for sale, my junk, my treasures

from shirley's cottage

For sale–My junk, my treasure
Daylight savings time is three weeks early. The sun has been shining for several days. It is trying to peek in the few windows that got Windexed over the winter.
Time for the annual plan to declutter the cottage and have a yard sale on Memorial Day week-end. The key word is plan. The plan is there every year, but it has only happened three times.
The first time I had a yard sale, I didn’t have to wear specs to see the prices, my hair was still naturally brown, and the kids were little rugrats running all over while I tried to sell my wares.
I didn’t know anything about "stuff", but I got a clue when a guy came about 6:30 a.m., and scarfed up a pink and white serving bowl on a pedestal. I had $5.00 on it and knew I would have to barter. He was gone with that bowl faster than I could take the tag off. It was then that I knew he got a bargain. The lid was broken, but he didn’t care.
I should have learned my lesson, but no. I also sold my grandmother’s end table lamps, a mantle clock with lions on the sides, and my brass fireplace screen. I don’t remember for sure, but I might have made a whoppin’ twenty bucks on the whole deal.
It was a lot of work, for not a lot of money. I missed the lamps, clock, and screen.
Especially when I didn’t make enough to get a new fireplace screen.
Fast forward thirty-some years later. After forty years in the same home, it was time to move permanently to the cottage. Time dims some memories. I decided to have a moving sale.
We piled everything that didn’t go in the big dumpster we had rented (it got to overflowing) and took the rest to the front yard where in my youth I had sold things I still missed.
It was such a bust. What I could have gotten a few bucks for, I was afraid to sell, thinking I might have a real treasure. (I found out later the knick knacks of my mom’s were valuable (if they had a made in China stamp on them.) Guess where they are now? Dusty and dirty in a box that just keeps getting moved around. I couldn’t sell the old rocker with the broken arm, either.
The third sale was better. Actually, it was my son’s. It was at the cottage. I didn’t really help much except to tell him what he could not sell. How could I get rid of my grandpa’s sauerkraut maker?
With this next one I’m thinking if I plan and not procrastinate, know what I am selling, and ORGANIZE, I should have a successful sale with not a whole lot of pain.

I read an article in one of my favorite magazines, (free at the grocery stores) 50 Plus Lifestyles, titled "How to downsize your possessions".
The first thing it said to do was to sort. Start with four boxes:
< keep because you can’t live without it
> remain with family or close friends
> sell because of monetary value
> donate, too good to toss
I would add a garbage bag for too bad to donate.
Good plan. I started the day after I returned from my daughter’s. She has just moved from Boise, Idaho, to Chicago.
I only have two little problems. One box is overflowing, one is half full, and the other two are almost empty. I haven’t used the garbage bag yet.
My other little problem is; what do I do with the boxes I brought home from my daughter’s?
Come on by Memorial Day. If there is not a sale sign in my yard, stop by anyway. We can sit on the deck, have a brew, and talk about sales that never happended.
We can also talk about cookbooks. In the boxes from Kelly, there were several cookbooks. I’m going to open one up and point. That will be my recipe for the week. I hope it is a good one.
Creamy Hash Brown Casserole from 2003 Southern Living
you will need:
1 32 oz frozen or refrigerated hash browns
1 10 ½ oz can cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz sour cream
1 small onions, chopped
1 5 oz evaporated mild
½ cup butter, melted
1 t rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray
1 cup cheddar cheese
Mix all ingredients together except cheese
pour into sprayed baking pan
Sprinkle with cheese
Bake at 350 for one hour or until bubbly
let set for ten minutes. Sounds good. enjoy.