A Cozy Night and Other Thoughts

It was earlier than usual, but both of us wanted a fire in the fireplace last night.

This cool rainy weather feels like fall. Leaves are dropping from some trees and the tinge of yellow is everywhere in the woods. Yesterday afternoon we watched a squirrel peeling bark off the branches of a dying elm tree. The squirrel would stuff a long strand in its mouth and run through the treetops to a hole in an oak, apparently the site chosen for its winter nest. At least the elm isn't dying in vain.

We have been watching the approach of Hurricane Florence with the rest of the East coast, and worrying about friends and family in its path. Right now some English cousins from Finland are in North Carolina for the World Equestrian Games. Of all times for the weather to show its wrath!

Finds, finds, finds

I've been cleaning and pricing a lot of finds from this past weekend. We went to a local annual flea market and came home winners. The local thrift was also stocked up with good things, and we hit a couple yard sales too. So even though we went to Marietta and restocked our booths there, I have the same number of full totes once again.

Lids are always in demand in the malls so I stocked up with both regular and wide mouth sizes.

 Buying will drop off for a few months now while we're busy with storytelling and other things so I am glad to have some good stock on hand.

This sweet set was a recent find. 

My ebay store has been keeping me busy too, adding some of what we found over the weekend to the listings and packing sales. There is a marked difference between what will sell in a booth and what sells online. There are more collectors online, and more people looking to replace a broken piece and those are my target customers.Booth shoppers are mostly people looking for decor or memorabilia, or useful vintage items. While there's some overlap between these groups, this is the basic difference, and it's how I decide what to sell where. Ebay sales have been pretty decent, lagging behind last year but that is largely because I haven't been working it as much.

Today I'll be painting furniture again, working on a few projects I started last week. We have a small stockpile of finished pieces now, again a good thing because I hate being caught with nothing ready when we make a furniture sale. There are three larger pieces on layaway in my booths right now and I will certainly be glad when they're finally paid for. While they are sitting there, I can't use the space so it cuts into future sales. I wish this mall had a layaway storage area like the other place we are in, but that's not available and I have to admit it makes me squirm to have to sit on these pieces for 3-4 months. But at least they're sold, and that's a good thing. And I'll be ready with replacement goods when they're finally gone.





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