What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Thursday, October 06, 2022

Hey, Hey, Hey. It’s ME

 Hello out there. I don’t know if anyone ever even looks here anymore.  I thought I would always blog and then I slowed down and then I seemed to have stopped altogether.  But, I miss my people and I miss writing. So I ordered myself a handy little Bluetooth keyboard to attach to my iPad, so here we go!

Losing my Mom hit me really hard.  My life suddenly changed. I lost my best friend that I had my entire life. It was so unreal to me.  And then I had to go to her house and start going through her things and sorting and throwing away and donating and all those other terribly hard things that must be done.  

In November I did a show in Conway and came home with Covid. The Bean had it really bad. I called to check in on my stepdad and he was sick too.  After nearly three weeks in the hospital, he died of Covid on December 3rd.  It hit me all over again. Now the house that was void of my Mom was just empty,  I loved him very much and he loved me too,  I still cannot believe they are both gone. The house has been emptied, we had an Auction and now the house has sold.  Finished  

Last weekend we had the Fall Junk Ranch. It was a record breaker in sales for me and almost everyone else too,  I’ve started selling more of my handmade creations and only Holiday vintage instead of so much random vintage.  I love making vignettes and pretty displays.  

I started making only Christmas, but I have evolved into Halloween, Thanksgiving and Patriotic.  

Christmas creations.



I still like going to the Goodwill bins and digging for treasure.  I don’t have my booth anymore. So I have to be careful of what and how much I buy.  I mostly look for things I can use in my creations.  My other mental health escape is to go to the casino and listen to the music and sleep in the hotel. Last week I went and played $55. I hit a jackpot, which was QUITE the thrill.  It was a once in a life time thrill.  But, my first thought was that I wanted to call my Mom and then I started crying.   Grief is a strange thing. I just sneaks up on you. No one ever asks how I am doing now that a year has passed.  It still hurts.

I’ll do my best to get back on here, share my finds and see what’s going on with you. And be more upbeat. 

Shara





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