The second (and final) day of the moving day began with hauling yet more things up from the basement. The amounts are getting fewer and fewer and most of what remains belongs to Left Brain and needs his decisions. The doorbell rang at 9:00 and I found a man on my doorstep asking if there was another sale today. I told him 10:00 and continued hauling. The minute the garage door opened up I had three cars pulling up and had to navigate around people to get my car out of the driveway.
As people entered I informed them it was either $1 or free and gathered a little bit of money and sent more items out into the universe. By noon it had slowed to a crawl and I told people to please take something - everything was free. This resulted in several rewarding experiences.
First was a woman who was assisting a small town library in getting books. I filled up two plastic totes for her with everything she thought they could use, along with magazine holders and book ends.
Next was a lady who is starting to learn to quilt but has relatives that belong to the quilt guild I used to be in. I filled up two large plastic totes with every quilt book, pattern and packages of paper piecing paper I had.
Then there was the sweet mother of two fast growing boys who simply could not believe it was all free. She almost became teary eyed and told me that I had just made her day as she took a small Christmas tree, boots for the oldest boy and an assortment of tools and kitchen things. I explained that I had been without as a young adult when my son was small and I know how hard it can be. She allowed me to share my story of taking him to grand openings and the like to feed him supper and that if it were not for Salvation Army I would not have had any clothes with which to get a job and start working. I was rewarded with hugs and a comment that she wished there were more people like me. It's sad to see how beaten down good people can get when they are just trying to get through their life. That was worth more to me than any amount of money she could have paid.
There were many instances of watching small children take away my son's old toys and thrilled to have something new. I figure he's 40 years old now and really hasn't played with them for a long time, so it's probably okay.
A lot of people were interested in the canned ham, so I sent them in and gave them the mini tour. We'll see who contacts us and who ever has the highest bid by the end of the week will be the winner as we want it out of here quickly.
During the tail end of the sale a couple who had seen the house with me stopped by to do some measuring before the real estate agent arrived. Fortunately this was at the same time Left Brain returned from his driving job so I had assistance with this. Then another couple came through shortly after the first ones left and I was called upon to explain what it was like to care for the pond, etc.
After they left I started to clear stuff out of the driveway and assisted people as they arrived to pick up their bookcases. There was one ugly moment when a lady arrived to get her bakers rack to find it had been sold. I apologized and explained that I saw the name on it and thought it had been put on the wrong furniture as I knew that was not the right one. It appears the names were very similiar and I had mistakenly removed the sold sign and someone else purchased it later. She was quite upset with me, but other than returning her money and saying I'm sorry there wasn't much I could do. Then I let it go - not much I could do to make it better.
When I thought everyone had gone I was going to run a load to the storage unit so I could fill the car with a load for Goodwill when the other family came to pick up the furniture in the house they had claimed. She had a good crew of young men with her so after it was all loaded I asked if anyone needed a large TV. Well, when you say large screen TV to a testosterone filled crowd, the answer is going to be yes. I assured him it worked and wouldn't fit in the RV and would he please take it. It disappeared quickly. Another big heavy thing GONE. Now we have a plastic folding table and small flatscreen sitting there until we sell the house.
Both of us were exhausted but I managed to get stuff into the garage and put a beef roast in the pressure cooker. It probably needed another 10 minutes, but it was cooked enough and we were both very hungry not having had any lunch. I'm still getting the hang of using this thing.
Now we are settled into our chairs - he's reading the paper and I'm sharing my day with you while a symphony of frogs from both ponds are singing their little frog songs in stereo. It's a good life.
Long Live the Queen of Phase I
As people entered I informed them it was either $1 or free and gathered a little bit of money and sent more items out into the universe. By noon it had slowed to a crawl and I told people to please take something - everything was free. This resulted in several rewarding experiences.
First was a woman who was assisting a small town library in getting books. I filled up two plastic totes for her with everything she thought they could use, along with magazine holders and book ends.
Next was a lady who is starting to learn to quilt but has relatives that belong to the quilt guild I used to be in. I filled up two large plastic totes with every quilt book, pattern and packages of paper piecing paper I had.
Then there was the sweet mother of two fast growing boys who simply could not believe it was all free. She almost became teary eyed and told me that I had just made her day as she took a small Christmas tree, boots for the oldest boy and an assortment of tools and kitchen things. I explained that I had been without as a young adult when my son was small and I know how hard it can be. She allowed me to share my story of taking him to grand openings and the like to feed him supper and that if it were not for Salvation Army I would not have had any clothes with which to get a job and start working. I was rewarded with hugs and a comment that she wished there were more people like me. It's sad to see how beaten down good people can get when they are just trying to get through their life. That was worth more to me than any amount of money she could have paid.
There were many instances of watching small children take away my son's old toys and thrilled to have something new. I figure he's 40 years old now and really hasn't played with them for a long time, so it's probably okay.
A lot of people were interested in the canned ham, so I sent them in and gave them the mini tour. We'll see who contacts us and who ever has the highest bid by the end of the week will be the winner as we want it out of here quickly.
During the tail end of the sale a couple who had seen the house with me stopped by to do some measuring before the real estate agent arrived. Fortunately this was at the same time Left Brain returned from his driving job so I had assistance with this. Then another couple came through shortly after the first ones left and I was called upon to explain what it was like to care for the pond, etc.
After they left I started to clear stuff out of the driveway and assisted people as they arrived to pick up their bookcases. There was one ugly moment when a lady arrived to get her bakers rack to find it had been sold. I apologized and explained that I saw the name on it and thought it had been put on the wrong furniture as I knew that was not the right one. It appears the names were very similiar and I had mistakenly removed the sold sign and someone else purchased it later. She was quite upset with me, but other than returning her money and saying I'm sorry there wasn't much I could do. Then I let it go - not much I could do to make it better.
When I thought everyone had gone I was going to run a load to the storage unit so I could fill the car with a load for Goodwill when the other family came to pick up the furniture in the house they had claimed. She had a good crew of young men with her so after it was all loaded I asked if anyone needed a large TV. Well, when you say large screen TV to a testosterone filled crowd, the answer is going to be yes. I assured him it worked and wouldn't fit in the RV and would he please take it. It disappeared quickly. Another big heavy thing GONE. Now we have a plastic folding table and small flatscreen sitting there until we sell the house.
Both of us were exhausted but I managed to get stuff into the garage and put a beef roast in the pressure cooker. It probably needed another 10 minutes, but it was cooked enough and we were both very hungry not having had any lunch. I'm still getting the hang of using this thing.
Now we are settled into our chairs - he's reading the paper and I'm sharing my day with you while a symphony of frogs from both ponds are singing their little frog songs in stereo. It's a good life.
Long Live the Queen of Phase I
WHEW!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your sale was very successful. I especially enjoyed the stories you shared about the folks you gave things to. You've earned your froggy serenade. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDelete