Powdering My Nose

Thrift shop finds:

• Gold compact engraved, with initials and date on the front and stones that might just be rubies (1947)--Three dollars. (Definitely taking this to the gold buyer--this will probably make my mortgage payment on the rental house; it's thin but tests as gold and matches exactly the one in the photo).
  
• Jade earrings (definitely jade, set in gold; definitely not taking these anywhere other than the jewelry box)--50 cents.
  
• Perfect skirt--Two dollars. Size--ahem, 10--It matches my black and purple suit. The jacket still fits but the skirt was too big. Now I can donate the old skirt and still have my suit! Two dollars, plus recycling at its most useful. I loved that suit and am glad to keep it.
  
• 10 rolls of player piano music--total of $10. I bought them for the beautiful red, green, and black boxes, in which I plan to store some jewelry. If you have a player piano, I will send you the rolls, as I doubt I can even get a dollar out of them. They'd also be great as the background for a collage. (The boxes are just lover-ly; I cannot wait to store some glass necklaces in them).

I sold the following this week:

• Oak tables (set of three), $52.50 (this was probably too low; I was a bit disappointed).
  
• Shawnee elephant cookie jar with mismatched lid, $30.00.
• Milk glass vase, $50 (what the heck was THAT about?--not that I'm complaining).
• Luzianne salt and pepper shakers, $17.

After the auctioneer's commission, I made $110. I had nothing invested in the tables (gift from my dad years ago), $20 in the cookie jar, 50 cents in the vase and a nickel in the salt and pepper shakers. (PROFIT: $89.45 in profit. From this amount, I have spent $15.50 for the above items, plus a candy dish, which was also a dollar. Total profit turned $73.95--that's my cell phone bill for the month)!

I still have a very nice Meissen candy dish (French Onion pattern) and an antique sewing machine to send to auction next month. I would prefer to send about 10 things to fill up my dad's truck. Maybe in November--I have some planters that I might send, or I might put everything but the sewing machine on E-bay.

I am not writing but am reading and thinking about a new poem including punctuation. The em-dash really makes me think. I love Randall Mann's "?" poem, and I've always wanted to write a poem with a symbol as the title.

I also need a third item for the braid/triptych of "Process Through Which My Beloved Becomes a Diamond." Can you think of something that goes with Renaissance paint-making and turning the cremains of your loved one into jewelry? I can't, either.

This is a boring post, I know, but I am a teaching and editing fool these days.


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