I am seriously trying to get back in the groove here. I have things I want to say, even if no one is left to read them. I am committing to blog every day this week. How about them apples?
Last week was our junk set out week, but the trucks seem to be running behind. Our street and the ones around us have not been cleared yet. That means two things. First, I still got some hunting to do. Second, I've got a chance to clear a few things out of the shed really quickly. Yay on both counts!
That also means I'm being quick and brief here.
Our washing machine gave up the ghost recently. It was almost 20 years old, so it's not surprising. The new one finally arrived yesterday. So I am also doing laundry.
Sales suck right now. Didn't even go to my absolute favorite church sale on Saturday. I will, however, be going to the Comic Con in Frankfort next month.
Tucker and I are bachelors this week. Keith is out of town for job training in Owensboro. I am seeing cartoons and pizza in our future.
I have some pics to share, but I got a new phone last month and I just realized I don't have Dropbox on it yet. Getting ready to rectify that.
We went to see John Prine over the weekend. It was an awesome show, as always. The opener was a 'young man who was new to me, Colter Wall. He's got to be the oldest musical soul I've heard since Gillian Welch. Like her, he creates this traditional-sounding music, with an overlay of gothic, ethereal, haunting sadness. Imagine Woody Guthrie and Marty Robbins mixed together and interpreted by the titular riders from "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and you kind of get the idea. Of course, I loved him. And, of course, he's your Music for Monday. Enjoy.
I'll have more to say about the concert tomorrow.
Showing posts with label Monday Rambles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday Rambles. Show all posts
Monday, June 11, 2018
Monday, February 19, 2018
Monday Rambles
LOOKIE HERE!
It's Monday! I'm rambling! Will wonders never cease?
QUESTIONS WHICH DEMAND AN ANSWER
Has my forehead always been this wrinkly? Also, is my hair thinning?
STRANGE WEEK
This is going to be an unusual week for us here. I have treatment tomorrow. If I feel up to it, I'm going to go see Black Panther afterwards. If not, I'll be seeing it later in the week, for sure.
Keith is heading to Arkansas after dropping me off at the cancer center. It's moving day for his mother, and he's going to help out. It's been a long, stressful journey for everyone concerned--one that demands its own post. Tucker and I will be holding down the fort here. Woo hoo! Cartoons all the time!
WRAPPING THINGS UP
After today, I should have the big booth redo I've been working on for several weeks now completed. I've just got a few more things to do, including taking pics, and I'll be able to do the big reveal here. This has been a real challenge this time around.
Just as soon as I would get one part done, a really large prominent item would sell, meaning I'd have to start on that part all over again. Then junk set out hit last week while I was still working on the booth, adding in more big, new stuff to deal with. On top of all this, Keith has been inspired by his mother's ordeal to start downsizing, which means more things for me to deal with. (So. Many. Books.) On the other hand, getting that crap out of the house has been nice. We even got a new bed to celebrate.
Speaking of junk set out, it was kind of short this time around. It rained off and on. It was cold. Not much stuff got put out. Regular spots didn't participate. Then, the trucks came through extremely early in the week and it was all over. Despite all of this, I did get two mice Mazda loads of stuff. I just finished getting pictures of it all, so I'll be sharing those too.
MUSIC FOR MONDAY
Not much else to talk about right now, so let's cut right to a very special Music for Monday. Seriously, even if you normally skip these videos, check this one out. It's awesome!
Old Sesame Street kicks ass.
Have a good week! Watch out for wrinkly foreheads and buckets with holes!
It's Monday! I'm rambling! Will wonders never cease?
QUESTIONS WHICH DEMAND AN ANSWER
Has my forehead always been this wrinkly? Also, is my hair thinning?
STRANGE WEEK
This is going to be an unusual week for us here. I have treatment tomorrow. If I feel up to it, I'm going to go see Black Panther afterwards. If not, I'll be seeing it later in the week, for sure.
Keith is heading to Arkansas after dropping me off at the cancer center. It's moving day for his mother, and he's going to help out. It's been a long, stressful journey for everyone concerned--one that demands its own post. Tucker and I will be holding down the fort here. Woo hoo! Cartoons all the time!
WRAPPING THINGS UP
After today, I should have the big booth redo I've been working on for several weeks now completed. I've just got a few more things to do, including taking pics, and I'll be able to do the big reveal here. This has been a real challenge this time around.
Just as soon as I would get one part done, a really large prominent item would sell, meaning I'd have to start on that part all over again. Then junk set out hit last week while I was still working on the booth, adding in more big, new stuff to deal with. On top of all this, Keith has been inspired by his mother's ordeal to start downsizing, which means more things for me to deal with. (So. Many. Books.) On the other hand, getting that crap out of the house has been nice. We even got a new bed to celebrate.
Speaking of junk set out, it was kind of short this time around. It rained off and on. It was cold. Not much stuff got put out. Regular spots didn't participate. Then, the trucks came through extremely early in the week and it was all over. Despite all of this, I did get two mice Mazda loads of stuff. I just finished getting pictures of it all, so I'll be sharing those too.
MUSIC FOR MONDAY
Not much else to talk about right now, so let's cut right to a very special Music for Monday. Seriously, even if you normally skip these videos, check this one out. It's awesome!
Old Sesame Street kicks ass.
Have a good week! Watch out for wrinkly foreheads and buckets with holes!
Monday, February 12, 2018
No Ramble Today!
Sorry, everyone, but I won't be rambling this week due to EXTREME busy-ness. Due to partly to circumstances I could not control and partly to my own poor planning skills, I am smack dab in the middle of Junk Set Out AND a massive booth re-do. I barely even know what my name is right now.
I'll get some first looks at the booth re-do and the first finds of the set out later this week.
In the meantime, enjoy this little bit of booth staging humor:
Also, here's the latest odd couple to cross my path:
When I bought the bird hatching figurine, the cashier told me that I would never sell something that ugly. In one of those wonderful twists of fate and junking, she was the cashier who rang it out a week later to a customer who was totally tickled to find it!
I guess I can also give you all some music for Monday:
Hope your week is filled with happy teddy bears, decorated wig heads, and--of course--the right shoes!
See ya!
PS Lok at it this way: It may not be rambly, but it is on Monday! Woo hoo!
I'll get some first looks at the booth re-do and the first finds of the set out later this week.
In the meantime, enjoy this little bit of booth staging humor:
Also, here's the latest odd couple to cross my path:
When I bought the bird hatching figurine, the cashier told me that I would never sell something that ugly. In one of those wonderful twists of fate and junking, she was the cashier who rang it out a week later to a customer who was totally tickled to find it!
I guess I can also give you all some music for Monday:
Hope your week is filled with happy teddy bears, decorated wig heads, and--of course--the right shoes!
See ya!
PS Lok at it this way: It may not be rambly, but it is on Monday! Woo hoo!
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Super Sexy-Pants Midweek Ramble!
I keep trying(and failing) to get an actual Monday Ramble out, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. Let's go with this one for this week, at least.
First up a question:
Do these sunglasses make me look all, you know, celebrity and stuff? (Probably not. The scraggly-ass goatee is looking particularly scraggly-ass here. Brad Pitt can pull that shit off. Me? not so much.)
Cold, windy and wet this week, but no freezing temps and no snow. We've had too many days of that over the past couple of weeks. I declared a little while ago that I wasn't leaving the house until the temp was above 20, then promptly spent several days drinking hot chocolate, eating pie, and watching cartoons. I am so over this winter.
I have definitely come to understand why some large mammals hibernate during the cold months. I'm wondering how I can sign up for that program myself, since I am also a large mammal. I just need to find an electric blanket that will stay on for three months and teach the cat to feed himself and scoop the litter box.
I'm working on a major booth redo, but it's going painfully slow. I'll have pics when I get done, if I get done. It's been a good January, sales-wise. I haven't really had a post-holiday dip, which usually happens after New Year's. I've been on a bit of a roll since the week before Christmas, even with the store closing for a couple of days due to weather. Small furniture and higher-priced items are really moving right now.
2017 was kind of average as far as booth sales went. I set a huge record in March, then crashed hard in April. Summer was better than usual. Fall would have been, except that I took an extra booth during a rent special to try and move some furniture, then barely broke even. I ditched it when the special was over. November and December were super-good.
Tine for another pic.
That was my anniversary gift from Keith. We decided not to do Christmas presents this year, just a small anniversary gift each. My collection of Batman shirts keeps growing.
Tucker is starting his daily rampage through the house. It's crazed kitty time! (Or, as I like to call it: "Go, Speed Racer, Go!") Life with kittens, I tell you.
I made a super-major comic score at an estate sale last week. Nearly 100 issues of one of my primary comic obsessions. I plan on sharing it soon. I actually want to do an in-depth sort of look at the four kinds of comics that make me go "Squee!" when I find them. One them you can already guess, vintage romance comics. I'll go ahead and surprise you all by saying that none of the other three are Batman or Wonder Woman.
And with that, I'll leave you with some Midweek Music.
First up a question:
Do these sunglasses make me look all, you know, celebrity and stuff? (Probably not. The scraggly-ass goatee is looking particularly scraggly-ass here. Brad Pitt can pull that shit off. Me? not so much.)
Cold, windy and wet this week, but no freezing temps and no snow. We've had too many days of that over the past couple of weeks. I declared a little while ago that I wasn't leaving the house until the temp was above 20, then promptly spent several days drinking hot chocolate, eating pie, and watching cartoons. I am so over this winter.
I have definitely come to understand why some large mammals hibernate during the cold months. I'm wondering how I can sign up for that program myself, since I am also a large mammal. I just need to find an electric blanket that will stay on for three months and teach the cat to feed himself and scoop the litter box.
I'm working on a major booth redo, but it's going painfully slow. I'll have pics when I get done, if I get done. It's been a good January, sales-wise. I haven't really had a post-holiday dip, which usually happens after New Year's. I've been on a bit of a roll since the week before Christmas, even with the store closing for a couple of days due to weather. Small furniture and higher-priced items are really moving right now.
2017 was kind of average as far as booth sales went. I set a huge record in March, then crashed hard in April. Summer was better than usual. Fall would have been, except that I took an extra booth during a rent special to try and move some furniture, then barely broke even. I ditched it when the special was over. November and December were super-good.
Tine for another pic.
That was my anniversary gift from Keith. We decided not to do Christmas presents this year, just a small anniversary gift each. My collection of Batman shirts keeps growing.
Tucker is starting his daily rampage through the house. It's crazed kitty time! (Or, as I like to call it: "Go, Speed Racer, Go!") Life with kittens, I tell you.
I made a super-major comic score at an estate sale last week. Nearly 100 issues of one of my primary comic obsessions. I plan on sharing it soon. I actually want to do an in-depth sort of look at the four kinds of comics that make me go "Squee!" when I find them. One them you can already guess, vintage romance comics. I'll go ahead and surprise you all by saying that none of the other three are Batman or Wonder Woman.
And with that, I'll leave you with some Midweek Music.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Another Good Reason!
This is Tucker.
He's new in our house.
He's also the reason there's no Monday Rambles today. He's at the Humane Societygetting his little boy parts snipped having some body work done. We're frantically running around kitten-proofing the house. He's only six months old, and six month old kittens can get into everything.
I'll be staying home for a few days to oversee the socialization.
Some of us are not so sure about this.
He's new in our house.
He's also the reason there's no Monday Rambles today. He's at the Humane Society
I'll be staying home for a few days to oversee the socialization.
Some of us are not so sure about this.
Monday, June 05, 2017
Monday, March 06, 2017
Monday Mini-Ramble!
Not much time to chat this week. Sorry about that. Got a lot on the old plate at this moment, but I did want to give you all a couple of updates.
First, the good news. At my treatment last week, the doctor told me that there is a meeting planned for May that will discuss the process for ending immunotherapy treatment for long term patients like me who are doing well and not having any problems. One possibility is moving to bimonthly or quarterly treatments from the current every three week schedule. Another is just ending treatment all together and monitoring with scans. Exciting times. Also, my nest scan is in a couple of weeks.
Now the bad. Keith's brother passed away last week. His mother is taking this really hard. He had not been doing well for some time, but this was still kind of sudden. We're heading to Oklahoma for the memorial service on Thursday, which puts me on a really tight schedule this week, especially since the booth is a wreck right now.
I had two items left to share from the freebie haul from the secondhand/vintage store. Here they are.
These two caused me the most grief getting them in the van. It was already quite full and they just would not go in the available space. I was determined not to unload it all and repack, while Keith kept insisting that I would have to leave one behind. Showed him!
So last week, I headed back over there and did it all again.
What was I supposed to do? It was the last day, and they had a whole room full of free stuff!
First, the good news. At my treatment last week, the doctor told me that there is a meeting planned for May that will discuss the process for ending immunotherapy treatment for long term patients like me who are doing well and not having any problems. One possibility is moving to bimonthly or quarterly treatments from the current every three week schedule. Another is just ending treatment all together and monitoring with scans. Exciting times. Also, my nest scan is in a couple of weeks.
Now the bad. Keith's brother passed away last week. His mother is taking this really hard. He had not been doing well for some time, but this was still kind of sudden. We're heading to Oklahoma for the memorial service on Thursday, which puts me on a really tight schedule this week, especially since the booth is a wreck right now.
I had two items left to share from the freebie haul from the secondhand/vintage store. Here they are.
These two caused me the most grief getting them in the van. It was already quite full and they just would not go in the available space. I was determined not to unload it all and repack, while Keith kept insisting that I would have to leave one behind. Showed him!
So last week, I headed back over there and did it all again.
What was I supposed to do? It was the last day, and they had a whole room full of free stuff!
Monday, February 06, 2017
Monday Rambles
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
My glasses broke the other day, so I'm back to wearing contacts, which I haven't done regularly in years. I've kept my prescription up to dote, but I've gotten to the point in life where I want getting ready in the morning to be as easy as possible, so the hassle of contacts has been just one more thing to do that I don't really want to and so I haven't.
The nerd glasses didn't really go with the longer hair anyway. They'd work if I were planning to actually go the man bun route, but I feel like I am too old and fat for that. I'm actually working on more of a loose, hippie ponytail. I think little, gold-rimmed specs would look better with that.
Without my glasses, I think I look like my mother with a goatee, whichkind of makes me nostalgic for my childhood days with the carnival, when I would watch Mom primping and combing her beard before going on stage to do her act is kind of unnerving. Even worse, Keith keeps telling me how much he likes the way I look without the glasses, and in the back of my mind, a little voice is going, "He thinks your mother with a goatee is hot." I think I need therapy.
FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES
I had a great conversation yesterday at the mall with a 12 year old boy looking for Spider-Man comics. He told me he was looking for "older ones." I said "Old for you? or Old for me?" He had to think about that for a minute, then told me he meant 90's. Old for him, then. I told him to keep checking back and would do my best to find some.
I actually do need to carve out some time for a bad movie/comic bagging marathon. I've been selling a lot of those boogers lately.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
It feels like tax season is finally upon us. Sales are picking up all the time. The weekends have been gold rush city of late. Saturday was my second best day ever. The gravy is flowing and the small furniture is flying out of the door. So is the pricier stuff. Saturday some dude came in and bought all of my vintage metal lunchboxes.
IT'S JUNKER CHRISTMAS!
This is junk set out week for the next neighborhood over from us, which means that we are next. We've already got an early start on our set out pile going. You're not supposed to do that, but my neighborhood ain't much on rules. It's the first time we've ever tried it, though. Watch us get cited for it, while the folks down the street who have had the nasty couches sitting on the curb for a MONTH, get by with nothing.
I made two "practice runs" last night. One to a pile in the other neighborhood. Got some small stuff, but nothing notable, except for two old fishing poles. The other stop was at the magical house down the hill that disgorges all kind of interesting stuff every set out period. They always start early and will be putting out crap right up until the garbage trucks come. Last night it was a bunch of old religious texts and prayer books. SCORE!
There's also a new renovation dumpster on our street, two doors down from us. I told Keith that it was like having junk delivery!
All this is to say:
MUSIC FOR MONDAYS
And finally, to set you on your way: The Carolina Chocolate Drops!
My glasses broke the other day, so I'm back to wearing contacts, which I haven't done regularly in years. I've kept my prescription up to dote, but I've gotten to the point in life where I want getting ready in the morning to be as easy as possible, so the hassle of contacts has been just one more thing to do that I don't really want to and so I haven't.
The nerd glasses didn't really go with the longer hair anyway. They'd work if I were planning to actually go the man bun route, but I feel like I am too old and fat for that. I'm actually working on more of a loose, hippie ponytail. I think little, gold-rimmed specs would look better with that.
Without my glasses, I think I look like my mother with a goatee, which
FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES
I had a great conversation yesterday at the mall with a 12 year old boy looking for Spider-Man comics. He told me he was looking for "older ones." I said "Old for you? or Old for me?" He had to think about that for a minute, then told me he meant 90's. Old for him, then. I told him to keep checking back and would do my best to find some.
I actually do need to carve out some time for a bad movie/comic bagging marathon. I've been selling a lot of those boogers lately.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
It feels like tax season is finally upon us. Sales are picking up all the time. The weekends have been gold rush city of late. Saturday was my second best day ever. The gravy is flowing and the small furniture is flying out of the door. So is the pricier stuff. Saturday some dude came in and bought all of my vintage metal lunchboxes.
IT'S JUNKER CHRISTMAS!
This is junk set out week for the next neighborhood over from us, which means that we are next. We've already got an early start on our set out pile going. You're not supposed to do that, but my neighborhood ain't much on rules. It's the first time we've ever tried it, though. Watch us get cited for it, while the folks down the street who have had the nasty couches sitting on the curb for a MONTH, get by with nothing.
I made two "practice runs" last night. One to a pile in the other neighborhood. Got some small stuff, but nothing notable, except for two old fishing poles. The other stop was at the magical house down the hill that disgorges all kind of interesting stuff every set out period. They always start early and will be putting out crap right up until the garbage trucks come. Last night it was a bunch of old religious texts and prayer books. SCORE!
There's also a new renovation dumpster on our street, two doors down from us. I told Keith that it was like having junk delivery!
All this is to say:
IT'S ON BABY!
MUSIC FOR MONDAYS
And finally, to set you on your way: The Carolina Chocolate Drops!
Monday, January 09, 2017
Monday Rambles
ALL HEED THE WISDOM!
That actually explains a lot....
Here lately, this is definitely a necessity.
WEATHER REPORT
So we've gone through a week of freezing temps and snow and are getting ready to go into a week that is supposed to peak at around 70 later on. Sigh. Welcome to the Ohio Valley. Still the warmer weather will give me a chance to do some stuff outside, which is nice.
We've already started making our junk pile for the Feb. set out by the back fence and it's getting a little untidy. I would like to straighten it up a bit. Some of the neighbors have already started throwing things on the curb, even though it's early. We're a bunch of rebels in my 'hood, for sure. I need a nice day to get out and scavenge.
I'd also like to spend an afternoon at storage making a load of furniture for the booth. I'm starting to see I've got a good deal of room for some more big stuff.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
I'm just about finished re-stocking. Sales have been consistent, despite the weather. I have heard that tat returns will be delayed this year until the end of February, which is worrying. I really need that sales boost. At least that gives me more time to prepare.
Today, I have to try and work another bookshelf into the book booth. I think I have figured out how to do it. Keith is getting ready to thin his books and has warned me to get ready for them.
I'm on a crusade right now to get the back log out of my house. We want to swap out my junk room and the bedroom, as the junk room has more closet space. The bedroom will be turned into a workroom/office.
Every morning before I go the mall and every evening after I get home, I try to get together a box or two of stuff, which goes to the booth the next day. I'd rather be figuring out how and where to place it there, where it can make some money, than here, where it is just in the way.
AND NOW A WORD FROM MY MOTHER
I've also been going through old boxes of stuff to see if there's anything that I can sell, donate, or otherwise get rid of. There's just too much crap around here. In the course of doing that, I found a folder of jokes and clipping and stuff that my mother used to stick in with her letters (remember those?) when I was in college. I have a briefcase full of those letters too.
Among them all was this gem, which she sent me while I was in seminary. I promptly taped it to the door of my dorm room.
If you think that my sense of humor is crazy, you should have known my mother. She was a nut!
JUST CALL ME DOPEY
I forgot to tell you all that I'm on Ritalin now to try and deal with my treatment-related fatigue. Apparently my fat, old, tired ass has a lot in common with a sixth-grader who can't sit still. It actually does help a lot, without the side effects I was having with the steroids. It's not the same kind of manic energy boost, but more of a controlled, sustaining effect. I do need to take more than one to keep going through the day. If I miss my afternoon dose, I sure start feeling it!
DVD OF THE WEEK
In three words: AMAZON SISTAHS HOLLA!
Sadly, there's no throwing wheel action here, but she kicks plenty of mythological ass! I highly recommend this one and am now super-psyched for the movie this year.
That actually explains a lot....
Here lately, this is definitely a necessity.
WEATHER REPORT
So we've gone through a week of freezing temps and snow and are getting ready to go into a week that is supposed to peak at around 70 later on. Sigh. Welcome to the Ohio Valley. Still the warmer weather will give me a chance to do some stuff outside, which is nice.
We've already started making our junk pile for the Feb. set out by the back fence and it's getting a little untidy. I would like to straighten it up a bit. Some of the neighbors have already started throwing things on the curb, even though it's early. We're a bunch of rebels in my 'hood, for sure. I need a nice day to get out and scavenge.
I'd also like to spend an afternoon at storage making a load of furniture for the booth. I'm starting to see I've got a good deal of room for some more big stuff.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
I'm just about finished re-stocking. Sales have been consistent, despite the weather. I have heard that tat returns will be delayed this year until the end of February, which is worrying. I really need that sales boost. At least that gives me more time to prepare.
Today, I have to try and work another bookshelf into the book booth. I think I have figured out how to do it. Keith is getting ready to thin his books and has warned me to get ready for them.
I'm on a crusade right now to get the back log out of my house. We want to swap out my junk room and the bedroom, as the junk room has more closet space. The bedroom will be turned into a workroom/office.
Every morning before I go the mall and every evening after I get home, I try to get together a box or two of stuff, which goes to the booth the next day. I'd rather be figuring out how and where to place it there, where it can make some money, than here, where it is just in the way.
AND NOW A WORD FROM MY MOTHER
I've also been going through old boxes of stuff to see if there's anything that I can sell, donate, or otherwise get rid of. There's just too much crap around here. In the course of doing that, I found a folder of jokes and clipping and stuff that my mother used to stick in with her letters (remember those?) when I was in college. I have a briefcase full of those letters too.
Among them all was this gem, which she sent me while I was in seminary. I promptly taped it to the door of my dorm room.
If you think that my sense of humor is crazy, you should have known my mother. She was a nut!
JUST CALL ME DOPEY
I forgot to tell you all that I'm on Ritalin now to try and deal with my treatment-related fatigue. Apparently my fat, old, tired ass has a lot in common with a sixth-grader who can't sit still. It actually does help a lot, without the side effects I was having with the steroids. It's not the same kind of manic energy boost, but more of a controlled, sustaining effect. I do need to take more than one to keep going through the day. If I miss my afternoon dose, I sure start feeling it!
DVD OF THE WEEK
In three words: AMAZON SISTAHS HOLLA!
Sadly, there's no throwing wheel action here, but she kicks plenty of mythological ass! I highly recommend this one and am now super-psyched for the movie this year.
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Monday Rambles (Back Home Edition)
ALL HEED THE WISDOM!
That's the nicest thing a fortune cookie has ever said to me!
Well, it worked for Trump......
True that!
HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN
We got back at about 11:30-ish Thursday evening and were very happy to be off the road. We made excellent time coming back too. The trip is about a 13 hour drive, give or take. We made it in 11. We were worn out, but it was worth it to be back home.
FAMILIAR FACE
We were greeting enthusiastically and vociferously by this little guy.
Okay, so he's not quite so enthusiastic here, but trust me, he was.
He even slept in between our pillows that night, something he never ever does. He was super, super clingy for a few days after. He definitely doesn't like it when we go away.
We've finally figured out that he's not a very social kitty. Kind of like his people, he's just not that into interacting with most people. We're all just anti-socialites here. We told our cat-checker to just make sure that he was okay when she stopped in, but not to try and pet him or play with him. Even at that, he still growled at her every time she came over. He's a two-man cat, our boy.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Since we still had our rental car for an extra day, we decided to make this year's long overdue cemetery trip. Mazda just ain't up to long interstate journeys any more, so we rent a car to go to Arkansas. Things have been too crazy of late to head to the country, so snubbing Black Friday seemed like a good idea.
My mother now has her new winter hat.
I also averted a crisis at my grandparents' grave.
THE VISITATION
We had a real good visit in Arkansas. Even with the extra time we had, it still seemed way too rushed and way too short. I guess it will always be that way. Still, we did cover a lot of ground and had wonderful times with as much of his family as we could. One of his aunts had been going through her mother's papers and pictures and gave him an envelope filled with his old school pics, family pics, and lots of pictures of his father as a boy. It was great!
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
I did manage to get some junking in during the trip. More on that tomorrow. I found a Salvation Army that I had never seen before and revisited a cute little vendor mall that I was last at a couple of years ago. I also stopped at a couple of flea markets during the cemetery trip as well. I didn't find a lot, but there were some cool things.
REARRANGING THE DECK CHAIRS
Booth sales are still down in the dumps. I had a little bounce in November, but not enough of one. I'm still due for a really low check. It seems that consumer confidence didn't rise with the election results.
I've got Mazda loaded down with holiday stuff to put out this week. We'll see if that helps at all. I desperately need a really good end to this year.
MUSIC FOR MONDAY (HOLIDAY EDITION)
I guess I'll wrap it up with this and see you all later.
That's the nicest thing a fortune cookie has ever said to me!
Well, it worked for Trump......
True that!
HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN
We got back at about 11:30-ish Thursday evening and were very happy to be off the road. We made excellent time coming back too. The trip is about a 13 hour drive, give or take. We made it in 11. We were worn out, but it was worth it to be back home.
FAMILIAR FACE
We were greeting enthusiastically and vociferously by this little guy.
Okay, so he's not quite so enthusiastic here, but trust me, he was.
He even slept in between our pillows that night, something he never ever does. He was super, super clingy for a few days after. He definitely doesn't like it when we go away.
We've finally figured out that he's not a very social kitty. Kind of like his people, he's just not that into interacting with most people. We're all just anti-socialites here. We told our cat-checker to just make sure that he was okay when she stopped in, but not to try and pet him or play with him. Even at that, he still growled at her every time she came over. He's a two-man cat, our boy.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Since we still had our rental car for an extra day, we decided to make this year's long overdue cemetery trip. Mazda just ain't up to long interstate journeys any more, so we rent a car to go to Arkansas. Things have been too crazy of late to head to the country, so snubbing Black Friday seemed like a good idea.
My mother now has her new winter hat.
I also averted a crisis at my grandparents' grave.
I'm pretty sure Grammie wasn't happy about this.
All better! I picked up the stray flowers after I took this pic.
THE VISITATION
We had a real good visit in Arkansas. Even with the extra time we had, it still seemed way too rushed and way too short. I guess it will always be that way. Still, we did cover a lot of ground and had wonderful times with as much of his family as we could. One of his aunts had been going through her mother's papers and pictures and gave him an envelope filled with his old school pics, family pics, and lots of pictures of his father as a boy. It was great!
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
I did manage to get some junking in during the trip. More on that tomorrow. I found a Salvation Army that I had never seen before and revisited a cute little vendor mall that I was last at a couple of years ago. I also stopped at a couple of flea markets during the cemetery trip as well. I didn't find a lot, but there were some cool things.
REARRANGING THE DECK CHAIRS
Booth sales are still down in the dumps. I had a little bounce in November, but not enough of one. I'm still due for a really low check. It seems that consumer confidence didn't rise with the election results.
I've got Mazda loaded down with holiday stuff to put out this week. We'll see if that helps at all. I desperately need a really good end to this year.
MUSIC FOR MONDAY (HOLIDAY EDITION)
I guess I'll wrap it up with this and see you all later.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Tuesday Rambles (On the Road Edition)
Howdy from Arkansas!
It's our annual road trip to visit Keith's mother.
We ended up making the whole 13 hour drive here in one fell swoop, quite unintentionally, so we arrived about 3 in the morning on Sunday. That actually turned out to be a good thing, even though we are far too old to be trying such foolishness, because it gave us an extra day to spend here. We've already gotten the annual ritual of the shoe buying over with, and had time to visit with one of his aunts.
Something special also happened yesterday,but I may wait until next week to talk about it. It was STUPENDOUS!
Today, we're lunching with his oldest aunt, possibly visiting another aunt who is ill, and maybe popping in on My Man Fred. That's one of my favorite traditions. Yes, Keith does have a full collection of aunts. Tonight and tomorrow,we'll eat our Thanksgiving with his mom and then hit the road on Thursday.
Why leave actually on Thanksgiving?
No traffic!
Safe travels and happy visits to everyone!
Much love.
It's our annual road trip to visit Keith's mother.
We ended up making the whole 13 hour drive here in one fell swoop, quite unintentionally, so we arrived about 3 in the morning on Sunday. That actually turned out to be a good thing, even though we are far too old to be trying such foolishness, because it gave us an extra day to spend here. We've already gotten the annual ritual of the shoe buying over with, and had time to visit with one of his aunts.
Something special also happened yesterday,but I may wait until next week to talk about it. It was STUPENDOUS!
Today, we're lunching with his oldest aunt, possibly visiting another aunt who is ill, and maybe popping in on My Man Fred. That's one of my favorite traditions. Yes, Keith does have a full collection of aunts. Tonight and tomorrow,we'll eat our Thanksgiving with his mom and then hit the road on Thursday.
Why leave actually on Thanksgiving?
No traffic!
Safe travels and happy visits to everyone!
Much love.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Monday Rambles (Post-Apocalyptic Edition)
Okay. I'm back.
This has been a rough year for blogging for me, apparently.
I did have a good birthday. Thanks very much for your well-wishes. I went to three vendor malls I don't normally get to, plus a church sale that turned out to be really great. This guy at the church sale had a tub of Batman comics, but the sign with the price was turned over. I went to flip it back, expecting it to say they were a dollar each or something.
Instead, they were 25 cents each. I heard Keith say: "I know that look." And the next thing you know, they guy and I have negotiated a price of 20 bucks for all of them. I counted them later and it worked out that I paid about a dime each for them. Score!
Here they are all waiting for to have a chance to pop in a cheesy movie and bag and price them.
Some other guy at the sale offered to run home and get his "brand new" Batmen comics for me. He had been asking five apiece for them, but would take a buck each from me. I told him I was too cheap for that and walked away. Seriously, you just saw me pay less than 25 cents each and you think that's a strategy that will work with me?
It ended up being a good comic weekend. Two of the malls I went to had some great comics for good prices available as well.
Just a small representative sample. Lots of Silver Age Harveys and Archies in this batch. I have a couple of buyers that look for these, along with Dell, Gold Key and Disney stuff. It's honestly a niche that the other guys with comics in our mall don't bother with, not even they one other guy who actually knows comics.
Since the previous weekend, I had struck out on comics at the big flea and at a comic shop sale, I was kind of glad to find so many. I told Keith that the comics I expected to find the last weekend were actually hiding in the next weekend!
I did find some fun DVD's at the big flea, even if there were no good comics.
And then the world ended.
I've spoken and will continue to speak my piece on the election over on the Book of Faces, so I won't repeat it all here. I will say that I am sad over the election results and scared as hell for so many reasons. The racist attacks we've seen so far are only the tip of the iceberg.
I am still trying to wrap my head around it all. I may end up yet having to do some posts here as well.
I will share this though. I stayed up until 2:30 on election night, Keith went to bed, but I had to know. I stayed up until the electoral votes hit 270 and it was called for Trump. At that moment, the tears I had been just barely holding back let loose. Chiquito was asleep in my lap, and he sat up and looked at me and started rubbing against me.
I got up and laid down next to Keith. I woke him up and told him what had happened. We held each other and I cried some more. Chiquito came and laid on top of us and it was just us, alone in the dark. Together against what had just become world.
The next day, I cried myself out. I posted about my sorrow on the Book of Faces, which has caused people I thought were my friends to mock me.
We have got to be better than this.
I am finally almost done with the booth re-do. Keith went and helped me for several hours on my birthday. (Best present ever!) And now things are looking good again. I still have a bit to do, plus I sold a shelf last night, so I've got some extra work to do today. I'll have pics tomorrow.
Sales are slowly picking up again. Election day was the first hundred dollar day I'd had in over a month. Since then, things have been a lot stronger, with several big pieces selling. Looks likes Melissa was right.
This past weekend, I house sat for my sweet friend Laci.
She likes my orange backpack and sleeps on it every time I'm over at her house.
I had a mishap at Goodwill last night, when I picked the wrong size cart.
But that wasn't as bad as missing out on three boxes of Shiny Brites when some kid cut in front of me and grabbed them. ACK!
I have sooooooo much to do this week! Treatment tomorrow. Finish the booth. Get the Christmas out. Laundry. Pack. Plus, there's a John Prine show on Friday that we have tickets too.
Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday. Ack! How does it sneak up like that every year? We leave for Arkansas this Saturday. (Shara email me!)
The sorrow that began with the election results last week continued with the death of musical genius Leonard Cohen. (My beloved Emmylou Harris had stated that he was the one artist she always wanted to work with. Now she'll never get the chance.)
In light of everything that happened last week, there's only one choice for Music for Monday.
Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Be loving and kind.
I love you.
This has been a rough year for blogging for me, apparently.
I did have a good birthday. Thanks very much for your well-wishes. I went to three vendor malls I don't normally get to, plus a church sale that turned out to be really great. This guy at the church sale had a tub of Batman comics, but the sign with the price was turned over. I went to flip it back, expecting it to say they were a dollar each or something.
Instead, they were 25 cents each. I heard Keith say: "I know that look." And the next thing you know, they guy and I have negotiated a price of 20 bucks for all of them. I counted them later and it worked out that I paid about a dime each for them. Score!
Here they are all waiting for to have a chance to pop in a cheesy movie and bag and price them.
Some other guy at the sale offered to run home and get his "brand new" Batmen comics for me. He had been asking five apiece for them, but would take a buck each from me. I told him I was too cheap for that and walked away. Seriously, you just saw me pay less than 25 cents each and you think that's a strategy that will work with me?
It ended up being a good comic weekend. Two of the malls I went to had some great comics for good prices available as well.
Just a small representative sample. Lots of Silver Age Harveys and Archies in this batch. I have a couple of buyers that look for these, along with Dell, Gold Key and Disney stuff. It's honestly a niche that the other guys with comics in our mall don't bother with, not even they one other guy who actually knows comics.
Since the previous weekend, I had struck out on comics at the big flea and at a comic shop sale, I was kind of glad to find so many. I told Keith that the comics I expected to find the last weekend were actually hiding in the next weekend!
I did find some fun DVD's at the big flea, even if there were no good comics.
And then the world ended.
I've spoken and will continue to speak my piece on the election over on the Book of Faces, so I won't repeat it all here. I will say that I am sad over the election results and scared as hell for so many reasons. The racist attacks we've seen so far are only the tip of the iceberg.
I am still trying to wrap my head around it all. I may end up yet having to do some posts here as well.
I will share this though. I stayed up until 2:30 on election night, Keith went to bed, but I had to know. I stayed up until the electoral votes hit 270 and it was called for Trump. At that moment, the tears I had been just barely holding back let loose. Chiquito was asleep in my lap, and he sat up and looked at me and started rubbing against me.
I got up and laid down next to Keith. I woke him up and told him what had happened. We held each other and I cried some more. Chiquito came and laid on top of us and it was just us, alone in the dark. Together against what had just become world.
The next day, I cried myself out. I posted about my sorrow on the Book of Faces, which has caused people I thought were my friends to mock me.
We have got to be better than this.
I am finally almost done with the booth re-do. Keith went and helped me for several hours on my birthday. (Best present ever!) And now things are looking good again. I still have a bit to do, plus I sold a shelf last night, so I've got some extra work to do today. I'll have pics tomorrow.
Sales are slowly picking up again. Election day was the first hundred dollar day I'd had in over a month. Since then, things have been a lot stronger, with several big pieces selling. Looks likes Melissa was right.
This past weekend, I house sat for my sweet friend Laci.
She likes my orange backpack and sleeps on it every time I'm over at her house.
I had a mishap at Goodwill last night, when I picked the wrong size cart.
 |
| Oops! |
I have sooooooo much to do this week! Treatment tomorrow. Finish the booth. Get the Christmas out. Laundry. Pack. Plus, there's a John Prine show on Friday that we have tickets too.
Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday. Ack! How does it sneak up like that every year? We leave for Arkansas this Saturday. (Shara email me!)
The sorrow that began with the election results last week continued with the death of musical genius Leonard Cohen. (My beloved Emmylou Harris had stated that he was the one artist she always wanted to work with. Now she'll never get the chance.)
In light of everything that happened last week, there's only one choice for Music for Monday.
Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Be loving and kind.
I love you.
Monday, September 05, 2016
Monday Rambles
OH MY GOSH!
It was so nice this past weekend that I can almost envision fall being on the way. Woo hoo!
I was able to get out in the backyard and take care of several projects that I had been totally putting off due to the heat. Our junk pile for the set out at the end of the month is off to a nice start. The back porch is cleaned off and organized and I made a nice dent in the shed.
After all that, I think I deserve a little Big Flea action today. Don't you?
NEW NEIGHBORS
With the milder weather, I've started taking walks again. My doctor is really pushing for motre exercise on my part. Apparently, pushing a shopping cart down the aisle of the Peddlers Mall doesn't count.
Other folks are starting their early junk piles, so some finds are popping up here and there. I'll take my incentive wherever I can get it.
I did discover that Gargoyles are moving into the neighborhood.
I'm going to start researching to find out what kind of food I need to leave out to attract one to our back fence. We could use the extra security. Someone pushed in our back gate last week and ransacked two of our sheds. Thankfully, they did not get into the biggest one, but they did take our chainsaw and spare window AC unit.
I want the kind of security that will eat the soul of the next bastard that tries to do that. You know, like a Gargoyle.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND
No less than five new construction dumpsters have moved into the neighborhood recently. I'm checking them daily and it's paying off.
I love the handles on these windows.
Sadly, one dumpster is in front of the house of the neighbor we haven't seen in a while. They are rehabbing his house so hard that they're almost rebuilding it. I'm fearing the worst now, which makes me sad.
Our across the street neighbor would know for sure what happened to him, but we haven't had time lately for a good chat. He's the kind of neighbor you have to lay aside a solid hour for conversation, even if you only have a simple question.
THE BOOTH
The last week of August was one of the most consistently strong weeks I've had in ages. I ended the month pleasantly surprised and very happy. I am looking forward to fall sales. I have a van load of hay bales and pumpkins ready to festoon the place with autumnery!
I am also finally going to begin my big redo project. I ended up scrapping my plans last week to stay at home and do much needed work in the house. I have a hard time balancing house needs vs booth needs some times, and usuallu my time gets slanted in favor of the booth. It was good to have some productive time at home for a change.
I'll be doing before and after pics here, so watch for that. This is going to be a near total top-to-bottom, side-to-side, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, back-to-front, and any other way-to-any other way that I might have forgotten reworking of my spaces.
Plus, a complete restocking. I've been just letting things go without bringing in a whole lot of new in order to make room for the fall, Halloween and Christmas stuff that's on the way. I've got lots of holes to fill!
TRADING SPACES
The other day I was going through some paper goods for the booth and came across a stack of booklets full of trading stamps. You know, like you used to get at the grocery store.
I realized that one of the booklets was empty and that I also had an envelope full of loose stamps. The next thing you know, I was licking and sticking and pasting until I filled that sucker up!
It brought back a lot of memories. I used to help my grandmother do that when I was a kid. She would put the large denomination stamps in and leave the singles for me to do. My grandmother was serious about her trading stamps too. A couple of pieces of furniture in her living room came from the trading stamp store. When my parents got married, she got them a pair of lamps with her stamps. (She also liked her poetry.)
Of course, we never did the stamp books while watching low budget 1980's Italian apocalyptic sci-fi movies like I did that afternoon. Grammie preferred that her cinematic visions of dystopia come from Poland. She was a bit of a cinema snob.
I will say that the glue on those things was nasty. I was worried that I might end up repeating the envelope scene from Seinfeld. It's probably not a good idea to go around licking 40 year old glue. I think I'll make a note of that, just in case.
MUSIC!
You enjoy some music for Monday. I'm going to get ready and scoot to the Big Flea. Wish me luck! I picked this song out so you'd be thinking especially about me.
Look for posts all this week, but expect things to get a little silly. I'm in one of those moods.
It was so nice this past weekend that I can almost envision fall being on the way. Woo hoo!
I was able to get out in the backyard and take care of several projects that I had been totally putting off due to the heat. Our junk pile for the set out at the end of the month is off to a nice start. The back porch is cleaned off and organized and I made a nice dent in the shed.
After all that, I think I deserve a little Big Flea action today. Don't you?
NEW NEIGHBORS
With the milder weather, I've started taking walks again. My doctor is really pushing for motre exercise on my part. Apparently, pushing a shopping cart down the aisle of the Peddlers Mall doesn't count.
Other folks are starting their early junk piles, so some finds are popping up here and there. I'll take my incentive wherever I can get it.
I did discover that Gargoyles are moving into the neighborhood.
I'm going to start researching to find out what kind of food I need to leave out to attract one to our back fence. We could use the extra security. Someone pushed in our back gate last week and ransacked two of our sheds. Thankfully, they did not get into the biggest one, but they did take our chainsaw and spare window AC unit.
I want the kind of security that will eat the soul of the next bastard that tries to do that. You know, like a Gargoyle.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND
No less than five new construction dumpsters have moved into the neighborhood recently. I'm checking them daily and it's paying off.
I love the handles on these windows.
Sadly, one dumpster is in front of the house of the neighbor we haven't seen in a while. They are rehabbing his house so hard that they're almost rebuilding it. I'm fearing the worst now, which makes me sad.
Our across the street neighbor would know for sure what happened to him, but we haven't had time lately for a good chat. He's the kind of neighbor you have to lay aside a solid hour for conversation, even if you only have a simple question.
THE BOOTH
The last week of August was one of the most consistently strong weeks I've had in ages. I ended the month pleasantly surprised and very happy. I am looking forward to fall sales. I have a van load of hay bales and pumpkins ready to festoon the place with autumnery!
I am also finally going to begin my big redo project. I ended up scrapping my plans last week to stay at home and do much needed work in the house. I have a hard time balancing house needs vs booth needs some times, and usuallu my time gets slanted in favor of the booth. It was good to have some productive time at home for a change.
I'll be doing before and after pics here, so watch for that. This is going to be a near total top-to-bottom, side-to-side, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, back-to-front, and any other way-to-any other way that I might have forgotten reworking of my spaces.
Plus, a complete restocking. I've been just letting things go without bringing in a whole lot of new in order to make room for the fall, Halloween and Christmas stuff that's on the way. I've got lots of holes to fill!
TRADING SPACES
The other day I was going through some paper goods for the booth and came across a stack of booklets full of trading stamps. You know, like you used to get at the grocery store.
I realized that one of the booklets was empty and that I also had an envelope full of loose stamps. The next thing you know, I was licking and sticking and pasting until I filled that sucker up!
It brought back a lot of memories. I used to help my grandmother do that when I was a kid. She would put the large denomination stamps in and leave the singles for me to do. My grandmother was serious about her trading stamps too. A couple of pieces of furniture in her living room came from the trading stamp store. When my parents got married, she got them a pair of lamps with her stamps. (She also liked her poetry.)
Of course, we never did the stamp books while watching low budget 1980's Italian apocalyptic sci-fi movies like I did that afternoon. Grammie preferred that her cinematic visions of dystopia come from Poland. She was a bit of a cinema snob.
I will say that the glue on those things was nasty. I was worried that I might end up repeating the envelope scene from Seinfeld. It's probably not a good idea to go around licking 40 year old glue. I think I'll make a note of that, just in case.
MUSIC!
You enjoy some music for Monday. I'm going to get ready and scoot to the Big Flea. Wish me luck! I picked this song out so you'd be thinking especially about me.
Look for posts all this week, but expect things to get a little silly. I'm in one of those moods.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Someday Rambles
IT'S BACK!
After a kind of moderate last week, the heat is back with a vengeance this week. Ewww! COME ON FALL! Eddie's sweating and waiting! (TMI?)
It's so hot right now that we went to a large outdoor sale on Saturday with dozens of vendors and I just flat gave up in the middle of it all and quit. I ain't built for this any more. I did make one super-fabulous find, though. Check back tomorrow to see it.
Not only is it awesome, but it's a total keeper.
I put off starting my big booth redo for a couple of days to finish up some things here at the house. Part of that work is outdoors, and I am dreading it.
Speaking of the booth, I think the summer sales slump is wrapping up. I've had really good sales all last week, except for one day. Lots of potatoes and bigger and bigger ladles of gravy. Yum! I'm going to come out of this month well ahead of where I've been the last three. It's still not where I like it to be, but any improvement over recent history is welcome.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND THE OTHER DAY!
Just the table, not the junk on it. It was sitting on the curb at the bottom of the hill the other day as I was rushing to catch the bus. I figured it would be gone by the time I got home, but it was still there. It was kind of hidden by some tree branches. I wouldn't have seen it originally if I hadn't been walking down that side of the street, which is not something I usually do.
I got one of those looks from Keith when he saw it, so I told him that it was "perfectly primitive." That's also what I put on the tag.
HEY PAM AT VIRGINIA RETRO!
I'll see you your painted turtle and ladybug rocks....
And raise you one painted barn rock!
Okay, so you really did paint yours, and I just found this one, but I thought it was cool and it did make me think of you.
Those that can, paint. Those that can't, buy.
Check out Pam's blog, if you haven't already.
THE THINGS YOU LEARN WHILE DINING OUT
Pikachu likes Mexican food.
My last latte appointed me a professor. Of what, I have no clue.
And the most recent fortune cookie wisdom.
DVD OF THE WEEK
This is an absolutely charming short animated film from 1966, directed by the wonderfully talented Gene Deitch. The full title is Alice of Wonderland in Paris. Alice meets a mouse named Francois, who takes her to Paris so she can fulfill her dream of meeting Madeline, of the children's book series. Along the way they swap stories, which become the various segments of the movie. Art for each story is provided by creators such as Ludwig Bemelmens (creator of Madeline), Crockett Johnson (creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon), and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber. There's not much else in the way of plot, but the whole thing is just too sweet and totally endearing. (I'm also a great fan of both Thurber and Johnson, which adds to the film's appeal for me.) Highly recommended, if you can find it.
By the way, Crockett Johnson is going to pop up here again in a few weeks.
WRAPPING UP
Not a whole lot happening this week, it seems. Let's make up for that with some music for Monday.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. I'll be heading to the Big Flea! It's antique wing time.
After a kind of moderate last week, the heat is back with a vengeance this week. Ewww! COME ON FALL! Eddie's sweating and waiting! (TMI?)
It's so hot right now that we went to a large outdoor sale on Saturday with dozens of vendors and I just flat gave up in the middle of it all and quit. I ain't built for this any more. I did make one super-fabulous find, though. Check back tomorrow to see it.
Not only is it awesome, but it's a total keeper.
I put off starting my big booth redo for a couple of days to finish up some things here at the house. Part of that work is outdoors, and I am dreading it.
Speaking of the booth, I think the summer sales slump is wrapping up. I've had really good sales all last week, except for one day. Lots of potatoes and bigger and bigger ladles of gravy. Yum! I'm going to come out of this month well ahead of where I've been the last three. It's still not where I like it to be, but any improvement over recent history is welcome.
LOOK WHAT I FOUND THE OTHER DAY!
Just the table, not the junk on it. It was sitting on the curb at the bottom of the hill the other day as I was rushing to catch the bus. I figured it would be gone by the time I got home, but it was still there. It was kind of hidden by some tree branches. I wouldn't have seen it originally if I hadn't been walking down that side of the street, which is not something I usually do.
I got one of those looks from Keith when he saw it, so I told him that it was "perfectly primitive." That's also what I put on the tag.
HEY PAM AT VIRGINIA RETRO!
I'll see you your painted turtle and ladybug rocks....
And raise you one painted barn rock!
Okay, so you really did paint yours, and I just found this one, but I thought it was cool and it did make me think of you.
Those that can, paint. Those that can't, buy.
Check out Pam's blog, if you haven't already.
THE THINGS YOU LEARN WHILE DINING OUT
Pikachu likes Mexican food.
My last latte appointed me a professor. Of what, I have no clue.
And the most recent fortune cookie wisdom.
DVD OF THE WEEK
This is an absolutely charming short animated film from 1966, directed by the wonderfully talented Gene Deitch. The full title is Alice of Wonderland in Paris. Alice meets a mouse named Francois, who takes her to Paris so she can fulfill her dream of meeting Madeline, of the children's book series. Along the way they swap stories, which become the various segments of the movie. Art for each story is provided by creators such as Ludwig Bemelmens (creator of Madeline), Crockett Johnson (creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon), and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber. There's not much else in the way of plot, but the whole thing is just too sweet and totally endearing. (I'm also a great fan of both Thurber and Johnson, which adds to the film's appeal for me.) Highly recommended, if you can find it.
By the way, Crockett Johnson is going to pop up here again in a few weeks.
WRAPPING UP
Not a whole lot happening this week, it seems. Let's make up for that with some music for Monday.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. I'll be heading to the Big Flea! It's antique wing time.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Monday Rambles
FALL IS COMING!
Yesterday the high here was 80. Yes. 80! I did some alley exploring for junk for the first time in ages. So nice. Temps this week are not supposed to get above 90 here. I believe Fall may be on the way. Woo hoo!
To celebrate, I put up a fall wreath in my booth. It's my only fall decor item right now, but I'm rooting around looking for the hay bales and gourds.
The wreath itself was a freebie find from in the neighborhood. I had a little trouble getting it off the front door it was nailed to, but a good determined yank finally brought it right off.
Okay, I'm kidding with that little bit. It actually came out of a renovation dumpster a couple doors down. I saw workers filling up a new one last week, when I was on the way to the bus stop, but I was running late. I checked it later that evening, and the wreath was all I could get out because they had piled a mound of icky old mattresses on top of everything else. The wreath came out in great shape, though. Sometimes, you gotta take what you can get and be happy.
The guy who took down our water heater closet told me that all the reno in the area is due to one guy, who is buying up all the old shotguns, gutting them, rehabbing them, and flipping them. If that's the case, there will be dumpsters for a while yet. There are a lot of shotguns in this neighborhood.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
I didn't get sales emails for the first three days last week, so I was freaking out. No gravy! No potatoes! No plate! ACK!
Turned out to be a glitch in the system. Last week was a pretty strong one, all week long. Still not all the way where I want it, but the gravy ladle is coming out more and more. The weekend was especially good. Best one in a while in fact. I was afraid the nice weather might pull people away, but I did pretty good both days. It was the first weekend of the state fair to boot!
I'm planning a complete booth overhaul and massive restock that will probably take me two weeks or so to complete. I'm ready for a new look and I want to connect most of my spaces into one long continuous booth. I'm still working on the ideas, but I intend to start next week. I have treatment tomorrow, so this is my rest week.
CHIQUITO TO THE RESCUE
I had a really bad case of the "I don't give a's" last week. It got progressively worse too. I started out not giving a shit, and then went downhill from there. I didn't leave the house. I didn't blog. I didn't do nothing.
Then the cat started bringing me mice. The first two were still alive. The third one was dead. At that point, I decided that I'd rather face the world than the building carnage at home.
My sweet little boy is a killer. (I think he was getting tired of me hanging out at home and bitching.)
RECORD BUYS
Like I said yesterday, there was a music sale at the comic shop yesterday. Everything was a quarter. I went looking for oddball and fun and I found it. More on that tomorrow. But, for today, a little preview.
I give you Cesar Romero. In all his glory. Complete with the mustache he refused to shave off to play the Joker on Batman. In TRUE HIGH FIDELITY!
I picked up several albums, but only one CD, which was actually for me.
This is the only Anonymous 4 CD I didn't have. (Except for the newest one.) Well, I used to have it, but it was tossed when our much missed and beloved Himalayan Brianna peed on it. She expressed her displeasure with the management that way. This particular bout of ire aimed at me cost me the CD and three comics, one of which I still have to replace. Believe it or not, she was a total sweetheart, except for this one issue.
SPEAKING OF THE JOKER
Since the topic of Batman just came up, I have to share the most wonderful news! There's going to be an animated feature based on the show, with Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar reprising their roles. Do I even have to tell you that I am pumped for this?
Here's the trailer:
Adam West sounds a little rough, but I don't care. It's still gotta be him.
DOUBLE FEATURE FINALE
It's a special day here at the Ramble. I'm combining the regular music for Monday with the DVD of the Week.
I spent some time Saturday night watching several Atomic Betty DVD's I picked up at the Peddlers Mall. From time to time I like to try and make up for my misspent adulthood of employment and responsibilities by catching up on more recent cartoons that I had to miss the first time around, like Betty.
Quite frankly, it was a lot of fun. Pop culture always seems to be lacking in heroes for younger girls, and Atomic Betty fits the bill nicely. The first few episodes are a little rushed and don't quite work, but it evens out over time. Betty is an every day school girl, who is secretly a Galactic Guardian, protecting the universe from all kind of menaces. Quite enjoyable. And kick-ass. Very kick-ass.
Here's the long version of the theme. Try getting this out of your head today.
Even better, try this mash-up with Betty and Sailor Moon. Fun!
Yesterday the high here was 80. Yes. 80! I did some alley exploring for junk for the first time in ages. So nice. Temps this week are not supposed to get above 90 here. I believe Fall may be on the way. Woo hoo!
To celebrate, I put up a fall wreath in my booth. It's my only fall decor item right now, but I'm rooting around looking for the hay bales and gourds.
The wreath itself was a freebie find from in the neighborhood. I had a little trouble getting it off the front door it was nailed to, but a good determined yank finally brought it right off.
Okay, I'm kidding with that little bit. It actually came out of a renovation dumpster a couple doors down. I saw workers filling up a new one last week, when I was on the way to the bus stop, but I was running late. I checked it later that evening, and the wreath was all I could get out because they had piled a mound of icky old mattresses on top of everything else. The wreath came out in great shape, though. Sometimes, you gotta take what you can get and be happy.
The guy who took down our water heater closet told me that all the reno in the area is due to one guy, who is buying up all the old shotguns, gutting them, rehabbing them, and flipping them. If that's the case, there will be dumpsters for a while yet. There are a lot of shotguns in this neighborhood.
SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH
I didn't get sales emails for the first three days last week, so I was freaking out. No gravy! No potatoes! No plate! ACK!
Turned out to be a glitch in the system. Last week was a pretty strong one, all week long. Still not all the way where I want it, but the gravy ladle is coming out more and more. The weekend was especially good. Best one in a while in fact. I was afraid the nice weather might pull people away, but I did pretty good both days. It was the first weekend of the state fair to boot!
I'm planning a complete booth overhaul and massive restock that will probably take me two weeks or so to complete. I'm ready for a new look and I want to connect most of my spaces into one long continuous booth. I'm still working on the ideas, but I intend to start next week. I have treatment tomorrow, so this is my rest week.
CHIQUITO TO THE RESCUE
I had a really bad case of the "I don't give a's" last week. It got progressively worse too. I started out not giving a shit, and then went downhill from there. I didn't leave the house. I didn't blog. I didn't do nothing.
Then the cat started bringing me mice. The first two were still alive. The third one was dead. At that point, I decided that I'd rather face the world than the building carnage at home.
My sweet little boy is a killer. (I think he was getting tired of me hanging out at home and bitching.)
RECORD BUYS
Like I said yesterday, there was a music sale at the comic shop yesterday. Everything was a quarter. I went looking for oddball and fun and I found it. More on that tomorrow. But, for today, a little preview.
I give you Cesar Romero. In all his glory. Complete with the mustache he refused to shave off to play the Joker on Batman. In TRUE HIGH FIDELITY!
I picked up several albums, but only one CD, which was actually for me.
This is the only Anonymous 4 CD I didn't have. (Except for the newest one.) Well, I used to have it, but it was tossed when our much missed and beloved Himalayan Brianna peed on it. She expressed her displeasure with the management that way. This particular bout of ire aimed at me cost me the CD and three comics, one of which I still have to replace. Believe it or not, she was a total sweetheart, except for this one issue.
SPEAKING OF THE JOKER
Since the topic of Batman just came up, I have to share the most wonderful news! There's going to be an animated feature based on the show, with Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar reprising their roles. Do I even have to tell you that I am pumped for this?
Here's the trailer:
Adam West sounds a little rough, but I don't care. It's still gotta be him.
DOUBLE FEATURE FINALE
It's a special day here at the Ramble. I'm combining the regular music for Monday with the DVD of the Week.
I spent some time Saturday night watching several Atomic Betty DVD's I picked up at the Peddlers Mall. From time to time I like to try and make up for my misspent adulthood of employment and responsibilities by catching up on more recent cartoons that I had to miss the first time around, like Betty.
Quite frankly, it was a lot of fun. Pop culture always seems to be lacking in heroes for younger girls, and Atomic Betty fits the bill nicely. The first few episodes are a little rushed and don't quite work, but it evens out over time. Betty is an every day school girl, who is secretly a Galactic Guardian, protecting the universe from all kind of menaces. Quite enjoyable. And kick-ass. Very kick-ass.
Here's the long version of the theme. Try getting this out of your head today.
Even better, try this mash-up with Betty and Sailor Moon. Fun!
Monday, August 08, 2016
Monday Rambles
RUNNING LATE
It may be Tuesday when you read this, but come Hell or high water, it's going up tonight. I was kind of tuckered out from the jaunt yesterday, so I stayed in and rested. I've been writing a little bit at a time through the day. I spilled coffee on my keyboard and mouse, which killed the mouse and sent me scrambling around the house to find another one, further delaying me.
MY WHAT A CLEAN EDDIE!
I guess I'll crawl out of the shower and do this week's ramble. I've been in there ever since Friday when we finally got the new hot water heater and turned the agua back on. I've never been more grateful for a material item in my life. I finally feel really, truly clean again.
Also this:
The kitty's happy. We're happy. Everyone's happy. And all is right with the world.
CAN YOU HANDLE IT???
Cuteness overload alert! Pink Hello Kitty cowgirl boots!
Also, Hello Kitty does sushi.
A VIRGIN NO MORE!
Like I said in yesterday's post, I finally made it over to part of the 127 sale. (What exactly did you think this section would be about???) I still have to take pics of everything, so I'm holding off on the full details for another couple of days. I will say this: MANOMAN WAS IT HOT!
Otherwise, I am back on my shopping moratorium, until the Labor Day Big Flea.
TREASURES
Speaking of moratoriums and such, how about a couple of things I haven't shown you?
I found this late 50's edition of a Masonic encyclopedia in a trash pile during set out. The cover is kind of scuffed, because someone tossed it on the pavement in the alley where I found it. Interestingly, a couple of years ago, I found a late 50's edition of Morals and Dogma not too far from the spot when this one was found.
I looked for an entry on the Illuminati, but there wasn't one, probably because this was the second of two volumes and started with the M's.
I've come to the realization that I could very easily be collecting flower frogs, if I'm not careful. I'm kind of fascinated with them, especially the unique ones like these.
I found this wooden hashtag at a church sale. The seller said that I had just missed the @ sign, which someone had just bought. I'm debating tracking down some wooden letters and making a big sign that says:
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Last Tuesday was treatment day, and it was full of snags, which is highly unusual. Typically, we are in at 8 and out by 12:30, with the longest part being the wait for the lab results and the wait for the pharmacy to send the drug over. We were kind of on a tight schedule, because we were under the (mistaken) impression that we would be getting the water heater that afternoon.
So of course, my port was clogged. No labs out of that puppy! They tried everything to get it to work, with no luck. So they sent for the drug that unblocks ports, which added an extra pharmacy wait. To keep on schedule, we all decided to try one of my raggedy-ass veins for the blood draw for the labs. Two sticks. No blood. Not my day.
They injected my port with the declogger, and sent me down to the clinic to wait. It takes 45 minutes for that stuff to work, on top of the wait I was going to have for the labs (once they got them drawn) and the drug. By that point, we were making back up plans for Keith to leave me at the clinic and go home to meet the plumber. We figured it was probably inevitable.
Except that it wasn't. My labs came back so fast that I couldn't believe it, and the wait for the drug only took about half as long as normal. We were actually walking out the door at 12:30, just like always.
Of course, we didn't get the water heater that day, but I'll still take a small victory.
SAD NEWS
The Go-Gos are on their farewell tour. My favorite band of all time is calling it quits. I guess seeing them live is one item that won't get crossed off my bucket list. I'm kinda bummed.
Admittedly, it hasn't been the same in recent years, since Kathy Valentine got let go, but I was still holding out hope for one more album. Hopefully, they'll all come back together again, when/if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally pulls its head out of its ass and admits them. Hello, people! We're only talking the first all female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the charts.
HAPPY NEWS
On the other hand, there's an awesome set coming out next month with alternate takes, remasters, out-takes, and just general treasures from the classic Trio albums recorded by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and my supremely beloved Emmylou Harris.
They can't perform together any more, since Ronstadt's Parkinson's prevents her from singing, so it's wonderful to have this tribute to the beautiful harmonies the three of them made for decades.
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Mural on the wall of a bar down the street from the house. The place is called Kaiju, which is the Japanese word for those big-ass classic monsters, like Godzilla. The side panel used to say "The end is near, so have a beer." I don't know why they took that off.
AND FINALLY
How about some music for Monday (night)?
It may be Tuesday when you read this, but come Hell or high water, it's going up tonight. I was kind of tuckered out from the jaunt yesterday, so I stayed in and rested. I've been writing a little bit at a time through the day. I spilled coffee on my keyboard and mouse, which killed the mouse and sent me scrambling around the house to find another one, further delaying me.
MY WHAT A CLEAN EDDIE!
I guess I'll crawl out of the shower and do this week's ramble. I've been in there ever since Friday when we finally got the new hot water heater and turned the agua back on. I've never been more grateful for a material item in my life. I finally feel really, truly clean again.
Also this:
The kitty's happy. We're happy. Everyone's happy. And all is right with the world.
CAN YOU HANDLE IT???
Cuteness overload alert! Pink Hello Kitty cowgirl boots!
 |
| Seen in a friend's booth at the Peddlers Mall |
Also, Hello Kitty does sushi.
A VIRGIN NO MORE!
Like I said in yesterday's post, I finally made it over to part of the 127 sale. (What exactly did you think this section would be about???) I still have to take pics of everything, so I'm holding off on the full details for another couple of days. I will say this: MANOMAN WAS IT HOT!
Otherwise, I am back on my shopping moratorium, until the Labor Day Big Flea.
TREASURES
Speaking of moratoriums and such, how about a couple of things I haven't shown you?
I found this late 50's edition of a Masonic encyclopedia in a trash pile during set out. The cover is kind of scuffed, because someone tossed it on the pavement in the alley where I found it. Interestingly, a couple of years ago, I found a late 50's edition of Morals and Dogma not too far from the spot when this one was found.
I looked for an entry on the Illuminati, but there wasn't one, probably because this was the second of two volumes and started with the M's.
I've come to the realization that I could very easily be collecting flower frogs, if I'm not careful. I'm kind of fascinated with them, especially the unique ones like these.
I found this wooden hashtag at a church sale. The seller said that I had just missed the @ sign, which someone had just bought. I'm debating tracking down some wooden letters and making a big sign that says:
#getyourbuttinthisboothandbuyallofmycrap
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Last Tuesday was treatment day, and it was full of snags, which is highly unusual. Typically, we are in at 8 and out by 12:30, with the longest part being the wait for the lab results and the wait for the pharmacy to send the drug over. We were kind of on a tight schedule, because we were under the (mistaken) impression that we would be getting the water heater that afternoon.
So of course, my port was clogged. No labs out of that puppy! They tried everything to get it to work, with no luck. So they sent for the drug that unblocks ports, which added an extra pharmacy wait. To keep on schedule, we all decided to try one of my raggedy-ass veins for the blood draw for the labs. Two sticks. No blood. Not my day.
They injected my port with the declogger, and sent me down to the clinic to wait. It takes 45 minutes for that stuff to work, on top of the wait I was going to have for the labs (once they got them drawn) and the drug. By that point, we were making back up plans for Keith to leave me at the clinic and go home to meet the plumber. We figured it was probably inevitable.
Except that it wasn't. My labs came back so fast that I couldn't believe it, and the wait for the drug only took about half as long as normal. We were actually walking out the door at 12:30, just like always.
Of course, we didn't get the water heater that day, but I'll still take a small victory.
SAD NEWS
The Go-Gos are on their farewell tour. My favorite band of all time is calling it quits. I guess seeing them live is one item that won't get crossed off my bucket list. I'm kinda bummed.
Admittedly, it hasn't been the same in recent years, since Kathy Valentine got let go, but I was still holding out hope for one more album. Hopefully, they'll all come back together again, when/if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally pulls its head out of its ass and admits them. Hello, people! We're only talking the first all female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the charts.
HAPPY NEWS
On the other hand, there's an awesome set coming out next month with alternate takes, remasters, out-takes, and just general treasures from the classic Trio albums recorded by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and my supremely beloved Emmylou Harris.
They can't perform together any more, since Ronstadt's Parkinson's prevents her from singing, so it's wonderful to have this tribute to the beautiful harmonies the three of them made for decades.
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Mural on the wall of a bar down the street from the house. The place is called Kaiju, which is the Japanese word for those big-ass classic monsters, like Godzilla. The side panel used to say "The end is near, so have a beer." I don't know why they took that off.
AND FINALLY
How about some music for Monday (night)?
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