Balancing Time

I mentioned in a post not long ago that I was going to start having some “yard sales” at the shelter where my daughters work.  In that town this past weekend there was a Fall event known as The Encampment.  A park in that town is the site of a long ago Fort.  The Encampment is a two-day event at that Fort which includes battle re-enactments, true-to-the-time-period camps, a selection of foods from the time period and made the way they would have been then, and tent after tent of handmade jewelry, clothing, soap, toys, etc. – all true to the time.  This event brings thousands and thousands of people to the area.  And the little town that hosts this event has become known for its yard sales over this weekend.  So, since I’m doing yard sales for the shelter anyway . . .  I decided to have an extra-large, two-day sale to try to take advantage of all the folks who would be yard sale hunting. 

I can’t remember working this hard for this many days in a row for a very long time.  The preparation went on for all of last week.   We borrowed tables and ended up with over twenty.  The set-up and break-down alone took two hours each, on both Friday and Saturday.   Listen, Friends.  I discovered this past weekend just how old I truly am.  Friday – dragging tables (heavy tables) out and setting them up, lugging boxes all over the place, setting each and every item out on a table, loading it all back into boxes and then into storage, folding up the very heavy tables and storing them.  Saturday – repeat.

The sad part was that the shelter is on the other end of town from The Encampment.  I was told that the yard sales on the end of town near the park were loaded with folks.  We had a lot of shoppers, but not nearly enough to make it worth all of that extra work!  Made a few hundred dollars for the shelter, much less than that for Winnie’s Wish and Wild Angels.   However, these are dollars that none of the three organizations had before.  I am happy about that.  I may never fully recover physically (weak smile), but now that the big event is over I'll be going back to my one-day, five-or-six-table yard sale next weekend.  You know how you hear that age is just a number and you're as young as you feel?      I adhere to those sayings.  But my body tried really hard this past week to convince me otherwise.

 

 

I have the storage building set up like a little store on yard sale days.

 

I plan to continue to do these yard sales through the rest of the Fall and into the holidays.  It’s really difficult to balance all the animal work here (in my world) with being at the shelter – organizing, pricing, setting up, and selling.  Sure wish these yard sales could be right here at my place.  But living way out in the country doesn't lend itself to having yard sales.    However,   there are wonderful things happening for Winnie’s Wish that do NOT require me to be away from all of the animals here.  Sometimes, gifts arrive that require nothing on my part at all – just open the box and feel that rush of excitement and gratitude.

 

Lori – THANK YOU.

 

Maria - THANK YOU.

 

And here’s another way Winnie’s Wish receives help without me ever having to leave home.

 

Andrea’s Insta-Auction!

 

Even if you don’t bid on any of the items, you simply MUST go and see Andrea’s cats (all Winnie’s Wishers) modeling hats!  Click here.

 

Have a great Monday.  See you tomorrow.

 

Comments

[ginny & the fur family]

Old is a word we don't want to say but the body knows. That is a good idea setting up the storage bldg. like a little store. Wonderful gifts from Maria and Lori. I have some more stuff for the store. I hope you recover soon and the back stays in walk about shape. I hope we have a nice warm winter and so far it is so pretty today. bye from all at Fur a Way Land.

[Falkosmom]

Take care of yourself! You do so much wonderful work with these little ones. Can you get somebody to help you out?

[John Bellen]

Next year can you not set up your sale with the others at the Encampment? How is that organised? It may make all the aches and pains worth it.

[Random Felines]

It is too bad you didn't get more business but better than nothing. :)

[Maria in CT]

Chrystal, the thing is, it's not like you put your feet up all week when you're not doing tag sales! Your daily work is taxing enough without taking on more. However, my mother always said, if you want something done, ask a busy person. You, my friend, are one busy person! Thanks for all you have done, are doing, and will continue to do to help the animals of your area!

[Andrea and the Celestial Kitties]

Girl, you gotta take care of you! You don't have to do everything yourself. Once you have that weekend yard sale thing set up good, you could get someone else to run it, no? Take turns! I bet there are willing hands if you just ask. (I am sure if they aren't working, your girls already are, so I'm not talking about them!) I wish you'd get an intern from the college nearby! They'd probably adore helping you for credit and just being there will force some of the kitties to learn to accept more people and socialize them a bit more, no? Just my thought, I'll shut up now! Love you!
So glad the yard sale did as well as it did and wasn't a bust! Can you use that storage area AS a little store, rather than drag it all outside?

Yay for the gifts! Lets see if we can get more on the way to help out, just check out the Wish List! And don't forget donations! And yes yes, the auction!! Fun stuff waiting for bids and every bid helps the kitties!