Strange October…

October has started oddly. I got my first cold of the season (already!) and our little house seems to be under attack. We’ve discovered active termite damage and a critter is scratching in our attic crawlspace. Drat! That’s the thing you never fully grasp when you buy a house…that it will take constant care and maintenance and you are always be tossing money at it! Always.

And to add to this stress, just the other day PG & E started cutting electricity to certain areas of California due to super dry conditions and high winds for fear of fires. (Some of you may remember the devastating Paradise, CA, fires likely caused by PG & E equipment.) So far our house will not be affected by this current shut-off but folks just 3-4 miles west of us are. Phew.

This month has also been a strange month business-wise too. Sales were oddly, delightfully hopping the first three days ($514 revenue), but since then it’s been mostly crickets. Drat. I was also disappointed to lose out on some online auctions I was bidding on. Some just went way too high–at least for a reseller–and I had to drop out on some super good items.

So for better or worse I haven’t bought much this month. At my neighborhood thrift store I really wanted to buy this sweet older Bavarian porcelain dessert plate with Art Nouveau details, but at $4 it just wouldn’t be worth trying to sell online.

I got a little excited when I saw these little Danish-style cups, but alas they were made in China. Poop. And the store had them priced at $1.49 each.

I did buy this vintage Italian filet lace tablecloth. I’ve done well with lace tablecloths this summer selling four beautiful ones.

I have a great affinity for older lace and have been collecting trimmings for years thinking I might “do something” with them. One idea is to turn them into chokers with real gemstone beads sown on them. I even bought some tiny peridot, amethyst and garnet beads, but the chokers will need some sort of facing (perhaps black velvet) and nice closures so I haven’t made any progress.

But back to what I bought…there’s a bit of hippie in me and I couldn’t resist this artisan-made pottery oil lamp, which I think would also make a great incense burner. It appears that it’s never been used.

I also bought a couple of vintage sterling silver charm bracelets from an eBay seller in Canada. They should arrive in a few days. Here’s one of the listing photos.

There are no wowsers, but I think enough good ones to make it worth my while to sell them individually.

Hoping your October is going well and it’s not too strange!

Happy hunting,

Karen