Random Thoughts

50 this morning but feels colder. Rain and showers all night, cloudy this morning.

So little time to write these days, even this blog. Every spring seems to be the same though. I am sure all of you are busy as can be too, getting things ready for summer, even though the weather has been cold and not promising much yet.

Larry has built another light along our front walk, using bricks and glass bricks we had on hand. These look so nice, and it's good to have light out there since we have no other outdoor lighting. He does love masonry work. It was his lifelong trade and it's been hard for him to give it up, but his back is too bad now to allow any but the smaller projects.

Even with this chilly weather, the green is on the way. Each day plants are just jumping from the ground it seems. We planted celery and spinach plants the other day. My poor cabbages, though--Larry thought it would be a good idea to cover them with straw when it went below freezing, and something has eaten them up. I'm not sure what, maybe a mouse? So I'll have to plant again. We have had such bad luck with cabbage the last few years, they just seem cursed in my gardens. If it's not bugs, it's rabbits, deer, too much water, or now whatever this was. Ah me.

A few tulips and later daffodils are beginning to bloom. I picked a few of the daffodils that were bent over from being frozen and then took one tulip to add color to the bouquet. There's nothing that raises my spirits like flowers in the house.

Ebay sales have been very busy lately, so I've been doing a lot of packing, including this tall ceramic lamp that someone bought for a friend--in Los Angeles. You can believe I packed it well for its long journey. The lamp was given to me to sell, so nice profit there. 

Another quick sale was this light globe, bought for 2.00 the other day and sold for 50.00 this morning. I like a profit like that too. 

We've been restocking our booths, of course, an ongoing task. Yesterday we were at Marietta. Sunday I worked at the other mall, and Larry created a tool corner to sell the many old tools we've been gathering up. He also built the coolest tool rack to put rakes, shovels, etc outside to display. It's on wheels so the owner can move it in at night. Now we wait and see if tools will actually sell. It's something different, anyway. I need to take some photos to post.

I met some interesting people while working Sunday. One that stays in my mind was a tang, rangy man, probably in his mid to late 70's, dressed in jeans and chambray shirt and boots. His skin showed years of outside work, well weathered. He showed me his hands. "Look at this," he said. "I'm on 6 different pills, but look at them." The knuckles were all gnarled and swollen, and even his wrists showed the ravages of arthitis. "Years I've worked, and now can't hardly do anything with these hands of mine." His eyes showed surprise and disbelief that his hardworking hands had let him down. 

Then there was the couple, probably in their 40's/ She was as round as a bowling ball and short, he was tall, trim, a welder and good-looking too. They were happy as larks together, exclaming over things they found, their shared joy in each other evident. 

And the man whose hand was bandaged up, another working man but young and right goodlooking. He came in with his girlfriend and two teenage daughters who were into the goth/shave-one-side-of-the head/piercings/etc look. The girls were standoffish at first but gradually warmed up, and bought a few things themselves. The adults shopped for quite a while, buying an assortment of interesting things--little vintage pill box, records, a plastic kit to make a ship in a bottle, Fiesta dinnerware, etc. 

People-watching, and seeing the dynamics of relationships is just interesting, isn't it? Most days I see no one but Larry, so it's nice to meet the wide variety of people who come into the mall.

Looking outside yesterday through the kitchen window, I caught this little vignette, which I shared on Facebook but thought you all might like it too. 

My favorite little teapot, and vases waiting to be filled. Feels like spring, doesn't it?

Off I go to pick up some buys, so I'll say goodbye for now.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.