, so I'm going to hold off on putting anything new out for a couple of weeks, and let some stuff sell down.  But, mainly, my booth time has been limited lately, and I haven't had the time to spend and really tidy the way I should.  I'm going to spend the whole day there on Thursday and see if that helps. I'm pulling everything off the shelves and starting from ground zero.  I might even rearrange a bit, who knows?

One area I will restock, though, is my books.  I've had a flurry of book sales over the past week or so--over fifty sold (for both locations)!  I've put out the stuff from the library sale and still have a huge gaping hole.  Since it looks sloppy like that, I will be bringing in more this week.  Fortunately, I  found a couple nice stashes this weekend.

If I remember to take the camera, I might document the booth redo for you all, but I've intended to do that in the past and have forgotten every time.  We'll see.