This week's sales and why I'm so frustrated

First, I'd like to share this weeks finds. Not many sales were happening and only two of those were producers, but I'm really happy with what I found.

Do you love it? The charcoal drawing of the lady? It was done by an 18 year old, senior high school student in art class in, I'd say, the early 1950s. The information is on the back, but no date. There is a signature at the bottom and there might be a date there, but I didn't have my glasses on to look closely.
Also in this picture, a pair of Jesus and Mary pictures, plastic Santa and snowman candy containers, old, fancy balls and an old, flannel bag with monkeys on it.

The cookbook is packed full of loose recipes cut from the paper and magazines and many, hand written recipes. The Bible is a family Bible with some family information filled in going back to 1803. Montgomerys, I think.

Old wall paper. I always wondered where people found old wall paper. The only I've ever found was from the 1980s - until now.

~~~~~~~

I thought you might like to see why I feel so overwhelmed. What you are about to see will shock and probably repulse you. I'm baring part of my soul to the world here. I just want you to see why I'm not blogging much. See what's preoccupying my mind these days. If you look closely at the pictures of the shop below, you might be able to see where things are starting to shape up, but there are so many layers and piles in front waiting for a place to reside it's driving me nuts! I feel like I move the same piles around from one place to another. Maybe an item stays put here and there, but I'm sort of to the point where I can't do much more until I have a few pieces of furniture in there and in place.

(Edit: The pictures might be too wide for your screen. I just looked at it after publishing and some are cut off on the right. You really aren't missing much.)

This is in the front room. I was pretty happy with that corner for awhile, then things started moving over there to be put on the wall or to find a spot to sit. Notice the paper in the back of the shelves of the hutch. The black and white wasn't pleasing to the eye. It didn't play well with the color of the wood, so I'm coffee staining the paper. The stained paper looks great, but it's taking a loooooong time. I can only soak two pieces of paper at the time and it takes a day or two to get to the right color. Sigh.

More front room. The jewelry case and piles. That rack with the clamps on it is an old, Max Factor fixture. It has the Max Factor light globe for the top, too. It needs sanding and painting.

The pile of fabrics in the back room with no place to live. I know where I want them to be, but have nothing to put them on.

Front room again. That's garbage on the left.

Still in the front. That shelf will go to the back. It's not staying in the middle of the room.

The office. Oh, my word! I've piled, literally thrown, things in there to get them out of the way while we cleaned the floor and painted.

Just a pile of mess.

The storage area. What am I going to do with all that crap? Things waiting to be painted or repaired and things waiting for inspiration.

Back to the back room that will be open to the public. This is where Ricky's tractors and stuff will go.

More storage area. This stuff was moved out so we could hang shelves. Something that hasn't happened, yet.

Ah. A little organization. But with piles around and shelves awaiting hanging.

The garden area, organized, but with piles around.

So there it is. The whole, sordid mess. A few pictures were lost and didn't make it to the post, but the ones that did are probably overkill. More than anyone wanted to see. Sorry.

I just looked up and saw it was one o'clock and I was still in my housecoat. Since I played hooky from church this morning, I should have at least worked at the shop or cleaned house, but I have nothing to show for the time. I do believe we're going to work at the shop this afternoon, though. Now, I just hope I don't loose this post. I'm getting "Could not contact Blogger.com". Internet must be down. I'll try copying everything so I don't lose it all.

~~~~~~

PS to Lynn. If you're reading this and it makes you feel any better, I was under the impression you could do no wrong. LOL We really do need to get together. Thank you for saying what you did.

Just checking in

Mama Sandi has nudged me again. It's been a few days since the last post. It seems like I'm working at the shop during all the daylight hours. I don't sleep well. No, that's not true. I generally do sleep well, just not much. I wake up too early with a million thoughts running through my mind and drag myself out of bed and get busy. I do occasionally have nightmares. One recurring dream is of pressing the brakes on the car, but the car keeps rolling. Wonder what that means? Ha! Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Also, I now know the meaning of bone tired. I work and work, arranging and rearranging, moving heavy things, hanging small things. Moving the heavy things again, lifting and shoving. My back hurts. I'm sleepy. I better be burning more calories than I'm taking in!! The sad thing? I can't see any progress. It seems like I just move things from one place to another. And I need Ricky to hang some big stuff and we need to get some furniture over there, but he's working 12 hours every day with no off days and is extremely tired, too.

Last weekend's sales were crummy. I do want to show y'all a painting I got for me and tell you about one sale in particular, but I'm just too tired. Brain tired as well as physical. So, until next time...........

Cool shelves?

In my last post I mentioned buying some shelves that deserved a post of their own. Well, here it is. There were six estate sales Saturday and I hit every one. At this particular sale, there was a great, metal shelving unit in one of the outbuildings. I had to go back in the house and ask the sale "conductor" how much. $10.00. Alright! Woohoo! I was in the car that day and was sure they wouldn't fit, so I began the task of taking the shelves apart. The first two bolts came out with ease. The next wouldn't budge. Nor would the next or the one after that. This called for a man and looking up, there came one. An elderly one, but a man nonetheless. He, being a southern gentleman, was more than happy to help. He couldn't budge those bolts either, but said he'd take it to the house for me and we'd find some tools. I trooped to the car to get the camera so I wouldn't forget how to put it back together.

We found the appropriate tool, but still those bolts weren't moving. By this time, I'm getting a little worried. I wanted those shelves! They were vintage, had a nice, blue paint and a goodly amount of rust and crust. Perfect for the shop. The helpful fellow gave up on me. Next step was to take them out to the car and see if, by chance, they just happened to fit. These things are a little taller than I and quite heavy and unwieldy. I'm dragging them through the house, half carrying, half dragging. The estate sale handler just sat there. He - yes, HE - didn't lift a finger. He had someone else taking the money while he just sat in a chair off to the side. Finally, I got them out to the car, but realized I would not be able to lift them by myself when an angel walked up. A lady I'd never met before stopped and asked if I needed any help. God bless her. She and I wrestled the shelves in the car only to find out it was just as I suspected. They didn't fit. We lugged them back in the house. Now, we were both determined to figure out a way.

We started undoing all the bolts that would come out and wouldn't you know it? The ones that wouldn't budge were permanent. They were supposed to be permanent! It came apart into two pieces that would fit in the car! Yippee!!! The estate sale man sat and watched us struggle the whole time. He is able bodied and could have helped, but he is not a southern gentleman. I always knew he was a little rude and not terribly friendly, but ..... oh well.

So I get them to the shop and think I'd better put it together to be sure I got all the parts. Typical of me, I didn't make it home with two brackets (side pieces). The sale was still going on Sunday and I had a wedding shower not so very far from there, so back I went. No brackets. They say they haven't seen them. I did have a not so nice thought that maybe the seller hid them out of meaness, but left my phone number and email. Of course I never heard from them.

I didn't get them put together until today. I figured I could leave the brackets off the bottom. Ricky can probably make something for them. I rarely use unladylike language, but quite a few "shoots" and "dang-its" crossed my lips, but what I really want to say is this: It took me TWO F'ING HOURS to put those WRETCHED SHELVES together! I wasn't liking them so much any more, but I think I'm over that now. Here they are. I do think I'll get some glass cut for them.

What do you suppose it means that I had exactly the right amount of bolts? Did I misplace two brackets and their bolts? Or is it possible they never existed?

~~~~~~

Lena gave her view of Friday's sales and the policeman on her blog, White Cats and Roses

It's hilarious! She called and asked if it was OK if she put a picture of me walking away from the police car. I took a deep breath and said yes. The last picture of me I've seen was horrible. I looked like a stuffed pig holding a melon at my chest. I was afraid this one would be similar, but it's not so bad.

~~~~~

I don't know if I'll get to go to the sales tomorrow or not. Ricky will be home in the morning and if he's in one of those, "Why do you want to run off and buy more stuff when you don't have room for the stuff you have as it is" moods, I might stay home.

I've just reread this post and oh, my! It sounds like it was written by a 4th grader. Guess I'm kinda sleepy or something.

It's spring in Alabama!

Well, no. Not really, but there's something in the air that makes me think spring. Maybe it's because we've had such cold weather. It's always cold in the spring. Maybe it's because the days are getting longer by minutes each day. Maybe it's because I went to nine estate sales over the past weekend! Yes, they're going strong after a winter break. Whew! I was really getting antsy.

I can't believe it's been two whole weeks since I've blogged. Hey, I'm not the only one! But I guess my blogging break needs to be over. We've been working at the shop and I'm still trying to get Christmas put up. Yes, you read that right. My dining room table still has piles of Christmas waiting for a box to sleep in until next year. I was determined to organize it all this year and we've spent a small fortune on plastic storage boxes. I still need a few more to be finished.

The shop is a royal mess still, but it's coming together. A February opening isn't looking promising, but March should be the magic month. Hmmm. Didn't I say that about June and October and December?

At least I have a little to talk about now. I can share last weekend's finds with you all. Thursday was hair day for me and Lena joined me in some pre-salon junking. One antique shop had up to 60% off and I found an old, large, divided drawer being used as a shelf in the restroom. With 60% off, it only cost $10 and provides $40 worth of character. I was happy.

Then Lena and I went to three (Wasn't it three, Lena?) estate sales on Friday. One, we couldn't find. We rode all around Homewood in all different directions, but never got as far as this little road. We finally stopped at the police station where it was my assignment to go in and ask directions. Well, I met a young officer on his way out and asked him. He was kind and found it on his GPS (I have one, but not with us.) and even drew me a map. Lena says I was in flirt mode, but I think she was imagining that. There aren't many things more pathetic than a fat, middle aged woman flirting with a 28 year old guy in uniform. Besides she is the one who noticed how hot he was. I was too scared.

Without further talk, here's the bounty for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I also bought a shelving unit, but it deserves a blog post all it's own.

That's the big, divided drawer. Doesn't it make a good display? Inside it is a '60s child's book, The Secret of the Martian Moons, a tin caboose missing it's back wheels, two glass knobs, a "whistle for your milk" mug where the little bird is actually a whistle, a green, Jack in the Pulpit vase, a straw purse with Lucite handles and trim, a glass towel bar. To the right of the big drawer is a yellow plant stand with "Mod" stationery inside. The stationery is from 1969 or 70. I know because I had some exactly like it!

There's the book and caboose again, two gas heater bricks standing in front of a white painted flower pot, and an iron tray thing. Maybe something glass sat inside?? I don't have a clue what that thing is, but it looks like a shadow box to me. Except I don't know how it would hang or stand........

I have no idea why I bought the house biscuit jar. The lid is even broken and glued back. It was a last minute grab. I do like the plate in back with the pink roses and the chalk, cherub thing is OK. Lena found it first, but passed.

Ah, old bras and corset things.

You can't tell much about this, but that's a big frame that I might decide to keep and an old-ish, shopping cart. It was only a dollar, so I figured I should be able to find some use for it.

An elf convention in one box! I have enough of my own now that I feel like I can sell these. I might reconsider selling Grandma, though.

This is what I've decided to keep for sure. There are three other boot mugs that aren't pictured. Many of the small Christmas balls have indentions in them. I didn't have any like that.

Maybe it won't be so long before the next post. What? Do we hear an echo in here? Have I said that before? We'll be working at the shop for the next few days, but I might get a few minutes to blog.

How boring I am right now!

Nothing's been going on around here. I have nothing interesting to report. No estate sales, yard sales or auctions. A few thrifts, but borrrinnnggg. I spent last week trying to clean up from Christmas, but still have a mess. How?? Why is it taking so long? I am trying to do it "right" and buying plastic tubs which means I have to keep going back to the stores (can't find all I need at one store). I'm trying to find the least expensive containers, too. And the right sizes. Now, that's hard.

I've not worked at the store lately, so nothing to report there. Ricky has a long weekend next weekend and has done some swapping to get another day or two off and plans to put up shelving in the storage area of the store, finish putting in plugs, hang lights and whatever else we can work in during those few days. I really wish he'd just do the bare minimum and rest. Just lie on the sofa and watch TV and sleep. He's worked so much the past year, he's exhausted.

~~~~~

Since nothing's going on, I thought I tell a story about an estate sale I attended a few years ago. I'd almost forgotten about it.

The sale was in a neighborhood that had been built in the late 1960s to early 1970s, but has now run down. The middle class people who built those houses have moved on or died out and a lower economic and social class has moved in.

As I was walking up to the house, quite some distance, I heard banging coming from a house across the street, a couple of houses down. It was constant. Bang! Bang! Bang! Then crash! Glass breaking. The sound was odd enough to make me look to see what was going on. There was a man on a ladder hammering away at the house, the windows. I wondered why he was doing that and decided they were renovating or something, but it was sure an odd way of doing that.

My mind turned to the sale ahead. The house was full of people and we all milled around looking and picking up things. After about 15 minutes I heard someone in the front room say the police were here and the man doing all the destruction ran - they thought toward this house - and he had a weapon!! I was kinda scared and really wanted to look, but took advantage of the commotion and kept shopping while everyone else had their interest diverted elsewhere. I quickly decided where I'd hide if he came in and held everyone hostage and continued to shop, peeping out of windows whenever I was near one.

Nothing ever happened, I didn't have to hide under that skirted table and the rest of the people began shopping again. The mumbling and rumors was that it had something to do with a divorce and the "weapon" was the crowbar he was using on the house. I don't remember a thing I bought there. It's been several years now. I do remember that the experience was the most exciting thing of the day.

That's probably the most intrigue associated with a yard sale I've ever had. That and when a yard sale friend was "murdered". (At her home, not at a yard sale.) Maybe someday I'll have a mystery like the Sharon Fiffer books about antique picker, Jane Wheel or Mary Kay Andrews', Weezie Foley, antique dealer in Savannah. Or even Lovejoy! I just love those books. Not Lovejoy as much. I prefer watching the TV show over reading the books. Ian McShane was so cute in a rougish way in that series.

Am I unusual?

Oh, my! It's been a week since my last blog post! I've been working my tushie off. The store's coming right along. Things are coming out of boxes now. It's all set up with a trial run. At least I can see what's going on and it's beginning to look like a shop. I'm sure everything will change before the opening - whenever that may be - but a girl's gotta start somewhere.

Erin and I went in together and bought a coffee table and a couple of chairs that we'll paint and reupholster. She's got the first half of this week off and will come up tomorrow, so we can start on that.

I've been spending every moment I can at the shop and not much computer time at all. I apologize, but I haven't even read anyone's blog. I miss it, but just won't have time for much of that for a while, yet. I appreciate all your comments and see that I have a few new blog friends. I'll check out your blogs as soon as I can.

I realized that we'll be having our 35 year high school reunion this year (35 years???!!! Yikes!!) and I'm not ready! I need to loose another 30 pounds at least. If I start walking and did what I did last spring, a pound a week.......I won't have enough weeks. Sigh. Anyway, I made up my mind that today I get started on my exercise and healthier eating program. I even have new workout britches which I was going to hem this morning and wear. Erin's room has become the sewing room as well as the I-don't-know-where-to-put-this---throw-it-in-Erin's-room room. So the pants needed serging and when I couldn't find the foot pedal to the serger, I figured it was time to clean her room - after I walked and went to the gym. I drug out another pair of knit pants, but couldn't find an appropriate top that covered my tummy. Ugh. I'll start the exercising part tomorrow. I'll try to clean house, including the sewing room and finish getting Christmas down today. That's right. I still have Christmas all over the place.

So what am I doing to keep from working? Blogging! Ha! Christie from Serenity Now tagged me to tell seven unusual things about me. Am I unusual? I'm sure the rest of the world thinks so, but I'll be darned if I'm not having a hard time coming up with something, but here goes. Let's see how far I can get.

1. I'm short. I've always claimed 4'10", but I think it is really 4'9-1/2". I was so angry when they put 4'9" on my driver's license! Dang it! I need that extra half inch! I rarely wear flat heeled shoes. All I ever wanted growing up was to be 5'2". When I realized I might not make it, I just hoped for 5'. Nope. God had other plans. I still don't know why. My parents were both 5'2". (I'm still taller than Brenda Lee and too tall to be a Little People person.)
   
2. I've only been out of the southeast US three times. One of those was when I was 6 months old. Sad, isn't it? Oh, wait. Make that four times. When my mother was pregnant with me, she went to New York City.
3. All my youth, I preferred my men to be blond and/or musicians. I fell in love with and married a dark haired, non musical guy.
   
4. We've lived in the same house for the past 30 years. I've wanted to move for the last 25. Ricky hasn't.
5. Ummmmm.......... uh....... hmmmm.......Oh! Even though I'm very short, I don't generally wear petites. Did you know petites aren't supposed to have hips or boobs? Or much length from waist to crotch?
6. I'm an only child, but very not spoiled. Momma was determined I wouldn't be a spoiled, only child and did everything she could to make it so. Maybe to the extreme.
   
7. Ooo-oo! One last thing. Whew! I didn't think I'd make it. I was terribly shy growing up. Painfully so. Don't ever doubt the literal meaning of painfully shy. Actually, I must not have been shy until I was 7 or 8. We lived in Lufkin, Texas for the first half of my second grade year where I was voted most popular girl in the class. Momma said it was only because I was new. (See how she didn't want me to be spoiled and snotty?) When I came back, I expected to be just as popular here, but that didn't happen. It might have, but someone, because of jealousy I now realize, said something hateful to me and I shut up. For the next 8 years. There were other factors involved, but that was a pivotal moment. It wasn't until I got married and went to work that I finally began to really come out of my shell. It's been a lifetime struggle and the old shyness and insecurities still come back from time to time.

Now that that's done and once I've let it sit for awhile, I'm sure I'll think of more interesting things about me that I should have said instead of the lame things I came up with. LOL

OK. Back to work. Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go. Don't know the words, but there are words, hi ho--- hi ho, hi ho, hi ho.......

Edit: Just as I figured, I remembered something else. My driver's license says my eyes are blue. Now, I always wanted blue eyes, but they are green. VERY green. Was the license giver-outter person color blind??

And Happy New Year to you, too!

Well, did you think I'd fallen off the face of the earth? Totally disappeared? Vamoosed? Nah. I'm still here. The kids were here for a few days after Christmas. Son, daughter and two granddogs. What a blast! I've taken a long, blogging break which might continue for a bit longer. I'm a busy little girl these days.

Erin and I cleaned the back floor of the shop and now I'm starting to arrange things. As I'm pulling the bigger pieces out, I'm getting a panicky feeling that my stuff is crap, it looks horrible in the shop and nobody will want anything I have. The other panicky feeling is that I do not have enough big pieces. I nickel and dime myself to death. It's so much easier to spend a quarter to make $5.00 than it is to spend $250 to make $500.00. Add that to the fact that I never seem to have $250 these days......... eBay's always been my spending money and most of my eBay-able things are packed up.

Ricky's so funny. He has his own idea about the shop. His vision is definitely not mine. He's been buying John Deere model tractors and other model things like boat motors and now boats and rods and reels. He wants to set up a large area for these things. Uh, not at all what I had in mind. My vision is cool, unique, vintage home decor. Not Cracker Barrel toys! So, Erin and I set up a corner for him - which he saw tonight while lighting the pilot light. He said, "That's all I'm getting? That one, little corner?" He sounded kinda hurt, so I said that was only tentative that he might get that whole wall and that I was pulling out rustic stuff that would look good with the tractors. Sigh. What can I do? He's put a lot of hard work into this building and is so excited to have a place to sell his collections. He thinks, and he could very well be right, that word will get out that we sell these things and people will be excited about it and the women will bring their husbands and..... all that and everything. My mission is to meld it into the rest of the store. Oh, and today, he bought a toy train with tracks at Hobby Lobby with the intention of setting it up in the shop! Ack!! Where???? There's no room for something like that! He said he might make a track up high.

He saw that we'd put a wonderful, old, rustic 3' wide door behind the shelves for the tractors and said that door needs to be hanging. Ah! For a change we agreed on something. I'm thinking, yes, hang it vertically for a nicer backdrop than just propped up in the corner. I said I agreed and wanted to do that with several doors. I wanted one to be a divider at the kitcheny area. Uh, no. I misunderstood. He thought the door should be hanging horizontally for a shelf. I do not agree with that. Not a 3' deep shelf and not showcasing the wonderful wood on the door. Not gonna happen. It's tempting, but I simply cannot boot him out. I can't break his heart. I want him in on this every step of the way. I want him as interested in this business as I am. And God bless him. He took this blank slate:











And made it look like this:



We now have storage and work areas behind those walls. Before it was all open. No storage, no place to work that people wouldn't see. I still don't know what I'm going to do with those horrible floors, but at least they're clean.