Photo Catch Up

So, I stayed in and out of the snow for yesterday.   Sadly, I have to get out in the cold today, as there are booth things that have to be done.  I'd much prefer to stay in and out of it all again.  Oh well.

I managed to get quite a bit done during my mini-sojourn in the warmth, including sorting some photos on my phone.  I had a whole bunch of stuff taken throughout November and December, but never got around to posting.  Despite my best intentions and because of my somewhat less than best efforts, I managed to fall into my standard pattern of spending December overwhelmed and under-blogged.

Or at least, that's the story I'm telling the people.  The truth is far, far darker.

I was in jail for molesting a Wise Man in public at an outdoor church Nativity scene.  Oh, the shame!

Actually, that's a cover story concocted to conceal my activities as Spider-Ed from my enemies.

Or I could just be clowning around as usual.  Take your pick.  The Spider-Man mask is for sale at the booth.  I was testing to see if it really was one size fits all.  By the way, do not that the proper spelling of "Spider-Man" includes a hyphen.

As for the Wise Man incident, we were out at our favorite holiday activity, when I decided that I was finally going to see what those amazing Nativity figures were made out of.  Every year for as long as I have been in Louisville (30 years as of this fall), they've been placed in front of that church.  I imagine they're even older than that, since it would be kind of pretentious of me to assume that they just started using them in honor of my arrival in town.

Turns out, they're blow molds!  I've never seen any like that anywhere else.  They are so incredibly detailed and well made. 

Curb finds!  Some former neighbors of ours operated a restaurant not far from us that was a combination BBQ joint and (over-priced) junk store.  They closed the whole operation down recently and have been placing things out on the curb, bit by bit.  And I've been picking them up, bit by bit.  This was a recent batch.  Like I'm really gonna pass up a feather boa purse!

The little block is filled with craft supplies.  I gave some to another vendor and have been selling the rest.  I got so excited about all this stuff that I almost forgot to pick up a prescription!  Keith actually saw it all before I did and just automatically pulled the van over.  He used to ask if I wanted to check things out.  Now he just stops.

A little bit of my Christmas display.  I hit the vintage flocked reindeer jackpot this year.  Most of them came from one sale where a guy was selling things from his aunt's estate.  He said that she loved Christmas and had 8 trees in her house every year!  She must have used the same set up every year, because all the things I got from that sale were labelled as to where they were put for Christmas.  The white reindeer (love them!) went on the mantle, while all the red ones went on the TV.

I do not know why I'm sideways here, but I can't make myself stop doing it.  Maybe it's the Spider-Ed powers kicking in.  I just wanted to show how much my hair has grown out.  I plan to start rocking the most awesome ponytail you've ever seen soon.  I'm holding that brush because I was interrupted while doing my Rhianna lip sync routine performing my nightly brushing ritual.

Every now and then, I have two cancer treatments in one month.  December was like that.  Lily came to visit during the first one.  She always come right to us and spends the longest time with us. 

The second treatment was on December 27.  Since the center had been closed on the 26th, they had a huge amount of people to see that day.  Instead of going to the usual clinic floor for my infusion, I was sent to a kind of ad hoc treatment room they set up to accommodate the extra traffic.  It was cold and very noisy in there, but we got in and out faster than we ever had before.

If you follow me on Facebook you've seen this Christmas Eve pic, but it's one of the best selfies we've ever done, so here it is again.

And that is as good a note to end on as any!

New Year, New Ramble

Happy 2017, Everyone!  I hope you had your black eyed peas and cabbage and are looking forward to a prosperous and healthy new year.

I'm just going to a do a real quickie update here to talk about the holidays a bit and get back in the groove.  I have a lot of pics and stories to share, plus some finds, but I'll save those for another day.  I've gotten behind on my blog reading again, so I'm trying to carve out some time for that as well.

We're expecting snow tonight and tomorrow, so I plan on staying in if it happens.  I have some cartoons ready to watch, plus a couple of documentaries on YouTube.  I'll catch up on some reading, laundry, blogs, blogging, and pricing too.  Maybe a nap as well.  And hot chocolate.  And pie.  Maybe popcorn too.

Of course, now that I have all that planned, it'll be 76 tomorrow and brightly sunny.  Oh well.  If that happens, I guess I'll go to the booth.  I'm heading there as soon as I finish writing and posting this.  I haven't been over there since the Friday before Christmas.  I finished the bulk of my work and decided I wanted a holiday break.

I had a very good month in December, booth-wise, which was most welcome after a weak fall.  I had more $100+ days in December than I had in the months of September, October and November.  It seems to be holding for the first few days of January, but I'm going to work some magic to keep that going.  Mazda is packed to the gills with new stuff to go over.

One of the things I have to do today is pack up the Christmas, which will free up about five shelving units for new stuff.   I'll leave the vintage Christmas in the booth, but make a new section for it.  It will sell throughout the year.  I'll probably make a shelf for Christmas books and music too, just to keep from lugging that heavy stuff out.

I also need to make room for some more furniture.  I have a load ready to come off the Hillock, but just need a spot for it.  I've sold several larger items recently,  so I just need to reconfigure things to make the space.  Our next junk set out happens in a month, so I need to get ready for that by moving more large items.

Christmas sales always confound me.  After two years of low sales on wrapping paper and Christmas cards, I sold all I had this year.  Wreaths and small trees usually sell very well for me.  I sold one of each this time around.  Last year, I sold no ornament sets.  This year, I sold 3/4's of my stock.  It's always a riddle.  The only things I know I can count on are blow molds and vintage flocked deer.  I sold every blow mold I had except for one, and all the reindeer.  That was almost ten blow molds and about a dozen deer.

Speaking of Christmas, ours was really low key.  We decided not to get each other any gifts, in lieu of buying a new mattress, which we really needed.  We didn't even cook.  We had lunch at Waffle House and dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  In an odd way, that was, for us, kind of traditional.  Waffle House was a my father's favorite restaurant and the place where he would have his own holiday meals.  In the days before we bought the house, Keith and I would take a vacation over Christmas, usually to San Francisco or New York or Chicago.  That always meant we ended up eating out at either an Indian or Chinese place on Christmas Day, since they were the places most likely to be open.  When we got married in Chicago two years ago, we revived the tradition of the Chinese food Christmas meal.

By the way, we celebrated our anniversary Christmas Eve with Mexican food and then watched the wonderful Christmas concert recorded at Berea College (my alma mater) on CBS.  Like I said, it was low key, but wonderful.  I had been working at the booth practically every day all month long, so it was a nice to have a simple holiday.

New Years was celebrated with the traditional visit to the Big Flea.  More on that later.

And now the holidays are over.  Time to get back to work.  And blogging.

Here's to a good 2017 for all of us.  Big, wonderful, sloppy, happy hugs!

PS Don't forget to go to the thrifts this week!  They're still awash with year-end last minute donations!  And Christmas clearances should be up to 75% or even 90% off now.

Retro Y'all! (Christmas Eve Edition)

I'm pretty sure that I have used this one in the blog before, but not as Retro Y'all.  It's such a classic that it definitely warrants a re-post, regardless.

It's also a timeless message that's more appropriate this year than ever, especially since we lost David Bowie in 2016.



Wishing you and yours peace and love.

I hope the fat guy coming down your chimney leaves lots of goodies.  I know a couple of crazy kids who are celebrating their anniversary tonight.

Happy holidays from Eddie-torial Comments, me, Keith, and Chiquito!

PS I'm sending everyone a big, virtual hug.  If you lean in waaaaaay close to the monitor or your phone, then you'll feel it.

Poor Johnny!

So you see, Johnny.

When Santa found out just exactly how bad you've been this year, is head blew right off his shoulders.

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED THIS YEAR!!!!

AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!

Retro Y'all (Holiday Edition)

Well, it's still Saturday, but just barely.  I've been working every day at the booth this week, which is why there's been no updates lately.  There will be a post tomorrow (Sunday) and a Ramble for Monday.

I'm having trouble finding original performance clips for some of the songs I want to use this year, including this one. I finally went with a photo montage and lyric video, because this song has to be included this year.  Sadly, it's as fitting right now as it was when it was originally recorded, nearly 50 (!) years ago.

Someday...

Poor Johnny!

So you see, Johnny.

Mrs. Claus found out what really happens on those "holiday planning trips" that Santa takes every spring with the Easter Bunny.  What happened next wasn't pretty.

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED THIS YEAR!!! 

 

Poor Johnny!

So you see, Johnny.

The North Pole was attacked this week by a bunch of half-crazed, holiday-hating, sword-wielding ninja warriors.  The elves and the reindeer fought back valiantly, but the outcome was never really in doubt.  When you spend your life teaching folks to be good all the time, your self-defense skills aren't always up to par.

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED THIS YEAR!!!!

 

Retro Y'all! (Holiday Edition)

On the one hand, it's kind of hard to think about Christmas this year, in light of everything that's been happening.  At the same time, we can't let all the joy be sucked out of the world.  Regardless of what we believe, there is always something at this time of year that can make us feel at least a little bit of hope, if we look for it.  Maybe even if we work for it.

It's with that in mind that I picked this year's "Retro Y'all" and "Music for Mondays" holiday selections.  In some way, they brought me some comfort or at least made me think that we might get through this.   I hope they can do the same for you.

Remember, even silly songs can bring peace.

Poor Johnny!

So you see, Johnny.

Santa is really an android robot thing.  They take him apart every year and store him away for the summer.  Unfortunately, this year, when they put him back together, they discovered that his Jolliness Circuits had all melted down.  After he was rebooted, he ate three of the elves and set fire to the toy warehouse, so they had to dismantle him again.

No one seems to be able to reach the Kris Kringle Geek Squad either.  They've moved and left no forwarding address, and their web site is down.

Unless someone can figure out how to fix Santa,

CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED THIS YEAR!!!!

Retro Y'all! Holiday Traditions Edition

It's that time again! 

Since we are now post-Thanksgiving, it's time to crank out the holiday music.

In case you didn't know, one of the holiday traditions at this here little blog is starting the season off with these two very special songs.

First up, Santa's three helpers:



Followed by a little lady that some would prefer not appear, actually:

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like.....You Know.

Not meaning to work anyone's nerves or anything like that, but the hustle/bustle is upon us!

Here are a couple of pics of unseen finds that might help get you in the mood.

These guys were a curb find.  They were part of a larger decoration that would have included all the reindeer and the fat guy in the sleigh.  This was all I found, but they're still awesome!

I've never seen a sweet little angel blow mold/choir girl like this one before.  Isn't she a doll?  She's dated 1972.  Wouldn't it be something to have a whole bunch of them?

What holiday treasures have you found recently?

2015-2016 Rambles

It is said that there are only two things in life that are certain.  Those would be death and taxes.  When it comes to this blog, however, there are at least three certainties.

1. At least half the photos will be crap.
2. The blogger will never be very good at his job.
3.  Whenever you read that posting will resume "tomorrow," then you can expect at least another two weeks (or more) before a post finally appears.

Is anyone even still out there?

If you look back over the last few years of this blog, you'll find that I inevitably seem to flake out right around the holidays and totally disappear.  Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, life just overwhelms me and the blog suffers.  Interestingly, I don't really do that much holiday celebrating any more.  The only gifts to get are for Keith, my brother and Keith's mom.  We haven't decorated or done any baking since my mother first got sick.  If anyone ever gets a Christmas card for me, guard it like a double-bag collector's item, because that sucker is a rarity for sure!  Yet, despite all of this, the end of the year seems to swallow me up like a black hole.

I know my prolonged absence made some of you worry, and I am sorry for that, but deeply touched at the same time.  You all are just so sweet and I am lucky to have each of you in my life.  I owe several of you emails, blog comments, and post catch ups.  I'll get to it, hopefully soon.  If I don't, know that I do think about you all a lot.  I had no idea that this little blog would bring so many great people into my life.

Speaking of being in touch, any of you that have my mailing address, please contact me by email.  After years of declining service, we finally did away with the PO Box.  If you want it, I'll be glad to give you the home address.

Okay, so where to begin?

Let's start with this. He always makes people smile.

Keith's mother gave him that quilt for Christmas.  One of his aunts made it for a fund-raiser at one of the churches that his mom attends and she ended up winning it.  It's really pretty, and Chiquito just loves it!  He's claimed it as his own.

In other Chiquito news, Keith relented and made me a 2016 Chiquito calendar.  I'll get the Jan and Feb pics up soon.  Well, before March, at least.  He told me to warn you all that this one might be the last one.  He thinks that you're going to find pic after pic of Chiquito to be "repetitive."  I told him he didn't know you all.

Speaking of Christmas, I also got this,which of course I love!  Two more pairs of socks came with it!

I get tons of compliments when I wear it!  He also made me a Kosh calendar, but it makes me kinda sad, so I keep it stashed on my desk.  I had asked him to make me a memory book of Kosh pics, like he did for our other kitties who have passed on, but he hasn't had a chance to track down all the pics yet.  The calendar was to hold me over until he could.

Something we did not realize about having a Christmas Eve anniversary is that it is awfully hard to find a place to go for dinner.  We finally got a corrected copy of our marriage license, so Keith is not the officiating judge any more.  He had a couple of our wedding pics blown up and printed out on canvas for me.  We're doing some rearranging at the house, so they'll probably go in the bedroom, when it's done.

The other day, while I was searching for a clean pair of jeans, I came across this:

That's the 70's Batman comic logo, by the way.  I had forgotten I had that one.  Finding made me remember that I also have a shirt with the TV show logo on it, which I now have to find.  I have a nerdrobe and didn't even know it!

Ignore my hair in that pic, please. I'm growing it out in hopes of finally having the ponytail I've always dreamed of.  I've tried it before, but always got frustrated when I got to this shaggy, unmanageable state.  The top and sides aren't long enough to pull back yet, and it's driving me nuts.  I'm determined to see it through this time.  I think it's a midlife crisis thing.  I'm also pondering bleaching it totally white and piercing my nose.

This happened a couple of weeks ago.

It was really the first bad weather of the winter for us and wasn't nearly as bad as it got in other places, but it was enough.  The streets in front of and behind our house are kind of major ones, and traffic was crawling along them for a couple of days afterwards.  The Peddlers Mall was closed for a day and a half.  Sales sucked all freaking week long.  Chiquito told me that the best thing to do was stay in, drink hot chocolate, eat popcorn and take naps, so I did.  He was right.

Speaking of the booth, some of you all want new pics, but it's going to be a while.  Things are a bit rough in all my spaces right now.  December was an excellent month for me, but January sucked.  My total sales were the lowest they've been in a long while.  Bad weather was part of it, but the rest of it was mainly my fault.  For some reason (winter blahs?), I just could not seem to pull it together, get the Christmas out, restock everything, and tidy it all up. 

Usually, I leave the Christmas in through the first week in January, then spend the next week clearing it all out and redoing everything.  Those first two weeks are usually a little slow anyway, and that gives me time to get the booth ready for the end of the month, when the early early birds have gotten their tax refunds.

I could not seem to get moving this year.  Part of it was that I decided to leave some bits of Christmas scattered around my spaces.  I marked everything that had been through more than two seasons down and shoved them on a couple of bottom shelves.  It's out of the way.  It fills shelves people don't access a lot, so the booth looks fuller.  It also gives the adventurous folks (and holiday lovers) some bargains to hunt for,

I also left all my holiday glasses and dishes on another bottom shelf.  I'm down to very few of them, and they've sold year round for me before.  The books and music I worked into the book booth.  None of that took very long.  The hold up came when I decided that I should make a year round vintage Christmas section. 

I had already pulled everything, and it was piled in carts.  All I needed to do was clear a shelf for it and sort through it.  That became the hold up.  Three different attempts to designate an existing shelf totally failed.  I ended up heading to Sorrow Mountain in hunt for a new shelf, rearranging things a bit, then making my vintage Christmas section.  It took forever, as the snow happened in the middle of all this.  The result was I had carts of stuff and empty boxes cluttering my booth and scaring off customers.

Sometimes, it's really obvious that I do not have a clue what I am doing.

Three days in, however, and February seems to be doing much better for me.  I'm thinking that tax money is trickling in, finally.  Thanks to taxes, February and March can be good months.

To switch to a better note, my scans are coming back clear!  The treatments continue, of course, but the docs (and me) are really pleased with the results.  I'm on the same drug that Jimmy Carter is getting, by the way.  I've been referring to it as "the presidential treatment."  I'll have what the President is having, please.  I'll be due for another scan in a month or so.

It's a bit of a busy week here.  I'm benignly neglecting the booth, because it's junk set out weekend in our neighborhood.  The winter set out is always a little iffy, but the weather is supposed to be mild all week, so the pickings might be pretty good.  I've got a bit of cabin fever, so I am raring to go hunting.
I've also got stuff that needs to go out to the curb.  I have two bookshelves that are seriously falling apart and need to go.  I have replacements on Sorrow Mountain, of course.  I've been putting off dealing with these for a while, partly because I'm convinced that it's only the weight of the stuff on them that is holding them together and upright.  Seriously, they're that far gone.  I'm afraid it's going to be like playing Jenga on a large scale. One wrong move and I'm buried in books.

At least this time, if you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know what happened.

Let's close out with a backlog of fortune cookie wisdom.

I certainly try to do this one.

Well, thank you!

I was sure this meant I had the winning Power Ball ticket.  Alas!

I got all excited at the last one from Po!  I never got a fortune from a Teletubby before!  Po! Po! Po!  Then I realized that it was the Kung Fu Panda dude, which makes more sense from a fortune cookie perspective.  Personally, I think what the world needs right now is Teletubby fortune cookies.

Retro Y'all! Holiday Edition!

I had to bend the rules for this one, but there was no way in heck that I was not going to include it.



I always try to find a period performance video by the original artist to go with my selections, but there just wasn't one this time.  There were lots of vids using the original recording in the video, but this is the one I really, really liked, even though I'm pretty sure it's a cover.  Those guys are having too much fun.  So I'm using this one in the spirit of the holiday.

Out of all the Christmas novelty songs that have ever been recorded, this one is certainly a front-runner for the oddest, which is why I love it so.

By the way, Santa's donkey was really named Nestor.  I think I would wanna be called Dominick too, if my name were Nestor.

No offense meant to any Nestors out there.  Really.

Monday Rambles

So, I broke a mirror yesterday.  There goes the rest of the decade for me!

Also, I bought some stuff on Saturday, so I have a teeny Mazda shot.

What's in Mazda?

Sales are getting fewer and farther between here, but I did scrape a couple up for Saturday.  We had to hop across the river for them.  We went to a church that was having a Christmas yard sale fund raiser.  I was hoping to find some more vintage stuff, but no such luck.  I did pick up a few small things, including a Hulk ornament.  Nothing special.  The cashier spent all this time carefully wrapping these candle holders that were mostly cast iron, then tossed the ceramic figurines in the bag unwrapped.  Sometimes, I feel like I live in Bizarro World.

That church also runs a thrift store, which is only open about six hours a week.  I love it, but I never get to go there because of their schedule.  It epitomizes the one thing Louisville lacks--the little church-affiliated thrift run by little old ladies with tons of stuff at super cheap prices.  I wasn't sure if they would be open because of the church sale, but they were.

Their Christmas was all half off.  I gathered up a box of stuff, both Christmas and non, including a complete vintage Yahtzee game.  Prices ranged from 5 cents to 2 dollars.  The older lady doing the check out decided she needed to sort the Christmas out so she could do all the half price at once.  Good plan.  Then she declares that three ornaments aren't Christmas.  In fairness, they were little houses and buildings, so they didn't look like typical ornaments.  They were only a quarter, so I let it go.

Then she declares that the religious articles--crosses, Jesus pictures, etc--are Christmas because "You can use them for that if you want."  So, I got more of a discount overall than I would have if she had left those ornaments in.  I always throw in a small donation at fund-raisers and church sales, so I kind of made up a little of that difference for them. 

She grabs this roll of bubble wrap for the glass stuff I bought and this little older man, who I assumed was her husband, moved to the counter to help. Or at least I thought.  He grabbed the end of the bubble wrap and started popping the bubbles!  It was too funny.  She fussed at him and he stopped.

The other big sale I went to was a library book sale.  One of the libraries across the river holds a book sale twice a month.  I had been wanting to go, as I had heard good things about it.  Oh my gosh!  It was so organized, that it was nearly mind-boggling.  Everything was on shelves, instead of tables, with clearly labelled sections.  Prices were super-reasonable.  All around, it was impressive.

I ran into blog reader Elizabeth while I was there.  From time to time, she pops up at the booth, usually when it looks the worst, but she always says nice things about it anyway.  I've been meaning to mention her here and keep forgetting.

Anyway, I got a nice box of books there, plus a large stack of cookbooks out of the FREE boxes out front.  Love me those free boxes.  I sell a lot of cookbooks.  It was nice to be at a sizeable book sale.  The Louisville library has discontinued its large sales, much to my consternation.

We grabbed lunch at our usual Asian Buffet, and I made a stop at the Thrift Store that's in the same little mini-mall, since it was having a sale. I ran in the library branch in the mall to use the bathroom, then saw a dude with a bunch of tables in the middle of the mall selling comic books!  Seriously.  I'll leave it to you all to fill in the result of this discovery.

Saturday night, we went to one of our favorite holiday events.  It's been three or four years since I've gone, due to health stuff.  I was so glad to be able to do it again.  We wandered the streets, popped in and out of shops, enjoyed hot cider, shopped a bit, then finished off with a wonderful dinner.

I didn't get many photos, but I did get a few.

Santa's VW van sleigh

Always gotta get a Kizito cookie.  Fresh and hot!

The Eye of God is watching you!

Blow molds!

There was a rep from the business guild that sponsors the event driving around with a bunch of lights and blow molds on a truck, all lit up.  I could never get my phone out in time for a pic.  I also failed to get a pic of the girl in half a banana costume doing sidewalk karaoke.  I did get some short video of the laser light show.

I hope this works.  I've never done video on the blog before.  Well, like this anyway.  That Eye of God pic comes from the neighborhood Catholic Church, by the way.  There are more pics of the amazing decor in the church at their web site.  Doesn't Keith look all ruggedy and mountain manny with his walking stick and beard?  Believe it or not, he was wearing shorts!

So much goes on at this event.  Past years have included Elvis impersonators, bagpipes, Dickensian carolers, and concerts.  I look forward to it every year, and was so glad to be able to do it again.

This is going to be a pretty busy week.  Today, I'm heading back to the booth.  It was busy there yesterday, that I didn't get everything done that I needed to.  I have a cartful of stuff in the break room that I need to get put out.  The store is having its vendor party and open house on Saturday, and they need the room for that.  Sales are remaining strong so far.  I'd like to have a couple of $100+ days in the mix, but otherwise I can't complain.  I still cannot seem to get all my Christmas out.

Tomorrow is my next scan.  Results will be next week.  After that is done, I'll be headed to Mount Sorrow.  Thanks to being sick, I am a week behind on the work I wanted to do there.  I also just remembered that I have two sleds buried in the back (!) of that mess and they should have been at the booth two weeks ago.  I'll probably pull a small load out of there while I'm at it.  Since I'm going to have to pull a lot out to get to them, I'm planning to get it all back a little more organized.

Wednesday, I'm planning on working at home.  I need to go on an orgy (not like that!) of pricing and packing.  I am going to get any stray little bits of holiday stuff I might have missed.  I keep feeling like there are a couple bags of stuff still kicking around here.  I also have a new stack of comics to bag and price.  (Heh!)

Thursday, it's back to the booth.  Friday, I'm sneaking out to finish getting Keith's presents.  This weekend, I'll be at the Peddlers Mall vendor get-together, and maybe going to a holiday gift show.  It's run by the same people that do the Big Flea, and I've been wanting to check it out for a while.  I'm not planning to buy anything, but I would love to check out the displays.

Let's Get This Holiday Season Started!

We are back!  I'll have more to say about all that in tomorrow's ramble.  In the meantime, we've got to start rolling out the holiday cheer.  For this blog, there's only one way to do that.



If you've been around here for a while, you know that Hardrock and friends are the traditional Eddie-torial opening to the holiday season.  They've been featured in a post every year at this time for five or six years, at least.  I got so busy with the wedding and such last year that I actually forgot them, but Roger made up for my goof on Facebook.

Anyway, they're back!  Enjoy!

Of course, when those elves come passing by, Suzy is sure to follow.



I'm planning a lot of fun, musical surprises for December, so please stay tuned. 

What kind of a day was it?

Saturday's smalls tell the story.

It was an Asian day.

I love Asian decor!  Vintage or not, I move a lot of it.  Happy Buddhas make me very happy.

It was a Fisher-Price day.

Including Friday's estate sale purchases.  Not everything in the pic is FP, but old toys are cool regardless, right?  Sorry about the pic.  It was starting to get dark.  I think my favorite one is the wooden dump truck.  (Second step on the right side)  All the musical wind up toys still work.

It was a coal bucket day.

Plus a thermos and other doo-dads.  The box for that Lucky Slot bank says that it accepts "98% of world currencies."  I told Keith I wanted to know which countries were in the other 2%.

It was a bucket bucket day.

Along with a great tool box and an enamelware pitcher that is the most awesome shade of teal!

It was not a Hyacinth Bucket day.

It was a whatsit day.

Seriously, anyone know what this is.  It's solid metal and quite heavy.  I think it might have something to do with printing, because it reminds me of a desk blotter.  I actually bought four more similar pieces.

It was a graphic novel (!!!!!!) kind of day!

Good stuff, too!

More please!

Finally, it was a vintage Christmas day.

There are four shoe boxes like this full, plus a couple of bags.  I got them at a discount after another dealer got really crass with the seller over them. Crass people do not get discounts.   I haven't done anything with these other than open the boxes and look at them.  They'll need sorting out and cleaning.  Everything is really dusty and some of it is dirty.  How can I clean those old glass ornaments without damaging them?

And that's the kind of day it was!  What kind of day did you have?

And Now for Something Completely Different

Giant Santa

VS

The Brontosaurus That 

Wanted to Eat Christmas!

Dunh-Dunh-Dunh!

THE END!

Underground

Louisville is home to a giant cave system, with the most fascinating story.  I'll let you all read the details at the link, rather than summarizing it here.  I've always thought the whole deal was way cool.

There's a lot that goes on there, including underground zip lines and an underground BMX park that is in the planning stages.  During the holiday season, it becomes the home for Lights Under Louisville.

I've been wanting to go for several years, but always balked at the admission price, which is pretty steep in my book.  This year, Keith found a Groupon, so we set off to celebrate my port on Monday night.

It was a lot of fun.  Going on a weekday night meant that there was no traffic to speak of, so it flat like we were getting a private tour. Many of the displays are quite clever.  The first batch is a tribute to local sights and events, including a dump truck and bulldozer to commemorate all the road construction that we're going to be experiencing for the next several years!

This would have been appropriate for last week!

Santa riding down a pyramid.

I wish the dreidl was spinning!

My hometown.

I wanna live here!

5 Gold Rings, Baby!

I loved the 12 Days of Christams displays!

This one was our favorite.

It's under Louisville.  Who knew?

Well worth the (Groupon) price.  Still not sure about the regular rate.  At that price, I expect Brad Pitt to come drive the car through for us.  Still, lotsa fun.

What fun holiday stuff do they do in your area?