Private Estate Sale

A semi private estate sale is happening this week. Not sure how many people are on the guest list but I'm going to this one. I haven't gone to many of them because I usually don't see anything good. At this sale I spotted this vintage sewing tansu box. A few months ago one came into the store in much better shape and it did sell for $175.00. This one looks to be in rough shape but I made an offer because it's a rather rare and interesting thing. Hopefully after I get to see it in person it will come home with me. 

Will this tansu come home with me?

I'm in search for a very specific size cabinet for my bedroom area. Knowing that what I want is out there somewhere, I just have to be patience. It's a narrow space so can't be too wide and it can't be too tall. Also it has to be a style I like and in my price range. That's a whole lot of requirements when you write it all down. :)

I found this tansu cabinet on Maxsold, an online auction I buy a lot from. Normally I place my bids and forget about it but this one I will follow until the bidding is close next week. It's the prefect size and a style I like. Now I just have to see if it stay within my budget. Fingers crossed.
 Update: Got for $211.00 plus auction fees.

Unique Display Case for Thimbals

One of advantage of having a friend who's a reseller is that they will find what you didn't know you needed. :) 

My good friend Patty (the baby quilt maker) collects sewing thimbals. She's always looking for ways to display them. Her one requirement has been it has to be an enclosed case to keep them dust free. Two came into the store and I quickly snap photos to send to her. I knew she wouldn't want the thimbles (this donor was a royal family fan) but the circle frame would be a hit. The interesting part for me was what was holding the timbals in the frame. We think it's for rings so the search is on to find a source for that. 
 

Apple watch did it's job!

This morning I tackled organizing all the boxes up in the attic. I also took up several more boxes by myself which was scary. I made sure to have my Apple watch on just in case. It was a bit unnerving going up stairs with no hand rails and being rather steep. That all went well. 

I also decided to drag out one of my tables from the garage to take pictures so I can sell it. Everything was going good until I decided to also pull out the shop vac. There was a huge pile of dog hair around the dryer in the main house so I thought I would clean it up. I was multitasking doing laundry at the same time.  The garage is a hot mess and I caught my foot on something and hit the ground hard enough to set my watch off. That was the reason I got the watch so I'm glad it worked!  Just skinned my knee but I'm sure I'll be sore in the morning if not from the fall but all the stair climbing.

Coffee Beans

 For someone who doesn't really like coffee having a coffee bar seems a bit silly. Having a full size Keurig is way too big for a single person but I have a lot of pods left over from the Carmel house. Once I use up the pods, I plan to sell off the machine. Today another volunteer came in with a bag full of coffee beans. She can't handle the acidity anymore so gave away her stash. It's a blend of Peet's dark roast (my favorite) and decaf. I do prefer doing the pour over method because it's smells better and takes up less space. So my coffee drinking will continue for several more months.  :) 

Unpacking and tagging fatigue

 It's been a solid month of non stop packing, unpacking and tagging all the things I have to sell off. I finally hit the wall. The stack of boxes is slowly getting smaller and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I would like to work on the garden but I have to get my living space in order. Last night I went around all the piles I have out and started to fill a "go away" bag. If it's to hard to sell and tag it's going in the donation bag. 

This time it fit into my car. 

This past weekend I sold off over 80 pounds of legos for $100. Far under that actual market value and taking a $200 loss. I originally got them for the boys so now I have no need for them. Getting some of my money back is better storing them. I could have held out for more money but I wanted those big tubs out of my space. This is how resellers end up with storage units full of stuff, waiting for that one buyer who will pay top dollar. It's like waiting for a unicorn. :) 

A major milestone was completed yesterday! The boxes were moved up to the attic. I had to be able to lift the boxes above my shoulder to hand them up the ladder to Matt (my landlord) that meant I had to repack some of the bigger tubs into something smaller. Knowing that the boxes were going to be moved I drove down to Morgan Hill to pick up my bench. The owner of Stitch Up (needlework store) was kind enough to use my bench as a display piece. I could pick it up whenever I had the space for it. So 2 years later it came home. :)

Can't always trust what you find online.

 

At the store we have the discussion about being totally dependent on using Google lens or any online listings (eBay, Etsy) to figure out the value of something. This is what got the last volunteer in charge of the department in hot water. Just finding a photo of something doesn't mean it's correct. Not knowing if what you're looking at is a reproduction or not makes a difference on price.  This vase came in and it was tagged super high IMO.  The volunteer said it was vintage because she looked it up. I said it's still being made and I have found several to resell so it's not that unique. I'm lucky if I can get $5 for them. Just because someone lists it as vintage (which it could be for that seller) doesn't mean it is. So we again had the discussion on being too dependent on what we can find online and trusting AI. Nothing pisses off customers more than have over priced things at a thrift store. 

Don't even get me started on Japanese dolls and Imari platters. When you live in an area with a big Asian population there isn't a big market for these things. Maybe somewhere else in the country or online but in our area it will just sit and collect dust. 

Yes, more cookbooks.

 

Everyday the book section at HD purges books that haven't sold. From the volume of books the store gets they have to do this everyday. On Monday (the day I volunteer) the cookbooks were being purged and heading off to Hope bin. Do I need anymore, no I don't. I plan to skim through them and then deposit them in the little book library a few house down from me. I specificlly wanted the American Test Kitchen book but I also thought the Handheld pie book looked fun. Not that I can eat the pie crust but they also include jar pies which basically just pie filling - I can handle that! I had just sorted out all my baking pans because my place doesn't have an oven. Not sure on how big my table top oven will be but I really don't need multiple sets of everything especially all the pans and cupcake tins that came back from the Carmel house.

Being a little creative.

This was the second time I've found a Dresden wreath. So I'm not in a hurry to sell it off. The round mirror came from my parent's house and I think from the farm so it's older than me. The wreath just didn't look right by itself  on the wall, so I added it to the mirror. I think it turned out cute. 

Now that the big unpacking is done, it's time to sort out all the "stuff" I've been saving to sell. Being I now have a front porch on a quiet street, I can post more things online. No more having to schedule time to meet at a public place and waiting for the buyer to show up. In between all that I go outside to do a little weeding with hopes of being able to get a garden in soon. 

I spent all day Sunday tagging and sorting. You would think after days of doing that I would be done. That just shows how much stuff I have squirreled away! Most of it now is the small stuff, which takes a lot more time to deal with. I can see progress and some open space on sofa. :) 

My Morning Breakfast

garlic naan, cheese, scrambled egg & zhoug sauce

I listened to a podcast (Mel Robbins with Dr. Stacy Sims) about how most standards and studies on exercise and nutrition are based on men. As women when it comes to exercise especially as we age, it's very different. One of the big things was eating protein as soon as you wake up. Not being a morning person it's been a challenge to eat that early. When I did a lot of international traveling to third would countires, hard boiled eggs was the only type of protein we could safely eat. I'm not an egg fan after all that. Eggs being one of the easiest things to make in the morning, I'm pushing through. I've added a scrambled egg (Japanese style) to my garlic naan that I've fried in olive oil. I also have greek yogurt for something quick to fuel up my body and brain. 

Artwork slowly going up.

I'm finally getting around to hanging some of my artwork. Normally that's the first thing I do but with all the boxes I had it was impossible to get to the walls. Actually there isn't a lot of wall space for artwork. When they designed this space they chose not to add a wall or door to the bedroom area. Which over all was a very good idea. Most ADU I've looked at over the past few years they would do that so they could list the place as a one bedroom. It makes a tiny place even smaller as it limits what you can do. Of course having a massive tv on the wall doesn't help. I would have it taken down but I'm not sure where my landlord would put it. Until his man cave is built in the garage it will stay here. 
 

New to me pennant die!

New to me pennant die

I've been wanting to try cutting out the pennant banners my daughter asked me to make a few years ago using an Accucut die. Hand cutting all those banners is very time consuming and takes a lot of space to do. 

Looking on eBay these dies are super expensive, so I just waited. Any reseller at some point should take a lower offer just to get rid of their stale inventory. If they don't, they will end up with a warehouse for dead stock. Selling it for a small profit is better than no sale at all. So for the past 2 years (yes, I waited 2 years) one of the sellers finally agreed to $10.00 plus $12.00 shipping. This same die is on eBay (by a different seller) for over $100 and the seller has had it listed for years. Can't wait to test out my new die!

Hand cut pennants

My Nutribullet was Saved

Every morning for the past 3 years I've made a fruit smoothie. It's like my morning coffee that I carry around with me all day. My Nutribullet has been acting up for a while now. This morning it got really stuck and I couldn't get it out. I wasn't too worried as I have a second one that came back from the Carmel house. I was ready to toss it out but I was going over to a handyman's house (good friend) and thought maybe he could get it unstuck. So he looked at it and after a few attempts he gave it a good look over. He figured out that one of the tabs was getting stuck. It was very chewed up  and that was the reason it wasn't sliding in and out. Those spare containers are donated all the time so I had an extra one. My very old blender was saved from the recycle bin!

Coffee Bar

 

I'm still unpacking but it's all the little stuff that should have been sorted out years ago. For many years I didn't have a lot of cabinet space so things stayed in boxes which is easy to ignore. My 2025 goal is to go through all the boxes and tag what will go into my booth at Cottage Crafts or just go away. 

With the selling of the Carmel house (that makes me so sad) I had to bring back all the kitchen things I used down there. One of the things was a Keurig coffee maker. It's way too big for just me but I did set up a coffee bar area because I have a lot of pods to use up. I think it's funny that I have this set up as I'm not a big coffee drinker. I prefer the pour over method because it takes up less space and I like the smell of coffee. You just don't get that nice coffee smell with a Keurig. 

Reselling from home!

Reselling when you're single or living in a place not ideal for pick up has been an issue for me for many years. It's a pain to have to coordinate meeting at a public location for everything. This weekend I decide to test leaving things out on the front porch of the house and have people leave the money in the mailbox. I'm still single but with my landlord (big young guy) in the front house, I feel a lot safer. It went very smoothly on Sunday. I did have to answer a million requests but after I schedule someone to pick up, it went very well! I do take the chance someone won't leave the money but on most things I sell it's worth the risk. Of course my higher end items go into Cottage Crafts. My landlord likes to resell too, so he's happy that I'm willing to handle the selling part of his hobby. 

So why the photo? This is my grandsons favorite pancake mix. They like it so much they refuse to eat just plain old pancakes. Since it's a seasonal thing at Trader Joe's, I've been asked to buy a case or more and ship it off to Holland. I don't like to be one of those people who buy up everything a store has, so I buy several boxes every time I go into TJ. It does take awhile to gather everything up and it will cost $$$ to ship but it's worth it. 

My first meal 2025

My new place was originally designed to be a man cave, so the kitchen area doesn't have an oven and just two gas burners. While I've been waiting for this place, I counted how many times I needed more than two burners. It was rare that I needed or used a second one. Since I like to do meal prep for the week, cooking up everything all at once works. Not having an oven isn't a big deal as I don't bake a lot. I will at some point get a table top oven but that is something I have to save up for. Tonight I made my first full meal - Chicken and broccoli tikka masala. I had to make everything in stages. Steamed the broccoli first, then made the jasmine rice and no I didn't use my rice cooker for this.  I cooked up some chicken tenders (much more cost effective for me to use chicken tenders) in olive oil. I use the Trader Joe's Tikka Masala sauce which goes a long way. Tossed everything together and had enough left overs for a few more meals. 

I'm still setting up my kitchen area as I don't know how the cooking flow will work until I actually start cooking everyday. I'm still unpacking a lot of boxes and trying to figure out where everything will go so I know I have a few more months to get settled. 

 I know I will be grilling more like I use to when I lived up in the hills. My very big BBQ is right outside my front door which is much more accessible. I'm not having to deal with leaves and squirrel pee (yes that was gross) falling all over the place. 

My new happy place

 

I'm still unpacking but moving here has been a game changer! Been here for two nights and I've slept of 8 hours each night, that hasn't happened in years! I'm typing this sitting at my kitchen table (haven't had one of those in a long time) looking out into my backyard. The yard is a little  untidy now but I've been given free range to get it back into shape. There are song birds coming into the yard, which is also a plus. 

With all the rain we've had the past few days, I haven't been able to get my garden things out of my old place. I didn't want to deal with getting my car all wet and muddy. Hopefully today I can get the bulk of it done. Now fingers crossed I get my deposit back!