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Quilt Top by Me, Hand Quilted by my Mother, Doll crocheted by my Mother

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Auction Addict.....

I was requested to write a testimonial for the Auction House that we go to every month. Below is what I came up with, do you think it will work for them...I thought it was cute. Such a nice Auction House with a wonderful staff.


AUCTION ADDICTS TESTIMONIAL

My Name is Bonnie and I am a auction addict!

I admit it, I am an addict, an auction addict that is. There is no cure for my addiction, and I blame my addiction on Florabama Auction Services. How do they fuel my addiction you ask, good question. Could it be the hunt for that one treasure that I might find, could it be the excitement of the bidding, the thrill of winning or the agony of defeat. I find myself in the weeks and days before a auction, going to the web site daily to see what new items have been added. The day before a auction we stop by get our number and take a up close and personal look at all the wonderful things that will be going on the auction block. The day of the auction we arrive early, we need time to say hello to all the wonderful staff and find out how they are doing. Than it is time for the gavel to come down, and for Cherylynn to get busy and start the auction. Jasper and Vance take their places on either side of the room and take turns bringing out the wonderful items, of course you have to take Jasper's descriptions with a gain of salt sometimes, he is so funny, "One ugly bowl and plate",he will tell you . Cherylynn will start to repeat it, she catches herself just in time and then she just gives Jasper a look and continues on. Jessica is the lovely clerk, but we are not allowed to feed the clerk, talk to the clerk, I think we can look at the clerk, but really this young lady is very serious about her job of recording all purchases. Debbie and Jo you will see taking the items from the front to the storage shelves or bringing out more items for sale. Jo also is the lady with the key to the jewelry and Fenton cabinet, see Jo if you want something from the special cabinet put up for sale. Linda and Kay are behind the counter making sure things are put in their proper place and also they are responsible for checking out the bidders and getting their merchandise. Debbie also does double duty as the snack bar lady, and she will fill in where ever she is needed, a multi-talented young lady. Cherylynn is the lovely auctioneer, she is such a sweet person, taking time before the auction to talk to as many of the people as she can, she makes everyone feel welcome and treats them like a part of her family. Steven is the General Manager, he makes sure everything runs smoothly during the auction and in the days before and after the auction. If you want to consign items he is your man. We also recently met Steven's Mother who was visiting from South Florida, She was such a sweet lady, I can see where her son gets his personality. She also informed us that she is planning on moving to this area and becoming part of the Florabama Auction Services Family. All in All, Florabama Auction Services in Milton Florida is the number one auction house in this area We have been to many auction houses in Florida and Alabama,and there are many we will not return to. If you are looking for a fun time, fantastic items and great deals , come and join the gang at the Florabama Auction Services location in Milton. Check the web sites for date and time of auctions, make sure you look in the gallery at all the items coming up for sale. But beware, You could become a AUCTION ADDICT to.....

F enton
L ladro
O ranate pottery
R ings
A utograph pictures
B ox lots
A rmani
M emorabilia
A ssorted sports cards

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

My aching back

I know that I am no longer a spring chicken, I know that I can no longer do all the physical things I used to do, I also know that while I know these things, I still attempt to do all the things I did in my youth. Now when I do these foolish things, I pay the price, FOR DAYS. This past weekend we moved Sean's woodworking machines and tools and other stuff from the garage to his new workshop. His workshop has been the temporary storage for my ceramic molds and paints, so they were moved from the shop to the garage. We did use the trailer that was hooked up to the tractor, which saved a lot of energy, but still all four of the movers were moving slower by the time we were done. Oh wait a minute, Sean and I are the old people here, Melanie and David are the younger generation, but they to were moaning and groaning. We took them to the local Steakhouse when we were done and when we got ready to leave we all had a hard time moving out of the booth. OH MY ACHING BACK.............and legs, and neck, and arms, Spa tub here I come.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Alabama Peach

This is Melanie, our Alabama Peach. Mel was at the house Sunday and I did the last fitting for her Halloween Costume, That is Kyle in the background, he didn't know that he was in the picture. So do you think she will win the best costume prize this year, we do. Now that her costume is done I can get back to the major task of getting the sewing/craft room back in order. Also we will be working on the garage and workshop this weekend. Can't wait to get the garage set up for ceramics and stained glass, its been so long since I did any of those projects. I also have a couple of quilts that need quilting, so that is also in the plans for this winter. Saturday we are planning on heading to Bagdad (small local community) They are having numerous events in that little town, there is Depot Days ( held at the old train station, craft and food booths, as well as games and rides for the kids) than there is the Front Porch Stroll (local artist have booths) there are also two churches in Bagdad that will be having their Fall Festivals. In Pensacola the State Fair will be getting under way this Thursday. For the most part the fall events in Florida are much like the events we had in Pennsylvania (fairs, craft shows, festivals and Octoberfest). The main thing I miss is the changing of the leaves, no beautiful fall color in the south also no snow. I don't miss the mess of snow, but I miss the beauty of it, the fresh, crispness in the air after a snowfall. Guess you just can't have it all, oh well, give me Spring and Fall weather any day, and that is pretty much what we have in this area.

Friday, October 10, 2008

I'm being followed

Yesterday and Today I had a yard sale, people were in and out both days. Thursday was on the slow side, almost as bad as the flea market last weekend. Today, however was much better, things were leaving here all morning long. It was in between my sales, there was no one around, I went into the house for a brief moment, when I looked out my door and spotted this little black and white dog. I stepped out my door to see if I could find a tag on the little strangers neck, when all of a sudden I turned and there to my surprise was the little dogs big friend. I turned and ran back into the house as this monster came after me. He was huge, all muscles and had the biggest head of any dog I have ever seen. He was what appeared to be a brindle Pitt Bull. He left the porch and I bravely stepped out and tried to chase him away. It worked with the little dog, he took off and I didn't see him again. This monster was another thing, he once again came after me and in the house I went. This is great, I am having a yard sale, many people are coming and I can't get out of the house. The big bruiser was now standing in front of my door, looking into the house, was he sizing me up for his next meal. NO his tail was wagging, and he was drooling all over my storm door. OK, I am brave, outside I go, trying again to chase him away. He is stubborn, he won't go, he wants petted, wants attention and he is now following me everywhere. I tried walking him to the side yard and leaving food for him. But the minute I left, he stopped eating and chased after me. He would not let me out of his site. OK, I returned to the house and shut the door hoping he would just leave, Nope, not this guy. A guy pulled up for the sale and the monster dog was the greater. The man said he started to get back in his truck but noticed the dog was wagging his tail. Monster dog greeted many of the shoppers, all seemed to think he was mine, because of the way he attached himself to me. OK, enough of this, I called the pound and let them know about my visitor, they were going to send someone out. I got a leash and attached the bruiser to the column on the porch and we waited. Another lady came and they like the rest remarked how cute the big brute was. I told the lady he came to the yard sale and he seemed to adopt me, and that I had called the pound to come and get him. She than informed me that if his owner didn't come and get him from the pound that he would be put to sleep. OH NO what had I done, he was a big goofy puppy, he was to nice to be put down, just because he was a Pitt Bull, but they have their rules. Well, as luck would have it as the dog catcher arrived there was a car behind her, and a guy shouted there he is. I asked him if this was his dog and he said yes, that they were visiting from Alabama and the dog escaped from his mother yard. The Monster dog was saved, he got in his owner's car and I walked over to the dog catcher and told her that his owner was found. She got the guy's information, and everyone left happy. Me, I continued on with my sale, minus one brindle shadow.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Buy of the day

Last Weekend: I have been a little busy and have not been able to post on here for awhile. Last weekend was a sort of moving day for us. We started the daunting job of moving all Sean's woodworking tools and machines from the garage to his new workshop. I will than be taking over the entire garage for my stain glass studio and my ceramic studio. Maybe once the garage is organized I will be able to get some of my projects started.

Last Week: I have been working on a Civil War Era Southern Belle Ball Gown for Melanie. She works in a nursing home and all the staff will be dressing for Halloween. Melanie had mentioned that she needed to dress and she might go as a Hippie. I told her I thought she needed to dress up and that I had lots of satin material and she said OK can you make me a dress (Open mouth insert foot). So off to the pattern shop where she picked out the neatest dress pattern. We had gotten a ton of a peach Satineen material at a auction a few weeks ago, which will make a great dress and was super cheap. I even found a 4 hoop skirt slip on ebay really cheap and ordered it so I didn't have to make the slip for the dress.

This Weekend: I decided that we needed to go to our local flea market and try to sell the rest of the Halloween costumes we had won at a auction. Guess I need to explain, this past spring we were at an auction where they had a huge rack of new costumes, no one bid on the costumes against us and we got them at a steal. When we went to load the costumes up was when I realized how many we had. There were hundreds of them, mostly for smaller children. We called all the kids and asked what sizes and how many they wanted for their children. We shipped some to Pa for the grand daughters there as well. And after giving out many costumes, we still had a bunch, so I decided we needed to try to sell them along with some others items we had stored. Well, we arrived at the flea market early, set up our tables and hanging items. We were now ready for business. What a bummer, not that many people, seems I picked the wrong weekend. To many other events happening this weekend. OH well, I have now decided that I will have a yard sale Thursday and Friday, and whatever is left over Melanie will pick up and try her hand at a flea market next weekend.

Now for my BUY of the day,with the booths at the flea market not being that busy, I decided that I needed to walk around a little and see what else was for sale. I stopped by this guy's booth where he had a lot of little items. I spotted this cute little basket that was filled with hair clips, Nothing was marked so I asked the guy if the basket was for sale and how much, He said two dollars which was good for any basket, but with turning this basket over and looking at the bottom there was the stamp and initials from Longaberger. OK, I now have the buy of the day, or maybe week or month. I bought the small purse Longaberger basket with fabric liner for $2.oo which sells for about $50 to $60 dollars. When I returned to Sean he just gave me a look, and then I showed him my treasure.... MY BUY OF THE DAY..