Grandfluencer on the Move

It has taken me 8 months to find an independent living retirement community. I have been retired over two years. The property I have moved to has active adult residences. Pretty much all inclusive except for utilities, and a few incidentals. 

Over those months, I have been working hard at bringing a family residence back to its former glory. The front and back yards were cleared of weeds. A traditional border garden was planted in the front and a vegetable garden in the back yard. All bedrooms got new flooring, and were freshly painted. 

NOW is the time to concentrate on me. Big bonus - there is a pool. You know where you will find me. 

Going through a second purge in the shed and finally found her - my original Barbie. She is wearing a dress my mom made. 

Another toy discovered from my childhood Uneeda's Tiny Teens Fashion Doll from 1967. 

Vintage AVON Pretty Peach cologne. Apparently, it was a favorite of mine with very little cologne left. 

Ending the post with a small beginning. Starting over again with furniture and all the living essentials. The lamp is from my mom's estate and the shelving from thrift. 

Nifty Thrifty

My sourcing focus for selling on eBay has changed to decks of cards. These next two listed were recent finds found after digging through the kids toys bins full of Old Maid and flashcards. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188783114580

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188783168791

That rustic barn fabric used in the background? One of my last retail fabric splurges - 5 yards of it available if I need to photograph larger items. 

I have also been replacing our stoneware dinner and dessert plates. When my daughter got married, I kept at least 6 patterns of fine China from that event. Those plates cannot be placed in a microwave, but stoneware can. 

At thrift, I also check for CDs that are unique or unusual. This Mingo Fishtrap, From the Private Bag, caught my eye. Not only was the CD in great condition, it appears each the band members signed the CD insert. If I didn't list it for so much, I would keep it. Such a fun listen. 20 other Christmas CDs were also listed. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188783260057

Glad I had the foresight to hold back from sending all of my former eBay product to thrift. Here is the tub o' needlekits, 30 of them are those formerly listed for sale and those I had kept for myself. My days of hand-crafting are severely limited. The neddlekits are queued up next for an eBay listing session. 

I have upgraded to picnicing and camping on the back deck. Fleas found their way into my indoor tent, so the tent technique ultimately failed. As long as it isn't 100 degree days, it is OK sleep outside. One advantage to a cot is the ability to move it around. 

Before you know it, fall will be here. Next month, I start preparing my Countdown to Christmas posts. In November, we will begin decorating the front yard for Christmas. 

Final Fantasy Flash #12

Yet another cool beans background in this Final Fantasy realm. Greercourt upgraded legwear to Ascetic's Tights, with a mucho magic defense of 50. 

Healed a sick unicorn, guess he likes me, I get to ride all over the place now. Because I am a conjurer, that mount is special to our class of character and each one has a different soundtrack. This guy also trails stars and makes the clippy cloppy hoof sounds along the way. A delightful discovery. I've also seen during game play a unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail.  

There is an inventory tab that needs to be checked from time to time to activitate the different items earned during game play. 

What fascinates me is that other players can see you move through the game and you can see them. I still can't get over that. I wonder what other players are thinking when they pause and turn to look at your character. Or if they are even looking that way. IDK

There are nearly 500 minions one can choose from to follow you around in the game. This floating airship is one of them. My son has a Welsh Corgi minion. 

Dungeons continue to be most fun, when I stumble on them. I haven't linked up with any other real players so I enter the dungeon with NPCs (non-player characters). At first, I couldn't figure out why the NPCs were following me around.😛They sure are helpful when you have to battle the cave critters.

Now at level 36, hoping to be at level 50 by the end of this month if not sooner. What else is there to do during 100 degree summer heat waves?👹

15 Year Blogiversary

Fifteen years ago I started this blog posting my thrift shop finds. Over the years, I joined in numerous blog hops, writing and photo challenges. There was a stint where I linked up with other bloggers who highlighted their thrifted outfits. Those are some of my most popular posts. It was time to include one for this blog anniversary. 

Outfit photo shoots really are fun. I would set the camera on a 10-second timer and hobble back in stilleto heels for each shot. For this one, my iPhone only allowed a 3 second timer so it meant running back and forth to the tent. Outfit details: thrifted black wig and Hell Bunny black velvet dress. Retail - Hidden leopard print vest, Pokemon socks, and Doc Marten shoes. 

The reason for the indoor camping - it has been a brutal season for insects. My delicate system reacts to each and every bite. Because we had such a mild winter in Northern California, all the bugs overwintered to wreck havoc on us. I've gone to extreme measures to avoid being bit. 

My page views really took off when I branded myself a "Grandfluencer" and ran my posts through Facebook. 

An additional audience joined me when I started playing the online game Final Fantasy XIV. 

Thrifting continues to be a true love💖💙💚 activity. Since I am back to selling on eBay, that means I can source for product. Having taken a six-month hiatus from selling, I am still sourcing from my own collectible inventory. 

Then there are the collectibles that will be with me until I leave this realm - Monster High Dolls. 

The three dolls to the left are years-old thrift shop rescues. The remaining four were found at hospice thrift on August 1st for $1 each. 

Here's to another 15 years! 

Final Fantasy Flash #11

I completed the Hero quest in Final Fantasy XIV and joined a company - Twin Adders. That emblem shown on the Chocobo saddlebag. No more running around! Trying for the unicorn now🦄

I switch back and forth between the character's costumes. This pink Thanalian one (my fav) and the battle-gear gray one. 

The creators of this game have quite the sense of humor. One of the new realms is called Hringhorni. Of course, comments and reactions exploded. 

"Hoping for a horni housing district"

"They knew"

On another subject, your character can hire a "retainer," a customizable non-player character to essentially do your bidding while you play the game or not. The retainer is summoned by ringing the bell. 

There is also player on player conflict PVP. I have not entered that realm, and probably will avoid it. As a lowly conjurer, I would be an easy kill target. 

Summer Hot Fits

Using my grammasonacid logo for this lead-off image. 

It is a thing - the Summer Hot Fits. Seems I just missed a fight that broke out at the local recycle center. Here in Amerika we pay a deposit for our plastic bottles and aluminum cans. A month's worth of recycle redemption for our family is around $20. 

Back to the fight story. The recycle center gates open at 9:00 a.m. More cars than there were spaces tried to fit in the miniscule parking lot. People started yelling at each other. One woman left. This all told to me by the recycle center guy. I arrived at 9:06 a.m. and missed the entire conflagration. Damn. 

Tamisplaining (like mansplaining only better) the Summer Hot Fits. It is the mental and sometimes physical condition you get in when it is way too hot outside. I get them. I get cranky. I get hangry (hungry and angry). I get downright mean. 

Best thing to do blah blah blah cool off, hydrate, etc. I think the only REAL solution is to be somewhere WHERE IT IS NOT HOT.🔥

My preference is the North Coast of California, somewhere near Mendocino and the like. 

Final Fantasy Flash #10

Grandfluencer sprout player present! Danced in front of Copperbell Mines before I made it through with NPCs earning about five treasure chests. 

On another quest I earned an emerald by dying numerous times. What cracks me up is each time you "die" you make a sighing sound. Like WTF just happened? 

Seems you can engage in Light Duty. 

• Light duty refers to lower-level content designed for casual players.
• It typically includes dungeons, trials, and raids that are less challenging.
• Players can queue for light duty content using the Duty Finder.
• Light duty is ideal for leveling up and gaining experience points.
• It often features simpler mechanics and shorter completion times.
• Engaging in light duty can help players prepare for more difficult content.

Another term is Dailies. Repeating a quest daily to get the most out of the game. I don't have the patience for that. 

From time to time, you need to review your battle gear. I started out with a stick. Pretty sure that was ineffective on bigger monsters. I upgraded to some stolen walking cane or something like that. When you look at each weapon's description, it will list it's level of power. 

Surprised by another sprout player that assisted me in critter battle. The critters are getting bigger and more complex as I progress through the game. I thanked the other player through chat but couldn’t talk to him since we were in trial version.

Catching screenshots of the interesting mounts in the game. This one is quite the TANK! 

Home Office Arrangement and Where Did that Money Come From?

My office setup has changed so much over time. The comfortable orange leather chair is from my remote working days. The touchscreen laptop well worth the money spent. I am already up to 27 active listings on eBay. 

Deathpile books have been listed. Christmas CDs are next. For those in the know, Christmas sells year around. 

Hold UP! I would think anyone who blogs would be interested in their stats. Daily page views hover around one thousand per day. As of the writing around 7 a.m. on 7/24, page views were 5,000+ by day's end 10,000. 

Weird and wacky sometimes show up at thrift. There was this lamp duo at hospice thrift in Cameron Park, California. Slightly out of focus because of the iPhone 12 camera. 

Upgraded my iPhone from a 12 to a 17e. It is pale pink with a pink Otter box on its way. Back to taking in-focus images. 

One good thing about retirement accounts, you forget about them until ... you are retired. I opted for a Savings Plus account while I worked for the State of California. This is an account I made 100% contributions. Thought there might be a couple of hundred, turns out it was $16,000. Took out some to pay off moving debt but left most of it in there for a rainy day.☔

Until next time,

Tami

Delighted to be Back

Who says you can't go way-old analog to weigh packages? My postal scale died awhile ago and this adorable kitchen collectible was just waiting to get back into action. 

I am so jazzed! Made my first sale the next day - who could resist this publication? 

A trip to the post office meant a new box put in place for the business. I don't like to use my home address listed as the return. 

My first active listing.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188667184370

My other two recent book purchases, now listed.😁

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188667189846

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188667191599

I am unsure how well cookbooks are selling. I don't think restaurants have totally recovered, some even continue to go out of business. Pulling from my personal collection, I do have some amazing cookbooks. The three I use most often and will keep forevers are Joy of Cooking, The New York Times Cookbook, and The Family Circle Cookbook. 

Tarot and new age cards have always been good products for me to sell. I had gathered a couple of new ones this past six months. A couple more were flagged for listing some months ago (deathpile Tarot😈) 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188671942532

I may even return to art classes through the community college. I have had so many calamities over the past six months: Injuries, surgery, physical therapy, insect allergies.

Delighted to be Back means more than just selling on eBay. It is a healing in our family after a long, difficult time. Only positive things allowed in my life now. 

Final Fantasy Flash #9

Re-geared to the Conjurer set. While I loved the Thanalian costume, this is the recommended one to survive critter battles. The pink detail in my white hair is the remnant Thanalian headdress. Love the thigh-high boots.💛Pretty sure I have earned those somewhere along the way. The detail of the untucked shirt, I approve.👍

Seems I got diverted by all of the stepping and fetching side quests. Good thing long-time player son stepped in and got me back to the main quests. The icons to look for appear like there is fire on the top. The main ones unlock all sorts of goodness. It appears you progress faster in the game if you stick to the main quests. 

Then there is jumping. I had been jumping to avoid monster attacks. Seems you can jump off cliffs and survive. Who knew? 

Here is an image of one of the more interesting characters I have run across in the game.  This mount made all sorts of electronic noises. I have also seen land cruisers (Cadillacs and such), and guinea pigs. Dungeons drop mounts as rewards by defeating specific bosses. I must obtain one of these rarities!👾

My Final Fantasy play is going to suffer while I re-list some of my eBay inventory.

Up and Running Again

Selling on eBay as grammasonacid. Renamed my store to go with my inactive YouTube account. 

I've located my saved product. A relative had a digital camera for my photo sessions. The only thing missing was a USB cable, now on order. Live listings will have to wait until Monday. I can draft without photos for now. 

I prefer to take the photos by camera rather than iPhone. When I take the pictures on my phone, they come up as "memories" on my Microsoft OneDrive photos. 

The basket of needlekits I saved from the Great Purge. The container of Barbie doll clothes are those I've kept for myself. Rather than lot them up by color, I will list individually if they are rare enough. The few books I have tagged for listing, and I've picked up a few more from Goodwill. 

Not shown are a slew of Christmas CDs I can also list. During lockdown, Christmas CDs were one of my best sellers. 

Funny thing, I just gave away all of the eBay branded boxes and tape. I wasn't using most of them anyway. Polymailers work for all of the items I sell. 

I am not going to opt in to the store option at this time. Before, I had over 2,000 active listings. I did not lose my customer feedback or my listing templates. Such good tidings of great joy!😄

I had entertained the idea of going to an eBay convention. One is scheduled for August 12-14, 2026 at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. I don't have the extra cash at this time to attend. Maybe with my pared-down store I will see some💰

Here's to becoming an online seller again!

Six months post eBay

Lead-off image is when the poppies were in bloom. Thrift shop ceramic frog in permanent wonder at their beauty. 

Having taken a six-month hiatus from selling on eBay, I am ready to start over again. I do have my shop tam_gonza and over 1,200+ positive feedback. 

The only bugaboo to this Grand Plan is my product is stored somewhere in a packed outdoor shed.  

Most of the eBay branded boxes and rolls of tape, I gave away. What I found most useful are the different sized polymailers. Those, I kept. 

I will limit my sales to the following items:

Uncut sewing patterns
Unique books on cooking or crafting
Tarot or New Age philosophy deck of cards
Color-coded sets of Barbie-sized clothes
Needlekits

Those are the few categories that I know I still have items to sell. In the move/purge, I can't remember what flew out the door. 

I had been avoiding estate sales. There are certain items, like those listed above, that other buyers overlook. Old bibles and dusty pieces of artwork can be fabulous finds.

Quick thrifting update: New feather/down pillow $9, retail price $29. 

Gardening update: Plants have to be watered twice a day with the 100+ degree heat. 

We are hibernating inside during the heat wave.😡

Here Fishy Fishy

Fishing has been a part of my life from a young age. As a kid, I never caught anything, other than a child's fishing pole at a lake. This image is from 1968 of the pole that I "caught."

A few years ago, I lived the life of adventure. One of the few women that engaged in ocean sport fishing in Fort Bragg, California. It was not an easy sport. The boots were for balancing against the waves. The pink life jacket, while adorable, would be useless if one fell into the ocean and only if they fished you out right away. The fingerless camo gloves were for handling the fishing line and electric reel. There was also blood, bait, and fish bent on biting you. 

I have never been on a fishing party boat. That is where a captain has rented his vessel to take a group out ocean sport fishing. Most popular are the salmon runs (when deemed open by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife), and bottom fishing. 

Worthy of mention is a group I discovered when I volunteered at the Summer Spectacular last month. 

Project Pick Up Fishing Line - a Facebook page dedicated to awareness and education about the dangers fishing gear has on wildlife. The group's displayed lures were found mainly IN TREES in the surrounding counties. 

Since I have many years of experience in the sport (and I am good at it), it would be a shame if I never went fishing again. We will see what life has in store.🚢

Garden Got Up and Went

Contrary to my blog title, the fabric planter did not move itself, I moved it. When I began the garden I was unsure where I wanted to place the planters. One of them was receiving too much shade, so I pulled out one tomato plant and replanted two of them. I removed most of the dirt from the planter, pulled it over to the new location, and then refilled it. Three new varieties of tomato have now joined the garden: Parks Whopper (Improved), Heatmaster, and Red Beefstake. 

The hog wire fencing is wonky on the newly-moved planter. There is a doe I have named Betsy that likes to bed down in the other corner of the yard. She also likes to munch through any available greenery. 

Now it is a waiting game. The peppers and watermelon have flowered. This summer heat will push the tomatos into production. It was worth the push to get this garden to where it is today. This was what it looked like a few months ago. 

We are still clearing brush, small stuff in the twice monthly pickup, and large stuff hauled to the recycle center. 

Tucker sums it up - lazy days of summer.  

The Second Purge Begins

Now that I have moved from one county to another, it is time to start the second purge. By that I mean dramatically downsizing everything from furniture to collectibles. This is a panoramic image of just the shed. 

Items I intend to keep include my craft/book cabinet, certain pieces of fabric, original artwork and some of my sewing pattern collection. Of my collectibles, there are the wooden duck decoys, various dolls, blue Bell jars, and so. much. Christmas. 

The fabric is intended for the local quilting guild. They are always spinning together amazing gifts for those less fortunate. And there is so much of it. Hoarding behaviors were an outcropping of the environment I lived in. 

Housing continues to be a challenge. While I am living with family, it is not the ideal situation. I have placed at least 8 applications for an apartment, with waitlists from 6 months to 6 years from Sacramento to El Dorado counties. My goal is to be in a Mercy Housing community by the time I am 70. Right in my time frame of three years from now, give or take. 

Had it not been for a series of events that have happened in the past few months, I would not have been motivated to plan for the upcoming five years. Our family had to take a hard look at where we would be aging. Maintaining a three bedroom rambler on a good sized lot is more than one person can handle. That one person would be me. 

The organization of the estates then continue. All that is important will be narrowed down to one bedroom each. *sighs* Freeing yet sad at the same time. 

Final Fantasy Flash #8

Part of the fun of the game is being able to change the costume as often as you want. I'd like to add some shimmery stuff to my outfit. I was able to slightly turn her head for this pose.

I had been playing a couple of months when my son pointed out and enlarged the compass for me. Found in the right corner of the playing screen. I am the blue pointer with flashlight and the green check mark is the destination.  

One of my dislikes in the game are all of the tasks you have to perform. Stepping and fetching. And running, so much running around. Sometimes I am in no-man's land and see none of the other players in the game. Sort of disconcerting. 

One of my likes are the dungeons. Dark and scary, lots of monsters. Potential treasure chest loot. Palace of the Dead in the Black Shroud is on my sites to visit.💀

While I would like to be puttering around outside, but we have hit the heat of summer. I am mainly game playing and YouTube watching. 

Happy 4th of July

These patriotic cuties are from my pattern collection. Undated Advance sewing pattern priced at 25 cents from a bygone era. 

I just keep adding to the vegetable garden. Giving a go at growing leeks. 

Wish I had more to report on the thrifting front but I have moved to a less-affluent area. Main items I find now at thrift are athleisure clothing, scented candles, and books for the grandbaby. 

It is interesting that items trend in certain areas. As an example, when I worked in downtown Sacramento, I was a frequent visitor of a Goodwill boutique. There, over the years, I found my tiki mug collection of 10. I have never found a tiki mug at thrift in the outlying areas. 

There were also more sewing patterns to find at thrift the farther out in the country you ventured. Nearer to the city = less sewing patterns. 

I don't pick up all the original artwork that I see at thrift. This painting, while exquisitely framed original price $450, thrift shop price $15, the composition seemed off. 

Just remembered a box of collectible patriotic stuff was left in the move. Unless I missed it when items went from storage to onsite shed. Patriotic cloth doll started the new collection - 25 cents at thrift. 

I buy fresh flowers each week. This week's bunch are particularly fragrant! 

Wishing everyone an enjoyable holiday weekend.🎇🎆

Final Fantasy Flash #7

Finally, I was able to "glam up" to my liking by purchasing the Thavnarian headdress and bustier on the marketboard. Greercourt did the welcome emote. 

A skosh of info on my lack of game-playing ability. I have never played Xbox games. There was an obscure game called Bad Day on the Midway that I loved to play. It was dark and scary. A psycho killer character lurked in the ride section and routinely ended my game sessions. 

Back to the Xbox. I had never operated an Xbox controller. In Final Fantasy battles, I was pushing any button that would do anything for me. He heard me frantically trying to kill a big bully, and discovered I wasn't pulling the trigger and pushing the B button to cast the spells (I am a conjurer). I was damn lucky to make it through a couple of dungeon runs not knowing what the hell I was doing with the controller. Sheesh! My son's online group thought it "cute" that Gramma Tami was trying to learn the game. 

Reading through the player agreement, one's character could be placed in "virtual jail" for online misbehavior. If it is anything like the dungeons in the game, I would not want to go there. 

I am curious to see how the interaction with other players will change now that I have joined the full version. I will have to expand the chat box for one. I pretty much ignored it other than issuing character commands. 

I have yet to gain a "ride" or mount so I have to keep running around or teleporting. I also don't have a house. Kind of like in real life, I am always living in other people's houses. I briefly owned a Craftsman bungalow in midtown Sacramento but let it go on short sale (underwater real estate no bueno). I wonder if there is a Final Fantasy condo or retirement community? I will report back. 

My son exclaimed "You are RP walking!" I was walking through the games populated areas rather than running. Sometimes I do that to look at the other character's costumes. So sue me. 

I see there are a lot of sprouts (players new to the game). I've yet to reach out to make virtual friends. Maybe invite them over to my house for tea and crumpets? 

Belated Birthday Celebrations

I was looking for some important documents and found this gem stashed in the top tray of our cargo trunk. McCall's mermaid skirt 3482 from 1955. Or skirt with flouce. When I get back to sewing clothes from vintage patterns and modern material, this pattern will move up on the list. The packet is pretty torn up, the pattern is cut, but most important the instructions are there. You can even see the thrift shop 39 cents scrawled on front in blue marker. 

The garden is going great guns. We've harvested a tomato or two a day this past month. Tomatoes are in the background near the ladder. Still trying to trim back branches resting on top of the shed. 

A close-up of the Blue Beauty heirloom tomato. The pepper plants are still growing, not yet flowering. 

It is a constant battle with the deer that roam the neighborhood. No predators here, unless you count bad drivers on the road. Around the fabric planter, I used pet exercise case fencing. Atop the fencing, I zip-tied chicken wire. 

Random thrifting news - needed a wine rack and found one, in fact there were about 8 of them at the large hospice thrift in Placerville, California.  

Other fun additions from my constantly creating environment, two birdhouses from the same hospice thrift. Two were from my mom's estate, so the other two fit right in. 

Gourd koi also joined my family. Bought retail at ACE Hardware in Cameron Park, California. He is keeping Buddha company in the garage right now.  

Belated birthday celebrations included red velvet cupcakes from Icing on the Cake in the Folsom Palladio. My absolute favorite! 💜💙💚💗