Pyrex Bowls Find 2024

It's mini ants season and I have those suckers everywhere! If I leave even a tiny crumb out I will wake up to a counter full of them.  It's so bad that I have to put my small bag of kitchen trash in the freezer!

So why the photo. The hardest pyrex bowls to find in good condition in the primary color collection are the smaller ones - blue and red. Blue being the hardest one to find. These are hand wash only as they were made before dishwashers were common. The color fades super fast from the harsh soap used in dishwashers.

I've put together several sets over the years as I enjoy the hunt. It does take years to put a set together because these are now very popular.  I've been asked many times if I would break a set up so they could buy just the red or blue, which I won't do.  When I do come across a good one like the one in the picture, I'll switch it out if it's better than the one I have. I then start the process all over again of building a set.

Surprise pick on Sunday 2024

On Sunday I went to pick up two boxes (center photo) of audio books from a MaxSold auction. Only paid $11, which worked out to .25 each.  I know it's very old school but with my wifi going down almost everyday, it's nice to have a back up. :)

This company posts every week on MaxSold and is based out of Campbell, very easy for me to get to.  They're an estate liquidation company so they sell a lot on MaxSold. They also have stuff out in their gated warehouse parking lot on the weekends that you can pick from. I'm not sure if these items didn't get picked up or not good enough to go into the auction. 

I really wasn't planning on getting anything but I saw the birdcage ($5) so the decided to take a closer look at what else was there. I paid $40 for everything and on my drive home I thought maybe I paid too much. It worked out to be about $3 for each item. I processed everything so I could post on Facebook before taking everything into the store on Wednesday.

I was very surprised on several of the pieces when I did the comps. I even found that two of salt bowls were sterling silver! The vase in the corner photo comps out at $250! It's a vintage amethyst vase with an iridescent coating. I priced it at $100 and I know it will take a long time to sell but it's too pretty to price it low for a fast flip. The amber jar with the wooden cover is a vintage tobacco jar. At first glance it just looks like a drinking glass. I was pretty surprised to find out what it really was!

Overall I'm very happy with my unscheduled pick!

Phomemo Portable Mini Printer

I've been debating for a long, long time if I should get a printer. The last one I had jammed up because I didn't use it enough. I guess that's a thing from what my IT guy told me. I really only used it to print labels for my booth at Cottage Crafts. After printing thousands of labels it would sit unused for months.  Now that address labels are harder to find at the thrift store and way too pricey at the office supply store, I broke down and got this "Phomemo" portable label maker. I saw it on another reseller's Youtube video when he was set up his new booth. I thought it would be easier for me to pack when I go into the store with new stuff. I always forget my box of labels and pens when I'm out running around. 

I'm not that tech savvy so it's always a little scary for me to set up a new device. Have to say this was fairy easy to do and so far working out well. Now I just have to see how much replacement labels cost - really should have researched that first!

Metal coffee filter worth it?

It's been a lot of work at the Happy Dragon after the big store clearance sale. I did a deep dive getting things cleaned up and the trashy stuff (things that didn't sell, even at 75% off) boxed up to go off to Hope. The dust bunnies were so big every time they blew out from under the shelves I thought I was being attack by giant tarantulas! We're now back to our normal crazy intake days. Being in a high income neighborhood, we get a lot of interesting  things, especially kitchen items.

I don't go out of my way for coffee but it just seems to find me. I was given some coffee beans when another volunteer said she couldn't handle the acidity. She had vacuum sealed the beans in small batches, something I didn't know you could do. I set up a little coffee bar section in my kitchen when I did a deep clean last week. I'm one to change things up as things change in my life. 

I do the pour over method because it takes up less space and easy to store when there's no coffee in the house. I don't mind using coffee filters since I compost everything but I thought I would give this metal filter a try. It is a hot mess to clean out but it does work. Not as pretty as my white ceramic one so I'm not sure I will keep. I would have never known about this metal filter if it hadn't come into the store. 

Pin Cushion Class

There is an up coming workshop in the works at FabMo. The idea is to make pin cushions with found objects. I was suppose to source items for free but when I saw these at the Goodwill store, I just had to pick them up. I think the vintage white and gold one ($2.39) already looks like a pin cushion! The top is long gone so now it's going to be repurposed. It would be cool if I could find the top but I think I would win the lottery before that would happen! The tea cups were $2.39 for the set. 

How not to prune a tree.

When I moved into my new place there is a very big front yard as my in-laws unit is set far back from the street. It's had a lot of fruit trees planted over the years but most died from neglect. The owners don't even think about taking care of this side of the property. She just plants things and walks away but wonders why things die.  

This year I had a bumper crop of apricots. I'm not sure if pruning them last year or the heavy rainy season we had but there was enough even with the squirrel visits. There were two varieties, which of course I don't know the name of. Anyways, one small apricot tree produced some small delicate fruit which were quite good. I only got a few of those as my landlady stripped that tree. 

I was planning on pruning it back this fall as it's gotten a little too tall. The husband was installing a new security camera and I can only guess the long branches were getting in the way or trigger the motion detectors. I had one angry woman at my door this morning. She asked if  I had anything to do with the tree and all the branches being ripped off.  I told her no, it had to have been done by her husband because it also happened the same day the new security cameras were installed. She asked me why would he do something like that, like I had some inside track into what he was thinking.  He's a pretty calm guy so I can only guess it was causing a problem with cameras, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the time to rip the branches off. 

Another creative project in the works.

Being a night owl I started working on this picture board for the boys around 11:00 pm. Thought it would be fun for them to add pictures while they're actually here. I didn't get pic of the canvas before I painted over it but it was cover with pages from an old book. I pulled it from the Hope bin at the store. That's the bins where things go that we think we can't sell at the Happy Dragon. I knew at some point I would be doing something with it. It's been hanging around my studio for months. 

I know boys' favorite color is orange (it's a Dutch thing) but I didn't have any so I tried to mix up some. It's not orangey enough so I may break down and go buy a bottle. I hate to do that as I have a lot of half used paint bottles hanging around! I don't need a lot so me trying to get the right blend would take way too much paint that I can't save. 

I do like the texture on the Carmel word but wondering if it's a little too grungy.  Then I was wondering if the red would look like blood stains. Plan to add sea shells around the outside to make a sort of frame. 

I may get the boys a kid's Polaroid camera for Christmas. I just have to get over how expensive the film is especially since the photos don't last all that long. 

I may make one on a bigger canvas so we can get more photos on it. Oblivous this won't be something they will be able to pack in their suitcase to take home. :)  

What's the theme?

Having to decide what the theme should be for the boys when they come out to visit for the holidays. I did ask Mees if he would like it to be a surprise or to help with decision. He went with a surprise. All the themes will have coordinating books, outdoor activities and food to match. 

Since the tent is made here are the following choices: 

Safari

Circus

Archeological Dig - Dinosaurs

Camping 

What would you pick?

When age wins out.

I do know how to sew at a very basic level. Ask me to add a sleeve and I'll break out in a sweat! At the Dragon we received several large donations from the San Jose Sewing Guild. We took in a few sewing machines which we would normally don't do. 

A customer purchase this one but returned it the next day and said it didn't work correctly. Being that it's very old and more a commercial type machine, there isn't any YouTube videos we could find on how to thread it. It also didn't come with any owner's manual. 

There were a few of us in the backroom who know how to thread a machine but this one was a specialty zig zag machine, pre serger era. We know it works but getting it to work correctly was a challenge. The customer who purchased it, if I had to guess wasn't a sewist or she's at least a beginner. I read up on these type of machines and found out it can sew FIVE layers of denim!

How we solved the problem was one of volunteers (she's in her 80's) said her mother had a machine like this and she remembered how to at least thread it. Still don't know how to set the stitch or what dial does what but we did get it to sew. 

Reality of the thrift stores

In less than an hour - filled

I thought I would answer some questions about thrift stores or at least ones I'm involved in. 

1) There is no shortage of donations. There's enough for everyone. 

2) Big and little thrift stores can only handle so much. Weeding out the trash will only added to the bottom line of expenses. The bigger the store the bigger the bills. 

3) All thrift stores are profit based because bills have to be paid (even an all volunteer group) and the goal is to make money for whatever charity it's supporting. The mission isn't to provide low income families with things, but to support those non- profits services that do. 

4) Resellers do not affect the pricing at any thrift store. Pricing is based how experienced the person is in pricing. If they understand what "sell through" rate means and the organization supports that, then things are priced to sell fast. 

5) No, the volunteers don't get to cherry pick out the good stuff. What happens is the volunteers are just at the store more often so they see everything first. They do have to purchase everything like everyone else. It's more being there at the right time type of thing. 

I had nice chat with a former employee from Savers. He said they have a trash compactor come in about every two days at the cost of $3,000 per visit. Only about 30% of the items donated make it out to the floor. I'm sure GoodWill is the same %.

At the Happy Dragon we fill three large bins (6'x5'x6') that has to be picked up at least twice a week. One bin goes to the rag company to be recycled and the others go to Hope. We only take donations in for a total of 6 hours a week. I would say about 90% gets out on to the floor on a good day. 

Ube Mochi Pancake Mix

This is a family favorite from Trader Joe's but it's a limited seasonal thing. The best part it's also gluten free. I stocked up to ship a case to the boys. 

The stove at the Carmel house isn't level (not even close) so making pancakes has been a challenge for my SIL. It's his thing make pancakes and I like to encourage the guys to cook. 

I purchase two electric skillet (don't ask me why I got two) so when they do come out to visit the boys can have their pancakes. Someone gave me an opened box (they didn't like them) so it gave me a chance to test out the skillets and they both worked out well. I think I will leave on down at the Carmel house along with all the other spare kitchen equipment I'm picking up. 

Holiday lights for the win

I don't have any lights in my tiny back yard and no outlets. With the weather being so hot, I had to think of something so I could spend some time out here after dark. 

During the holidays down at the Carmel house, we ran into the same problem of no backyard lights. I did string a bunch of Christmas lights which was a challenge as there was only one outlet far away from the deck. Burned out many strings of light and blew the fuse several times. I have to be much more selective of how many I use this year! :)

I picked up a few boxes of new lights at the Dragon because I really didn't want to dig through my packed Christmas decoration boxes just to pull out the lights I all ready had. 

It does give me enough light to watch a movie or at least see where I'm going. I love the festive look and it makes me happy!

Shun Kai Knife Score!

You never know what you will find at a thrift store!  Shun Kai is one of my favorite brand of knives!

I was clean up the very large knife drawer in the back room that I'm sure hasn't seen daylight in years. Most of the knives are junky, still useable but nothing special. Way more bread knives than anything else. 

I was very shocked when I saw the wavy pattern on this knife. Hoping that I was right it was a Shun Kai made in Japan. I was gifted one by my daughter years ago and I only use it when I need something sliced super thin. It's kept its edge for many years. It's very $$$ but at the Dragon I only paid $4. Whoever priced it years ago didn't know their knives!  Well very knife they priced was $4 so I'm sure they didn't even look at it. 

Goebel Cows

Yes, I picked up some more brown spotted cows. Only paid $7.85 for them on the Maxsold online site. At some point they will go into my booth at Cottage Crafts.

Busy week with the HD having it's big summer clearance sale. Big discounts happening all week and next week is by the grocery bag sale. Fingers crossed it goes well. 

Very Good Score

Picked these up for only $1.00!  Long story but I'm working on getting rid of some random link that keeps hacking my blog!
 

Bumper Crop of Apricots

This was my first attempt at drying apricots. I didn't use any type of sulfur or acidic products the commercial growers use. I didn't have time to order anything as I wasn't expecting to get enough apricots to dry. Last year I think there was only one and the squirrels got it. So with this bumper crop, I pulled out my dehydrator (I have it at Buzz's house) while they were gone. I gave the apricots a bath in lemon water which I think just keeps them from turn totally brown. I also didn't dried they all the way which would hopefully keep them chewable. Have to say it was a failure. Maybe next year if I'm still here, I'll make jam. I did give a lot away and added many to my morning smoothies but there's only so much one person can eat! The squirrels did help out a lot, eating at least a dozen a day. 

Food prep during a heat wave

With all the extreme hot weather I've been meal prepping a whole lot more. Now that I have my bbq set up makes it a little easier to cook without heating up my little studio. 

I grilled marinated asparagus (a favorite) and being that it was so hot, I added it to a salad with leftover Costco baked chicken.

Fried rice of course is my go to comfort food and I always make enough to have leftover. 

Do Crows Follow People Around?

There are some crows that I swear follow me around. It started at Buzz's house where I would give them any rodents I trapped. They really liked it and would be waiting every morning at their feeding spot in the backyard. It is a really big backyard so as soon as I walked away they would swoop in and carry it off. If it was too big, they would eat it down until it could be taken away. I started to notice when Buzz's owners weren't home, two crows would get fairly close to me at my place and start yelling at me. One of them would always perch right over my parked car. I don't feed the birds at my place because it just attracts the squirrels who end up eating everything. I do have bubbling water fountain which sees a lot of action in the morning. The crows have even pulled the tops off my sunken clay pot that are full of water, it's a gardening thing.  When I was at Sumo's house last month a crow would again get close to me in the morning and  start chatting me up. I'm not sure if all crows do this and it's just wishful thinking on my part I have winged buddies. :) 

High End Thrift Store Meaning

People always give me the evil eye when I say I volunteer at a high end thrift store. It doesn't mean things are priced high, it means we get really high end donations all the time. Yes, we do get the junky trashy stuff too but with the store being so small, we process those things out to be recycled or donated to other non profits. I noticed in the men's section (in the backroom) that all these shirts were obviously dry cleaned before being donated. Then I saw the monogram on the collar. I've never seen that before so I looked for other marking because I was curious. These were custom tailored shirts, all in perfect condition. Now the debate is what size are they. I'm guessing medium, slim fit. 

Happy Dragon is gearing up for our big clearance sale starting July 10th, even things in the locked case will be on sale. I think this is the only time the locked cases go on sale. 

Then starting on the 17th, it a bag sale for the clothes. Whatever you can get in a large grocery bag (we provide) for one money. It will be my first big sale and I heard it gets crazy!

Disco Night

It was my grandson's fourth birthday. My SIL surprised everyone by ordering a disco ball. 

I just knew it was going to be a wild party once that ball got spinning. :) 

Furniture had to be moved out of the room because even during normal play time, the boys like jumping off any surface they can climb on. 

A friend suggested the back drops, which really added to the whole disco feel. Everyone had a great time!

Pink Whitehall Cube Pitcher

Normally I don't pick at estate sale, as everything is full retail. On Sunday when I was out running errands I stop at one that on the way to my next stop. I'm on the hunting for a Big Shot XL base plate, so thought maybe a crafter's lived there. 

On the third day of any estate sale, things are 50% off but that also means things are very picked over. The house was pretty much empty and I was about to leave when I noticed that some of the kitchen cabinets were closed. So of course I opened them, you're allowed to do this.  I found this pitcher ($8) which surprised me. There were some matching glasses (6) in another cabinet ($1 each) so I got the whole set for $6.00. It's not a money spinner but I think I can get $25 for the whole set. If the pitcher and glasses were together, it would have sold sooner. 

There were a few other things but the estate person realized I was a picker so the prices, even at 50% were full retail. Being it was the last day, I would think it's better to sell it for something than pay to have it hauled away.

Over loaded with apricots

I can't even remember the last time I picking fruit from my garden!  

When I moved into my place almost 2 years ago, the first thing that had to be done was clear out all the dead trees. Then prune  all the trees that were left back into looking like trees instead of bushes. The yard looked like a giant spider web with all the wild branches going everywhere. I didn't even know what some of the trees were when I first moved here. 

This year, all the trees are doing their thing. Two different types of apricots, almond, fig, and persimmon. The yard is slowly turning into a nice low maintenance garden!  I'm away so much I won't ever have a vegetable garden again, I have a very active squirrel population living in the trees above.