Stuff

[Kay Thompson Fields]

You get to be a certain age and you accumulate a lot of STUFF.. No matter how many things you give to children, grandchildren,charity,etc you still have much stuff.. I was never particularly a jewelry person, but I loved to collect certain types of art and other stuff.. For years I collected blown glass from a gallery in Dallas called Kittrell/Riffkind.. I started shopping with them when they were located in Olla Podrida  in the 70"s and continued through 2011 when they were located in Addison.. One of the owners was so not a people person.. He did not work the floor much.. If I went in and he was out front, He always asked me"Have you ever been in before?"I realize I have a forgettable face,but 40 years of shopping there!!!!!! Then I shopped a store in Dallas for years called Mary Cates.. Mary Cates was hard to categorize..She is now located in a much smaller space on Lover"s Lane and has gone to high end bedding( if she is still open) From her I collected Doug Lund birdhouses.. He only sold to Mary Cate and nowhere else.. I ended up with an embarrassing number of them.. Way Way over the top...So when we decided to move to Tennessee Glen told me he was NEVER moving them again!!!!!!!!!!! So after I decided which ones I wanted to use in our new house the rest went downstairs in shelving..Dandridge has a few interesting galleries here so I decided to consign a few of them.. I knew up front I was NEVER EVER going to get what I paid for them,but whatever...So they did sell and I got in the habit of consigning stuff here and there in Dandridge.. When Nancy came to visit last week she had a piece of sterling with turquoise in it that was a beautiful pendant, but Nancy felt it was too big for her small frame..(Can you tell Nancy and I knew each other in Arizona Silver and turquoise?).. I told her I would consign it for her...The lady I usually take things to liked it,but without a sterling chain did not think she would be able to sell it.. However: she recommended "the only real jeweler in this area".. She told me to ask for Marta..Nancy had remarked that people in this area seemed clannish(duh).. My personal experience has been that people usually respond the way you treat them.. I went to the jeweler and the sign on the door last Tuesday said OPEN.. Wrong it was locked tighter than a drum.. Same thing Wednesday.. Then Thursday the sign said Closed.. Now this has become a challenge.. Friday afternoon as I was returning from Knoxville I actually saw a car and the sign said OPEN.. I went home and got the piece and returned.. I also took a piece of my own with earrings...The door actually opened and people were inside.. There was a lady who I think was a Cherokee.. I asked if she was Marta and explained the situation.. She looked it over carefully with her jeweler thingy and said she would consign it.. She asked me what I wanted for it and I said I had no idea.. I then inquired what would she suggest.. She got sort of defensive and said I cannot help you set a price.. Then I noticed the man standing next to me..She had him look at it...Not very friendly folk..So I started explaining how I had moved from Texas 16 months ago and realized things would never sell here for what they did in my Ft Worth or Dallas So the man said I lived in Houston for 16 years during the late 70"s and early 80"s.. So to summarize when I left we are all best friends and Marta was laughing