Taking a Break

I've found some of the oddest pieces lately - an 1869 medal for "soldiership" (needs some restoration), a ring with Egyptian hallmarks (not 18K, but interesting), and two service pins with holes where diamonds would go (who would take pin-head sized stones but not scrap the gold).  Pictures take time, and time is what I have in short supply - a wedding in May, the holidays, the Big Lug's retirement, and the Great Purge are taking up my life and shaking it hard.

And I'm happy as a clam.

But multitasking is not my strong suit, so I'm going to take a break from this blog - a month, a season, no clue, but I really, really need to focus on something not here.

I'll be back, with pictures, I promise.  Eventually.  And if you see a very tall woman with a crazed look in her eyes, muttering about tablescapes and donations, it'll probably be me.

Happy Holidays!

On a Tear

Not much on the hunting front lately, but lots and lots of inheriting forward.  I'm stripping the house of anything that's in good shape that's not worth enough to go to the trouble of selling by the usual routes.  This entire Fall is dedicated to that particular aspect of my five tenets of money-making, and in some respects it's the most powerful:  nature doesn't abhor an excess but a vacuum.

In other words, I can't get more if my house is one hatbox away from an episode of Hoarders!  And I won't feel peaceful until the stuff that I do have is in some sort of order!  And I refuse to wait until the last minute to sort receipts for tax purposes!  And I need to paint these walls, fix things that are broken, and repurpose a whole lot of other things before I lose my mind!  Arghhhhhh!!!!!

I feel better now.

Crazy Times ... Just Crazy Times

So, I didn't mention Yard Sales in my last post because Fall is traditionally the Spring (and maybe Summer) thing.  Around here, to raise money for the holidays you are more likely to get stuff to consignment stores.

Not much to report from the weekend, either - I found a couple of tiny pieces, some things for Acid Trip's newest hobby (related to Steam Punk), but mostly I succumbed to a close encounter with salmonella.

In an unrelated incident, I wrote my first letter to a President.  I suggested that since games of chance are now legal in so much of this country (and heavily regulated), Wall Street doesn't have a leg to stand on when calling certain uncapitalized instruments (derivatives among them) "investments."  All we need to do is call them what they are, like "roulette," reclassify them as "gambling," then regulate and tax accordingly.

Oh, and I'm also clearing my office of its clutter, organizing it, and redoing it as a treasure-writing-jewelry-hobby room.  I'll take pictures, as soon as I have something in place.

All in all, a very weird week.  And I'm too tired to dispute it.

Crazy Times, Short Post



Why I love consignment shops (14K).




Why I love estate sales (14K).



Why I love thrift stores (9K, one marked Chester 1913).




Why I love metal detectors (22-ish K).



Have a great week!

A Wet Week

Within minutes (it seemed) after my last blog, the heavens opened and poured upon my earth a torrent such as I'd never seen before.  At one point (though I was in a classroom 7 miles away) we apparently received close to 3 inches in about an hour, a rate that was backed up by the mud and leaves that washed over my retaining wall, into my stairwell, and under my basement door - mud and water I found when I returned to the wild shriek of the water alarm.

Luckily, it was just around the door (and backed up in the stairwell, which cleared once I scooped off the drain) so after a few minutes of work we were fine.  Other than finding our our new fridge was (probably) handled roughly and went out of square (causing the corner metal to poke our just far enough to give the gasket a bad fit) and is already going to cost us money to fix (no proof), it's been students, students, and more students as I careen away from vacation and toward the October first SAT.

I had time for a single estate sale, and that on the last day with 20 minutes left before they shut down for the weekend, where my superpowers came through with flying colors.

Is this the coolest thing ever?  It's a group who loves antiques and restoration, one I never knew existed until I found this in the $1 pile (and, yes, it's 10K, and nice and hefty).  The Big Lug says my superpower is finding things everyone else missed.  I think I might have found more than just gold.  Questers 1944 looks like my kind of organization.

Stay tuned to find out!