Small estate clean out.

I'm doing a small estate clean out and I have to say this is the cleanest house I've ever been in. The woman passes away not too long ago and had been in assisted living for the past couple of years but you can tell she was very organized and kept things very clean. Her furniture is mid century modern and for the age in excellent condition. I'm charge with sell off what I can and donating away everything else as the house is being sold. Houses in that area sell fast so it's a quick turn around is required. Only reason I have to take things to Goodwill is that I can't sell it fast enough.

There is a 80 pound piece of Jade that I will try and sell at CCB. Will try and get a picture of it today to post. 

Day in a life of a dog sitter

It's always a Range Rick moment when I'm babysitting the dogs. There's a huge backyard and tons of wildlife, not the scary kind like the ones when I lived in the Cupertino Hills. 

This squirrel is one tough cookie! The bird seed is coated with hot pepper sauce so only the birds can eat it. This spicy sauce doesn't keep Ms Squirrel from checking it out every couple of days. Her reaction is just a crack up as you can tell she's not happy with the spiciness. Ton of birds both big and little. The hummingbirds are super aggressive and I get dived bombed every morning. :) 

Of course there's sweet old Buzz who will follow me around but really would prefer to just be asleep on one of his many beds. 

Love the smell of fresh coffee beans!

The smell of a fresh bag of coffee beans is the best! I'm still making coffee in the morning, more as just a routine  than wanting a cup. When I traveled a lot, it was interesting how many people had caffeine withdrawals when we were at a place that didn't have coffee.

Back in the day when soda was still dispensed in a cup (syrup and carbonated water) I worked with a woman who HAD to have a cup during our morning break. One morning the machine was broken and she had a major melt down, so bad her husband had to come and pick her up. Found out later she drank so much Coke that her bottle returns (when you could only get Coke in the glass bottles) ran into the hundreds. This was well over 45 years ago so you can only imagine how much she drank. That was something that stuck with me for life.

Gopher be gone 2023

Game on!  While I'm dog sitting, I'm also working on getting rid of the gophers in the backyard. The main goal is to spend time outside with Buzz, who is very old but still need to get a little exercise in.  His backyard is huge (almost the size of a city park) so as I walk around checking the traps, Buzz will follow me. 

I went out and got four more traps (total of 7 now) which has helped. So my total is 3 confirmed and 2 maybe. The ones I'm not sure about are the traps that have fur on them, meaning it wounded the gopher or the trap was pulled down the hole. Yes I know it sound gross. 

The weather has be super so weeding and gopher hunting will be our main activity for the next two weeks!

Making snacks for the pups

This month I'm at the big house babysitting a very old lab named Buzz. His big brother passed away this past weekend, which was very sad. He was 13, and had a very happy life with a very loving family.  Now that's it's just Buzz, it's so quiet around the house. Not that the dogs were ever loud but there isn't as much activity happening. 

Since there's enough space in the garage for me to run my very big dehydrator, I made another batch of fish. It can really smell up the house so it's nice it can be done in the garage. Being able to open up the garage door really help get rid of the fishy smell. This was Annie's favorite snack and it's now one of Buzz's favorite. 

Story time 2023

I'm not bored just tired

My grandson always liked being read to, even as a baby.  Being the first born, his mom had a no TV rule.  That of course changed when the second baby arrived!  

Now that everyone lives in Holland, story time is done via FaceTime. All this high tech stuff to keep us in touch is just amazing!

When I was reading a book to Mees, he got up and moved the laptop to the table and got a chair so he could be more comfortable.  I could see him set everything up before sitting down. Don't know why this surprised me but it did.

My daughter picks out the books (via online) from my local library which makes it so much easier for me. There are thousands of children's book (I think half the library) so it's much faster for me  just pop in and pick up the books in the hold section.  Right now airplanes and trucks are a big hit. 

Goodwill Outlets - Salinas CA

While I was down in Carmel I made the drive over to Salinas where the Goodwill Outlet is located. I was in search for a chandelier to recycle into a fancy bird feeder. The outlet isn't a place I can source anything to resell, so I had my fingers crossed it would be worth the gas in finding a cheap chandelier. I also wanted to get a video of what it's like when the new carts come out. At the outlet you pay by the pound but when things are super heavy you can negotiate the price. I paid $5. 

Since I was in Salinas, I tried to find the other thrift stores which is not as easy as it sounds. The prices are so much lower than in Cupertino but there's not a lot of the good stuff. While I was at one Goodwill, this vase was being put on the shelf. Actually the kid who was working at the store had it in his hand but when he saw me in the clear glass aisle, he was going to keep moving on to put the other things in his cart out. I just got a glimpse of light purple tinge (sign it's going to glow green) and ask if I could see it. I had my UV light in my hand so I tested it as it was going into my cart. I'm not sure I will sell it on Whatnot because it's taller than any of the boxes I have but it's still was a great pick!

More glow found

Another beautiful day here in Carmel!  I have to decide if I'm going to stay another night or go home. Of course while I was here I went picking. Prices are super high here so I don't expect to find anything. Using my UV light I did find a few things that glowed. I went to the Restore (Habitat for Humanity) hoping that with my UV light I would spot something good. They normally price things at full retail so my only chance was with the clear glass. All these pieces glow and the one that surprised me the most was the jar. It was only prices at a $1 and I'm sure it's because they thought it was just a reproduction. It lite up like a Christmas tree when I flashlight hit it. The pitcher has a little chip on the spout and I debated if I should get. It does have a bright glow which tipped the scale in my getting it. It's usually enough that I should be able to flip it. 

No beach walk today in Carmel

Carmel City Beach

With all the major storms hitting the West Coast, I've not been down to the Carmel House for months. There was major flooding happening in Monterey after a very heavy rain storm so at one point all the roads into town were flooded. Monterey became an island!

On Monday it was so windy that if you tried to walk on the beach you got sandblasted. This is something that is very dangerous for dogs too, yes I found out the hard way with Annie.   There was only one family trying to walk on the beach and I can only guess they were tourists. Guess they didn't wonder why there was no one else walking along the beach. 

I'm here for a dentist appointment, yes I drive all the way here to get my teeth cleaned! Looks like today will be a perfect day. until this afternoon when the winds are suppose to fire up again.  I have to decide if I should stay a few more nights or head home.

 

Bulk Buy at CCB

This past weekend I can only guess I had another reseller come through and buy a lot of stuff from my booth at Cottage Crafts. 

I don't go for all the money as some other resellers do because I want a fast sell through rate. Holding out for every last dime, means I can't keep refreshing my stock. I know so many other resellers who have storage units full of inventory because they won't sell for anything else than top dollar. Now with so many online pricing sites, it's does give what I think is a false impression of what something will sell for. Having millions of people shopping on eBay is so different than a handful of people coming into a store or flea market. 

It's also super that CCB can text me questions about something and send pictures. In this case, the customer ask for a discount since they were buying so much from me and I was happy to give them a 20% discount. Several of those things I've had in my booth for a long long time so it was great to move those things along. I think this week I will do another booth make over and move my inventory to freshen things up a little.