Etsy in December 2016

December 2016 has been my best month for selling on Etsy, EVER.

Here it is the 20th of the month and I have had 13 sales. (14 items) Last December I had one sale.  It was a good one, but just the one. 

I have been trying to learn more about selling online and I guess some of what I've learned is paying off.  I've learned that you absolutely have to connect on other social media like Pinterest and Instagram.  I think those two have given my shop more exposure. (Thanks to my daughter for her social media expertise.)

That's done by "pinning" my own items to Pinterest boards, and posting pictures of my for sale items on Instagram using hashtags that are popular with other people who love vintage items.  
Like:
#vintageshopping
#fleamarketfinds
#vintageinspired

If you've ever wondered what kinds of things I sell, or what kinds of  vintage things people buy on Etsy, here's my December list of items sold:

Vintage Button Brooch

George and Martha Creamer and Sugar

Will Rogers Bio Book

Vintage pot holders

Embroidered Cloth

Art Deco Vanity set

1971  Cloth Calendar

Toy Iron

Children's Muffin tins

Amish Pepper Shaker

Embroidered Cloth

Mother of Pearl Tie Tack

Vintage Anne Diary

Hankie filled with Lavender

Am I making a living?  Far from it.  So far still a hobby, but who knows.  It may come in handy some day.  Here's the link to my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PicketfencesVintage

Here's my Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/picketfences3

Here's my Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/Picketfences3

Another trip into Burgaw, NC

I found out earlier this week that Stover's Auction House in Burgaw was having a one day tag sale today, so I made plans to go.  Since it's almost an hour away, I planned on leaving home at 7:45 a.m. It's best to get there early and sign in, so you're one of the first to get in.

We had a hard freeze last night, so it was 27 degrees when I went out to my car.  My car was covered in ice.  I used the scraper on my windshield, but it didn't do much.  I finally had to back my car up enough in the driveway so that the sun shined on it before I could leave!  I didn't get to leave until 8!

Such pretty little ice crystals all over the car.  

 I got to the auction house and there weren't many people there this time.  They had mostly furniture and some china pieces but nothing I was interested in to list on Etsy.

If you've read a previous post, you know I've been to Burgaw before.  I decided to stop at Fremont Antiques and see what they had.  It's a very nice store and I have bought something there each time I go.  So, I did so today too!  I bought 5 items that I can turn around and sell on Etsy for more than I paid for them.  

Fremont Antiques is in "Historic Downtown Burgaw."  I noticed today that the shop next door is actually an old fashioned department Store!  Imagine that.  Reminds me of the SQR store in Anaheim, where I grew up.

Fremont Antiques

Harrell's Department Store

Over the door Harrell's reads Established in 1903

Burgaw is a cute little town with lots of old homes, a huge courthouse (Pender County Courthouse) and a typical statue of a historic person in front.  The downtown area appears to be trying to revitalize, with coffee shops, cafes and other businesses.

Oh, and I saw this sign in the antique store. I thought it was appropriate for North Carolina, with all the hunting that is done here.

Anyway, it turned out to be worth the trip into Burgaw even though the auction house wasn't successful.  Hunting for vintage things for Etsy is my job for now.  (It's a good thing I enjoy it!)

(At noon, the temp. was 39, and now at 3:15 it's 45. Trying to stay warm.)

End of November

Well here it is, the end of November.  December will be here in two days.  Hard to believe.

Elaina cooked a great Thanksgiving meal for the two of us.  She made a wonderful cranberry sauce this year that had crushed pineapple in it.  It was so good!  We made soup with the leftover turkey.  

Our weather has been very different this fall.  First we had very warm days earlier in November and since then some cold days and a few freezes over night.  We wake up to see the lawns covered in white. However, today has been another weird day.  It's in the 70's, very humid and windy.  We have been very concerned about the fires in the western part of the state and in TN and have hoped
that moister air would help, and some rain, but the wind would definitely not help. News from that area today is not good.  So sad.

Because of the warm weather, the trees didn't start changing color at their usual time.  Now, everywhere you look, the trees have reds, yellows, and orange colors.  So pretty.  But it's also starting to look a little "bare" since the leaves are really starting to fall.  The only ones keeping the forest looking like forest are the pines (and there's a lot of pines!)  

Over our back fence

across the street

Today I had breakfast at Cracker Barrel with my Life Group ladies. It's the last meeting until the new semester starts.  Then I went to the USO and helped decorate for Christmas.

I helped with these two areas, but there was a lot more decorating going on.  There was at least 5 trees being decorated at the same time.  






After that I drove over to the church to pick up our tickets for the Christmas program. They are free tickets, but you have to have them ahead of time or you may not get to go, since the congregation is so big.  There's several showings but still, you have to have your reservation. 

I'm still selling on Etsy, with a sale or two every month.  Looking for a job of course. Still don't know what will be happening, but I"m trusting that God has something for me.  Most jobs I've had in the past came from "word of mouth" rather than just applying all over the place.  Hoping that happens soon.

Light Sisters' Retreat 2016

Well, Light Sisters' Retreat ended on Saturday with a trip to the Jacksonville airport.  So sad to see it end!

We had a great time shopping for antiques and enjoying the beautiful Eastern North Carolina countryside and the great beaches and state parks.  Thanks to Elaina, we didn't have any trouble finding where to go and how to get there.  

One of the highlights last week, was a visit and tour of Marine Corps Air Station New River, where Elaina is a Family Readiness Officer.  We met and shook hands with her Commanding Officer and the Sergeant Major of HMH 366, helicopter squadron, the Hammerheads. 

Aviation Memorial out front at New River

We always hope for cool Fall-like weather, every retreat, however usually in California, we have warm-to-hot weather in October, our usual month.

So, this year, we figured being in Eastern North Carolina, in November, SURELY we would have cool Fall-like weather.  Uh, Eastern North Carolina had the warmest November 1st since 1950!!!  Sorry sisters!  I tried.  

On Friday, we planned on taking a ferry to Cape Lookout, which neither Elaina, nor I had done before.  There's a lighthouse there, and a great place to go shelling, and to see the wild horses.  We drove an hour and a half to get to the ferry, in the rain, believing that the rain was supposed to stop by 10 a.m.  We were told at the ferry that the rain wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, and the wind was going to be so strong that the ferry wouldn't be running in the afternoon.  So disappointing to have to cancel that adventure, but we were given a refund on our ferry ride.  Maybe next time.

I found several items in the antique stores that were low-priced enough that I can list them for a higher price in my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PicketfencesVintage?ref=hdr_shop_menu

I think we all had a good time, including the non-Light Sister, brother-in-law Ron.  We have good restaurants in the area and we tried several of them!  He got to have some fresh seafood.

So thankful that my sisters (and Ron) were willing to come here to see me and find out why I love it so much.  Thankful for Elaina's willingness to be tour guide extraordinaire!

USO Volunteer Dinner

Last night I attended the USO Jacksonville Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.  It was a really good dinner, catered by the Carolina Ale House restaurant here in Jacksonville.  It was a typical Eastern Carolina menu:

Barbecue 

(in NC that means pulled pork, with a Carolina style sauce)

macaroni and cheese

coleslaw

 a potato side similar to scalloped potatoes

and a roll

The president of the USO NC was there and spoke about the past two months and how busy they were for the USO. When there were riots in Charlotte and the National Guard were called, the USO had to set up a mobile unit, and then again after Hurricane Matthew when the National Guard came out to help they had to set up another USO unit.  He said within 8 hours, they had a unit set up to help take care of the needs of the National Guard with the help of Walmart and Harris Teeter (a grocery store) Amazing.  He said Walmart and Harris Teeter said, "just come in and take what you need."  So they did.  Bottled water, sunscreen, wet wipes, socks, etc.  

He had very nice things to say about volunteers and said they couldn't do what they do without us.  The USO is "The Force behind the Force."  They gave out awards according to how many hours of volunteering you have done.  Many people have hundreds and hundreds of hours of volunteering.  I only have 43.5 hours, but would like to do more.  If I get a job, that may not be possible, but who knows.

I received these items:

a t-shirt, water bottle and a personalized letter from John Falkenbury, the president of USO NC

Normally, it would be volunteers setting up for events like this, so, somehow they got it all set up without us!

Mr. Falkenbury reminded us that if you give to the USO National Office, it stays there, but you can give to the USO Jacksonville and it stays right here in Jacksonville.  The NC USO is a charter of the National USO.  The Jacksonville USO is the longest operating USO in the world, operating since December of 1941!

Other USO's were opened during other wars, but closed down when the wars ended.  This one has never closed.  It's a neat old building too.  It feels like 1941 when you step inside.

In other news, my sister Sue and brother-in-law Ron are due here Saturday night!  My sister Dorcas will arrive on Tuesday afternoon. So excited!  We're going to have fun, and we're not going to talk about politics or elections AT ALL!  Hooray!

I have fun places to visit on the schedule and of course antique stores are the main ones! Hope they can handle all the "country folkiness" of Eastern North Carolina!

Flooding and Beautiful Fall Weather

I just listened to Gov. McCrory's press conference for today.  He has been very good about reporting what's happening in NC since Hurricane Matthew.  The Neuse and Tar rivers and maybe more, are still not at their highest level.  They will continue to rise until Saturday, a week after the hurricane.  The flooding of the rivers is because of the immense rain fall that happened across the state.

There are 3800 people in shelters either because they already lost their home, or they had to evacuate and are still waiting to hear if their home will be spared.  Very sad.  Again, so grateful that we are fine here.

On another note, shelling at the beaches is great after a storm or in this case a hurricane.  Elaina and I went to Fort Macon State Park  and picked up a few shells. 

Well, not just a few.  I have more than I know what to do with right now.  The beach was just covered in shells, small, medium and large.  Also many, many horseshoe crabs washed up on the beach.

Horseshoe crab

 When I say there's lots of shells, I can't even begin to explain just how many.  I can't walk barefoot (I have tender feet!) on the beach down by the water.  It's too "crunchy."   When the waves come up and cover a huge pocket of shells, they makes a crackling sound unlike anything I've heard before. 

Anyway, we had a good time picking up shells.  So sorry for the people of Eastern North Carolina who are still experiencing the effects of Hurricane Matthew.

The Day After the Storm

We ventured out in town today, finally being able to get out of the house.  We saw many trees down, traffic lights not working, and stores that are usually open on Sunday, that were closed.  I have never seen Walmart closed before until today!  I don't know what the problem is, but maybe it's electrical.  If your computer system is down, makes it kind of hard to do business these days.

There's still  emergency situations going on because the rivers are still rising.  The pictures are amazing.  People who evacuated their beachfront homes and went to higher ground, found their hotel rooms under water and not able to get home.  Rescues were being done for people who thought they were getting away from danger. Just a crazy situation.  People in towns with rivers like the Tar River and others, are having to evacuate even today.

Here's a couple of pictures of the New River near the USO.  The water level is really high, but not overflowing, at least not yet.  The USO is open tonight for their movie night for single Marines.  They get about 30 Marines in for snacks and a movie.  Gives them something to do on a Sunday evening (especially if there's no electrical power in the barracks).

 

I'm still feeling very grateful and thankful that we have been just fine here during this hurricane. Sorry for all the people who have flooding still happening in towns all over North Carolina.

Hurricane Matthew Oct. 8, 2016

5:30 a.m.   woke up to the sound of rain on my windows which means the wind is blowing

11:00 a.m.  the wind is blowing quite hard and is whistling around the house.  The rain is coming in sideways, and every whichway. The siding on the house is very noisey. Elaina said some people in Jacksonville have already lost power.  Uh oh.  She had me fill the bathtub with water in case we need it for toilets, etc.

11:25  Tornado warning given and flash flooding warning for our area.  Matthew isn't even here yet.  Watching weather channel and getting weather alerts on my phone.  We get "emergency broadcast" reports on tv.  Tornado is moving away from us now.

Later in day:  more wind, more rain.  flooding in areas of town and some power outages.  Ours went out for a little while, but came back on.  So thankful.  There's no flooding in our yards, or the street.  Rain is definitely a problem because we were already soggy from previous rains.

9:15 p.m.  Wind has picked up quite a bit.  Expecting possibility of losing power again as Matthew is due here around 10-11 p.m. Came upstairs for the night, so I don't have to climb the stairs in the dark if it happens.  Matthew is a category 1 right now.  The wind is really whistling tonight.  I think now it is sustained wind, rather than just gusts. A very different sound.

9:00 a.m. Sunday  So grateful that all is well right here. We didn't even lose power. Many, many problems all around us though, in Jacksonville, Swansboro, Topsail, New Bern, etc.  Rivers expected to continue to overflow, roads washed out, power lines down.  Fayetteville has severe flooding.  We still have gusty winds here and we will stay secure at home.  Winds can gust up to 50 miles per hour.  Elaina has many friends in the area that are sharing damage to their homes and power outages.  Even saw  on line of areas of our old neighborhood that had flooding and power outages. Again, so grateful that we fared so well.  (We have one gate that looks a little worse for wear)

I'm going to do some sewing today and continue getting ready for company in 3 weeks!

Hurricane Prep

Well, today is October 7, 2016 and we are getting ready for my first hurricane.  Matthew that is.

We have heard so many different reports about the effect it will have on us right here in Jacksonville, it's been hard to know for sure what we should do. (For me anyway)  Today's report was a little more ominous.

My wise and experienced daughter has been through hurricanes before, and it's her opinion that we should stay right where we are. We don't have to be anywhere for the next few days anyway (all weekend church services have been cancelled).  It can also be a problem if you leave the area; it's happened before that people have trouble getting back home because of closed roads, etc.  So, we are staying put.  She has to be at work on Tuesday!

I'm glad that we are in this house for this though, because the old house on Brookside had 12-15 tall trees in the backyard.  Each thunderstorm we had there was a little scary.  Here, the big trees are outside the fence of the yard.

We have been stocking up on groceries, water and gas in our cars though because there could be problems getting to those things for days, and if we lose power, we need to have food we can eat without cooking and plenty of supplies like toilet paper!  We just got home from Walmart and it's obvious everyone else is doing the same thing.

I'm sure I will be writing again probably after Sunday to report on my first hurricane experience!

A New "Adventure?"

I think I'm finally over my allergy/asthma attack that I had earlier this month.  I still cough a little, but I don't sound scary to be around anymore!  ha ha.

Since Elaina and I started going to First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, I decided to join a small group, or as many churches call them a "Life Group."

Picture taken in Winter, no green grass!

I missed the first meeting of my life group because of my scary coughing, but I was able to attend last Tuesday.  We meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays in a home.  I consider this a new adventure because I haven't been part of a group like this since my days at Orange Evangelical Free Church.  This is a new place to live, a new church, and now a new group of people to share with.

This group is an all-women's group and the ages are from approximately 45-75 +.  The name of the group is PEARLS, and each letter stands for something else, but I don't have it memorized, sorry.  The few ladies I have talked with are very sweet, godly women and we have a few things in common.  As in all "Life Groups" things that are talked about in the group are private and not to be talked about outside the group. (Obviously I won't be sharing anything like that here!)

I can tell you we're going through a Bible study book called Seamless, by Angie Smith.  It's not a dry, read, fill in the blank, kind of study.  Angie is very knowledgeable and adds humorous and contemporary aspects to the notes.  There's also a short video 
each week by Angie.

Angie Smith

I'm looking forward to meeting with the other ladies each week and see what kind of adventures come about!

In other news, we have had very humid, cloudy, rainy days for the start of Fall.  Last night we had a super thunderstorm.  Late morning was bright and sunny, but we are expecting another storm today.  I'm hoping the Fall weather starts to feel like Fall soon, which means the humidity will go away.  Hooray!  (Right now it's 82 degrees with 74% humidity!)Aaanndd, it's raining......

Fall Allergies (and as always), Miscellaneous

I haven't written in a while.  Partly because I didn't have much to say, and partly because I have had a miserable allergy attack.

Hurricane Hermine that became Tropical Storm Hermine didn't affect us much.  We just had a few hours of heavy wind and rain one evening.  Didn't even bother our sleep that night.  There's another storm brewing I hear, but we don't expect much from it either.  That's what they say right now.

I have always had Fall allergies to some extent, but not like I've had here this month.  Episodes of sneezing and blowing turned into a cough and allergic asthma.  That started last Thursday the 8th and I'm still wheezing and coughing like crazy.  I don't have any medical insurance here, or I would have been to urgent care before this.  I'm doing what I know to do to get better, so it will end sometime.  (Never had asthma before!)

I had three Etsy orders in August, and three so far this month, which is great for me.  I have to get some more items listed soon. Hoping the sales continue.  Had to go out today, to get the third one shipped.

Here's a couple of things I find interesting in Eastern North Carolina:

 

• Cities/Counties "love" divided highways.  I've talked about that before, but I'm telling you, it's like it's a "must have" here. So often you have to drive a little further past where you want to go because you have to wait for a turn lane so you can make a U-turn and go back to where you want to be.  The saving grace is that parking lots often connect to different shopping centers, etc. so you can save a little time going through lots to get to a light instead of going right when you want to go left.  Sorry if that isn't clear; don't know how else to describe it!  Elaina said in Havelock they added road dividers in places where there once wasn't any, for "traffic control."  Okay, I guess.

• Here are two things you probably don't see in Walmart in California:

 Children's mini recliner in woodland camouflage

(is that so your kids can go hunting with you and have a nap when they need it?)

Deer and Turkey feed.  I think these are 50 lb bags. I had to do some research on this. I guess people like to help out the wildlife on their land during fall and winter, although I also read wildlife experts don't recommend it as it can cause health problems for the animals.  Some states don't allow it at all.  I guess NC allows it. We don't have harsh winters here, so they probably just like having the deer and turkeys hang around.  At first I thought, "Oh, you feed the deer, so you can then go out and hunt them?"  Maybe that is the case for some.

Around here a very common site is pickup trucks pulling a trailer, with a riding lawn mower in it.  Yards here are very often quite large so many home owners own riding mowers, or they pay to have their yard mowed by someone else (like us). This site is as common here as seeing Prius's in California.  Ha ha.

I'm trying to get a few things done for our annual retreat this year. My sisters and one brother-in-law are coming here in early November. Really looking forward to having them see why I love it so much here.  We will be going to antique stores and flea markets and do some sight-seeing in the process.  

Had my first real chat with the neighbor next door today.  Her name is Fay.  Sweet, friendly southern lady.  We were discussing the poor condition of the house on our left.  It's bank owned and seemingly abandoned.  Hopefully someone starts taking care of it soon.  The HOA hasn't done anything for it.

That's it for me today.  Thanks for reading!

August 29th,2016 My Mom

 Today is the anniversary of my mother passing away and going to heaven.  It sometimes seems like it was ages ago, and sometimes it seems like just a short time ago, but it has been one year.  I'm just going to share a few things that I remember to honor her today. She was a good mom, a good woman and a good friend to those who knew her.

I was blessed to be able to be with her for much of the last 10 years, and more specifically the last three. It was 2012 when I left my job in Yorba Linda.  I had initially planned on finding another job, but it became clear that I was needed at home with her.  My being home gave my sister Sue a break from being at the house every day and she gave me a break for a few hours every week. 

It was difficult at times, helping her do things that she couldn't do for herself and being wakened in the middle of the night because she needed something.  Because Mom was in a wheelchair due to her osteoarthritis, if we went anywhere, I had to load the wheelchair into the trunk, get Mom in the car, then reverse the process and get her into the wheelchair at Walmart, or Dollar Tree, or some other place she enjoyed going to.  She had a power chair to use at home, but we didn't have any way of transporting it, so we had to use an old fashioned kind when we left the house. Sometimes we would load her lap with so many items in the store that we would start laughing as she tried to keep everything from falling off.

This was her first ever ride in the new wheelchair

We did have fun on some of those trips out. Because we were often out at lunch time, I would suggest we go to Wendy's near Dollar Tree, for a hamburger.  That was not something she would have done for herself normally, but it became almost a habit to stop and get the children's meal that comes with a "frosty."  She thought that was pretty neat and really enjoyed it. Her other favorite thing to do was stop at Costco for one of their frozen yogurts.  She would ask for hers to be "swirled" meaning chocolate and vanilla mixed in the cup.  If there wasn't enough chocolate in hers, she would be sure and point it out to me!  I'm glad I didn't have to go back and tell them we wanted a new one, with more chocolate this time!  It was those simple pleasures that I think about often because they really did give her some pleasure and something to look forward to now and then.

After the trips out for shopping, of course the whole process was repeated when we got home.  By then it was time for her nap and me to have a break for a while.  Until it was time for her to get up!

Another favorite thing to do with Mom was make s'mores! She and I would roast a marshmallow on the gas stove and make a s'more once in a while in the afternoon.  Hey, if your 90 year old mother wants a s'more in the middle of the afternoon, you make s'mores!

Mom enjoyed gardening and doing jigsaw puzzles.  We worked on jigsaw puzzles on a daily basis. Her most favorite thing to do I think, was baking! She loved to bake bread and cinnamon rolls. Of course Sue and I did a lot of the work, but she would tell us what ingredients to bring her at the table, and then she would do the mixing.  She was a good cook too.

My Mom wasn't much of a dog lover, but she loved Elaina's dog Abby.  Abby was a rescue dog and was very scared of a lot of things, like Mom's power wheelchair.  (It had wheels! And it moved! Oh so scary!) I'm so glad I have this video of Mom petting Abby, even though Abby was scared to death at the time, she allowed it to happen.

If the video doesn't work, I'm sorry.  I don't know why. If it works for you, great.

Mom got a kick out of watching Abby run around the backyard, because she didn't just run, she raced like a greyhound and she chased after apples that had fallen from one of Mom's apple trees.  It was so great to hear Mom laugh and giggle at Abby's antics, even though she was in pain most of the time.  Abby keeps Elaina and I laughing all the time and I think of how Mom would be laughing at Abby today if she were here.

Mom's 90th birthday in 2014 with most of the grandchildren and great grandchildren

The reason I am here in North Carolina is because Mom had a reverse mortgage which we borrowed on in order to provide for her to stay in her own home.  Of course, that meant my life would be changing almost immediately when she passed away.  I needed a home and Elaina graciously said I could come here.  It's still a temporary situation for me, and I love it here in North Carolina, but I do miss my Mom.  Just looking forward to the day I see both my parents again.

Love and miss you Mom (and Daddy!)