Excuse Me While I Buy This Junk

New Post - Drunk Uncle or Cool Surfer Dude & More Finds

2009-04-20T12:03:00.003-05:00

New post at the new blog home:
http://www.shopjustvintage.com/blog

My Cat Was Murdered

2009-02-25T12:10:00.001-06:00

For those of you still have my BlogSpot address bookmarked, there's a new post here:
http://www.shopjustvintage.com/blog

Wanda

A Hint For Blogspot Bloggers

2009-02-09T11:15:00.003-06:00

A friendly reminder.....

Having had a Blogspot blog, this one, but abandoning it for my own hosted blog, I'd like to give a tip on comment settings. You must choose "Anyone can comment" or something to that effect or some of us simply cannot post. People who do not have a Google/Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, LiveJournal, AIM, or that OpenID thing, whatever that is, can't post a comment. If I leave a comment on your blog with my name and blog address typed in, (something I really don't like to do - sounds pushy or something) your settings aren't rest-of-the-world friendly. I see this all the time and most times, it's just because, well, you don't realize it excludes lots of folks. Probably, most of the people out there use one of those services, but there are those who don't. There are a whole lot of people who love to read blogs, but don't blog themselves. Many of them would love to leave a comment, but have none of those accounts.

For someone who doesn't like to sound pushy, that smacked of it, didn't it? Sorry.

Here's how to do it:

Go to "Dashboard"
Next, choose "Settings"
Then "Comments"
Under "Comments" find, "Who can comment?" Choose the first option: Anyone - Including Anonymous Users

Use a spam filter if you feel that will be a problem, but I never had any.

Wanda
Just Vintage Blog - Excuse Me While I Buy This Junk

I'm migrating

2008-08-29T17:36:00.003-05:00

This is my last Blogger post. I'm moving to Just Vintage blog. Please, if you have me bookmarked or linked - please, someone have me bookmarked or linked - it needs updating.

The blog doesn't look very good, but that'll have to wait. Maybe you can stand it for the brief minutes you'd be there. 'Course this one never looked all that good, either. ;-)

More stuff

2008-08-26T17:55:00.003-05:00

Oh, how dreary and rainy it's been with Fay sitting on top of us these past few days. I'm so thankful for the rain, but it does make me sleepy. I didn't get out this weekend, but am still working through the previous weekend's things.

I believe I mentioned that my web site died? That's consumed me for the past month. I like the computer to do what I need it to do. I don't care much for fixing things. Don't really like building things either, but once it's built, I sure don't want to do it again - much less three more times! Yuck! I'd think it was getting there and something would go wrong and I'd have to start over. I think I lost some pictures in the process, but most are back up. The web site should be fully functioning now. Keeping my fingers crossed. It needs some cosmetic work, but that is not priority. Adding items is. Today I added the blue and pink cup and saucers, a Wedgwood plate, a folk art bird painting and..... something else? Can't remember. All of that was from the recent sales. Here are the rest of the pictures:

Japan fondue forks, gold handle knives and Birmingham centennial hankies.

Can't resist Christmas stuff.

Mostly Italian nativity figures.

I need to put backs on these stockings.

Vera towels and a rooster towel.

Can't you just see these reliefs in a mid century modern kitchen?

A fabulous fireplace had sold in the house with the good, old stuff. They broke all the tiles surrounding it. Now I wish I'd got all the pieces instead of just these few - especially since they were free!

Unstretched painting of a girl.

Unstretched and unfinished.

Another unstretched painting.

Calla lilies print and the folk art bird painting.

Unstretched sunflower painting.

~~~~

And this concludes the show. I think that's all I got pictures of, anyway.

Now, I'm working on getting the blog moved over to the web site. I'll let y'all know.

2008-08-21T17:00:00.002-05:00

Continuing with pictures from last weeks sales, quickly. It's time to go home!

(These 10', gold cornice pieces, there are only 2, I just took 2 pictures, may go home with me.)

8' pine whatever this thing is.

More to come still!

Old Times Part Deux

2008-08-20T14:19:00.003-05:00

Saturday, Erin came up and went to the sales with me. Good girl. I raised her right. She has a good eye. We had so much fun! At one sale, we spent as much time going through the trash on the street as we did inside the house. I won't say what we pulled from the trash and you're not likely to be able to figure it out. Some things look like they might have been, but we actually paid for them. Others look like they'd have been in the house, but were in the garbage.

We hit five estate sales that day and tried for #6, but they'd already closed up. I can't remember what came from which sale, so I'll just share pictures and try to remember as I go.

Sunday she and I went back to the fab estate and got several things half price which was still more than we wanted to pay, but not so bad.

These two pieces were from the good stuff sale. Erin found the dresser or desk tray on the right. It's marked made in Italy. I bought the thing on the left, I don't know what you call it. It was dirty and I was afraid the dirt was permanent stains, but washing it revealed a lovely piece. I did note there was a hairline crack in the lid. As I was shaking the water off the bowl, a handle hit the faucet and broke clean off. Uh, oh. Too bad. Guess it's mine now.
~~~

Also from the good stuff sale. That's an early spongeware bowl. Quite old. The pitcher was described as "early". I'm not sure "early" what.
~~~

Erin found the brown transferware at another sale, but the alabaster tumbler and little dish was from the good stuff sale. Those initials are mother of pearl. The other side has an inlaid design.
~~~

All from the good stuff sale. Sugar shaker, milk glass dresser box (unwashed in the picture - cleaned up nicely) and silver shaker with cobalt insert.
~~~

That plate is Brougham and Mayer? I think? Something like that. It is going to try to find a place at my house. The colors are right for a couple of rooms. The ironstone pitcher was from another sale.
~~~

I know nothing about those two vases. They sure look Art Deco, don't they? All three of these things came from the sale with the trash. No they were not free.
~~~

Curtain tiebacks. Great color, don't cha think?
~~~

Erin's find of frame corners, wood things and glass things.
~~~

More to come tomorrow.

I still haven't had the courage to take the web site down to fix it. It just seems like it's going to be so much trouble. What a headache!

Just Like Old Times

2008-08-19T16:02:00.002-05:00

What a weekend! If I've seemed a little less than gung ho lately, it's probably because the summer has been so blah. The sales have been few and far between and when there was one, the things to be had were not so exciting. I think you all know one of my favorite things to do is find treasures. The hunt is exhilarating, but if I don't bag a kill fairly often, my spirits get a little down. This weekend was the way it's supposed to be.

Friday, I lit out alone. Lena bowed out for the weekend. Friday seems so far away now, I can't remember it all, but I'll give it a try.

(The images might be down for a time. My shopping cart isn't working and I need to take the whole site down and reinstall. These images are stored there. Hopefully they won't be missing in action very long.)

Let's see. I was running a little late Friday morning and the first estate sale I went to had been going on an hour or so. As always, I started in the basement. I had piles of stuff, but darned if I know what I got that took three trips to the car! What in the world did I do with it? Here's what I remember:

After tons have people had already been there and I'd even been there for awhile working the perimeter of the room, I found a large, untouched lidded, cardboard, storage box underneath a table. I opened it and found all this silver! Some are real silver, sterling, not silver plate.

These were, I think, the best pieces in the box. A large, Gorham, golf "trophy" from the 1950s and a pair of Wallace Sterling Rose Point candlesticks. (Sorry 'bout the fuzzy picture.)

The price was quite right on all the silver. Better than I'd even hoped for.

There was some fabric and, oh yes! Vintage Ray Ban sunglasses!

These Christmas candlesticks:

Some more stuff that got in pictures with other things.

Next on the list was a fabulous sounding sale. The estate sale company's web site had four pages of pictures and the stuff looked incredible! I knew there was no way I'd be able to buy anything, but I had to see it anyway. That house, which was a regular looking house, was full to the brim with honest to goodness, swear to God, hope to die - and to die for - antiques. It was like stepping into a spread of Colonial Homes magazine in the 1980s. If you've seen that magazine from that time period, think of the best home with the best stuff and you'll know what I saw at this house. It was what I aspired for my home then and knew it wasn't obtainable with me being a stay at home mom with two kids, living in "Podunk", Alabama with no money. This house was like being in a museum. I just can't say how wonderful the antiques were. Did I buy anything? Sure! A 1980s telephone, a decoupage memory jar and an automobile vase. LOL I think I bought the three cheapest things there. No, that's not true. While I was tempted, I did not buy a grungy little $3.00, tin match holder.

The hula girl came from the first sale and the owl was bought on Saturday.

Apparently, the sellers didn't know this was an automobile vase or it would have been much higher. Of course, I could be mistaken and it's just an epergn horn.

There are so many pictures, this will be continued tomorrow............

Gosh, how boring I am!

2008-08-12T16:04:00.003-05:00

There is absolutely nothing going on around here! School started back, but my kids are grown. People have been staying in because it's still pretty hot, although a "cold" front is coming through. The cooler weather - or just a change in the weather - might bring out customers, but it's raining. That means I get to work on the computer while no one's stopping by. But it might also make me feel compelled to work Thursday to make up for slow times earlier in the week.

This past weekend was open weekend, so I only went to a few local sales. I bought a 25¢ plate stand. Woohoo. However, I never did get around to sharing the finds of the weeks before, so here they are.

My meager findings:

~~~

Erin's contributions (much better than mine):

She painted and distressed the bench. And yes, I give away magazines in the shop! How often do you find shop owners that generous? LOL

~~~~~

Last time I mentioned a recipe site I've begun. I have a few recipes up now and I think it's fully functional. Perhaps it's good to go, so here it is. The big reveal. Ha! OK. Whatever. Keep in mind it will grow. I hope my friends in Blogland and real life and friends I don't know I have, yet will contribute. I'll also eventually add cookbooks for sale, primarily charity cookbooks.

Good Cooks' Recipes

~~~~~

It seems I always find things to do other than what I truly need to be doing. That, at the moment, is adding things to the web site. I have added some lately. Got the candles up and a few other little things, but not like I should. That HAS to take priority -- and soon! I also need to get this blog moved over to it. Another priority. And I need to allot time each day to do blogging. How many times have I said that? Sigh. Anyway, if you want to see what's new at the site, here it is:

Just Vintage

That's all I've got today. Time to edit some pictures.

See ya!

Good grief.....

2008-08-05T18:20:00.000-05:00

how time flies! Last weekend was a dud. I headed for a sale that advertised a Hoosier cabinet. Since I need furniture for the shop, that was the first sale on my list. Phooey. They were asking more than I could get in the shop, so I took off for a sale that advertised lots of collectible glass and pottery. I figured Ms. C from last week would be there already loading up on all the good stuff. Was I right? Of course! She was there and had loaded up, but honestly, I didn't see anything in her pile that made me regret not getting there first. There was still lots of stuff left and prices were so-so, and maybe it was the mood I was in, but the stuff looked so-so to me, too. Lena went the next day and was talking about all the neat things she got. It really made me wonder if it was my mood, but later I talked to friend Tiff who went not long after I did and she had the same feeling as I. (How's my grammar there?) That made me feel validated.

Ricky and I did go to a goat auction. Not for a goat! They auction stuff people bring from home first. It was hot and I didn't see anything worth sweating for, but it is definitely worth checking out when I can.

Erin is getting into the resale business with me. She's beginning to buy things to put in the shop. She has great taste, by the way. I've got pictures of the few things I found this weekend and the things she's sent, but naturally, the pictures are on the computer at the shop and I'm at home. They'll be posted later.

I am working on a new blog, too. A recipe blog. Like the world needs another recipe site, but I've been thinking about this for a few years now and lately haven't been able to get it off my mind. Seemed like the time to do it. It'll have "heirloom" recipes. Recipes passed from one good cook to .... whoever asked for it. Like me. Can't say I'm a very good cook. I've been known to burn boiled eggs. But the recipes are good and if I pay attention, they're good even when I'm the one doing the cooking. I will run out of recipes pretty quickly, though and will need help from my friends -- YOU! More about this site a little later.

This weekend is open weekend at the shop. Busy week.

Wanda

2008-07-25T07:16:00.002-05:00

Where did this week go??? Here it is Friday afternoon and I haven't blogged about the auction, nor have I worked through all the stuff. It wasn't wonderful, but I got a lot of pictures. I mean real pictures - prints and paintings. I do have pictures of them, too. So here's last week's gleamings.

The above picture is stuff from a sale here in town. It was supposed to start at 7:00, so naturally I arrived at 6:20. There was a vehicle I recognized as a fellow dealer's parked out in front. Dang! I can never beat her! (We are friends so I don't begrudge anything she gets. She just gets up earlier than I.) I jumped out of the car and took off up to the house and the seller said in a not so nice voice that the sale didn't start until 7:00. She wasn't letting me in. I mumbled something about people do get here early and looked at the vehicle and said I thought she already had a shopper. No comment. I plunked myself down on the top step and she went inside. I could hear dishes clattering in there and I just KNEW it was Ms. Friend-of-mine. I know the sound of her dish clatter. But maybe I was wrong. Only a few minutes later the seller poked her head out the door and said in the sweetest voice that I could come on in. Really? You're sure? I won't be in the way? Oh no, I could come on in. Ha! I was right! It was Ms. Friend-of-mine. I'm sure the seller told her I was on the step and Ms. Friend-of-mine said it was OK to let me in. That I was harmless and besides, she'd already got what she wanted -- which was just about everything worth getting. I asked her how she got lucky and got in early. She knew them. Hrmph. Oh, well. I really didn't see anything in her pileS that was worth crying over. The greyhounds in the above picture came from another sale.

The rest came from the auction.

A-be-be-da-be-da-be-be-da-be that's all folks!

Today was a 130 mile round trip for practically nothing. What is it with summer? I've temporarily lost my enthusiasm for everything. I don't want to hunt, don't want to sell, don't want to decorate, don't want to create, nothing! Sleep would be nice. Floating on the water and reading maybe. Oh, well. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I will not falter!

2008-07-18T15:37:00.002-05:00

Three weeks. Three weekends I've not been able to go to the sales. Well, a couple here and there, but nothing to speak of. I couldn't wait for today. Started on Wednesday looking in the classifieds for estate sales. By this morning, there were three. One 20 miles north of here, the other two 45 miles north west. Totally different directions, but Lena and I did not let that deter us. We hit all three. This is what I got.

That's right. Four things. Pretty cool things, but I'd have like for there to have been forty things! However, I did get a nice step stool for $5 and some printer labels and printer magnet... strips...things....whatever you call them. I'm happy to have all that, but still.

The auction is tomorrow. They have an auction the first and third weekends of every month and this weekend is not typically a good weekend, but I have to go pick up the sewing desk. The pictures on the auction site do not look promising, but who knows? Erin is going with me so we can stay late for the furniture if need be. The auction is an hour and a half from here, begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at late thirty. It's been known to go past midnight. They do smalls first and don't get to the furniture until 7 p.m. Now, if it was more local, I'd absolutely love it, but it's not. Anyway, we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'll let y'all know.

The internet! I has it!

2008-07-16T14:10:00.002-05:00

Finally! I have internet at the shop! When you're used to being home all the time with internet just sitting there waiting to be used any time the urge hits, it's hard not to have it. Now I can get busy on the web site, eBay and blogging. And other stuff as the mood strikes. But first....... :-( My point of sale software, which is simple, but a dinosaur, is somehow clashing with the internet or something. It's causing my computer to freeze up. Temporarily each time, but a nuisance. All that work and I'm going to have to do it again with another program. Over 1400 items to be put into a new system. Turning me into a blubbering idiot! No comments from the peanut gallery on that, please.

Thought I'd share some pictures of some rearranging I've done. There was a significant overhaul last week. Some major furniture pieces have found new homes. I was a bit panicky that those pieces held a whole bunch of smalls, but I was able to find spots for the displaced items and make the shop not look so empty. I've basically been grounded for three weekends and haven't been able to shop for more stuff. Look out this week's sales and the auction! I'm coming and I'm HUNGRY!

Hello - Remember me?

2008-07-09T08:58:00.003-05:00

What is wrong with me?! It seems like I can never find time to blog any more. I do have a promise that today's the day I get a phone jack at the shop, though I'm not holding my breath. It's been promised for at least two months now.

The kids came for a visit, my son and daughter-in-law. They got here Saturday and left this morning. It was a very nice visit. We thoroughly enjoyed having them and Reggie the Dog. Buster the Cat is glad to see his doggie cousins (Ross the other granddog was here two days) gone, but we'll miss them all.

Things are going well at the shop. Several major furniture pieces have been sold and I haven't been able to replace them, yet. With the kids coming home Saturday, we couldn't go to the auction Saturday night, so Lena and I went Thursday and left bids. I only won one thing, a little, drop leaf, sewing table/desk. Naturally, it was the thing I least wanted and the piece that will not hold lots of stuff. I believe if I had been at the auction I might have managed to get something more useful. I'll show a picture of the little desk when I pick it up at the next auction.

I uploaded pictures of some things bought in June. Much more has come in since then, but those pictures aren't on this computer.

The 2 little chalk dogs have already been adopted.
~~~

Can't resist these baskets.
~~~

This chair has a story. A friend, but competitor was 15 seconds ahead of me walking into a sale. As I was walking up the steps I heard her saying, "I'll take that and that and that......" I was in urgent, is she getting everything, I've got to buy something mode. I'm not very comfortable buying furniture. I always mess up somehow and really don't know what the prices should be. I stood over this chair, wiggling it, seeing that it wasn't very sturdy and asked the price. He told me, then I said it wasn't sturdy, there seemed to be a dowel missing or something, would he take less. He did "since I'd have to work on it". It wasn't until I got it in the shop later that morning that I saw the back leg had been totally broken off and repaired with metal brackets:

You can have this beauty for your foyer - just for looks - for $50.00. Not exactly the profit I was hoping for.
~~~

Large Italian glass vase. How do I know it's Italian? I saw the red Made in Italy sticker before it was washed down the drain. Sigh.
~~~

This lamp has a story, too. Lena and I had gone to some sales in Birmingham. This one was in a small basement and didn't have much. You also couldn't tell what was for sale and what wasn't. I spotted this lamp on a washing machine and tried to get the seller's attention. He and another man were having a lively conversation, so I stood by the table, hoping he'd realize I needed help. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. After being ignored for a couple of minutes, I threw up my hands and loudly said, "Oh, forget it. Let's go." Well that got his attention! He apologized, but by that time, I just didn't care about the lamp any more. Lena was determined then I wasn't leaving without the lamp. She asked him how much and he didn't know! "The kids" were running the sale. But he ended up making me a very good deal and I left with the lamp. Of course, now I realize I'll have to take it apart and try to clean the brass or replace some of it if it won't clean. Some deal.
~~~

She's found another home already, too.

~~~

Oh! It's almost time to open up and my hair's still wet and I've got to fix my lunch and stop by the grocery store! I think these pictures will be too big for the space in the blog. I'll have to fix that when I have more time.

Ok, Ok.....

2008-06-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah....... I get it. It's been over a week and I left the typo in last week's title. Sigh. That's fixed. Lena wins the prize for mentioning it. I did it on purpose to see who'd call my attention to it. Ha! Yeah, right. But I did realize it was there a couple of days ago, but was too lazy to change it.

I just can't seem to get motivated to blog. Got out of practice and can't get back in the groove. I do have pictures of last week's sales, but didn't get them uploaded. It's like once I get home from the shop, I don't want to do anything like that. But internet is coming soon to the shop! That'll give me something to do during the chunks of time no one's in there shopping.

And speaking of the shop, I've got to buy some furniture this weekend! Four major pieces have sold. Pieces that hold a whole lotta stuff. Word is getting out naturally, slowly and surely. Just the way it should.

We'll see what the sales hold this weekend. Lena and I are going out in the morning.

That's about all I've got. Nothing much has been happening around here.

Getting back to watching Reno 911. Best show on TV. LOL

Wanda

A near miss

2008-06-18T21:24:00.003-05:00

Whew! I had a near disaster yesterday! No, nothing to do with the picture above. I just thought I'd throw that in because I haven't used any pictures lately. This horror story has to do with the computer, printer and my point of sale software. I'm using a DOS program by Dale Harris. It's free and does a great job. I worked days on end putting in the over 1500 items with their stock number, brief description and price. Lena came a few mornings and called them out to me. Erin helped a day or two, but mostly I went around, wrote them on a piece of paper then typed them in. One......at......a........time.

I hadn't hooked up the printer, not having the correct cable. Wal-Mart, our only local source for that kind of thing, didn't have the exact cable I needed, but had one that would work. How was I to know it wouldn't work with the software? Oh, it said so in the software set up, but I don't understand technical stuff like that. I got it hooked up, tried to print and the program froze. I could not get back in. Scared me to death. I didn't know what to do. I worked with it all afternoon and finally resigned myself to starting over from the beginning. Groan. But this story does have a happy ending.

When I got home I looked on the software's site and saw there was a new version, so I downloaded it, took off back to the shop, uploaded it and was somehow able to get into the program. Oh, man! I can't tell you how relieved I was! I was even able to configure the printer so I can print receipts now. Yeah!

~~~~~~~

I'm liking having a shop. It's never been so fun to sell things. Before the only reason I sold anything was so I could buy more. That's still the driving force, but there's something about people coming into your blood, sweat and tears shop, loving it and the things in it and taking something home. I never liked selling at the flea market. You'd think the feeling would be similar, but it's not. This is special. Now I need to figure out what my hours and days will be. The one weekend a month has gone bye-bye. I'll still do that, but want to open weekdays, too. I still won't give up my other weekends. Can't give them up or I'd never have any new merchandise. At the same time I don't want to be there all day every single day of the week. I'm over thinking this, though. I just need to let it evolve on it's own. I'll know what to do when it's time to do it.

I won't be open tomorrow or Tuesday the 8th. Friend and daughter obligations. Tomorrow's thing begins early and I'm getting sleepy, so I'd better hit the sack. Oh, I did see that there are some sales tomorrow I can attend. I'm excited about that since Saturday will be pretty limited. More about that later.

Wanda

Just chillin'

2008-06-15T18:38:00.002-05:00

Oh, how strange it feels to just relax. Do nothing. Niiiice.

Saturday was busy enough. Again, a steady trickle with quite a few sales. On the entry forms for the giveaway, there was a list to check where they heard about the shop. It seemed to be pretty equal between the newspaper, the local classifieds and word of mouth. The "targeted" mailing brought in the least. Hmmmmmm.

Congratulations to the winners of the three, $25 gift certificates: Jeanette White, Debbie Melofsky and Sharon Craft.

Now I've got to get a phone line in with internet and get busy adding all that merchandise to the web site. I'd prefer doing it all there instead of having to bring it home to finish. I also want to do my blogging from there. The routine will have to evolve. Anyway, it's good to know this past weekend is behind me and life can begin to get back to sort of normal.

Opening, day 2

2008-06-13T20:58:00.002-05:00

Day two is over and done. We've joked about the lackluster grand opening. Customers have been steady enough, but I've had time to finish putting the inventory in the point of sale system and have had enough sales to start to get the hang of using it. I'm glad not to have had lots and lots of customers all at once. Couldn't have handled that. Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, should be the busy day.

The highlight of the day was getting to meet Rhoda at Southern Hospitality and Judy at Gracious Southern Living! How fun! They were great and it was wonderful meeting them. Naturally, I didn't have my camera there, but they did. Horrors! They got pictures of three of us. My hair didn't cooperate this morning, I didn't have on cute-clothes and there I am, in all my short, chubby glory standing next to tall, thin Rhoda. I didn't see the picture, but I'm pretty sure I looked stoopid. Even when I wasn't 40 pounds overweight, I didn't take good pictures. In a group picture, I'm usually the one with a goofy look on my face.

That's about all I have to report today. I'm sleepy and boring right now. It's time to call it a day.

G'night all,

Wanda

We grand opened today!

2008-06-12T20:35:00.003-05:00

Finally! I can relax a bit. Over a hundred flyers were mailed, around 200 were placed in an antique mall, a shop and at an auction, about 80 were distributed where Ricky works, there was an ad in the newspaper and in the local classifieds paper. People trickled in all day. We were never swamped - thank goodness - and Erin got to go home and lie in the pool. I got to continue working on inventory and made some sales. I think it was a decent Thursday for the type business it is. I'm not complaining.

Lena and my friend, Melanie, helped with finishing up cleaning and fluffing last night and they each brought food. There's no way I can thank them enough. They are great friends.

Lena came to the house and cut flowers out of our yard and arranged them to put all over the shop. I cannot arrange flowers. Period. I'm terrible at that. It's definitely not one of my talents. I'm glad it's one of hers.

Here are some pictures:

Flowers as you enter the door.

The front window. It's so hard to take a picture looking out into the light. You can click to enlarge the picture. I think.

Erin made this from instructions on Stampington's site. (The price tag is for the basket, not the banner,)

Bugs in the chocolate?

The garden room. My favorite room and the one that takes the best pictures.

The food and register table.

Kids type stuff shelves.

I might get a couple more pictures tomorrow, but the middle room, the room in the above picture, has horrible lighting even though I use daylight bulbs. Everything has a yellowish cast. The pictures don't turn out very pretty. The front room hasn't changed since the last pictures so long ago, but I might go ahead and take some pictures there.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I believe Saturday will be the busiest day. It should be, but whether or not that is what happens in reality remains to be seen.

Well, that was weird!

2008-06-08T21:50:00.002-05:00

It was an interesting weekend. I did make time for an antique dealer's estate sale on Friday and an auction Saturday. Found some pretty interesting things. But first..........

Erin was here and went with Lena and me to the estate sale on Friday. We went in Lena's Yukon. The sale, which was over an hour's drive from here, was appropriately billed as a "man's sale". Lots of primitive type things, boxes full of our favorite kind of junk and all was nasty, nasty, grody, grungy, nasty, dirty, icky, did I say NASTY? But how fun!! I spotted an enamel top table I needed to replace a card table in the kitchen area at the shop, but asked Lena's permission first. Was there enough room to put it in the Yukon? Sure! Go ahead!

We all three loaded up on smalls then Lena spotted a wonderful, primitive desk she wanted for herself. Uh, oh. How can we get all our junk, my table and that desk in the Yukon? Two young boys were there eager to help. Actually, I think they were eager to get to hang around Erin for a little while. They were scratching their heads on how to get everything in the vehicle. Doing the Star Trek Scotty thing. Captain, it can't be done! It's impossible! Then when he pulls it off, he looks like a hero. They worked and worked, but the only way it was happening was if all the seats were let down, leaving two seats for the three of us. Naturally, I didn't have the camera with me. It was a sight to behold. Erin and I shared the passenger seat. Thank goodness she's little. My behind, even sitting at an angle with half of it on the door took up most of the seat. The chubby boy thought it was pretty hot, though. Of course, I'd accidentally flashed a little boobage earlier which might have made things a little more appealing. No, it wasn't that bad. I'd just leaned over a bit too far trying to make room for boxes. If they didn't get a good view, they weren't looking.

Even still, that wasn't the weird happening of the day. Lena dropped us off at my house and we met her at the shop so I could unload my stuff. We were ahead of her by several minutes. When we pulled up, an elderly man was standing there looking at us and smiling. I got out, said hello and he said, "Well, I haven't seen you in years!" "How are you?" He's holding his arms out for a hug and I walked right into it. Gave him a hug, looked at him and told him I didn't recognize him. He asked me where I went to church. "First Baptist, but I used to go to Oak Grove and Oldfield." He said, "Odena?" "That's where I know you from." Me: "Oldfield, not Odena." Him: "Yeah, I went there, too." "I still sing in the choir." I'm racking my brain and coming up blank, so I asked him his name. He told me and I was still drawing a blank. Then he dropped the bomb. He said, "I'm walking to Jack's in this heat." (Jack's is an Alabama fast food place and a couple of blocks from the shop.) Then he looked at Erin and asked her if she'd drive him there. She looked at me like "Help!" And like, "Why did you talk to him?!" I just told him we were expecting someone to help us unload some furniture and I needed her help. He walked on. Poor Erin. She's thinking he might have been looking for someone to chop up. I think he's just got some dementia going on. He was dressed nicely and smelled like he takes regular baths, so he's not too far gone, yet. Breaks my heart. He's probably somebody's grandpa.

So now here are some of the things bought:

Metal drapery swing arms and as usual for me, I didn't get all the end pieces. There is another end piece that's not in the picture. That makes it worse. Three have an end piece and one doesn't.

Furniture pediment things.

I was excited about finding these.

That scalloped plate is, I was told, a dentist's tray, but shhhhh. We're going to pretend it's a milk glass cake or sandwich plate. I loved the look of the yellow stool.

More things I was excited to get.

And my favorite, aluminum letters.

It's almost here!

2008-06-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

The grand opening. It's next week!! June 12, 13 and 14. Ack! I'm still pricing things, making jewelry cards and digging out more jewelry. There's a whole wall that looks yuck, and Ricky hasn't brought his little boy things down, yet. He also needs to hang my sign, wire some speakers, put in a phone jack and lots of odds and ends. I don't even have a phone, yet. That's one reason I haven't blogged lately. I'm down there all day and haven't had time at night. Too, nothing much interesting has been happening, or if it did there was no time to talk about it.

Let's see. We bought a bass boat sort of on the spur of the moment. Someone Ricky knew was selling it at a good price and he wanted it. We've had it at least a month, but haven't had a chance to put it in the water.

Erin's having a dental implant and I've had to be on hand with the credit card. Whole days I should have been working in the shop. But I don't mind. It's for my baby.

Lena went to NYC - lucky duck - and I was on animal duty two times last weekend. Twelve cats and four(?) dogs. But that all went well. One geriatric cat slipped by me and escaped laundry room confinement, but he was pretty easy to catch.

Oh! I did go to an interesting sale last Thursday. It was hair day, so I was going toward Birmingham anyway and this sale was 10 miles or so away from the salon as the crow flies, but a long time traveling when you have to travel highways, stop at red lights and battle traffic.

The sale advertised a huge doll collection (they did not exaggerate), depression glass and lots of other things -- all "priced to sell". Ha! We all know what that means. "Priced to sell" is very subjective. I ended up with little nick-nacky stuff. Figurines and such. A couple of small pictures, a small McCoy pitcher. Just stuff. But I did pick up a Westmoreland milk glass set. It was a basket bowl with a lid that had eggs molded in with a yellow chick on top as the knob. There were 4 chick egg cups with it, 6 pieces in all. Marked $12.00. I thought I might could get $40 or $50 for it and thought I'd take the $12 chance. I took everything to the check out table and when they got to that set, the lady working the adding machine was a little surprised. She thought it was more than that, but the lady wrapping said, "No, the tag says 6 pieces, $12.00". I wrote the check and the wrapping lady continued to wrap. Slowly.

Just as she got through and I was about to leave, another lady came back and said the price for the chicks set was wrong. It was supposed to be $125.00!! ! Gasp! In shock, I said "Ooo! I want my $12 back". Then I chuckled and said I was hoping I could sell it for $40. They didn't find that funny. "Oh, no. It's worth a lot more than that." I got the first check back, wrote another minus the $12 and was on my way. As I was walking to the car, the shock wore off. "Heyyyy, wait a minute!" If I'd done that in the shop or on the web site, it would have been tough luck for me. I wouldn't dream of saying pay the price it should have been priced at or give it back. I thought about going back and telling them that and calling it to their attention how nice I was about it and just anybody wouldn't have taken it so lightly. But by that time I had 10 minutes to make a 20 to 30 minute drive, so I didn't.

Once home I did a little research. $70 seems to be the going price for the set. I wonder if they ever sold it?

That's about it for me. Just work.

Catch 'ya later.

Wanda

Thank you, Lord for your bountiful harvest

2008-05-17T20:52:00.004-05:00

Who's gonna let a little ol' cold keep 'em in two days in a row? Certainly not me! Last night, I took some Advil and some Sominex (so when I woke up in the middle of the night realizing how sore my throat was and started swallowing and couldn't stop, maybe I could actually go back to sleep quickly) and got up this morning with no fever. Woohoo! I actually felt like getting out! So, I swallowed a couple of Advil, just in case, and took off. A little discombobulated, but out there.

The first was in a neighboring neighborhood. It was supposed to be a yard/estate sale. I sort of knew the people having the sale. Knew as in the man's sister married my first cousin and surely I've met them some time in my life, but I don't recognize them when I see them nor they me. I still can't figure out whose estate it should have been, but I sure hope it was the dredges. Honestly, it looked they went to a crummy thrift store and bought the cheapest dollar store junk they had. I bought a round, Plexiglass top for those cheap, put together round tables we all have. I have one at the store that needs a top over the tablecloth so I'll have something to dust, so that was OK. But I sure hoped that wasn't a sign of the day. Hold on, estate sales in Birmingham! I'm a comin'!

Have I told y'all that Birmingham has the best sales? While I've done well at times at the regular yard sales locally, I don't really like going to them here. They are hit or miss. The toughest competition gets out before daylight and gets people out of bed. I won't do that. Plus I'd rather not buy things locally that are going into the shop. Don't want people stopping in and seeing something I bought from them. It's just weird. And some people take offense that it was marked up more than double. They don't understand. The exception to that, for me, is estate sales. I will go to them here.

The first sale in Bumingham-town was small, but had impact. I think this might be a fun time to let you inside my head. To hear the voice in my head when I'm at a sale. And yes, I do talk to myself in complete sentences sometimes.

The GPS system guided me through a neighborhood and told me my destination was ahead. Then she said I'd arrived at my destination. The voice in my head: Where? Is this it? Part of the number's on the mailbox. Oh, there's stuff under the carport. I reached for my checkbook and its not there! Dang! I left the checkbook on the chest. How much money do I have. OK. I'll go to the ATM if I have to. I walked up and spotted..... oh, I'd better not tell that because it's a present for Lena. I picked up the xxxxx and moved on. Looked at some jewelry, picked out a few pieces, got a couple of lampshades, then realized there are no other shoppers there. Am I the first one here?? Surely not! I'm right on time, maybe a little early, but they didn't act like I was first. It's beginning to dawn on me that the sale was run by family. That's often very good. I went into the utility room. Hey! Look at that vase on that shelf! Can I reach that? I guess I can climb on the washing machine, but let's see.......I can reach it! Oooo! I like that!

On into the house. I turn toward the dining room. Oops. This is the dining room. I never go this way first. Should I turn around and go to the den? Nah. I'm here. Might as well see what.....WOW! Really?! Am I dreaming? Yes, I literally asked myself that. There're still no other shoppers. Is that the McCoy vase I saw in completed highest priced auctions the other day? I don't know. Maybe. But for that price, I can take a chance. OK. I'm not leaving my stuff to go to the ATM, so I better choose wisely. I passed on a lot of stuff I'd have bought if I had a check. That made me sad. I continued on.

Oh, that's too plain. It's pottery, but probably nothing.

Well, go ahead and look at the bottom.

Whoa! Those handles look like Roseville! Nothing on the bottom and awfully plain, but for that price........ Hey! Look at that mirror! Do I have enough money? I don't know. I'll just pile it up and figure out then what to put back.

I didn't go through the whole head conversation. That would take half an hour. I ended up putting back a neat, tole waste can, the jewelry and some fancy scissors. When I got home, I saw that the lamp shades I thought were 25¢ each and told the fellow taking the money that's what they were, were really marked $3.00 each. It was an honest mistake, but I feel bad about that.

Here are pictures of some of the stuff bought there and the two other sales I attended.

The blue vase on the right. Camark, possibly? It was on the utility room shelf. The vase on the left could be McCoy Onyx? Or something else? I'm having trouble identifying the pottery bought today.

A red, Hoosier drawer insert - wood, girl, potholder hanger thing - old, tin house numbers - an early century or maybe late 19th century Pike's Peak brochure - a book of poems with florals, a Dionne Quints ink blotter - an old literary club card and the mirror.

A tole chandelier - after a trip to the ATM.

And after another trip to the ATM......Large, lighted Santa that might come to my house, I haven't decided that, yet. Old, flocked, Night Before Christmas book - little Santa match holder - Gurley candles - old Christmas Scotch Tape that you can't tell anything about in the picture - three large, net stockings and one small - a candy cane quarter saver and four little condiment boxes.

I also got a lot of genealogy and history type stuff and a shoe box of architectural pieces that I forgot to get a picture of. It was nothing all that special, anyway.

At the sale with all the Christmas stuff, I was toting around a porcelain angel, dropped her and her head and wings broke off. I was such a wicked warmit. I put her on a bottom shelf in a closet. Shhhh. Don't tell anybody.

Whew! Sorry about the dissertation! I've just been so deprived of sales lately. But are you like me and think you got so, so much, and when you actually get it all out and look at it think, "Is this it?? Is this all there is?" "I thought it was a lot more than that."

I'd really like to go back to one sale tomorrow for half price day, but don't know if I will or not. I'm afraid the things I passed on will still be more than I want to pay even at half price.

Home today

2008-05-16T15:05:00.002-05:00

Woe is me! I've had a bit of a sore throat all week, but last night it developed into full blown....... something. Flu, bronchitis, really bad cold........... I had a rough night last night, running a fever rocking between 100 and 101, but still got up this morning hoping I felt good enough to hit the sales. Uh, no. I went back to bed and didn't get up until 12:00 and have been in and out of sleep ever since. Still with that little fever. It's now a little after 5 pm.

There are two types of people in the world when it comes to running a fever. Three, really. The group who begins taking a fever reducer immediately, the group who lets the fever do it's thing fighting infection and those who don't fool with any of that, but head straight to the doctor. It's no surprise I'm in the stubborn group. As long as the fever doesn't get too high and I'm not too miserable, I let it do it's thing. So I feel pretty crummy.

This is another reason I don't want a store that has a regular, several days a week open schedule. What if I was supposed to be open today? I'd be up he creek without a paddle. No one to take over for me. But, since I'm not scheduled to be open today, I have the luxury of nursing my whatever-it-is-I-have.

I'm lying down as I type this which isn't easy, even with the laptop, so I'll end this post. Just wanted to moan and groan a little. I try not to do that for real. I'm waiting for Mr. I'm Working Midnights to get up and go get the DQ Blizzard I requested several hours ago when he was up briefly. He didn't seem to understand the urgency of it. He'd better hurry and that's all I've got to say about that!

Mmmmmm........ Candles

2008-05-14T21:32:00.002-05:00

I don't plan to carry any new merchandise, but needed something for a pity purchase if people come in and find nothing to their liking. Capri Blue candles are my choice. These are some of the best candles I've ever sniffed. I first found them at Anthropologie, did some investigation and found that no one locally carries them, so an order was made. So far, we have Aloha Orchid, Volcano, Peeled Naval Orange and Paris. I'd actually smelled the first three and knew they were wonderful, but took a chance on Paris. I liked the name and it turned out to be a good bet. It's very different from the others. Has almost a powdery scent. We had Aloha Orchid burning Saturday so that's the one everyone wanted. All the small jars of that "flavor" are gone now. For the grand opening, we'll have a sample of each burning. Hope nobody's allergic!

~~~~~

I've gone to officialdom kicking and screaming. Each step is very difficult for me to make. The business license, the sign on the window and now a business bank account. Why should I have to think about that? Why is it so hard? Next will be a telephone and then a credit card merchant account. This is all expensive, too! I just want to buy and sell. Hunt the stuff. Sell so I can buy more stuff. Keep records? Yuck! That kind of thing makes me wish I'd just kept all this a hobby. But I'll survive.

~~~~~

It's so nice not to feel like I've got to work constantly at the shop. I do work there a lot, but I'm not so pushed. I'm beginning to spend more time on the new web site. Figured since the site address is on the window of the shop the site probably needs to be presentable.

I'll eventually move the blog to the site and change the look just a little. That's something I dread. It means I'll have to think. Thinking's harrrrddddd! It hurts! The web site is hard enough, but the layout of it is almost done. Next will be taking pictures of all those things, writing descriptions and putting them on the site. That promises to only take for-e-ver.

So that's what's going on right now. Exciting, huh? Sigh.

2008-05-11T19:44:00.002-05:00

It's official! The window has been lettered. There's no denying this is really a shop now. That line going across is a shelf that was there when I moved in. I've always wanted to remove it, but that was more complicated than it looked, so it's still there. There are a lot of reflections in the window and I'm still unhappy with that old, green paint. I just can't figure out what color to use instead. It needs to be something that's historical, not a trendy color. I think we're going to see about maybe getting the buildings put on the historical register.

I did tell a few people and was open officially on Saturday. Not everything was priced, still isn't, but we had it looking decent. A few friends dropped by and a few curious wanderer-ins. Or would that be wanderers-in? Made a few sales, enough to help me get a feel for the process. Easing into things is much more my style than jumping in with both feet.

Here are pictures of some of the areas:

Spindles from the old Birmingham courthouse, iron bracket and a stack of Southern agricultural books.
~~~~~

That iron stand looked nekkid on the bare, cement floor, so we gave it a "grass" rug. It looks better in person than in the picture.
~~~~~

Old shopping cart in the front window.
~~~~~

The "Blue" shelves. My handy dandy hubby made those shelves. Am I a lucky girl or what?
~~~~~

The back window. Sorry the picture is so dark.
~~~~~

I feel like I can relax a little now. Maybe stay home and clean the house. I might actually cook a meal! And who knows? Maybe I can get back into the blogging habit. I sure hope so. I miss it. Miss seeing what all of you are doing.

There's still a lot to do before the grand opening next month, but I can see daylight now. Whew!