March 2026

Simplifying my booth redo after surgery.

antiques/junking
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It’s almost time for First Friday sales again at Good Juju.

The delightful vendors there all offered to redo my booth for me while I’m recuperating from rotator cuff surgery.

Which was quite generous.  The owners and vendors have enough to do, working on their own spaces.

Ahead of the operation, I planned the space well, setting up mostly shelving displays and tagging boxes full of inventory in advance.

After my shoulder was worked on, I discovered that the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as I was warned it would be.  Oh, yes, it hurt like crazy and I felt wiped out.  But I could also deal with it better than expected since I’d been used to the constant ache for years.

It didn’t take long for me to be acceptably good at doing things left handed.  And the booth was pretty much set up for popping new items into holes left by the previous sale.


While being careful and knowing my limitations, I figured I could manage the redo for the upcoming April sale.

For a while, I can’t drive or lift anything over 2lbs.  So Rich loaded up the car then unloaded the boxes at Juju.  He dropped me off with my crates of inventory placed in easy range for me to do some simple, left handed rearranging and refilling.

I will admit that the first trip was too much for me.  Maybe I should’ve waited a week, not jumped in so soon.   The next two visits went better, but did leave me drained.

My plan for having easy to fill in shelving sure helped.   Typically, I shuffle all the pieces of furniture around for a new look each month.  But that won’t happen for a while.

Not needing a major change sure made my mini redo go smoothly, even with one arm.  Rich spent a few hours playing pool with his Kansas City buddies while I puttered about and emptied boxes. Then, he’d pick me up a do a couple little tasks that I couldn’t  manage myself.

The arrangement worked out splendidly.  I got out of the house, which I really needed.  And I didn’t have to rely on other vendors too much.  They are already doing a lot for me, by turning my lights off and on, helping my shoppers, and keeping the space picked up.  I didn’t want to take advantage of their generosity.

There will be a few more months of this style of set up before I can go full force again.  I will soon be able to drive but still won’t be able to carry my own things.  I’ll be relying on Rich and the other dealers quite a bit.

I’m quite happy that I can manage as much as I have.  And also very blessed that I have so much help to do the things I cannot.

I feel very blessed.

Happy National Puppy Day

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Goldendoodle Puppies
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Today is National Puppy Day.

What a perfect excuse to scroll through my sweet babies’ photos.

My only problem was in choosing a couple faves to post.

Then I realized that is impossible.

I have been lucky to have so many sweet puppies in my life.

Each and every one of these darlings was special to me and I adored every minute of my time with them.

Well,  to be truthful, there were a lot of sleepless nights involved, with deliveries and newborns.  And scary moments, worried about a pup’s life when it wouldn’t take its first breath.

Sugar started off that way, but after gently rubbing her little, wet body with a warm cloth and softly blowing into her face, she revived.   Terror turned into pure joy for me.

Through all of the drama, there was always joy.  And poop, lots of poop.

No matter how big the pups were

or how tiny

All of these guys enriched not just my life, but my entire family’sHappy National Puppy Day.

It was a privilege to have brought these babies into the world.

I loved training them

Feeding and raising them.

Watching them grow.

Playing with them and loving them.

I’m recycling old magazine article photos

magazine pictures or articles
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My shoulder surgery went well.   Much, much better than I’d expected.  Don’t get me wrong, it was unpleasant and painful- just not the horror show I’d been expecting.

My poor rotator cuff had been giving me grief for years.   So I’ve been used to dealing with my arm hurting.  And I prepped my house well, had things I’d be needing out with loose lids, Sugarwings and Rich have been here to help with what I need, and I pre-wrote blog posts beforehand.

But now, three and a half weeks past the operation, my stockpile of posts is used up.  And while I’ve gotten by okay, and can be self sufficient in most ways, I’ve not been creative, or been able to comfortably hold a phone to snap pics.

That’s why I’ll be recycling some old photos.

These are from back in the days of doing magazine shoots.

Directions for rotator cuff recovery say you can go back to work after two weeks if you have an office job.  Four months if you do Manuel labor.

Working an antique booth is definitely falling into the latter category, it’s a full body workout the way I do it.


And while I’m free to use my hand in limited ways, like typing, I’m not yet ready for crafting.

Which means, nothing new to photograph.

And honestly, even this much working with my arm while writing this, will leave me achey.

I seriously have to wonder how others go back to work in two weeks?   I’m certainly not  ready, even if I had a desk job.  I’ve been exhausted and sore, still sleeping in a recliner.  When I actually sleep, that is, since the pain wakes me up at night.    So for now, I’ll be taking it easy, resting up, and reusing some old pictures.

I’ve enjoyed looking back through them.

 

Another find from my past

antiques/junking, Uncategorized
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Once again, I came across one of my creations while shopping in Topeka.  It was a different mall than I’d found the water color in. But both items were sold in KC.  I found them in two different Topeka stores, so I doubt they were sold by the same dealer.

I sold the painting about 20 years ago, but this cabinet was fairly recent, from Good Juju.

These shelves  were quite a bargain and I was tempted to buy them (and resell again for a higher amount!).  It was a cold day, I was tired and in a hurry, so I didn’t, but it’s still on my mind to go back and see if it’s available.

Wallpaper heart table covering

Food and Drink, friends, vintage paper/collage art
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Before going in for rotator cuff surgery mid February , I wanted a big night with friends to fill up my fun-o-meter.

Rich had been gifted this giant, dbl magnum of one of his favorite wines and that was a good excuse to invite people over.  There was no way we could’ve finished off that ginormous bottle on our own before it went stale on us.

And sharing a bottle of good wine with friends over dinner was just what I needed.


Our get together was on Valentine Eve, so I went all out on the reds, pinks, and roses.  I used the great big, vintage wall paper hearts I’d made or hang from the ceiling at Good Juju as my tablecloth.

After setting the table, I realized that I didn’t have a center piece.  So, I scattered dried roses (from a bouquet I’d gotten back at Christmas) down the middle of the table and gathered all of the votives I could find for a glow.  The wine decanters acted as decor too, since the wine was the star of the show.

The weather was strangely perfect for grilling (in February?!) so we had some juicy steaks along with the wine. But the best part?

So much laughter.  What a great night.

Ruby and I would’ve been crafting buds

Uncategorized
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Aren’t these just the sweetest?  Ruby Underwood made these lil cuties and her friend took  care in packing them up to save for decades, til I found them at her estate sale.  Each were wrapped in a pale pink Kleenex (remember when tissues were pastel colors?) along with this note.

There were little bunnies made of Pom Poms too.  These tiny bits of Easter fun remind me of something I would do.

Here is one of my peat pot baskets that Ive brought into Juju for the March sale.  I’d love to think that someone might carefully wrap up my hand made item and tuck it away each year after their holiday is over.

Possibly, many years later it could also find a new audience when another enthusiastic junker comes across it at a sale?

I make a lot of stuff.

For all occasions, and many reasons.  Sometimes just for the joy of creating.

And other times, for holidays.   And just like Ruby, who made the delightful eggs, I throw in a dollop of cuteness.  Ruby and I have so much in common that we even used the exact same chicks in our Easter designs, dozens of years apart.

I have a feeling that Ruby and I could’ve had a great time at a craft day together.

The Jewel corner got some updates

Uncategorized
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The jewelry corner of my booth keeps expanding.

It’s important to me to keep it looking fresh and restocked.

One of my biggest sellers has been the rings.

So I’ve tried to overfill those cases before I went in for surgery.

And  I have left bags of back ups in case refills are needed.  Other dealers are keeping an eye on it for me.

I thought maybe having so much of the jewelry out at once would be an easy inventory item for the other dealers to cope with.

So I doubled down on the sparkles and threw tons on the shelves.

This jewelry nook is new, I tried to rearrange my booth for easier access.

There are purses in the new nook too.

And jewelry boxes.

I’m hoping this space will be an easy care area for my friends who are taking care of things for me.  Thank you to all of them for their help!

It feels as if I have a much more open walkway through the space now.  I’m hoping it plays out that way, but I won’t be there to watch traffic patterns.

See the concrete child with the ears on, to the right?  Okay, looking at it, knowing it’s a kid, it is plain to know what it is, right?

But at a glance, and with those ears, it looks kinda like a bunny

See what I mean?

It will be hard to be away while the sale is going on.

But I know my friends have the space covered.

I’ll miss them!  The other dealers, the guests.   And my own pretty little corner of Juju.

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