Saturday, January 22, 2011

the Auction (Pt 2) and More

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Our first auction is over, and I have to tell you how pleased we are. Assuming everyone follows through on their bids, we should get close to $900! The best part is there isn't one thing I will miss from this lot. The only piece I had put a reserve on was my Esther Hunt bust (the Chinese lady) and she failed to meet reserve. But that's all right, she is one of my "special" pieces and if she doesn't hit the sweet spot in the next auction, I'll just keep her.

The auction started promptly at 6pm and went on till almost midnight. The auction is quite lively and a lot of fun. In the end, we made almost as much money on the silent auction (which closes after the first 100 lots), which goes to show that there's never any logic at an auction. I stayed for the entire event and didn't buy a thing!

We have already taken two more loads in for the next auction, and today, I swear I saw at least four square feet of the back wall of the garage! I don't really expect to make this much every time, but a bit of money every time coupled with the bonus of getting rid of everything is a winning combination in my book.

After all this work, we decided it was finally time for us to go and see True Grit. I'm a huge fan of Jeff Bridges and have loved most every one of the Coen Brothers films. Added to this, the film was shot in New Mexico, so we decided to see it on the large screen. I completely loved it, especially Jeff Bridges' performance and the cinematography. Terry had a harder time letting go of the image of John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, but for me, it was an entirely different film, and quite wonderful on its' own terms.

Now a bit of health news. For some time now, I've been developing cataracts. It's getting progressively worse, kind of like I'm looking through an incredibly sheer piece of China silk. The good news is that my opthamologist has given the go ahead for me to have both eyes done (albeit one at a time). I go this Monday for my first measurement. Apparently, they will insert new lenses that may help improve my vision, as well as getting rid of my cataracts. I will still need glasses because of my astigmatism, but I'm looking forward to any vision improvement. I've especially noticed the "fog" when I'm taking pictures, so I have high hopes that this will help in that regard also.

And until then, we'll continue working on shedding ourselves of all this stuff!

4 comments:

Teri said...

Good job on the auction, sounds like that's the way to downsize. I know several people that had the cataract surgery and were surprised at how much better they could see afterward.

meowmomma said...

Sounds great and better yet I'm glad you were happy with the results! Now onward and outward!!

The cataract removal always seems to go off great for the folks I've knows who have had it. My brother even no longer had to wear glasses after his, but he evidently didn't have the stigmatism issue. Better cataracts than that macular business! Let us know when you are to have it so that prayers can be offered up for you!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Donna K said...

That's really good news on the auction. You're making progress.

I'm sure the cataract surgery will be just as successful. Vision is so precious.

I love Jeff Bridges. Do you remember "Sea Hunt" with Lloyd Bridges? Loved that show. Haven't seen True Grit but plan to.

Donna McNicol said...

Good news on the auction!!! Hope the rest do as well.

I have the start of cataracts but no where near ready for surgery. My issue is darn floaters...my opthamologist even sent me to a retinal specialist because they had gotten so bad in a year. Nothing to do...so I will continue to look through a fog. LOL!

I didn't anticipate liking the new True Grit...and all I remember of the original was Kim Darby and the hat she wore. LOL! But I loved it...so much truer to the era, so much more believable. Very well done!