Tenth Week At Home

This week brought big news - on Thursday, May 28 our governor officially announced that we were able to move to Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan, meaning all gatherings of 10 people or less are allowed starting Friday, May 29. First and foremost it is encouraging to see that we are on an positive trend in the fight against COVID-19. Secondly it will allow us to hold public estate sales for the first time since March. We are planning to hold the sales for the folks who have been postponed as many as three times since March and April and we have booked some new sales as well. The month of June is already filled! We have a whopping six sales next weekend and we will be ready but with new rules - we will not only be limiting the number of people in the homes but masks will be required wear, social distancing encouraged, no children or pets will be allowed and it will be suggested that hand sanitizer be used by customers both before and after their time in the homes. The hope is that the shoppers will be happy to be back and will recognize the importance of keeping up the good habits we all have learned.

I was able to complete the posting of the gallery-worthy Native American jewelry pieces on Facebook this week with the launch of three lots of beautiful jewelry, mostly rings. The photo above is of last night's lot and it proved to be very popular with the Facebook group members - the only pieces remaining are the Kathleen Chavez pendant and ring, the Sammie Kescoli ring which is mostly sterling silver but has 14K white gold accents and the Adam Fierro triangular earrings at the lower right.

This week I made a purchase of more fabulous sterling silver jewelry from Mexico and Peru as well as a couple of Native American pieces. I now have enough Native American jewelry to post one more lot, and I also have some statement necklaces as well as the most amazing jewelry set I've ever seen. These statement pieces will be posted on their own as opposed to in jewelry lots. With the estate sales starting to ramp up once again, I won't be able to work on the jewelry full time anymore but I am definitely going to keep it up. I am so encouraged by the online sales and very grateful to find new homes for so many pieces. It allowed me to get through this difficult time without any loans or assistance but it gave new meaning to the phrase "side hustle!" I am not comfortable presenting the jewelry caravan at our sales at this time, it just involves too much personal contact so online with either shipping or contactless porch pickup will be the way I am selling my jewelry for now. I will also work on establishing by appointment hours to safely see the jewelry in person at home base. I am hoping to bring the jewelry caravan back for Phase 4, which if all goes well would start as early as June 26.

The other two lots of jewelry I posted to Facebook this week focused on rings:


The two pairs of earrings in the foreground, the earrings in the center back, all of the rings on the individual display cones and rings #1, #5 and #6 on the top row have all sold, the remaining items are available. The larger size / men's rings in the second row of the display are all vintage and amazing!


This lot was all of new rings from Arizona and New Mexico. The statement ring on the individual cone on the left and the two-stone ring on the individual cone on the right as well as rings #1, #2, #5 on the top row and #1, #3, #4 on the bottom row have all sold, the others are available.

Although I will continue to stay home as much as possible, the fact that things have opened up quite a bit now that we are in Phase 3 will prompt me to end the counting of weeks at home here. I am looking forward to getting my hair cut Monday evening for the first time since January, now all I have to decide is what to do with my hair! It seems like a good time to make a change. This is challenging with curly hair because it's usually best to just let it do its own thing. I will consult with my stylist and see! Catch up with you next time...