Scam?, Heat, Covid, Finds

The other morning I woke up to an overnight sale. Nothing unusual there, but when I looked at the customer name and shipping address, a little warning bell went off. The name seemed totally improbable (though of course one can never be sure) and the second address line seemed very weird to me too–Ste A-8624119. So I googled the address and discovered it’s a Chinese freight forwarding company, but one that has multiple hits as an address that has been used by scammers. A number of eBay sellers had reported problems with buyers here. So with that big red flag waving I decided to cancel and refund the order.

Now interestingly several Etsy sellers in one of my social media groups thought I was overreacting and missing out by cancelling this sale. Could be, could be. But I’m happy with the choice I made. I don’t need the potential headache further down the road. (Plus do freight forwarding companies really deal with tiny silver charms?!!)

Anyway after days of lovely 70-degree temps, the San Francisco Bay Area has shot up to 90-100+ degree weather. Our house doesn’t have air conditioning and frankly a few nights ago none of us got a wink of sleep. We tossed and turned and sweated. Turned fans on. Gripped ice packs to our bodies. And it’s not gotten better. We are all quite lethargic and getting cranky. And it’s going to be like this for days! I am dreading it.

And to make matters worse, Covid-19 numbers are rising sharply in my city and it’s not attributable to nursing homes or retirement communities. A few days ago my youngest daughter and I finally ventured out to a restaurant for lunch (we ate on their outdoor patio) and I’m just not sure how soon we’ll do that again. At this particular place our table was not too far from the city sidewalk so we have folks walking past our table throughout the meal. It’s hard to know how much risk to take. I decided to stay home for a few days.

But Monday rolled around and I had an order to drop off at the post office, so I picked up some fabulous French bread and divine blue cheese at the grocery store next door. (I am known to get cravings for blue cheese melted on French bread!) And then headed to my neighborhood thrift store for a quick rummage.

When I walked in the door I spotted this rococo gilded plaster box and swooped in on it. Such a neat Hollywood Regency type of piece and despite its size (5.5″ by 5.5″ by 4.5″ tall) it weighs over two pounds!! Could be by Borghese, but there is no tag and the inside is lined in velvet which is not typical for Borghese.

And this artisan-made pottery bowl caught my attention. Signed “Hill,” I’m hoping its uniqueness strikes a chord with buyers. It does with me!

I liked this little carved pottery dish and will add it to a lot of similar pieces at some point for an “instant collection” listing. (Signed “Downey.”)

I wanted to buy this vintage handmade Mexican coin ashtray, but Jeez Louise, it was priced at $13.99!! I sold one of these years ago for $18. Not quite sure why the store thought this was so valuable. I was willing to buy it at $4, but that’s it.

So I am plodding along. Coping. Dreaming of autumn!

Happy hunting,

Karen