GOING GOING GONE ~ THE FUN OF GOING TO AN AUCTION

Going to the weekly auction two times a week is on our entertainment / work schedule. Every once in a while during the summer we have another auction at a sellers home. Those can be the best and also can be the most exciting.Wednesday we had an auction in a great neighbor. Doctor and spouse moving to another city. They had beautiful things from art to collectible glass to home items. Lovely furniture and everything between including a collection of Greatful Dead items.
The only problem is the auctions are long, outside and unless you bring a chair you usually stand most of the time. Sometimes you can find a place to rest on a step of the porch.
You can meet and watch alot of interesting people and just watching some of the bidding can be fun. Things can go for hardly nothing and then some times you wonder what are they thinking. It can be easy to get caught up in the bidding and over pay. Now if it something you really want okay but if you are planning to resell than care needs to be taken. We watched some collectible Peanuts a 5 book set go for about $100 to $125.  I am not a Peanuts collector but if I could of bought at a steal I would of bought to resell. I knew that would not happen and I was right. The runner up bidders quit at $95.00 and were disappointed. I leaned over and whispered they probably could find on line at Amazon for about that or less. They were excited and thankful to hear that bit of news.
What I did want was a set of Sherlock Holmes in slip case and we got them I am happy to report. Paid a fair price and will resell.  But until they sell they are mine and are displayed on my living room side table.
Then there was the table of books. Most of the books were common novels. There were a few by local writers or photographers. I would of loved one of the photography books to resell but it went for more than I wanted to pay. But the best part is I had spent a little time looking at the books with my cell phone in hand. I went to Amazon and put in the ISBN to check prices. Some were pennies and others were a few dollars. Then came the treasure. There was a copy of " A Mirror of Nature Nordic Landscape Photography 1840 to 1910 ". Meant nothing to me but after searching the number I found 3 copies selling on Amazon for over $600.  Found this unbelievable so went to Abe books and found there were 3 or 4 copies also selling for over $600. At least one of the sellers are different from the Amazon sellers. The auctioneer would grab about 10 to 15 books for the bidding.  I was bidding against others when this book came up. No one knew what the others were interested in. That can be good and then can also be a problem if wanting different items. I did win this book paying a small price for it.

So treasures can be found everywhere. It probably will take a long time to sell this book but I can wait for the right buyer to come along to want this rare treasure of photos.
Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together.. Grace

DEVELOPING A CLEANING PLAN FOR YOUR HOME

I like to have some order in my life, just like so many others. Some times it is necessary to get back to the basics of keeping a moderate clean home, food preparation, errands and laundry.
Today I am sharing what I think can be a great plan to keep the home clean. First off it is important to ask for help from your family members. Since it is only hubby and me it is up to us but things to stay fairly clean around here.
There is several layers to keep my home clean.
Layer 1 is things I need to do every day like making the bed, washing dishes or loading dish washer, picking up around the house and taking out the garbage.
Layer 2 is things that need to be done twice a week vacuming or sweeping if you have hard wood floors like we do, watering plants, wiping down bath room
Layer 3 is more of a deep cleaning once a week job . This could be mopping floor, polishing furniture, getting groceries, doing errands and doing laundry.
Layer 4 is items that are considered special projects. Washing windows, cleaning the stove, cleaning refrigerator and what ever else you may have on your list.

I like to look at as layer 1 is about a half hour a day,
 layer 2 can take about half hour so I try to pick one of these to do it in order during the week
layer 3 could be done on Saturday if that works for you. We usually do these items during the week as time allows. We do errands as we are out on our runs to the thrift stores to hunt for treasures to resell. Laundry can be done while I am home and working on my computer. Grocery shopping is usually done Sunday after church or maybe Fridays after going to garage sales. What is important is to plan and attempt to keep up with the plan. To make my lists and carry them with me.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading some of my ideas on keeping up my home and that you will come back again to read some of my other ideas. Grace

MENU PLAN FOR WEEK 8/1 Spaghetti Will Be On The Menu

Today hubby and I stopped in for a few groceries at Super One for next weeks menu.
Plan is to make our home made Spaghetti Sauce doubling up the ingredients.
Monday we will go to the auction again so either will have Spaghetti early in day or put off having it for Tuesday night and eat simple on Monday like a sandwich

Other nights will be
Meatballs and gravy with mash potatoes and peas
Hamburger patties with tomato soup sauce , mash potatoes and vegetables
Eggs and Hash with toast for a simple dinner
Left over Spaghetti another night during the week
I hope that you all have a wonderful week of menus and happy family times.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace