Knock, knock, knock. Anybody home?

[Vinca]

Our little forum seems to be in the doldrums. Any exciting finds out there lately? I finally found something at the thrift shop. A very sweet, original watercolor that is an illustration from a later version of the book "The Wind in the Willows." It's by an artist named Laura Lydecker. I don't know what it's worth, but I paid $30 for it - more than I usually spend on anything, but I couldn't pass it up. I emailed the gallery on the sticker on the back to try to find out what it's worth, but so far I haven't gotten a response. On the selling front, I sold a Reagan campaign button on ebay for $80. I found that kind of amusing.

[suninvited]

1. I would love to see a picture

of the watercolor.

Sounds great.

[Vinca]

5. I'll have to add one at some point. You see . . . I'm a technophobe.

I had a camera I loved that died and now I'm relying on my husband's camera that I don't really have much success with. I usually recruit him to take my pictures. Next round I'll get a photo of the watercolor.

[zabet]

2. "The Wind in the Willows"...

I love that book, still have my old hardback copy I received as a child.

Thrifting - I picked up 3 glass Osterizer Mixer mini-mix jars with lids for 50 cents. Like new/unused with Osterizer lids, and the glass part has measuring graduations on the side.

[eleny]

18. I love those little jars

Found a bunch at the thrift a couple of years ago. I keep craft supplies in them like beach glass and they look so pretty.

What will you do with yours?

[zabet]

23. Being somewhat of a 'foody'......

they will probably end up doing duty in my kitchen. They are neat little jars, great for so many uses.

[democraticinsurgent]

3. That is a cool find

And it has been WAY too quiet on here. You'd think it was January or something, lol. Thanks for stirring things up, Vinca.

I've been covered up with about 25,000 records (45's) that I bought a few weeks ago. My focus has shifted from buying to selling as I feel like the proverbial snake with a rat in its belly.

But I am still looking a bit anyway, just nothing worth reporting of late.

[Vinca]

4. 25,000??? Holy moley! That's a sorting job and a half. nt

[democraticinsurgent]

10. yes, it's a giant mess that now occupies my basement

...but a good opportunity, so i went for it. Selling them in lots of 50 or so and that seems to be working. You can put that many in a flat rate priority mail box and ship easily.

[Vinca]

16. Have you found any rare ones? I'm fairly clueless about records,

but I pick them up when I see them for free at our local recycling facility (formerly known as "the dump" - LOL). It's usually LPs and I sell them for a couple of bucks each in my both at a group antique shop. Sometimes I sell them on ebay, but it seems whatever I have there is always someone with a brand new, never-out-of-the-packaging copy of it who is practically giving it away.

[democraticinsurgent]

21. It's increasingly hard to sell them

The reason I bought the load is that it was all new distributor stock from the 70's and there were many copies of obscure soul 45's which often do well. Unfortunately, I ran into to the same thing you mentioned. Almost every title was listed in a seller's store for $5-10 so I decided not to compete head to head with that. I put lots of 50 or so different decent titles together and am selling for $99, and getting it pretty easily. So it should be a good investment.

I'm gonna take about half of the lot to the local auction next week just to get rid of them, since a lot of the records are pretty much worthless.

With records, the best thing to do is to watch for unusual ones, especially local rock and soul records from the 60's and 70's. That's where the $ are now.

[Vinca]

26. The shop where I sell is in southern Vermont and the locals love Phish

and the Grateful Dead. I always buy those in any condition and they always sell.

[democraticinsurgent]

29. That is true

There are certain "evergreen" artists that seem to always do well on vinyl, the Dead, Doors, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Dylan, Bowie are probably the best. Phish is great too, but they don't have much vinyl out there. Especially good are important or limited edition pressings of these big artists, if you can ever find them.

[sandnsea]

6. I have a kitchen leak

There's a brick flower thing in front of my kitchen. The water has been draining into it so we didn't know we had a leak. We're going to have to take out the whole section, and replace some flooring. It's a mess. I don't think I'll be doing much of anything else for a while. Grr.

[Vinca]

7. That sucks. I have a kitchen problem,too. A mouse has decided

that life under our dishwasher suits him just fine. He's torn out the insulation to make a nest for himself and is proceeding to make one hell of a mess. I've vacuumed it out twice, but he keeps rebuilding. Today I bought some peppermint extract to soak cotton balls with and I'm going to throw some under the dishwasher. According to some site on the Internets, that's a good, natural solution. (And a whole lot cheaper than fixing leaks . . . you've got my condolences.)

[sandnsea]

8. I put natural peanut butter

on a mouse trap and kill the damn things. Mice and Rats is where I draw my humanitarian line. I'd actually rather have the leak, lol.

And congrats on your Reagan sale. Glad somebody got an economic benefit out of the asshat.

[Vinca]

9. I have a humane trap that I catch them in sometimes and cart them away

to someone else's woods. I did the peanut butter on a kill trap one time. The poor mouse wasn't killed, but it half paralyzed him. It upset me so much I immediately went out and bought a little cage trap. My cat, on the other hand, does a real job on them. The joys of rural living.

[Vinca]

17. I had to give you an update on the mouse situation -

you'll be doubly glad you have a leak. I cleaned out under the dishwasher one last time and threw a bunch of peppermint extract soaked cottons balls under it, hoping for the best. So, I'm out in the kitchen preparing veggies for supper and one of my cats stops dead in his tracks in front of the dishwasher and arches his back. I thought he was reacting to the peppermint smell. Then his paw went out as if he was hitting something. The second cat, an inside-the-house-only gal, appeared and took one look at the dishwasher and jumped about 5 feet straight up, knocking a vase over. So I looked and saw what appeared to be a piece of rope on the kick plate of the dishwasher. WTF??? I got down on my hands and knees to check it out and what do I find? A snake!!! A freaking snake in my kitchen curled around the dishwasher. That's where I draw the line - definitely no snakes. I yelled for my husband who caught him in a kitchen towel and took him outside. The darn thing was about 2 feet long - I couldn't believe it. He said it was a nonpoisonous something or other, but I'm more than a tad disturbed. How on earth did a snake get into my kitchen? On a positive note, I suppose he might have eaten the mouse.:rofl:

[sandnsea]

19. rotflmao

Oh my gosh. I've never had that happen. The worst was when the boys put a rubber snake on their sister's pillow (only girl) and she reacted like your in the house only cat, which sort of describes my daughter. You must be doing some good cooking to have your dishwasher such a major attraction!

I have what I refer to as Mouse PTSD. It is completely irrational and I know it, but I just get visions of mice all over the place, chewing hair, running on feet, popping up everywhere. I lived in a house with a horrible mouse problem and just could not get rid of them. I've been a little nuts about it ever since. The bad part is that just when I get a little rational about it (which takes years), a mouse pops up and it kind of starts all over again. Shiver shiver shiver.

If the peppermint works, let me know and I will put peppermint all over my house. Maybe that will help me to get a sense of control over the situation.

[Vinca]

25. I think we bought your house. If it weren't for the cats, we'd be overrun.

The place was built in the 1770's and has nooks and crannies all over the place, as well as a stone foundation. So far so good on the peppermint! I'm going to give it a week and look again to be sure, but if it works I'm going to have to find a cheaper source of peppermint extract ($3.99 for a tiny bottle) because I'm putting it in the cellar, the attic and anywhere I can in between.

[Vinca]

11. Here are a couple photos of the watercolor -

assuming, of course, I can figure out how to post them.:silly:

<><>

That wasn't bad. It only took 4 tries.:rofl:

[sandnsea]

12. Oh that is wonderful

She's an illustrator, as I imagine you either knew or have since looked up. What a treasure.

[Vinca]

13. I found some of her work at a gallery and emailed to get an idea of the value,

but so far they're ignoring me. Oh well. She doesn't seem to be listed in Davenport's or the other art price indexes.
http://www.kerygmagallery.com/artists/index.html

[sandnsea]

14. Try this

http://www.thechicagoartauction.com/estimates.htm

I ran across it when I was looking for an art gallery a while back. Don't know how well it works.

[Vinca]

15. Thanks! nt

[eleny]

20. Oh, that's so pretty! I would have jumped at it, too

Congrats on the great find.

I've been sitting here thinking I should just grab my purse and head over to the thrift. I have a few things I could bring over as well. Maybe tomorrow since I need to run an errand anyway. Since I'll be out I can see what's nearby my main destination. Someplace new. Maybe that could bring me luck as I'll be extra vigilant not to miss anything.

Enjoy your painting. It's a honey!

[zabet]

24. That is wonderful!!

Same illustrations in the hard back book I have! :bounce:

Uhm.....I would be interested if you decide to sell it and decide on a price. :hi:

[Vinca]

27. I was going to go in search of the book to keep with it.

In fact, the local book shop was on my agenda for today. I can't decide if I want to keep it or sell it, but if I ever come up with a value and decide to sell I'll let you know.

[zabet]

30. Thanks,

I do not blame you one bit for wanting to keep it or wanting to get the book to go with it. :hi:

[Duer 157099]

22. I have so much catching up to do here!

I've been having to focus on work (imagine that! crazy world) and so haven't been able to indulge in too much lately -- plus, running out of space doesn't help either.

And I've been in computer hell lately too.

I haven't even read this thread yet, just saw the title and had to post! lol... :hi:

[Vinca]

28. I wondered what happened to you. We need some mysteries to solve! nt

[Neecy]

31. Here's a good one....

My sister was looking for an antique piece to use as an end table for her husband to restore on his vacation (she's big on to-do lists!) and we found an amazing antique victrola stand. It was pure cherry wood, in great condition, and still had the original shelves inside to keep records - perfect for using as a magazine rack.

Anyway, he started restoring it and stuck behind the record storage area he found a bunch of very old stuff - a hymnal from the 1920's, some sheet music from the same era, and a 1918 book of African names. It was a fun find.

[Whoa_Nelly]

32. Not much extra time or (gas) money...Anyone here collect/interest in Palmer Cox

:hi: all! :loveya:

[Vinca]

33. Update on the Wind In the Willows watercolor.

I emailed the gallery about one of her other pieces which was similar to this and they quoted $1400 for a price. Wow! I had guessed $250 - $300 at best. I'm so excited!

[grasswire]

34. congratulations on your good eye!

What a thrill.

Oh, and I just read your post about the snake. Lord almighty, I'd be calling the movers. :::shiver:::

Cats do have an inbred fear of snakes, it seems. They often will react the same way to a belt on the floor, or a piece of rope. Boing!! Straight up in the air they go.