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.

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.

Monday Rambles

Buckle up, folks!  It's going to be a loooooong ramble today.  Lots of pics.  Lots of words.  Please locate the nearest emergency exit to your seat, keeping in mind that it may be behind you.  Keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle while it is in motion.  In the unlikely event of a drop in cabin pressure, air masks will drop from the ceiling.  Please secure your own mask before assisting others who may be traveling with you.

Lily the therapy dog was such a hit the other day that I thought I'd brighten everyone's Monday with a couple more pictures.

There you go.  Isn't that better?  You're welcome.

I realized the other day that I forgot to mention that we made the cemetery trip a few weeks ago.  I took some flower arrangements that I bought at the Peddlers Mall, cleaned up the graves a little bit, and then had a nice visit with my cousin who lives across the road.

Mom and Dad

Mom's Parents

Grandmother's Parents

Last week when we were having the sidewalk sale at the Peddlers Mall, the manager said that since it was the first one they've ever done, some of the customers might not understand what it is.  I thought that was kind of strange, because there's really not anything to understand.  You see something on the sidewalk that you want, then you pay the person that's selling it.  It's like a yard sale, just on a sidewalk.  Seriously, the way things work inside the Peddlers Mall has more potential to confuse folks.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, I made a quick potty run, then came back to my spot to see three women looking at the toys I had for sale.  I had put up a big sign that said all the toys were a buck, but decided that it was about time they became fifty cents.  So, I tell the women that the toys are now fifty cents each, and one of them gets really confused.  She looks at the old booth tag on them, then at the sign, then at me.

SHE:  How much are they?
ME: Fifty cents each.
SHE:  But... (points to price tag)
ME:  They WERE that price, but they're NOW fifty cents.
SHE:  But how will they know that inside?
ME:  They won't, but it doesn't matter.
SHE:  How will I pay for them if they don't know?
ME:  You're going to pay me.
SHE: (Strange look)
ME:  Sidewalk Sale!  You pay on the sidewalk.
SHE: (Strange look)

It seems the manager is always right!

The weather turned wonderfully fallishly cool this weekend, so I'm typing this wearing my warm robe, while a crock pot of chili is just beginning to simmer in the kitchen.  I'm a happy camper.

Yesterday's Mazda shot responses surprised me.  I thought everyone would be so focused on that wooden shelf that no one would notice that cool little model of St Peter's, which, for me, was one of the finds of the day.  Y'all are more on the ball than I realized.

Let's look at a few of the finds.  First that really cool primitive wood shelf.  It's very tall and very long.

It was also providential.  I decided to play hooky last Thursday and not go to the booth as planned.  That ended up being the day I sold a shelf for the first time in ages.  Of course!  I had a plan in mind to shuffle stuff, but then I ran across this baby, which I thought would fit perfectly in the empty spot.

Turns out that it's a few inches too long.  I kind of left it in the booth without working it all the way in.  I thought that might encourage someone to buy it, but that clever plan didn't play out, so I'll shift everything around today and load this puppy down with junk.  Of course, then someone will want to buy it.

This is the top.  Cool, ain't it?

 One side has this awesome cracked ice laminate on it.  Only one side.  I love it.

Now that I've driven Donna mad with desire, here are a couple of other finds from Saturday.

Vintage chair swing for baby

Heavy vintage desk lamp

Label on the bottom of the lamp.  It was meant to be!

Glass Vase

 I keep saying that I don't sell decor, yet I keep buying stuff like this.  I'm starting to channel the guy down the aisle from me.

 A huge box of graphic novels!  I kind of threw the sellers for a loop when I asked about a price for all of them, but I got a great deal on them.  I'll go more into the contents of the box tomorrow and the smalls either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I do recommend this book on top very highly.  It's one of my favorites, a personal memoir about the author's brother who suffers from epileptic seizures that grow more and more intense, eventually affecting the life of the entire family.

Well, this is part of today's booth load. 

And this is the rest of it.

I've got my work cut out for me today!  I've been holding off on a major restock to let things sell down a bit, but it's time to do it.  I had no room in my junk room for any more boxes of priced items.

Sales have been brisk for the past week, which means the fall rush has begun.  The Halloween and the Autumn items are starting to sell.  I have a few more of those to put out, then it will all be out.  In the meantime, I'm trying to get my Xmas together.  I'm a little worried that I do not have enough holiday stuff to last through the end of the year.

I've decided to have my yard sale this weekend, combined with my book sale.  Today and tomorrow, I'm working the booth.  Wednesday is my scan, so I'm taking the day off.  Thursday, I'll be pulling the books off the Hillock, and Friday, I'll get the rest of it ready.

In other words, I've got a lot to do.  I'd better get going.  See ya!

Cemetery Trip

I still owe you all pics from our cemetery trip the weekend before last.  This is your warning that you're about to embark on a journey with a fat guy in a white tee that he probably should not have ever worn in public, rainy day or not.

I should also note that I got all the flowers I took down that day from a couple of cool booths at the Dixie Peddlers Mall.  The flags I brought were leftovers from my own booth 4th of July stock.

Putting flowers on my grandmother's grave

I always have to take a couple of minutes to chat with my grandmother when I'm there.  Out of everyone at the cemetery, I miss her the most.  My cousin who lives across the road says that she comes over and talks to Grammie all the time.  She was something else, my grandmother.

My grandfather's parents

My grandfather has two flags, because I brought one and the one the VFW put out on Memorial Day was still there.  

My grandmother's parents

This is the plainest my great grandparents grave has ever looked.  Bit by bit, the ones who do most of the flower-bringing are fading away.  I wish I lived close enough to get down there more often.

I need to do something about all those bare hooks at my parents' graves.  It just looks kind of sad.  At least one of them needs to go, but I start to fear that someone will come over and not have a place to put some flowers.  The hook on the far right is the one my mother used to put out flowers for my father.  Next time I'm down there, I'll move it between the graves and take the middle hook, that I put in.

Missing Mama

I wasn't sold on that saddle arrangement, until I saw it on her tombstone.

It's a good thing I brought the flags.  Dad's VFW flag had broken off, so I replaced it with this one.  I cannot believe it's been almost ten years.

Finally, a shot of me cleaning bird shit off Dad's grave with my bare hands!  (I used a lot of hand sanitizer when I got back in the van.)  It was just a small spot.

Monday Rambles

Not much to ramble about this fine Monday morning.  Maybe there is, but I'm kind of distracted because I have to go back to working regular hours this week.  Bye bye, summer!  Hello, full paychecks!  Those will come in handy for sure, since I really need to score some furniture for the booth.

I didn't hit any sales this weekend.  I guess something was going around.  Since we were heading to the country, the plan was to hit some sales down there, once we were through in the cemetery.  Unfortunately, it drizzled on and off all day long.  It was a steady drizzle, just enough so that you would notice that it was there, but not enough to keep you from doing what you were planning to do, unless what you were planning to do involved putting stuff out in your yard and letting strangers come and buy it.  It was totally non-conducive to such a venture.

I did manage to hit the sidewalk sale at the comic shop before we left (and before the drizzles started).  I picked up a nice stack of stuff, mostly for the booth.  The thing I like about buying for the booth is that I don't feel compelled to go through every single comic box looking for stuff.  I can slip around and through the crowd (the nerd herd, as I call it) to the boxes no one is going through and still build up a nice stack of stuff.

I did witness a nerd violation while I was there.  Well, not a nerd being violated, but a nerd violating the rules of the herd.  Instead of waiting to get to a box, this one guy went around to the back and starts going through it, which meant that he had to pull everything out of it, since he was looking at the backs of the comics.  Then he just starts putting them back in the box any old way, some facing front, some facing back.  And everyone knows that number one rule of comics nerd-dom is:  The boxes must be orderly!  The herd was aghast.

Since I witnessed the violation, I was obligated to report it to the High Nerd Council.  Which, in turn, slowed us down, because I couldn't find my Nerd ID Card and I forgot my Nerd ID Number.  What can I say?  I'm a bad nerd these days.  Someone should probably report me to the council.

Anyway, we got down to the cemetery, loaded with flower arrangements for the graves, and were just starting to take things out of the van, when my cousin, who lives across the road, came over to say hello.  Right after that, one of my mother's cousins pulled in and we had a mini-family reunion.  (Okay.  I know that technically my mother's cousins are also my cousins.  I was more referring to the fact that he was more in Mom's age group than mine in the family circle.  I think you know what I mean.)  It seems like I never see some family members any more unless it's in a cemetery.  At least there wasn't a funeral this time.

We all had a good visit in the on and off drizzle, then Keith and I got to work.  I took the old flowers and stuff off Mom's grave, then put the new ones out.  I also added a new flag to Dad's.  I also had small flower arrangements and flags for my uncle, grandparents and great grandparents as well.  I got everything at the Peddlers Mall, so I was able to get more than I would have elsewhere at a really good price.

Keith took some pictures, but I haven't gotten them yet.  I'll post them when I get the chance.

To make up for the lack of yard sales, I went to a couple of flea market/vendor malls, but didn't really find that much.  Guess I'll have to find some time to thrift this week.  Oh darn!

Speaking of this week, I'm not totally sure what posting will be like, since I have to get used to my new schedule.  I don't have a lot in the pipeline right now, so  I may be silent for a couple of days.  I'll get back to things as soon as I can!