Risking It

I didn't go to the storage auction yesterday, because I did a second sweep on Google and found seven of them within a 15 mile radius tomorrow and Thursday.  No driving 80 miles, yay!  I plan to shadow, anyway, mostly ... but who knows?  I've been taking risks lately and they've been paying off!

Mostly.

This was today's Wheel of Fortune.  When Mama Angel gave me that feeling, the one that said "go donate purses" (including one Italian leather bag that I was saving to consign in the Fall) I didn't have a problem - hey, I'm in "planting" mode, remember?  But when I realized my attention (and intention) went straight to a thrift in which I've never found anything of substance (next to my bank) ... well, let's just say, I sighed, smiled, and went in to give, not receive.

To my surprise, I found these three lovelies, true pairs all.  Since I do not look too closely at markings when things are cheap (though I swore I saw something on two) I decided to take a chance on them.  I paid about $14 (with tax) for all.  I could handle it if I was wrong.

See, I might talk about my prizes, but I end up with as much trash as treasure.  I can't tell you how many dollar-heres and fiver-theres I've lost.  Those add up, but don't hurt (much).  C'mon, admit it, a bunch of mosquito bites are just irritating.  Wasps, scorpions, and rattlesnakes, on the other hand, make me want to cry.

I don't usually bet real money on a non-sure thing, but I risked $50 for each of these.  Both are unmarked.  And to say both were iffy is an understatement - the ring, especially, made me crazy, and not just because it was choppily made, has weirdly blue turquoise (or amazonite, maybe), and had more than one suspicious patch in the metal.  No, it was the fact that the woman who ran the consignment store said she doubted "very much" if it was actually gold (she worked in a jewelry store for ten years), but that the consigner insisted it was and wouldn't lower her price as much as the manager wanted her to.  On the other hand, the cherub is nicely detailed, well-made, and there's a squishy place where a mark could have been, one that looked a lot like "585" (yes, in the magnifier - I do not spend that much money without a ton of study).

Long story short:  the ring's 14K and the cherub isn't anything at all.

And I'm okay with that.  Sometimes it's all about stepping out of our little, safe, 50-cent box.  The storage auction thing isn't really a risk since I don't plan to buy anything at all (okay, unless it's cheap ... or I get that feeling ... or Mama Angel hits me over the head with a chair).  Not yet, anyway.  And today wasn't either - mosquito-level crap doesn't count.  I'm not even talking about $200 on something you can see is marked "900 pt," either (though at the time that was about all I had).  No, I'm talking about the real risk of doing something we love just because we love it.

I don't usually look closely at things until I get home - I have found that when I know what I have, some part of me stops looking really hard ... or listening, I haven't figured out which it is - but today I opened the bag in a different thrift store.  See, there's a sweet, fabulous lady I know who works there Tuesday mornings.  She told me today that when she was working, she found stuff and sold some on eBay but since she retired, "nothing."  I panicked.  That's what started my Mom's crazy-cat-lady spiral.  "Nothing."  The only cure I know is to fill it up.

The three pairs of earrings above weren't all gems.  One was total crap.  One was sterling only.  And one was marked "925" ... and "750."

Feel that rush?  Get it again when you realize that silver-to-gold it's about fifty-fifty???  Then once more when you hit the scale and find they weigh almost half a troy ounce?

Feel it?

See, it's not the potential cash (I won't get rich this way).  It's the rush - the discovery rush, the I-paid-how-much? rush, the Thank-You rush ... all of that and more, all at once.

That's my something.

Now go out and find yours.