Hopefully for the new year!

I know I've been slacking in posting on my blog! I've been on the road a lot this month and I'm still trying to settle into my new place. Working on the front yard and getting it ready for this spring is on the top of my list. It's more time sensitive than where I've going to put all my boxes of stuff.  Getting back into the routine of doing my WhatNot auctions has been a slow process. Still not happy with how I have my auction studio set up, that's a work in process! While I was down in Carmel for Christmas, I did stop by all the thrift stores. I picked up this Lalique reproduction decanter which to me is the size of a perfume bottle. Originally it came with four little glasses but those are long gone. The mold to this was sold a while back, so this isn't a true Lalique piece but it is made from the same mold. It was one of the first things sold in my WhatNot auction this week. 

I'm hopefully 2023 will be a calm and boring year for me. No plans to travels or do anything adventurous but those things just seem to find me. :) Wishing everything a wonderful new year and thank -you for stopping by my blog.  

 

High Tech World

Living now in a world of high tech gadgets, it's great until they don't work.

At the house with Woody and Buzz, it's nice that's there's no forgetting to turn off the lights as you just have to ask Google to do it.

This month my Rollo shipping printer (high end printer) went on the blink. After going through two customer support techs, it still not working correctly. That's even with a live on camera tech looking at my printer and laptop. I finally ask to return it but that was a no go, they were going to get it working if it means keeping me on the line for days. It's a great printer when it works but when it doesn't and you have a shipping deadline, it's bad. I finally told since they won't let me return it, I'll have to call in my own IT people to see if they can figure out what the problem is. It's been narrowed down to a software problem. 

Then my laptop wasn't charging. With my Apple IT guy now living in Holland, I was on my own. I'm getting ready to go down to the beach house for Christmas so not having my laptop working would be bad. Decided to go into the Apple store in Los Gatos and it was packed! Guess Santa will be bringing a lot of high end toys to people for Christmas! I was very surprised that I could get an appointment quickly and they trouble shooted my problem in minutes. It took longer to find a parking space! It wasn't a serious problem, just a hard reset and I was go to go.

Christmas 2022

Spending Christmas at the beach house this year. With COVID still being an issue and everyone living in far flung  places it will just be me. 

Being here at the Carmel house has always felt like home.

My favorite time at the beach is during low tide, when it's easier to walk and still be very close to the water. It's a super low tide in the afternoon, so makes it a perfect time to walk the beach. Couldn't ask for a nicer holiday present!

Great auction find!

This week I added to my persimmon collection. My mother left me a persimmon jam jar (lower right hand corner) she got many years ago in Japan. She said the man who made it basically burned down his house to keep his kilns going as he tried to find the perfect color and glaze for his pottery. 

It's not a very common item to find here in the states so I'm always thrilled when I find them up for auction. I think this is the first time I've actually have seen more than one at any auction. 

It was interesting that this auction through Maxsold, was only a few blocks away from my family home. Most of the items in the lot (auction term for a grouping of items) were damaged but I plan to keep the persimmons ones chips and all as finding them in the wild is so rare. 

While I was waiting to get permission to pick up my items there was a Louis Vuitton wallet at the check in table for $200.00. In my time running a thrift store and working with a consignment person, I've learned a lot about high end luxury goods. So I gave it a quick inspection to see if it was the really thing. I spotted three things that made me guess it was a knock off. Really, I only had to be sure of one thing. I had a nice chat with the auction person and she said the owner had purchased at a store (not sure what store or where) but didn't have the receipt. I said it didn't matter where she brought from, it's a fake with or without a receipt because I'm sure it didn't come from a LV store. So I'm guessing that's why it wasn't in the online catalog, selling fakes is illegal and LV will shut you down in a heart beat as well as empty your bank account in lawsuits. 

Still missing my fur baby

Today would have been Annie's 13 birthday. There isn't a day that goes by I don't miss her. 

I'm babysitting the Woody and Buzz again this week and it helps with lifting my spirits. It also doesn't hurt that their house is so comfortable and has all the latest gadgets. Nice music, perfect coffee made at a touch of a button and my bagel toasted just right. Last night I soaked in the hot tub for the first time in many many years. Doesn't matter where I go, the dogs will follow me just like Annie. :(

I'm still working on getting my studio set up and cleaning up the front garden area. I pulled out a dead apricot tree which was close to my front door. With all the rain, the ground was soaked so knocking it over was the easy part. Now getting rid of it will be the challenge! My goal is to clean up what I can while the ground is still workable. Once it dries out, I'll be working with very hard clay soil. 

Babysitting the old boys

Boys enjoying the great weather

I'm dog sitting these two old guys for the week. It's surprising how old habits from own a big dog come back. Going to the bathroom and having everyone follow you in, like you may get lost. Laying in the middle of the kitchen while you're cooking and having to step over them. Getting up before sunrise to open the door for them to go potty and get their breakfast going. Being senior dogs, I have to be careful not to over exercise them as much as Woody would like to play fetch. His old bones just can't take it anymore. 

When Annie passed away, I noticed that I didn't have any more birds in my gardens. A bird vet tech told me it was because their protector wasn't there anymore. This morning I realized when Woody is out in the backyard all the big birds (mainly crows) aren't hanging around the feeders keeping the smaller birds away. Even with him barking, the little birds don't care, they happily peck away.  Brings back memories for my Annie just chilling out in our zen garden with all these little birds jumping all around her. 

So I may have all my stuff in my new place but there's still a whole lot of unpacking to be done! Still looks like a storage unit. I stop by my place for a few hours trying to get things out of the cardboard boxes but I don't like leaving the boys for too long.

Nomad life coming to an end.

My life as a nomad is finally coming to an end. So grateful to the friends that made it possible for me to roam around until I found something. I'm also grateful I had the resources to live this type of life style for several months as stressful as it was.

I found a little hole in the wall place in Cupertino. Main house was built in the 1960's and the in laws unit (maybe it was a second garage back in the day?) was built around the same time. The lot was originally very large (well it still is large) so I have a little orchard in front of my place. It's not been kept up (owners of the property aren't good at gardening) so once I'm settled in, I'll tackle bringing the orchard back to life.

The place is not pretty but it has almost everything I was looking for. It will be a slow process getting it to someplace I can call home. 

I'm currently down in Carmel and the weather here is perfect! I'm getting ready to close up the house as I have to be back in Cupertino this weekend for the movers and then off to dog sit for a friend. 

Slim Pickings in Carmel

seriously $50?

It's been slim picking here in Carmel. I know at the high end thrift stores the price will be high because they curate everything that comes in. They also have a customer base to support their prices. Things are clean and in good condition plus in a very nice area.  

What I don't understand is the thrift stores in very sketchy areas (really have to be sure you want to get out of car) that are charging full antique store prices. Just because it's listed online for $50 doesn't mean it will sell for that much. The chances of you getting that one collector in who will pay that price is pretty slim. The traffic you get into your store is very slow. I did a quick search on the cookie jar and sure enough it was for sale online for $50. Going for all the money and having a slow sell through rate isn't always the best options. The only time I find something to flip, is something you can't easily find online. I did pay up for this frog ashtray ($10) because I thought it was funny but I should be able to flip it for $20. Can't find it anywhere online which is the only reason it wasn't double the price. 

Still in search of a place to call home

Working on getting my qi back in balance

I'm so bummed out and my qi (so I've been told) is so out of whack. I thought I had a place all lined up in Saratoga (an ADU) but the current tenant decided to sub-lease it to his son - or at least that is what he's telling the landlady. Personally I think  he's sub leasing it because if his son really got into Stanford, he's a little far from the campus. I would think he would want to be in the dorms or at least close.

I'm staying down here in Carmel while I search for the place to live in Cupertino but it's not been easy. Everyone wants to rent to an Apple or Google employee with hopes that they will be working remotely somewhere else most of the time but still be willing to pay the high rents. Had the same problem up in Incline, everyone wanted a high tech person who they hoped would only use the place a few days a week. 

So I'm back to square one again and looking :( 

Is it real carnival glass?

may be carinval glass?

I found out at one Goodwill store I stop at all the time, (while I'm here in San Jose) the good stuff comes out on the carts. It's very rare for me to find anything on the shelves. I'm not a full time shark but I will circle around the store a few times to see if a cart will come out. I've even gotten out of line at the check out counter is a cart comes out. 

I'm not 100% sure about this carnival glass looking bowl. It's super heavy, which isn't normal for most carnival glass. I'm also not sure if it's a flash coating on it. It's a mystery to me and the Google searches I've done, give it mixed reviews. 

Halloween in Holland

My daughter didn't want the boys to miss out on Halloween now that they live in Holland. She asked several of the neighbors if they would willing to participate in this American tradition and she would supply the candy. Mees and Henk's cousins also went trick or treating with them and I'm sure they think this American holiday is a keeper!

Pyrex score twice in one week!

Last week at Savers I scored four pink pyrex bowls. I just happened to be standing where the carts stopped before being put out on the shelves. I wasn't being a shark either! I got the flamingo (plain pink, shown in the photo) and the daisy pattern (already sold one) which is also pink. Rarely will you find the tops with the bottoms, so it's pretty hard to find the tops. Anyone who deals in pyrex is always looking for those. 

There is a Salvation Army store close to my storage unit down in Gilroy. It's on the very edge of town so doesn't get much traffic. Which also means they don't get any of the good stuff either. I had some donations riding around in the back of my car, so I stopped by. 

The Salvation Army stores around here aren't very good, so I don't go out of my way to shop there. This store is so far off the beaten path that the donation drop off guys where very happy to see me. I think I was the first and maybe only person they would see all day! 

Since I was there I went in but didn't think I would find anything.  I really don't like the layout of this store as all the houseware are on rounds and not in straight aisles. No way to speed to shop and very hard to see everything.

I was super surprised to find two pyrex lids (the only ones there) in the sizes I needed. From the date stamps they were just put out It was a unicorn moment for sure. Finding the lids means I can triple my price on my pyrex bowls. What a score!

Somethings just say buy me.

Sometimes things just speak to me, not that I hear voices or anything like that. :) Hopefully you know what I mean. 

From the first day I saw this piece I liked it. It's not practical nor does it have any resale value, but I liked it. Everyday for a week when I went in to Goodwill store I looked for it. I know at some point if it doesn't sell, it will go to the bins (last stop for unsold items) and more than likely into the landfill. It had been at the store for almost 3 weeks (there are date stamps on everything) so the clock was ticking. It was $7.49, which is a little high for something I won't be able to flip. I finally gave in and purchased it. It's hand painted and made in Portugal. I'm thinking when I finally find a place to call home, I start a collection. :) 

Found a sterling silver piece

As a picker (reseller) I always go into a thrift store will high hopes of finding something great! Sometimes I even get a cart thinking I may be able to fill it up but most of the time I leave empty handed. There are some Goodwill stores that I've never found anything. These are stores where you won't find any pickers hanging around. Where does the good stuff go at these stores? On Tuesdays it's senior discount day and at Savers that's 30%, which means the store is packed with sharks. That is what I call pickers who stand around the back door waiting for the carts to come out so they can jump on the new stuff first. It's like Black Friday every Tuesday and it's that crazy. 

I had to drop off a couple of boxes of donations (rubber stamps that I can't sell off on WhatNot) at the Goodwill store on my way home. Yesterday I got lucky and found this vase on a fresh cart (hadn't been put on the shelf yet) with a sterling silver .925  mark on the base. I was a little surprised the back room missed the marking. Now I just have to decide if I should sell it as is or scrap it for the silver value. What would you do?

Binge Watching - Portrait Artist of the Year

up coming whatnot auction 

Does anyone else love finding a  good TV show to binge watch? I've been process over a thousand stamps to sell on WhatNot and finding something to play in the background really helps pass the time. I love the TV show called "Portrait Artist of the Year" from England. It amazing what the artists can create in just 4 hours but the best part is how each painting style is so different. 

As far as me finding a decent place to rent, it's been one step forward and two steps back. :(  I found a place Saratoga that had everything I was looking for. The current tenant decided he needed more time to move out even thou he already has another place. I thought I was going to be able to move in the first of the month. Where I'm staying at now, I have to out by the 5th, so the timing was good. Because of the delay, I'm renting the Carmel House (at full vacation rental rate - ouch) until December. Since I can't be 100% sure this guy is going to move out any time soon, I'm still going to look for a place to call home. 

Pork Belly Nacho

Pork Belly Nachos

I made the drive up to Berkley to pick up the last of my whatnot boxes (things I won) and mail. I was moving around so much, my older sister let me use her address as my home base. It's surprising how much mail you get when you move! 

One of my cousin drove up with me since she also had to pick up some toys my daughter left for her grand son. 

We went out for lunch and it's always a challenge if there be something on the menu (other than a salad) gluten free. The restaurant is a hamburger/bar/night club type of place. I was surprised to see this upscale version of nachos on the menu. the pork belly was the star of the dish and it was very good. Not the healthiest thing to eat but it was so tasty and just the right amount.  Who said gluten free was boring!

Field trip to the Legion of Honor - Guo Pei

the gold dress took 50,000 hours to make!

Yesterday I went to the Legion of Honor to see the fashion designer Guo Pei's collection. If you know me, I'm not a fashion person at all!  I do appreciate the artistic talent it takes think of these creations and to be able to sew them! The embroidery work (all hand done) was very impressive and really the show stoppers.  Her more avant guard collection was turn obis (the belt used to hold kimonos closed) inside out and show the messy but colorful back. I have to say I've never looked at the back side of an obi before. 

What I really liked at the LH was the chandelier (1700's) in one of the other displays. The crystals are made for sold quartz crystals (rocks) the size of a softball. I can't even imagine how they managed to make the crystals back in the 1700's!

We had perfect weather and even better found parking right in front of the museum!  

Memories

Does anyone else check out their Facebook memories? I know I look at mine to see if there will be pics of Annie. It's been over a year and a half but I still miss her everyday.

Finally got my taxes done and with the sale of my last rental property in TX, had a massive tax bill, over 50K!  That really hurts the pocket book for sure!  I'm just happy I don't have my taxes hanging over my head, at least not until next year. :)  I'm so thankful for T and G at Cottage Crafts for hooking me up with the tax person who was willing to take me on as a last minute client!  

So in my search for a place to call home, I think I found a place. Just waiting for background check to be done and hopefully the current tenant will move out as scheduled. There's a little drama with that situation. Annie would have loved it and she would have added an extra layer of security. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned! 

A few months back when I was in Hawaii I found this brown spotted cow fabric. If you've been following my blog you know that was my mom's lucky charm. It always makes me think of my mom and makes me smile. I really want to have a baby quilt made with this fabric and have been searching for the companion fabric to go along with it. I think I may have it all dialed in now as far as fabric goes. Just have to settle on what the pattern will be. 

Things are looking up on finding a place to call home. I'll checking out two place this week that have everything on my check list. fingers crossed one of them will work out!

Stress eating

So what do you eat when you're stressed? It was a very stressful day yesterday and I was feeling sorry for my self. I thought I would go to the Mexican restaurant down the street and get the pulled pork with cheese (Mulitas at La Corona Taqueria) between homemade corn tortillas.  It's very very good! But instead I went to the Japanese grocery store which was closer because I just didn't want to walk that extra block. Yes pity party going on here! Went for the comfort food of spicy tuna roll and Japanese fried chicken. To add an extra punch to everything I made a batch of strong wasabi to dip everything in. Nothing clears your head faster than a big shot of wasabi! I had my usual smoothie to round everything out, 

I know today will be a better day for sure, it just has to be!

Eleven pound Irish crystal vase

On the same day I found my first swung vase, I found this massive eleven pound  24% lead crystal vase at Savers. If you follow my blog you know I talk about not finding much there and the prices are always too high. I now carry a small bag of donations so if I stop by, I can get the 20% coupon, every little bit helps! When I spotted this vase I thought it had to be damaged because it was still there. Yes, it was very dirty and not as sparkly as it is now. It was priced at $7 so I had to believe it was damaged somewhere. I checked this vase several times and couldn't find any wrong with it. At check out I paid $5 for this amazing vase!

I've been a little depressed in not finding a place to call home yet and my deadline is fast approaching!  Please send positive house hunting vibes my way!

My first Swung vase found in the wild.

Today on my way to the post office, I popped into the Goodwill that on the way.  It's so rare for me to find anything, I don't even get a shopping cart. 

I was checking out the new stuff on the cart and I didn't even notice this swung (that's how it's spelled) vase that was right in front of me the whole time. I was so busy looking at all the broken figurines I totally over looked this blue vase. These vases are super hot in the auction world and I can't believe I found one in the wild!

Gut feelings

Yesterday I went to look at a ADU in Sunnyvale that was up to rent. It had almost everything on my check list. It was a new unit that was at one time part of the main house.  It had a washer and dryer, small kitchen and in a reasonable safe area but I just couldn't say yes. I just don't know why but I just couldn't. My gut just told me as perfect as it seemed, not to say yes. I felt sick that I didn't say yes when I got in the car but my gut just told me no. Ever have that gut reaction to something?

Please put out some positive vibes for me and hopefully I find something before my time runs out. 

The dutch cookie jar in the picture (I'm getting better at taking picture before they go out in my booth)  I found at one of the GoodWill stores last week. Vintage for sure and will look nice with the few Dutch pieces I have left in my booth. It's not something I can sell on WhatNot as it's too big to ship and not worry about breaking.  I have another auction this morning (rubber stamps)  and then off to search for more treasures and hopefully finding a place to call home. 

My whatnot set up for now

This is my Whatnot auction set up for now. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done! Easy to set up and take down. I hope when I get my own place, I'll be able to set a permanent filming area. My ring light wobbles a bit so I have to figure out how to keep that from happening. What I would really like is a packing station. I spend a lot of time running back and forth to the garage to get boxes and wrapping paper. Since I'm an everything seller, I never know what size box I'll need so I keep different sizes handy. I'm getting much better at cutting down the boxes to make it fit whatever I'm shipping. Slowly narrowing down my box inventory. 

Fingers crossed that I find a place to call home soon. Looking at a few places this weekend - send good vibes my way!

Brown spotted cow

From a Whatnot auction 

If you've been following my blog you know that my mom's lucky charm was a brown spotted cow. I know it sounds weird but it's true. When ever she'd dream of a brown spotted cow when she was gambling in Reno or Las Vegas, she would win big. It became a family joke to buy her cows when she was planning a trip.  So now when I see one up for auction I usual get it just because it reminds me of my mom and it makes me smile! 

Stitch Up - New store in Morgan Hill

"Stitch Up" is a new store down in Morgan Hill. There aren't too many needlepoint stores in the Bay Area so it's so nice there is a place you can get your stitching fix! Some of my antique furniture (which is on loan) fits perfectly into store. My 8 foot bench is the makes a wonderful display for all the pillows. I'm just thrilled that it's out of the storage unit and back into being put to use! If you're into the stitching arts, you should plan to stop on by. Right off the freeway and plenty of parking!

18525 Sutter Road

Morgan Hill CA 

Biggest WhatNot auction to date 2022

I've really been trying to do auctions every week to keep my channel active. I keep them short (about an hour long) so that means I only have about 30-40 for sale. I don't sell a lot so it goes by fast. For my next auction, I'm selling off all the unmounted stamps and dies I've had in the ZZ booth at Cottage Crafts. Never realized how much I had in the booth until I gathered everything up! I'm guessing this auction will be a few hour long because I have over 80 items listed! Most of the items came from a huge lot I picked up at Goodwill a few years  ago but I'm still amazed at how much I still have in storage!

Today I'll be down in Gilroy today moving my printer's cabinet to the new needlepoint store in Morgan Hill. It's so nice to get my cabinet out of storage and back in uses. Now I can't remember if I emptied all the drawers!