Well my week did not go exactly as planned! I was supposed to leave Prescott first thing Monday morning to get to my noon hair appointment on time but I could not find the van key! I would normally keep the key in my purse but since I forgot my purse, I kept it on the side table in the living area. We did unload the van over the weekend but I know I had the key in my pocket the entire time and when I was finished, placed it in the same spot on the table. Unfortunately my spare key was still in Scottsdale. After retracing my steps and coming up empty, I had to cancel my appointment. I had my medi pedi appointment Wednesday and physical therapy Thursday and it was looking like I was going to have to take Kuochun's car back down the mountain on Tuesday to make those appointments. Medi pedi called just before I realized my key was missing and asked me to move my appointment up so making the drive down on Wednesday would have cut it close.
On Monday night, Kuochun had a taste for Culver's so we hopped in his car. All of a sudden, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was my van key! He had taken it off the table and put it in his pocket thinking it was his key. He had my key in one shorts pocket and his key in another shorts pocket so he had to go back into the house to get his key. My van is a 2010, so I do not have a fob but a key that I have to insert into the ignition but it has separate buttons on it to lock and unlock the side and back doors. The situation nearly brought me to tears because Kuochun was thinking my mind was slipping, when in fact I knew exactly what I did with my key! At any rate, I was able to go back to Scottsdale Tuesday afternoon, get the newsletter done and make my other two appointments. My hair appointment has been rescheduled for next Wednesday so I decided not to go back and forth and just stay in Scottsdale until my hair and physical therapy appointments are completed next week. I told Kuochun I was not going to be fun to be around over the weekend anyway because there was so much paperwork to do and four estate sales to manage. We still do not have a full-size computer up and running (or a desk set up for it) so it was a lot more comfortable for me to complete everything with my full setup in Scottsdale. It was really hard work but I got everything which was on a deadline accomplished in time. It just so happened that none of our four sales were a good candidate to extend so it should give me a chance to catch up with the non-deadline tasks and the newsletter at a reasonable hour next week. I would really like to cut out the Tuesday into Wednesday all-nighters!
As a result, I was not able to post any new items but I did make three sales! Working backwards, I sold this fabulous vintage Navajo-made naja statement necklace on Sunday through Facebook Marketplace. I posted this necklace a little over two months ago and it was one of my favorites. Just about the entire time, I had the same person periodically make me offers through Poshmark but with Poshmark's 20% commission and my paying for shipping the offers were just not acceptable. Every time, I responded with counteroffers at $300 less than the offer price but she kept coming back with $50 or $100 more than her previous offer. I always counteroffer with my best price and do not like to go back and forth. I kept repeating with the same best price (there is no direct communication on Poshmark and I did not want to post any explanations publicly) except I did not respond to the last offer which was Thursday. I really believed in this necklace and was able to sell it for the $300 off but with no fees or shipping cost. As I have stated before, I love Facebook Marketplace and have met the best people through there!
On Friday, I accepted an eBay offer of 10% off on this amazing lapis lazuli heart ring by Apache artist Rosella Paxton. She was Navajo-trained and the influence definitely shows but she puts her own spin on her designs. I love her work and currently have several pieces up for sale (and of course some more in the death pile) including another lapis heart ring in the same finger size but the heart and setting are slightly smaller than this one.
I was super excited to receive a Whatnot offer on this gorgeous Heidi Daus hinged cuff bracelet from the Glorious Garden collection. There was one small stone missing from the bottom edge of the bracelet but I decided to post it anyway (noting the flaw of course) more than two and a half years ago! I learned about Whatnot through my cross-lister Vendoo and all along I have posted items in my buy it now section on Whatnot. I believe this is the third item I have sold over time. I have a shoebox going of more Heidi Daus as well as Swarovski pieces which are in need of repair. It is my understanding that both companies will repair their pieces so once I have gone through all of the jewelry and I am sure I have everything, I will look into this.
I probably have eight shoeboxes stuffed with costume jewelry in the pantry that needs to be looked at. I have sorted much of the costume jewelry which I do not have room to store and have placed it into three categories - the best pieces I am curating for Prescott, pieces for the jewelry caravan and pieces that need help. The pieces that need help are being further divided into those I can repair myself and those that need soldering or repair that is beyond what I can do. I used to take costume jewelry repairs to Bead World in Palatine and they did a great job. I looked into a local option over the weekend and was so happy to find just what I need! The store is called Bear Claw Jo & The Girls and they actually used to be right down the street from us! They moved to Central Scottsdale a little north of the fitness center we go to. I am going to fill a shoebox and see how they do before unleashing the entire collection and will bring it over before I head to Prescott. I may just go on Friday because it is on my way there. I am sure they are slow as many businesses are during the summer here so I bet they would be glad to have some projects to work on. And this will get me so much closer to emptying half the pantry so we can store food in there!
It was actually a blessing in disguise that I was still in Prescott on Monday. The countertop installers arrived a day early (I was told they were coming on Tuesday) and I was able to help them while Kuochun stayed in his room with the girls. It took four installers to complete the job and everything turned out perfectly. The first photo is of the south wall of the pop-up shop. It is more than I need but very nice with a beverage refrigerator and a microwave oven. The right cabinet is for trash and recycling. It is more like a kitchenette setup but at least I have some storage space. I will probably put my cash register on the left side because it can support its weight and I will use my small lighted glass display case as my cash wrap on the adjacent wall. I am thinking about keeping rings in that display case since they are the most popular and it would be easy to show them there. I had to leave my previous cash wrap in Mount Prospect because we ran out of time and it would have been way too large for the space anyway. Victor the contractor is currently in Mexico so when he returns and has time he will now be able to install the rest of my breezeway tile above the countertop and create the backsplash. My job will be to unpack all of the non-jewelry items as shown in the current photo and prepare to bring the jewelry in. I would still like to have some picture ledges installed so I can easily revolve art in and out as it sells, without the problems I have had in the past with making a bunch of holes in the walls. The picture I recently found on my store visit with Melinda is on the right side! I am going to make a Paris-themed section with all the best costume jewelry. Quite a few pieces are Mother's from her trips to Paris.
Kuochun and I are both thrilled to have some more countertop space above the washer and dryer. The countertop is set higher because the hot and cold water controls are on the wall between the countertop and appliances. We may end up moving the dog food and treats containers over there as the kitchen is small and there is limited counter space. I actually took the Breville toaster oven back to Scottsdale where I have the storage space to keep it as a backup. We have the Brava and although it currently is working great, the company has gone out of business and once it goes kaput there will be no fixing it. We have no microwave in the kitchen and on a trip to Walmart we noticed some small microwaves for sale on an end cap so I think Kuochun is going to go back and get one. It does not make sense to carry food to the pop-up shop to reheat it. I just need to find the cozy for the water bottle which I think is still packed up in the garage somewhere and we will be on our way!
After being MIA for about a month and a serious letter from Tina to light a fire under them, the project landscapers came back to work on the yard. Quite a few of the walkway stones had broken and their initial solution was to "glue" them together with cement. It did not look good but they replaced the broken stones. The new grass is so happy! July is monsoon season and there has been a burst of rain every afternoon. Next up is to have the maintenance landscapers come. Oddly enough, there are quite a few dry leaves on the ground, which I would totally expect in the fall but not July! The chain link gates were moved to the south and east sides of the property. We had to wait a couple of days for the cement to cure but the gates were installed over the weekend. Finally we can let the girls out freely in the yard, it is a game-changer! Poor Margot, the grass is nearly as tall as she is but she is making the best of it. I know they are going to totally love the yard and it will save Kuochun a lot of effort having to walk them every time they need to go. In the meantime, between the longer walks we were taking them out there on leashes. I think a patch of real grass will need to be in the plans for Scottsdale someday! We will need to cover the chain link with something for privacy and so the girls cannot see to the street and bark at anyone passing by. Luckily this has really not been an issue, there do not seem to be the walkers in Prescott like we had in Mount Prospect and have in Scottsdale. Once everything is finished I will post some photos.
Next week is my week off from paperwork due to our having no sales the weekend of July 4. I am hoping to have time to work on jewelry once again. I did price jewelry while listening to my favorite Whatnot shows Friday night and Saturday but actually had to zone out of the last couple of hours of the Saturday show because it ran long and I needed a break from jewelry pricing. Trying to catch up from four years of a jewelry backlog is no joke!
I received my August physical therapy schedule on my last visit. Because of the change of plans I was not able to get to a fitness center to do my homework but I would say it was only about a half step back. A Yavapai Community College location is literally five minutes from home. We went there a week ago Saturday in the afternoon but they had closed at noon. The hours are actually spotty - they close for a couple of hours during the day and are closed on Sundays. We tried to peek through the crack in the door but could not see much but at least we know where it is. When I come back we will go check it out when they are open. The estate sale paperwork had to be the priority this past weekend but I was able to get to Scottsdale on Sunday. I will go again on Tuesday to complete the homework for the week. Right now I have appointments the last two Thursdays in July but my current insurance approval expires on August 5. My therapist will put in for another order but after July 30, my next appointment will not be until August 18. This will give me the longest stretch of time that I have ever had in Prescott to hit the ground running and work on selling the appliances, extra bed and extra rugs on Facebook Marketplace. While we are waiting for the tile, the Arizona room will be a great space to stage the items for sale and pretty easy for people to pick up (except I will not be moving the bed in there!)
Unfortunately with the rains every day the Arizona room is kind of leaking. The folks who built the room came out and caulked but there is still some water seeping in. Kuochun has been keeping me updated with photos. I ordered some splash guards for the two gutter downspouts which hopefully will help once they are installed properly. I was having trouble finding a solution in the right color so I thought I would go with concrete. However no local stores have concrete in stock and the smallest ones weigh 50 pounds each. I could have hauled them up from Phoenix in my van but they would have to be recessed into the ground. In the end I found some rubber splash guards on Amazon in a blackish color that has texture to give them some interest. The rubber is supposed to mold to the surfaces below it. They arrived Saturday but the gutter downspouts are too long so Kuochun was not able to get them properly in place. I had also ordered some multi-color river rocks which I am going to fill the splash guards with, this will give me the color variety I need to coordinate everything that is going on around it. They will also slow down the rush of water out of the downspouts. I am excited about this solution! The river rock is supposed to arrive next Thursday. We will need someone to cut down the downspouts a bit so they can rest on top of the splash guards.
That is all the news for now, see you next time!
