Mainly Garden & Rummage

Between trying to keep up with the garden weeding, watering, harvesting and cleaning of produce and running this year’s shelter rummage sale, I haven’t had time for much else. For awhile I was overrun with peas, now it’s chard, plus the tomatoes are ripening. We’ve had a rainier warmer summer than in years’ past, so the weeds sprout on a daily basis in both the garden and flower beds I am trying to establish. It’s not uncommon that I am out there a couple hours daily to do battle but in actuality, I lost the war long ago. I worked the rummage for the better part of ten days from 7 a.m. onward so I really got behind.

With some great volunteer help, I managed to pull off my first year of chairing the event and actually coming close to making what we have in previous years. Due to some snafus with delayed advertising (which I wasn’t running) I think our traffic was off; donations were off and hence, sales were off slightly. It’s a fun event but by the time I had swept out the warehouse and handed it back to the marina owner after the ten day endeavor, I was spent! The photos show the first day of getting in donations and our unpacking and setup. Quite a job for a bunch of older ladies and lots of walking back and forth on cement floor!

Besides the funds raised for the shelter, the biggest personal benefit is that as volunteers we get first dibs on the goodies, for a contribution. I was able to add to my glassware stock (to make my glass flowers), oddball miscellaneous things (a large bell for the yard), practical items (cell phone case), impractical items (Xmas décor), entertainment items (books and puzzles), and best of all, a scroll saw for Marc which was in really nice shape. He has always hankered after one, but given the retail value of $1200, it wasn’t something high on his list at this point. Now he has it and is happy as a kid with a new toy as he practices making gizmos and gadgets that at this point serve absolutely no purpose at all but practice. He does assure me however that when it comes time for him to make my kitty window boxes, the thing will be worth its weight in gold.

I have a rather aggressive agenda for the rest of the summer so blogging may fall to the wayside. I need a new crown on one of my molars; I’m fairly certain I have some skin cancer going on my face (see the dermatologist next week); I have quite a bit of outside and inside trim painting to attend to and I am devoting lots of time to searching out properties on the internet that might be suitable as an exchange for our Yuma lot. We are tearing our hair out that we cannot get it sold and are already greatly in a loss position where it is currently priced, so I will make a last ditch effort to reach out to sellers in Wisconsin who have free & clear properties they haven’t been able to sell and see if they’ll take what we have and we’ll take theirs. It’s going to involve lots of emailing and contacting listing agents but just maybe we’ll be able to find that needle in the haystack. It’s better than sitting and doing nothing and gives me an important project to pursue.