Working When You’re Not in the Mood

For decades I was a cubicle dweller hunkered down behind a computer working “9 to 5”. And at times it was fine. Other times it was tedious and boring. But it was a living and from those various work environments came some fabulous friendships still going strong today. Overall though I am really glad to be done with that time of my life. Really glad.

Nowadays I have my little vintage biz, occasional freelance writing jobs and some pro bono work. That’s enough. But there are times I am really not in the mood to work. Yesterday was one of those days. As I sipped my morning coffee inertia seeped into my bones. I did not want to list any items, package any orders or research one more thing. I didn’t want to organize my inventory, answer any customer emails or catch up on my accounting. If you’d have asked me what I wanted to do instead, I couldn’t have answered. But I knew I didn’t want to work. Sigh. But this is not the time of year to slack off. So I pulled on my big girl pants and got started.

And that’s how it is some days, even when you’re doing what you love. Well, you know that too! We all hit those walls. Times when we’ve had enough. But I am trying to keep pressing forward with what needs to be done because in a month’s time I’ll put my store on vacation mode (12/19 – 12/25) and have a tiny break from it all. Yeah!!

So here are some recent additions…

Tiny vintage sterling silver binocular charm with movable parts

This came off a bracelet I recently bought on eBay. I got a nice deal on it, but some sadly charms were missing parts and a couple just silverplate. Still some like this one make me smile. It’s a bit of miniature perfection!

Tiny Vintage Sterling Silver “I Will Tell” Flower Charm

And from the same bracelet this small charm with “I WILL TELL, I LOVE YOU.” Originally this had white enamel on the petals, but only remnants of it remain.

Five like-new 1990s-era Vera Bradley placements in a French Country paisley

These were a nice thrift store find. All of these Vera Bradley placemats appear unused (they are clean, vibrant and crisp) and one even has its original store price tag. It’s a discontinued pattern and one that would be perfect for Christmas!

A large Victorian-era mourning pin/brooch with brass frame

This beauty is one of the last from my personal collection. I used to wear several of these mourning pins in a group on my blazers! Of course folks assumed they were relatives. Nope. Just random dead people!

More research needed…

So I had listed this beaded pouch and then deactivated it along with another one I had listed earlier. The estate I got these from had authentic Native American items so I believe these are authentic as well, but the more I thought about them, the more I realized I needed to find out more information–What are they used for? (Tobacco?) How old are they? What First Nation made them?

Here’s all I know, they’ve been in storage since the 1960s and were not new then! So a loose age range would be 80 -120 years. I feel like the styles are distinctive enough that perhaps I could narrow it down to a geographical area…maybe! So I’ve got some work ahead of me with these. I’m hoping to relist them with fewer question marks.

In closing

Looking forward to our Thanksgiving holiday next week particularly since everyone is taking part in making a dish or two for the meal. Gone are the days where I have to plan and make it all!

Happy hunting,

Karen