Friendship is stronger than----heat stroke!

Hello!! 
Pat & Judy here, bringing you a story of a great pick, and also a lesson in the importance of friendship.

We are both blessed with the friendship of many wonderful pickers/dealers, all of whom have a great sense of humor, a deep appreciation of vintage treasures and an even deeper sense of loyalty for their 'picking' family.   Several months ago, one of the dearest of pickers, Lynn H., passed away after a valiant fight against breast cancer.  She and her husband, Phillip, had a keen eye for hunting down some of the most unique and special treasures--but even more than that, they also had hearts of gold, sharing all their knowledge and many years of experiences with any one who asked!!  And we ALL asked!!
So, when Lynn died this past March, it was our turn to open our hearts and 'share' ourselves with Phillip.  And so it was, when Phillip made the decision to no longer resale, Judy and I decided to help him get rid of all his stock and we held a 'dealer extravaganza' garage sale, inviting many of our fellow pickers to come support Phillip and hopefully 'pick' up some really great bargains.  And they came!!!  They all pitched in and bought, bought, bought!!   Phillip was having a great time visiting and making deals.
And even though the temperature got up to 103 degrees (that's right, I said 103!!!) we were still able to sell lots of great stuff, make Phillip some much needed money and have a wonderful time!!  So please enjoy the pictures and remember----friendship IS stronger than heat stroke!!!

                                    Here are some of the boxes--full of great treasures!!!
                                               There were over 60 boxes when we opened.

                             And so it begins---Judy says I have a 'nack' for getting peoples
                                                      good side!!!

                                             Judy modeling for a prospective buyer!

                                          Don't just stand there, Arvis---start digging!!

                                                                  That's better

                                                          Jackie's having lots of fun

                                           Here's Phillip taking a break--he worked very hard!

                                          Back in the air conditioning--now he's happy!!

                                       Arvis just standing around again!! Get moving, Arvis,
                                                          all the good stuff is going fast!!!

                                      Josie is 'deep' in thought--"What is that thing, anyway?"


     A good time was had by all and most importantly, Phillip was happy and even made a little money!   Pickers are a special breed of people, often looked on as scavangers, hoarders and just plain crazy.  But after seeing all the wonderful support these special people provided for Phillip,  we are proud to call ourselves 'two humble pickers'!!   

Until next time, this is Judy & Pat signing off, hoping all your picking is good!!

I just sell antiques!!

Hi, Pat here. 
   A good friend and fellow picker just told me one of the funniest stories I've EVER heard!!  My friends name is Jackie and she and her husband, Billy sell some of the most unusual, unique and totally cool antiques, collectibles, etc.  Jackie happened to meet a woman with several children one day and invited them to her church.  Jackie noticed the lady showed up several times and then seemed to just disappear. 
   Fast forward to several months later--Jackie was awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call.  She jumped up, answered the phone and a voice she thought she recognized as that same lady asked her "do you have some blow?"  Befuddled, Jackie asked her "what are you asking me?"  Again, the lady asked "do you have some blow?"  Jackie told her "I have no idea what you are asking me.  I don't know what 'blow' is!  Why are you calling ME?!  The lady answered her "I'm looking for some crack, you know blow and your name is in my phonebook and it says you are a dealer!"  Jackie began laughing and told her "I'm an ANTIQUE dealer"!!  The woman promptly hung up on Jackie--guess she wasn't in the market for a Queen Anne side table!!  Too funny--thanks, Jackie for sharing this great story!!

Until next time, happy picking to all,
                                               Judy & Pat

Estate Sale Mania!!

Hello, Pat here.  Judy and I went to a fabulous estate sale this past weekend.  It was a 6200 sq ft house that use to be a theatrical business run by a very talented man, Danny Morgan.  Danny had run this business for 35 yrs and was well known in New York and California as well as Galveston, TX which is where he had finally settled.  He was friends with many Hollywood stars most of whom he costumed for movies and shows.  Unfortunately, Danny passed away and his many wonderful costumes and accessories were being sold.  Every sq inch of the 6200 sq ft house was packed FULL and I do mean FULL of wonderful treasures from the theator (including a giant deck of playing cards which yours truly now owns!).  It was probably one of the best picks I've ever been to.  And the lovely lady running the sale, Christine Solis, and her wonderful staff were the absolute BEST!  Their kindness and patience with many 'not so nice' customers is to be commended!  Judy and I both came away with much more than we should have but we had fun, fun, FUN and made many new friends--so here are the pictures of a really good pick!!!

                     Judy and her cousin Bonnie waiting patiently (or impatiently) for the estate to open

                                       Some of the wonderful staff of Christine Solis

                                                      Danny Morgan and friend

                                             This is Tony--he worked at Morgan's for 15 yrs!!

                                   This is Christine Solis, the wonderful lady who runs the sale--here she is adding up all of Judy's treasures--need a loan Judy?

                  This is Chase, Christine's son--he is a fine young man and was smiling every time I saw him!!

                       This is Chase's beautiful girlfriend, Monique.  She is as sweet as her smile!!

                               Here's me with one of the MANY files of treasures I took home!

                                                    Judy carrying out the first of many loads!!

                                                          My first rack of clothing!!

                                                Jean and Christine, still smiling after hours of craziness!

        Bonnie and new friend resting outside--guess where Judy and I were--INSIDE STILL SHOPPING!!

       Judy and I are all smiles as we display just a few of the hundreds of wonderful items we took home!

                            Bonnie is ready to go home, but I think we got her hooked on picking!!
       We just can't said enough about how great Christine Solis and her staff were at the sale--very professional and well worth considering if you plan on having an estate sale of your own. 
     Well, that's about it.  We now have houses full of wonderful treasures, lots of good memories of a great pick and some really nice new friends!!

Until next time, keep on picking!!!
               Judy  & Pat, Two Humble Pickers

Sometimes you win, sometimes you wonder why you bought it!!

 

                                                                     

     Pat here!!  I'm the first to admit that I don't know that much about certain items such as glassware, ceramics, rugs, paintings, etc.  Well, actually, I don't know much about a lot of stuff, but my friend/fellow picker Judy does.  She has been a picker for many years and is well read on most items.  So when I saw an opportunity to buy a box of stemware I immediately got Judy in on the deal.  It was beautiful stemware and glasses and Judy felt sure we would get our money back plus a profit.  As she dug through the box, she also found quite a few dolls under the glassware.  The owner at first said the dolls were not included, but he backed down when Judy said "No deal without the dolls!"  And so we became the proud owners of a box of glassware and unknown dolls.  The glassware is still in question as to its value, however, here are some pictures of the dolls--you be the judge!

                                                  Here are the lovely 'treasures' in a basket

                                                   This is probably the best one of the bunch

                                                          This poor doll had no arms!!!

         

I didn't even include the picture of the doll with just wires for legs!!  So, this is a lesson well learned---always, always, always check your merchandize before you buy it because you just might end up with an armless doll!!  Until our next adventure, God Bless!!!

Sometimes it's better to lose!

Hello to everyone, Judy here.  Pat asked me to share one of my many UNUSUAL  adventures in picking and this story immediately came to my mind.  So read on and remember, PICKING CAN BE BIZARRE!!:

                                                             The Chevy Van Story

This all happened some time back in '97 or '98 but is one of my more unusual stories about picking.

     My sister, Cherie, and I were really into pickin' at storage units.  We would follow an auctioneer from location to location until we ran out of money or there were no more units to bid on.  We started out one day on a U-Haul Storage circuit, following the auctioneer from place to place.  We had successfully bid on 3 units at various places and were running really low on funds.  We went to the last location somewhere out in the boondocks, our last for the day, hoping to pick up a cheap unit.  We knew everyone else on the "tour" were also running low on funds so we knew we had a good chance for one more winning bid.

     When we arrived, there was a lady and her grown nephew there waiting for the auctioneer & group.  She said she had been busy all day and was so glad she had caught up with us.  We all growled - fresh money and competition!  Cherie and I looked at several units but they went too high for us.  Finally the auctioneer
told us that the next unit just had a vehicle in it.  The auction company had cleared the title and the car, a blue Chevy cargo van, had no criminal record and could be driven off the property, if it still ran and if there was a key in it.  He said we could actually go in the unit and peek in the windows since it was the only thing in the unit.

     All 15 or so pickers including the lady and nephew who had joined up with us went into the unit.  We could see there were some things in the back of the van but they were covered up.  Now I really wanted this van.  It was a picker's dream vehicle!!  The bidding started and, as I remember, I quit bidding at $400.00.  I was out of money.  New lady with the nephew also really wanted the van and she finally got it for $600.00 and was visibly over-joyed.  I was crushed and dreamed about the fantastic blue Chevy cargo picker's van that night!

     A couple of months later I was at another storage unit auction and there was the lady and her nephew.  I said, Hi.  You still driving MY van - haha. She said - Girl there it is sitting over there.  She pointed at the parking lot and there it was, all shined up.  I asked her what she had found in the van and she told me it was full of antique clocks and tools.  She said she sold the clocks and was able to buy her daughter a car!  I told her that, although I was terribly jealous, I was happy for her.

     She then told me, that's not all it had.  She said that the headliner kept coming loose and she kept poking it up but it would just come loose again.  She asked her nephew to fix it or get it fixed for her.   She said he got in the van to take a look at the headliner as she went into her house.  She said he came running in a few minutes later with 4 big packages of pure cocaine!!! I almost dropped my teeth when she said that!.  Here she had been driving that van for over a month with hidden contraband  in the headliner!

     I asked if she had called the police.  She told me - Honey, that would be just like throwing my pocketbook in the dumpster.  She said her nephew took the "packages" and sold them for $65,000.00!!!!

     After I heard that, I didn't feel so bad about losing that van 'cause no matter HOW much I may need money, selling drugs is just NOT an option!!
     Well, this is just one of my many picking stories and definitely one of the most bizarre---but stay tuned, I'm sure there will be more to come!!!!

                         UNTIL THEN, KEEP ON PICKING!!!!!

Ray's Pick

Hello to everyone out there in the blogosphere!!  Pat here, ready to share one of the MANY adventures of my picking buddy, Judy and me.  And, oh boy, do we have some adventures!!  Like the time Judy and I went to a pick where the elderly mother had passed away and had TONS of stuff in box after box after box after,....well, you get the point.  We were going through some old boxes in her barn where 'no man had trod' for many years.  Judy was looking on a shelf and pulled a box out a little farther to open it.  Apparently she had also shaken the whole shelf unit 'cause clumps of.........PETRIFIED RACCOON POOP rained down on her head!!  But did Judy freak-out and run for cover?  NNNNOOOOOO, Judy is a true picker--she simply shook it off her head and kept right on pickin!!  What a champ!!! 

But that's not todays adventure--this story starts with the passing of a dear friend and fellow picker, Ray B who had passed away several months before.  Ray and his wife, Mel were true pickers, great people and wonderful friends--they also had a 'good eye' for picking.  So, when Mel called me to see if I wanted to come picking I was calling Judy, filling my truck with gas and on the road to her house in minutes!  We arrived excited to see our old friend Mel, her daughter Judy (Judith from this point on) and Judith's husband Dennis.  We had a great time visiting with Mel, remembering Ray and enjoying a good pick. 

So here are some pictures of our pick, which we have named "Ray's Pick" in loving memory of a wonderful picker and great man:


This is were we started--one room in the house!

Judy's smiling because she thought she had found a treasure--it turned out to be a dud!

Me digging through a closet--there was some great stuff--purses, bags and...........

this WONDERFUL fur coat!!  Too bad we live in Texas were there is little need for a coat like this.  (I bought it anyway!)

Judy picking behind a door--sometimes that's were you can find the 'good' stuff!!

Out to the garage for more picking!

I found some really cool canisters from the 1970's

Me (Pat), Judith and Judy

Judy and me in our best Vanna White pose!  We filled up my SUV with great stuff.


We had a good pick, enjoyed seeing old friends and remembering a great man.  Be sure to check back often as we continue to share our many picking adventures!!