Getting Ready For Fall

I posted a new jewelry lot Sunday evening after missing the prior week. This was the first time using my new larger size backdrop which still has some interest but is not so busy that people have trouble seeing the jewelry pieces. This color combination worked well with the Royston turquoise and orange spiny oyster shell pieces I featured. The jewelry colors are fall-like but there is nothing like planning ahead! I really like the color of the driftwood with it but this piece is really gnarly. I think I will add removing some of the limbs to my handyman to-do list. 

The Royston turquoise line bracelet at the top center, the green turquoise ring to the left, the whirling log cuff bracelet at the top left, the coral cuff to the right and the butterfly and lizard pieces at the bottom all have sold, the remaining pieces are available. I rarely if ever see Hopi jewelry which are the four pieces at the bottom right. I was surprised that the earrings did not sell, especially the turtles which are a popular motif and are artist signed. To the online store they go!

In addition to the two large backdrops I ordered, I also started using the small ones from my last order which I think will round out the collection. I love this black and grey one which will look great with pieces of a particular color, such as this white buffalo pendant by Leon Martinez. I do need to return two of the pieces as the white graphite one is too soft and floppy to be a large-scale backdrop and I ordered an aquamarine color which I already had on hand. Luckily the shop has a return policy. I printed the invoice on shipping labels by mistake but I wrapped the whole thing, paper and all around the pieces and secured it with a piece of tape, which will keep everything intact for shipping. I am looking forward to using the brown salt and pepper cowhide as well, I have had such good luck with the black version.

This past week was a challenging one as Mother was not feeling any better on Monday. After four more hours of discussion, I was finally able to get her to go to the ER. However, this is the worst day of the week and time to go, the waiting room was packed. We were told that lots of people come on Mondays and use the ER as a primary doctor - it is not an emergency but they do not want to wait for an appointment with their doctor. It was a very long five and a half hour wait in the waiting room itself, our past experience has been minimal time in the waiting room but much more waiting time in an ER hospital room until a room in the regular hospital is available. I did not stay for the move to the hospital room because it was a very long day but Mother was admitted to the hospital and stayed until Thursday. She was discharged too soon but I have a feeling there was a Medicare limitation on her stay. Unfortunately she missed her cardiologist appointment that we had been waiting months for and we have a message in with their office to reschedule. She also had to cancel rehab for the week and we will need to add two more sessions to the end of her current schedule. At the rate we are going, I hope she will be able to complete the sessions before it is time to go back to Scottsdale.

After discharge and due to Mother's condition not improving, it was suggested that she go to the walk-in clinic in the same office as her primary doctor, as the doctor had her baby way earlier than we expected and is now out on maternity leave until December. We arrived shortly after opening on Saturday morning which is 8:00 AM (a tough one for me!) and the process started out fine until a man came in on crutches screaming in pain. He begged for a hospital bed to lie down on to relieve his pain but they refused. He ended up leaving, I am not sure exactly what happened. After about 45 minutes of waiting, a nurse approached us and said Mother has a note on her chart saying they are not to see her, that she is to go straight to the ER for anything that is wrong. That was really frustrating because Mother was told to go there. Back to square one!

Earlier in the week I had posted a new job on Care.com looking for someone who could help with the daily medical tasks Mother needs. I have been and can take care of the rest but the medical is outside my realm. Like the time before, there were responses from folks who did not take the time to read the job posting and must be responding to every ad out there. However one stood out from the crowd, she lives in Prospect Heights and sounds good so I sure hope things work out. We have an interview scheduled for Monday afternoon.

One bright spot this week is that I found a buyer for Mother's Paul McCobb dining table and chairs set on Facebook Marketplace. It did not go for as much as we had hoped but it is going to a really good home, the buyer was fabulous to work with and so excited about his purchase. Most importantly, Mother is feeling a lot more comfortable with more room to move now that it is gone. Luckily I found all of the table pads shortly before the buyer arrived as some of them were misplaced.

I really pushed myself on Sunday but I was able to get the jewelry lot posted (it sure helped that I had taken the photos the week before) as well as two estate sale packages completed. I will plan to get the other two done on Monday. The following week there will only be three to do so I anticipate having more time to post jewelry online. I also have a goal in mind to take the latter half of August to stage the entire breezeway with costume jewelry in preparation for my October sale. I will not be including costume jewelry in the caravan until then. Because I am on my own as far as putting on the sale, I must plan things far in advance. It will be a lot of work for only a 4-day sale but I will also work on photos and a video that I can post to my website and social media.

Here's hoping to better times next week!