What's in Mazda?

Yes, we are those original kind of people who tend to name their vehicles after their brand names.  I guess if we had kids they would be called "Boy" and "Girl."  Which could lead to problems if we had more than one of each.  Maybe we could trade the extra one in somewhere for gas points or something?  Anyway, I'm digressing....

I've been wanting to do a full van shot at the end of a Saturday yard sale jaunt for a while now.  I am amazed every Saturday at the amount of stuff we are able to get in there.  Today, I finally remembered to take a few shots from various angles.

So, here we go!  What's in Mazda?

Yes, there is a Christmas tree in amongst all that.  Actually, there's two.  I don't really want to be buying something large to store until December, but the church that usually holds the Xmas bazaar where I get a couple of cheap trees in the fall is no longer having any sales.  It's pretty sad, as they used to hold a basement sale every other weekend throughout the summer.  I'm missing them already.

Without my usual tree source, I've been looking out for a one or two at a reasonable price (is under five bucks).  Today, within a half an hour, I managed to find two!  One more thing to cross off the list!  Yay!

But what else is in Mazda?  I'll provide some pics tomorrow.  In the meantime, feel free to guess...

I am in the land of the living

My dog/house sitting ventures usually take me off the grid for a few days, so I apologize.  I've been house-sitting for various folks for nearly two decades now.  Usually, it's folks who don't like leaving their pets alone and pay for someone to stay with them.  A lot of times their animals needs meds or have special feeding times or need lots of walks or some other special need.  They tend to prefer having their babies at home, rather than in a kennel, because it's less stressful on the pet.

Most of my clients have moved away over the years, so I'm down to this one, and I go over their a couple of times a year.  When I started, she had an aging dog who has since passed on.  Shortly after that, she took in her father's cocker spaniel, who is blind and deaf.  (I stayed at her house for a couple of months a few years ago while her father was in the final stages of cancer.)

It's always fun to stay over there.  It's kind of like a mini-vacation.  I tend to get a lot of relaxing done, because I'm not surrounded by things that need doing around here.  I watch movies and read comics.  And nap.  A lot.

One thing I don't get done is a lot of online things, like blogging.  In the past, I have had little to no wireless access there.  I did discover that the internet access there at the house has been upgraded, but I didn't realize it until my last afternoon there.  I could have been keeping up with things!  Next time, I'll know.

Anyway, that's where I've been this time.  I'll try to get things up to snuff around here over the next week.  After I finish dealing with my own clingy kitties, of course.  They get really needy when I come back after being gone for a while!

Sorrowful Mother

I was going to include this novena booklet based on the Seven Sorrows of Mary in with my Stations od the Cross booklets at Easter time and totally forgot to do it.  I just found it in my drafts again and I think it's too good not to share.  I love the sense of drama evoked by the illustrations!

This is my favorite!

Demons

Oh No!



That old demon caffeine has the Batman in its fiendish grip.

I can relate.

That's my coffee cup.  Takes two refills to get me going each day.

But this kitty knows the score.



What's your caffeine demon like?

A couple of unsung finds

Here are a couple of recent (past couple of months or so) finds that kind of slipped through the blogging cracks, but are too good not to share.  (I told you I was a bad junking blogger.)  I'm still working on a really large catch up post of my recent finds, so I hope this will tide you over until then.

First up is this awesome offering plate:

 

It needs to be cleaned and hit with something to take care of the tarnish, but it is so way cool!  I love it.  It was at this sale where nothing was priced.  The only thing I found with a price sticker on it was the offering plate, which was marked $5.  I took it to the guy running the sale and he took a beat when he saw the price tag.  The look on his face said:  "Oh shit.  I forgot to take that damn thing off."  I already had the five out and in his hand before he could start backtracking on the price.

There's a local church with a Japanese congregation that's part of it.  Every year, they hold a Japanese yard sale.  I usually go, looking for translated manga.  There wasn't any this year, but I did find these guys:

Cool, huh?

Finally, there's this fun train case that I found at the same church where I got the cheap school desk.  The case was only 50 cents and I nearly lost it moving stuff into the mall that day, which is why it's so late showing up here.  I had stuck it into the book cubby of the school desk and forgot about it, so it went unpriced into my booth.  The desk sold in a day or two, so I was afraid that the case had gone out the door with it.

A couple of weeks later, I saw it in a cart of untagged merchandise.  The cashiers won't ring anything up that doesn't have a price tag, so they collect it in a special room.  Vendors are supposed to check for their stuff every so often.  After 30 days, anything that isn't claimed becomes mall property and they tag it and sell it.  So, I was glad to get it back and not have to buy it back.

When I was buying it at the church, it felt like there was something in it.  I opened it and found a bunch of hair curlers.  The woman taking the money said "Oh, those are included at no extra charge."  I kind of grinned at her and then she said:

"Well, you never know!"

That's kind of my saling motto, I think.  You never do know what you're going to find.

Way Long Overdue Whatever Day Rambles!

We interrupt your visit to a formerly lively, but recently very dead, blog with an important announcement!  Though he vanished unexpectedly, the long, lost Eddie-tor has at last been found!  He was discovered in the company of a Yeti and a Sasquatch visiting a thrift store in the fabled lost city of Shangri-La!  The trio was burdened with junk purchases made in locales such as Lemuria, Atlantis, and the Savage Land.  When asked for comment, the ersatz blogger had this to say:  "Can't talk now.  Gotta get back to the UFO.  The aliens just saw on Craigslist that Elvis is having a yard sale inside the hollow core of the Earth!" 

When conveyed this information, friends and loved ones began a plan to spread rumors of a rummage sale at the Bat Cave in hopes of luring the wandering soul back home.  More on this story as it develops.     

I am so sorry to all of you to be out of touch for so long without any kind of notice whatsoever.  To say that things have been crazy is an understatement of maximum proportions.  Between closing booths, opening booths, buying large heavy things, filling the van over and over with stuff, wrapping up the school year, and trying to get a handle on my booth, my storage area, and the junk room at the house, I have been pretty wiped out most of the time.

Here's a summary:

LAST WEEK OF APRIL INTO DERBY

Closed my uncle's booth at the Peddlers Mall on April 30.  He's been having some health issues, but is doing lots better.  I'm glad about that, since he is the last member of any direct generation of my mother's family ahead of me.  I'd kind of like to keep him around for a wile.

He's closing up shop for a while to have some time to continue getting better without the continual scramble to find new stuff to sell.  I've been tending his space for the last several months, so I closed it up for him.  He gave me his leftover stock and his booth walls, which I sold to the mall.  He just outright gave them to me, but I split the money from the sale with him.  I also paid him a little for his stock.  Getting him to take the money was a bit of a struggle, but I told him I had made an "executive decision."

Right after that, I had to move out of the store that closed.  I waited until the day after it closed, so I could do my work in peace.  I'm very glad to be out of there.  I saw and heard some things while I was closing up that didn't sit well with me.  The staff were very rude to a friend of mine who came to help his mother close her booth.  Plus, the management was putting a lot of pressure on vendors to move into a new mall where they had gotten jobs.  When I told them I was staying put at the Peddlers Mall, I got strange looks from them.

However, I did get some good stuff from vendors who marked down their stuff in advance of closing, including a marble top side table for five bucks!

Derby Week was good for me sales wise at the Peddlers Mall.  Honestly better than any Derby Week I've ever had before, even on Parade Day (Thursday).  Friday (Oaks) and Saturday (Derby) were dead, of course, but the rest of the week wasn't bad.

I've been working ever since to get the stuff I moved from the closed store worked into my space.  I'm now carrying more rent than I like, due to the space I had to pick up to accommodate everything.  I'm planning to give that up as soon as I don't need it.  Until then, I'll just do the best I can.  I've been rearranging as I've gone along, so it's been a slow process, complicated by a couple of recent large purchases.  (More on that in another post.)

Derby Saturday wasn't much for the yard sales, of course, but I did go to the one I consider to be the "season opener."  I got some fun small things there, so the day wasn't a total bust.  I also dropped in on a couple of comic shops for Free Comic Book Day and ended up with a good sampling of the available books. 

FIRST WEEK OF MAY (POST-DERBY)

Very slow sales, but I did move some large items.  I spent the week trying to get the booth up to snuff.  I moved closer to that goal, but never hit it exactly.  It will always be a work in progress, I guess.  I'm trying to get it rearranged to the point where I can accommodate a sofa or a dining room set, if the opportunity presents itself.

My brother turned 45 on the 8th.  In true family fashion, I haven't mailed his gift yet.  The card ended up in my storage room at the booth somehow and I keep forgetting to get it.  Oh well.  It's kind of a family tradition that we're late with the birthday acknowledgements, so I know he's not too surprised.

His hitting 45 has me pondering my upcoming 50th.  I think I'd like to have some sort of family get-together with his family, my uncle and his wife and a couple of my cousins.  I'm getting tired of only running into folks at funerals.  We'll see if we can get this together.

On Friday, I taught a class on having a successful yard sale.  Seriously.  Sometimes, I love the things I get paid to do!  There were four people registered, but only one showed.  I think that was due to the weather.

The weekend was rainy and cool, so a lot of the sales did not happen.  Bummer.  That includes the comic shop sidewalk sale that I was so looking forward too.  Double bummer.  I've been selling TONS of comics and am almost out of them!  Really.  Keith says he can't imagine that happening to me, but it's true.  Ack!

We did get to a couple of estate sales and a sale in a nice dry garage, so a van full was forthcoming.  I'm planning a catch up finds post this week, so I'll spill the details then.  Let's just say it involved a lot of huffing, puffing and carrying and further complicated the booth situation.

I also visited my uncle and took him his tables and booth check.  He's planning a yard sale and let me shop early.  He let me have first shot at the furniture and I got some cool pieces!  Plus, a ton of smalls.  He said he was tired of pricing the small stuff, so he let me make a pile and an offer. 

I spent Sunday working the never-ending booth.

LAST WEEK

More of the same.  Work.  Booth.  Work.  Booth.  My night sessions ended until July, which gives me a little more time.  Yay to that!

I started a new class on becoming a reseller, which had a good first session.

We hit a killer estate sale on Saturday and ended up going back for half price day on Saturday.  I don't normally do that, but this one was in the neighborhood and they had awesome stuff.  It was one of the best run estate sales I have ever been to:  well-organized, lots of help, good prices, and every single little thing was priced--down to the smallest thing!  Seriously.  I started picking little shit up just to see if it had a price.  And everything did.  That's a lot of work!  And the staff were super-friendly.  I'll definitely be looking for more of their sales.  An Eclectic Collector.  I recommend them highly.

Saturday night, we went to see Lyle Lovett give an awesome show that I will write more about later.

THIS WEEK

 More of the same.  My day time session ends on Thursday.  Tons of work to do at the booth on Monday and Wednesday.  I start house sitting on Thursday for a week.  Tuesday is an off day, due to the primary.  I kind of need it.  Saturday the Peddlers Mall is having a Sidewalk Sale, so I am also gearing up for that.  I'm taking over a couple of tubs of books from the house, my yard sale leftovers, and am pulling a bunch of booth duds, stuff from my uncle, and other items.  I'm planning to do six tables.  I may be mad.  We'll see.

 Thanks for dropping back by.  I'll try to start being more active again.

We interrupt this broadcast with another update.  Should you see our itinerant Eddie-tor, please do not attempt to subdue him yourself.  We are unsure what frame of mind his recent adventures have left him in.  Under any circumstances, do not attempt to help him with his parcels!  You know how junkers are about their purchases, even under ordinary situations.   Place a call to the local Peddlers Mall with his whereabouts.  They can take it from there.  Trained personnel will lay a trail of Wonder Woman comic books and Emmylou Harris CD's to the nearest Mexican restaurant where they will keep him occupied with chips and salsa, Diet Dr Pepper, and re-runs of Days of Our Lives.

Post Mother's Day Thoughts

Mother's Day wasn't anything special for me this year.  Enough time has passed now since Mom died that I don't dwell on it all day any more.  It's not far from my mind on Mothers Day, but I'm more able to go on throughout the day than I was before.

I got on a buying tear on Saturday (more on that later), so I went to the booth and worked all day.  When I came home, I settled in with an old puzzle book that I found when I was cleaning out the shed.  It's one of the series of books put out by Games Magazine that I bought several years ago.  Somehow, it got lost in the shuffle, so I never completed many of the puzzles in the book.  I found a couple of these in the shed and I have been working through them ever since.  It's a nice way to unwind.  This was the first time I had gotten into this book since I found it.

I started thumbing through it, looking to see what had been completed and what had not been started, and I got a real surprise.  There, interspersed with my unreadable scrawl, was page after page of puzzles done in my mother's neat, even printing.  (I've always kind of marveled that she wrote so clearly and nicely, while neither my brother nor I can produce anything resembling legibility.)

At some point in time, during some of her visits with us, she had gotten her hands in this book and worked a few pages.  I found puzzles that I had started and she had completed.  I found puzzles that I had screwed up and she had corrected.  I found pages that she had whipped through on her own.

I get my love of puzzles from Mom.  When I was a kid, I would get into her puzzle books all the time.  I was always amazed at all the different kinds of puzzles she could do so easily.  Somewhere along the line, she started leaving the easy puzzles for me to do, so I would stop trying to do the hard ones and mess them up before she got to them.

For a while, she would cut the easy puzzles out, glue them to a piece of construction paper, put the solution on the back, and let me take them to school, so I would have something to do when I got finished with my other work.  My favorites as a child were word searches.  Today, I like all kinds of puzzles.  My favorite app on my phone is my crossword app, which I use daily to download and work puzzles.

The other night, I could not sleep, so I got up and got out a puzzle book.  Keith woke up and looked at me and said "Are you really doing word puzzles in the middle of the night?"  I said that I was and he said:  "Of course you are." Then he went back to sleep.

I used to get Mom a new puzzle book every year for Christmas.  I found the last couple in her stuff after she died.  They still had some undone pages, so I took them with me.  Finding books of mine that she had worked on made me think of those books of hers.

Last year for Christmas, I got Keith's mother two books of  Bible-themed word searches.  She had never worked any kind of puzzle before. which was a huge surprise to me.  She loved them!  A few weeks ago, she finished the last of them, so we ordered her some more.  I overheard Keith telling her about me and Mom and our puzzles on the phone the other day.

Looking at those puzzles Sunday night made me smile.  I ended up having Mother's Day thoughts about Mom after all, but they were happy ones.  In a couple of weeks, it'll be the fourth anniversary of her death.  My brother turned 45 last week, which means I'm almost exactly six months away from 50.  Where has the time gone?

I think I'll go to the big flea over Memorial Day weekend, since that's one of the things we used to do together as kind of a late Mother's Day celebration.  She'd be looking for yard and garden stuff.  Sometimes, she would find a puzzle book or two.  Maybe I'll find one this year in her honor.  

Cat Philosophy

Take time out for a good pampering.

What the hell? (Part 2)

Remember this pic from Tuesday?

See that multi-colored thing in the front-center?  It's a homemade bean bag frog with googly eyes.  So, right after I took that pic, I turned it over to see where the best place to put the price might be.

This is what I found:

Really?  I can't decide if it's a velcro patch where a certain anatomical part has been yanked off or an odd representation of another anatomical part.

Either way, all I can say is

Really?