NEW CAT TOY

We have been doing a little sprucing up inside the castle recently. Anything inside is fair game as long as you don't have to go out in 100+ heat.

So SweetiePie finished installing the new sink and cabinet in the hall bathroom. Looks nice and much better than the old pedestal sink. There was no place in that bathroom to put the toilet cleaner, extra TP or anything else that you didn't want sitting out for all to see.

Now, let me warn you that we have some not so bright cats living in the castle. My daughter, SmartA**, has three cats of varying intelligence. Simon, his first name should be Simple, Fearless, who hides under the sofa during thunderstorms and Firefly who we fondly call Psycho Twitch. This morning I was in the bathroom and before I could close the door Fearless and Firefly came running in. They both jumped up on the newly installed sink and proceeded to "wait" for me to turn the water on. Here is what happened when I did.

Fearless, a Norwegian Forest Cat (big cat), and Firefly, the runt of the litter, (they are sisters)were fighting over the running water. Fearless was a hog and Firefly took the opportunity to drink off the top of Fearless' head.

If you close the drain they will sit there, letting the water collect, not aware of it on their feet.


Their other favorite activity, before the new sink, was hopping in the tub and waiting for a drink.

They may not be genius cats but they make life interesting.

And you are never lonely in the bathroom.

HOW SMART DO YOU NEED TO BE?

When my grandson was visiting last month, of course we went thrifting. The idea was to find him some jeans. But we only found a couple of shirts. Which he has probably outgrown since then because he is growing so fast. But he found some skateboarding shoes. Chad Muska Supra shoes. Now the only way I know that is because he told me. But they were too small. Hey, he's a growing boy.

As it turned out it was a pretty good find. They go for up to $120 new and we thought that $35 was a good price to list them at. I told him since he found them that we would split the profit. Good deal. I learned about the shoes and hopefully he learned something.

Back to the shoes.These shoes


They had been listed for three weeks and had lots of hits, almost 300, but no takers. Had two offers of $30 but I had decided to hold out for the full price. The second offer of $30 just wouldn't go away. "He" emailed several times and finally said, "shoot me a paypal invoice for $30 and I'll take the shoes" Duh!! I don't think so. First, you are asking me to sell off of ebay and second I'm not paying $10 shipping out of the $30 you so generously offered.

But  that is not the stupid thing. He made all of the offers and all communication was thru ebay messages.
Hey genius, don't email me on ebay and ask me to "shoot (you) a paypal invioce".

My response? I wasn't about to lose my ebay store so HE could save $10 in shipping. I started to block his sorry a** but didn't get around to it before he purchased the shoes on ebay.

I am holding my breath until I know he has them and leaves feedback. And of course he a feedback of 3.

Lord, I hate seriously dislike newbies......

I HAVE LOST MY MIND......

I got up earlier than usual today so I could have my item packed and ready to ship when SweetiePie got up because we were doing errands today. I had one item that sold last night just as I was getting ready for bed and I didn't take time to pull and pack. 

It won't take but a few minutes......HA.HA.HA.

I spent TWO hours looking for it this morning and another hour when we got home. I was looking for this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160830885393

I have been moving stuff from downstairs back upstairs and I have tried to keep things where they belong. Apparently I moved some kitchen stuff from the boxes and forgot about where I put them. They were hiding in the closet. I have 3 kitchen totes and I emptied them twice and tried to convince myself that I had overlooked them. Just hit me over the head and put me out of my misery. But I finally found them and they are on their way.

Then I sold this:

I just love the x-ray fish...

and had to go find a box to ship it in. The ABC store (how appropriate) no luck. No luck at two dollar stores that usually give up boxes readily so I finally gave up and went to Goodwill. They had a box!! and they gave it to me!! So of course I had to buy something, just to be nice you know.

I hope your day was better than mine.
I think I'll go to bed early and try to have a better day tomorrow.

SOOOO TIRED.....

Have you ever been so tired that you just couldn't get to sleep? 
My week has been like...too tired to sleep.

We have had two project going on this week. Replacing the bathroom sink (Oh what fun...) and replacing the light over the kitchen sink. More fun... Yeah, both are done.

You would think that two adults could safely and correctly replace a light bulb in a light fixture.  Well I am living proof that this is harder than it seems. I need a pair of glasses with bifocals on the top because I can't see S*** close up without them.

We have been to HomeDepot 4 days this week trying to finish these two  projects.  Now, normally I don't mind going to HD, but this is just crazy.

I did get to go thrift one day and I thrifted until I dropped. It was only in the upper 90's.  Of course I hit the free box.
I tried not to loose my head in the free box like this little guy did. I know I can fix him. Bear, vintage quilt, shabby chic....the last one I had sold for $20, but this one is better made and a nicer quilt  so more$$.
These books were all free. I haven't removed the complete set of 1959 Golden Book of Knowledge from my trunk yet. The illustrations in these books are fantastic. All of these were partial sets. I also picked up part of a loose leaf Websters dictionary from 1970. Look what the cover art was.
The architects rendering of the Twin Towers before they were complete. Kinda gives you a shiver...

But wait, I didn't stop there. I kept digging. Another lady was there with her elbows out and digging away and finally got IN the bin and kept everyone else out so she could get the best stuff. I did kinda envy the big box of Lincoln Logs, the wooden tray puzzles and boatload of Polly Pocket, but that's fine I got enough.

I also got these three jewels

The monogrammer only has one disc but has everything necessary to make it work. The Tinkertoy box is not full, 2/3 full, and no lid. The Chess set is a really neat Celtic chess set. Faux stone...

After seeing these free things all at one time, it makes you wonder just what they throw away.

I purchased some clothes, Ralph Lauren, Dockers, Ecko Red, Girls Gap and a whole bunch of fabric.

I love fabric. Old, new, yardage, scraps, it makes no matter to me. The blue print on the left is a 30's reproduction and sells very well. The next piece is vintage plisse and the rest are just odds and ends.

Typing all of this makes me even more tired. I need to go to bed.

After all, tomorrow is yard sale day.

FINALLY GET TO GO THRIFTING and FREE STUFF

Whew, it has been a long time between blog entries.

I have been busier than a one legged man....you know the rest.

I have finished painting the room upstairs and have begun to fill it up with stuff. I have moved most of my listed inventory into the room and some inventory waiting to be listed. Moved my picture taking stuff into the new/old space. In between trying to keep up my listing and shipping stuff out and my family I haven't had much time for anything fun. By fun I mean going thrifting.

It has finally cooled off from the 100+ temps we have been having and today was less than 80, but with rain. We need the rain, so I'm not complaining. So I told SweetiePie that I was taking the day off and doing something fun. Well he knew what that meant....a trip to my favorite thrift store.

I only stayed there a few hours, hey...it's a big store...and I found lots of stuff. The most interesting stuff was in the free bin outside. As I was going through the bins they kept throwing stuff into the bins. Well, I had to keep looking.....I might miss something.  I controlled myself and only got one box of free stuff and didn't have to run over any sweet old ladies or cute little kids.

Here is the haul.

See the blue thing behind Raggedy Anne? That is a mouse pad with a gel wrist rest and new, it sells for $30+, a new Raggedy Anne(not even smelly or dirty) some quilting books, a pink thermos, a Starbucks travel mug, some books(Russian/English dictionary, White Fang, more), a vintage oil filter wrench, and does anyone recognize the witch hat? It is very good quality and well made and doll size. I was thinking Am Girl, but don't know.
More stuff
About a dozen orphan Tupperware lids, a kids blue/red lap desk(cute, has zippered pockets on the back), a Kuchenheber, and that square thing wrapped in plastic next to the lap desk that I thought was an aluminum lid turns out to be a new silver plate lid to a casserole of some kind.
More stuff
This huge milk glass hurricane lamp shade with original chimney in perfect condition.

I love free stuff. I think the guys sorting stuff just get tired of sorting stuff and just pile it up in the free area. I am not like some folks I see in the free area. I don't try to grab everything that I can get my hands on....thrifting karma will get you if you do.

So, after researching the stuff I got free if I sold everything (which is very unlikely) and got an average amount for most items (not too high, not too low) I could expect to get around $100 for everything. Not bad for free. Of course I will probably get a more realistic $50-75 that will trickle in over a long time. Still not a bad profit margin.

So, does your thrift ever have free stuff and is it any good?

I HAVE A PROBLEM....A GOOD ONE I THINK

 Since Nephew moved out almost three weeks ago I have been working on the former craft/spare/nephew room. My plans are to turn it into an ebay room. A place to store inventory before listing and inventory after listing. I have moved some of my boxes into the room, but I have about a zillion more to move....UPSTAIRS....and my knee just won't take it very well. A torn ACL tends to do that.

Anyhoo, I painted the room last week with my oops paint. I had almost a gallon of very, very light aqua and it did two walls. Then I went to WallyWorld and tried to match up another gallon. The closest I got was waaaay to dark. What to do?? I purchased a gallon of base paint without the tint added. I then tested several mixes to see what ratio I needed to get the color of the paint already on the wall. Two parts white to one part colored and I have almost a match. Good enough to pass SweetiePies inspection.

Now my dilemma....I have a good sized wall that I patched holes from numerous picture hangings that is soooo nice.....smooth, no holes. I want to make this my wall for taking pictures. Now it looks so nice I don't want to put any hooks into it to hang my fabric. Here is a test photo...

This is a test, and only a test of the emergency broadcast system....

This is with natural daylight from double windows at the right of the wall, and the flash that I forgot to turn off. I'm hoping that most things will show up against this wall without a fabric backdrop. That's my old beat up table I put my light box on. Just the right height to sit and take photos.
 

Nice natural light....here kitty, kitty

I put Spot in front of the wall to guard it so it doesn't get dirty or any mysterious holes.

It may take a while....but I am sure I can fill it up. Right now I have only plastic totes but I have been on the lookout for some shelves or bookcases to stack larger things.

All in all....a nice problem to have.