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!