My Summer Project

Old radio

Inside the old radio

Antiques vs. collectibles. Early Twentieth Century furniture and boxes. Early, mid, and late Twentieth Century collectibles. China. Cut glass. Depression glass. Quilts. Books. Figurines. Enamelware. Pottery. Dinnerware. Vintage purses and jewelry. Linens, gloves and handkerchiefs.

Old family quilt. One of soooooo many.

Plus all the modern-day 21st Century stuff our homes have these days. And junk. Yes, we all have junk. And the clothes, shoes and purses of today.

After spending some time at my mom and dad's, taking pictures, looking through things just for kicks and hopes of finding something really fun, I finally have devised a plan.

I think.

I'll do this one room at a time.

One room at a time, I will organize their things by sellable categories. I have spent hours already trolling on eBay, and reading antiques and collectibles books. I've ventured through the shops on 6th Street a couple of times and learned some about pricing items.

So many cut glass pieces.

Plus I'm desperately trying to figure out the differences between cheap collectibles and junk, and those items truly worth something.

I've found myself feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at times because I find it all interesting, yet I'm an expert at nothing. And I find myself thinking, "Hmmm, I might like to sell stuff like this on eBay, just for fun." (Still considering that.)

And then there's determining what we'd like to keep vs. what we have room to keep.

Old purse from 20s/30s.

And, of course, in the middle of all my eBaying, I've been shopping (dreaming) for more antique pieces of furniture for my own home — the 18th-19th Century stuff my mother-in-law used to deal with. I love that stuff and would have fun doing that professionally myself (with a whole lot of learning), but I am not at all interested in the hard work of moving furniture from site to site for shows.  (I remember how physically demanding that was for my in-laws. My body is already a mess.)

So, yeah ... how about an antique collector ... that would be fun.

My great grandmother Cummins painted
and signed plates, dishes and lamps.

I've also discovered I adore scoping out old books and looking for the treasures. That just might become a true hobby for me. Used bookstores exist all over the country. What a great travel pastime, especially when Dorsey is working and I'm killing time.

Anyway ... through all of this learning and wading through things and frustration, I've decided to prepare the house for the estate sale people by going through things myself. Because I want to. Because it's interesting.

So many teacups and saucers.

I might even like to become an expert in some of this stuff. Just for fun. I can't help but learn along the way, anyway.

So there you have it: My summer project.

After that, I'm hoping I will have a little more direction for what's next in my life.