It Was the Spoon That Did It

That first sale on Friday was a hoot. Lovely house was a couple’s retirement home until their recent move to assisted living. Daughters and son-in-law were selling what won’t fit in the new place. I really wish I could have met the parents, because the mom’s taste…was my taste! I knew it when one of the daughters told me her mom never met a teddy bear she didn’t like. I was a bit relieved not to find any irresistible bears (after all, I bought one just last week!). But then I got to the table with pins and earrings.

Trouble was, the little sign said earrings were five bucks, and I almost never spend that much for them. But the sellers and another shopper and I were chatting away, and they mentioned they’d never had a sale before and did we think the prices were okay.

You should never ask me that if you don’t want me to answer!

I said that their goal was to get rid of stuff, and that they would do best if they are open to offers through the day. And that for something like earrings I never spend more than a dollar or two.

Gotta say, I really liked this lady. Don’t we always love folks who take our advice? She grabbed a pen and made a new sign, and now the earrings were a dollar a pair! And I loved her mother’s earrings. So this is what I picked out. I wore these nice dangly ones yesterday

and today I'm wearing the sea otters with the lapis beads.

Mom loved hummingbirds, as do I – and I have no idea how these tiny things were carved from wood!

What knitter could resist pewter alpacas to dangle from her ears? (At least I think they are alpacas.)

Faceted crystal cubes are just fun.

And lastly, tiny silver oak leaves and acorns. 

I finally tore myself away from the earrings, thinking I'd better make myself stop or I'd have to grow more ears so I can wear them all. And there on a nearby table was the other piece I couldn’t resist. 

I might have been able to leave behind the little pottery condiment bowl, but not the rosewood spoon. I was undone by the spoon. 

As I left, other shoppers were arriving, and the son-in-law was greeting everyone with a little speech about how they’d never done this before, and if something is too high let’s talk about it. “I'm a quick study,” he informed me.

I hit two or three more sales before heading home, less than the usual number, but you might remember the new addition to our family. Her escapade on Thursday evening made me reluctant to leave her to her own devices for too long.

It's been 14 years since we last had a kitten, and I had forgotten a few things. EVERYTHING is a toy. (Including dangling earrings!) Kittens have bodies that Olympic athletes could only envy, zero life experience, and are willing to do absolutely anything. Anything. 

Like jump up on the stair railing, and from there to the top of the refrigerator. I chuckled at the sight, then stopped chuckling abruptly when Millie decided to jump down behind the refrigerator. 

It has wheels, I'll just pull it out. No biggie, I thought. But it Would. Not. Budge. Not a centimeter. (Millie-meter?) I tugged and pulled. Nope. 

Husband out of town, home alone. Called a friend who lives a few blocks south. No answer. Millie starting to emit frustrated cries and scrabbling around back there. I called Judy, who lives a few blocks north, and thank heavens she answered. Not only answered but immediately stopped cooking dinner and hurried over. 

She took two seconds to assess the situation and asked if I have a dolly, which we do. A few minutes later, between the dolly and the two of us and more tugging we’d gotten the wheels unstuck from the floor and the fridge pulled out. Revealing several years of dirt, and a completely unruffled kitten who strolled out nonchalantly and sat down to flick a few smuts off her whiskers.

All of this to explain why there are now suitcases on top of my refrigerator. 

I knew those vintage Samsonites would come in handy – perfect to cover up the gap behind the fridge!