MOVING SALE

Sat., April 25, 8 am-1pm

House #69, Lakepointe, 6688 Tronson Road

Mexican clay masks and artifacts; antique Norwegian handmade wooden kitchen tools & a rosemaled bowl; unique German crystal punch bowl with wrought iron & copper stand & hanging crystal cups; small exercise bike; BBQ; zero-gravity chairs; artwork; hand, electric & garden tools; aluminum stepladder; shop vac; carpet cleaner; book collections; large garbage containers; lamps; glassware; extension cords (many sizes); electronics; Christmas decorations & lights; & much more.

Thankfully our moving sale was a great success and now a thing of the past. Gayle can begin in earnest to pack for our upcoming move to Manitoba. The above photo shows us the day after our sale celebrating that the sale is over. Since we will be downsizing a great deal, we were happy for the popularity of re-cycling. We have had good use and pleasure from many of our possessions which have outlived their usefulness for us and can now be re-used by others. Last week was truly an ordeal. Gayle had been gathering and culling things for weeks, placing them on display in our garage and leaving the car out on our driveway exposed to the elements and various bird droppings. Ian had managed to sort through many of the tools he had collected and used for years on various machining, carpentry, plumbing, electrical and repair projects but had to be banned from the pricing job Gayle and her neighbourhood helpers were doing. He was appalled at the low prices they put on his items but reluctantly agreed that we needed to get rid of his ‘treasures.’ (A word to the wise: Never put a Scotsman in charge of pricing–or paying for anything for that matter.)

Unfortunately, Ian took a turn for the worse on the Monday prior to our sale, waking up at 7 a.m. without the use of his right arm. He quickly woke Gayle and, while he was describing his symptoms, he lost feeling in his whole right side, including movement of the right side of his mouth. Recognizing that he was having a stroke, Gayle called 911 and within a few minutes Ian was being taken away by ambulance. He was paralyzed on his right side for about three and a half hours when suddenly, as quickly as the paralysis had occurred, it went away, with Ian able to move his right arm and leg and return to talking normally. The diagnosis was that he had had a TIA – transient aschemic attack, sometimes called a mini-stroke. Later in the day he had another TIA, with the same kind of paralysis occuring and then abating within an hour. A hospital stay of five days with new drug- and physio-therapy followed. He came home from hospital the afternoon before our moving sale and the next day slept through the entire sale, along with our dog Misty who kept him company, having missed him terribly for the five previous days. Now Ian is recuperating at home, having missed out on acting as cashier for our moving sale and manning a book signing table as planned. He also managed to re-read his novel, Beyond the Phantom Battle: Mystery at Loch Ashie, while in hospital and even sold a few copies of the book to staff. Here he is resting on our front porch and enjoying our lovely spring weather.

 Besides all the wonderful help from Nell, Sue, Marlene and Polly, four of our neighbours who assisted with setting up and running the moving sale, there were two memorable happenings during the actual sale. We so enjoyed the young boy, about seven years’ old, who arrived with a small money pouch and his mother and aunt in tow. He had lots of coins, amounting to about $3.00. Immediately he eyed a large mounted puzzle of about 30 colourful tulips in a vase as it leaned against the side of our house along the driveway. Announcing that he wanted to buy it for his grandma “who was sick”, he headed into the garage and, after a few minutes, came out with a plastic recorder (flute) and some pink and red valentine leis. Then he started worrying whether he would have enough money to buy all of these items. Gayle assured him that, even if he was a bit short, she was sure they could strike a deal for the lot. Not to worry, though; he had exactly enough change. Well, his smile was big enough to make the whole day a success. Then Marline pointed out the box of “freebees”–items that we probably couldn’t sell but just wanted to get rid of. He loaded up on a baking pan with lid that had a broken catch, filling it with a number of cassette and VHS tapes as his mother gently reminded him that they didn’t have a cassette or VHS player to play them on. He took them anyway,happily piling up his load of goodies, and anxious to get home. His mom just rolled her eyes and followed him back to their car, as the boy muttered, “Won’t Grandma be happy. She’s sick, you know.”

The second unusual “sale” was rather pathetic. We were reluctant to part with any of the seven clay masks we had brought back from Mexico but knew that we wouldn’t have room to hang all of them in our new home so decided to list them in the moving sale but would not part with them at “garage sale prices”. Gayle had investigated the cost for Mexican clay masks with a local dealer who said she would no longer be carrying them because they had gone up so much in price. What we had paid the equivalent of $40 for in 2005 was now selling, even in Mexican gift shops, for over $100. We had decided to price them at $10 (for one that had been broken and repaired) to $25 for the smaller ones and $35 – $40 for the larger ones. Towards the end of our sale a man came into the garage, made a bee-line for the Mexican table, picked up a smaller mask with a snake running down the face, carried it along with him as he perused a few more tables and then headed out to the driveway. Gayle followed him out and asked if she could help him. He then replied, “I just want to buy this piece. It’s quite a bargain.” As he handed Gayle a quarter, she laughingly informed him that the price was 25 dollars not 25 cents! She returned the quarter to him and he returned the mask to her! We are not sure if he was trying to pull a fast one or just rather dense.