Plan B at the Estate Sale

First, let me address the elephant in the room. If you’ve read my blog for a while (and many thanks), you’ll notice it has a different look today. And I have to tell you it’s quite by accident! The other morning after a rather sleepless night I was looking at new WordPress themes (templates)…not seriously thinking of switching just looking. Well, in my sleep-deprived state I accidentally selected and activated a new theme and didn’t realize it till later in the day when I logged in to start writing a new post and freaked out a bit.

Well, I tried to find my old theme with no luck. I used waybackmachine to see an older version of my site and look at the code hopefully finding the name of the theme. No luck. Finally I contacted the WordPress support team via chat. Turns out my old theme is no longer supported (or being offered) and they strongly recommended I find a new one! Well, poop.

You’re looking at what I’ve picked so far, though I haven’t been able to do much fussing with it yet. Still not sure about it, though I do like the fonts and readability. (A big note to self…stop messing about with blog themes at 6:00 a.m.!!) Thoughts? Suggestions?

Anyway, I went early to an estate sale this morning to get a good number on the sign-in sheet. I was keen on this sale because I had seen a painting in the preview photos that I really liked. I knew right off who the artist was and approximate value of his paintings.

That’s a McCaine on the wall, value about $600 according to WorthPoint sales data.

Well, despite arriving 90 minutes before the sale, I was only number #21 on the list. I later discovered that the list had been started the night before. (I have to admit I find that rather unsporting.)

By the time I got into the house I saw a woman placing a handmade sold sticker on the McCaine seagull painting. I was five seconds too late. BUT, I noticed the painting was priced at $600 and I couldn’t have paid that anyway. (I was willing to pay in the $300s.)

So now I was left to rummage around, and I’ll be honest, on the first day of a three-day sale (with no haggling allowed) I knew I was not likely to find bargains.

So what did I buy?

A few vintage boho necklaces. They had been all tangled up in a small container by the checkout table. I unraveled a couple that I thought were fun and wearable.

This unique one features big mother-of-pearl “pillows” or “buttons.”

This long, delicate ceramic scarab necklace is in two pieces which I’m going to try to fix.

A neat big Tibetan medallion with stones.

A generous-sized necklace of glass trade beads.

I also spotted these vintage Chinese/Tibetan brass cymbals during my last pass around the house. The original leather handle had deteriorated, but I thought they were appealing. These have a nice ring and are used during yoga or meditation.

I thought this small vintage copper colander with brass feet and handles (likely used for berries) was adorable.

And in the “what was I thinking” category, I bought this beat up, little copper kettle. (I think I was desperately trying to redeem the trip and my judgment was clouded. That’s my story anyway!)