Judge Napolitano's 'What if...' amazing speech

A Unique French Provincial Low Slung Chair

I have done pretty well selling vintage Mid Century furniture in my vintage Etsy shop, and when I saw this chair, I wanted it.

I brought it home even though it needs some work.  The green brocade upholstery is still in beautiful condition.  Only the bottom need repaired.

I got pics taken the next day and listed it in my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197341843/unique-vintage-french-provincial-chair?ref=shop_home_active_5

I could have sold it within only the first few days after listing, but I was not able to get more pics taken of the bottom in time to satisfy an woman who was interested in it.  She would have even had someone come pick it up.  That would have been a good deal for me.

I am glad I have this listed in my shop.  It is and has been very popular.   And has brought people into my shop.

If it doesn't sell, maybe I will get the bottom repaired, and keep all of the original brocade uphostery.

Oakmont Country Club, USGA ready for influx of spectators at U.S. Open

Oakmont Country Club, USGA ready for influx of spectators at U.S. Open

WALK THE MOON - Shut Up and Dance

The Great Mexican War Streets Yard Sale 2016

A friend of mine in the neighborhood stopped by my house a few weeks ago and let me know the annual Mexican War Streets yard sale would be in May this year.  The previous 2 years it was in June.  And for the first couple years it was also in May:

http://www.mexicanwarstreets.org/events/2016/5/21/the-great-mexican-war-streets-yard-sale

I am looking forward to it.  I've done very well every year.

Last year I got a beautiful pair of 1960's Danish Modern style wood and brass table lamps that I sold:

And a vintage 1950's Hall Twinspout teapot that I also sold:

In years past I've gotten some nice things, too.  Like a cool pair of crystal cuff links that sold quickly:

 And a very nice leather box from Italy that sold quickly:

And 3 naugahyde leather arm chairs that were very popular and all sold individually:

And a pair of Cameo Creations wall hangings that also were very popular and sold:

And a nice vintage 1940's McCoy pine cone planter:

Those are a handful of sales from my finds at the neighborhood yard sale.  I have other items still in my shop, and many other items still to list.  I don't need any more things to sell, but I am going to go to this year anyway. lol.  Hopefully I will do at least as well.

The New Etsy Shop Layout is Hurting My Vintage Shop

So I got the new layout for the first time on April 5th as Etsy said we would.  But it did take time, more than a week I believe, for it to go site-wide.

After one time I cleared my cache I went back to the old format.  And loved it.  I don't like the big pics and no list view.  It is many more clicks to renew listings and work on my shop.

So I have noticed that my "shop views' and my tea cup section home page views have dropped DRAMATICALLY.

I believe the new layout finally went site-wide on April 15.  And on that day is when I see the big drop in "shop views" and teacup section views.

It appears as though visitors are no longer clicking on the links I put in each listing????

For April 6-14 I had 680 views for my teacup shop section home page.
For April 15-23 I had 185!!!

For April 6-14 I had 3,311 Shop Views
For April 15-23 I had 1,743!!

AND more than 2,100 FEWER total views for April 15-23 compared to April 6-14.
So many more fewer total views in only a 9 day period!

What the heck!

For April 6-14 I had 3,011 "Your Shop" views (views from one page in my shop to another page)
For April 15-23 I had 1,148!!

For April 6-14 I had 1,627 "Your listing" views (views from a listing to another page in my shop).
For April 15-23 I had 1,421!

What the heck did Etsy do to my shop!!

This is one of the changes that could hurt my shop permanently.  And not something that relevancy or titles or tags will help!

This could be BAD.

I have emailed Etsy Support and am waiting to hear back.

I hope they don't give me some form letter response!

The New Etsy Layout is Affecting "Shop Views"??

So yesterday was my lowest total view day in MONTHS.  Probably one of the lowest of the year.

At about 11 pm I had only about 1,100 total views.  When I have finished with most days this year from 1,600 to 2,100.

Checking my stats I see it is partly because my "Shop Views" were only 159!

And checking my stats I see that my "Shop Views" has dropped below 200 starting on April 15th.  The day I finally had the new Etsy shop layout?

AND....checking my stats for the previous 7 days I see that I have 1,100 FEWER "Shop Views" than for only the previous 7 days!

And checking my shop stats for the previous 30 days I could see my "Shop Views" were at least 220 and even in the 500's....until April 15th.

And from March 23 to April first I had one day with 325 Shop Views.  That was March 31. And all of the the other days from March 23 to April 1st I had 413 to 535 Shop Views.

Even this morning at about 10 am I can see my "Shop Views" each hour are only in the single digits, and I have only 27 of them!.

HHmmmmm.

I will be checking the Etsy forums to see if I can find anything.  And I will also email Etsy Support.  I would post on the Etsy Bugs forum, but I am banned from the forums.  One of my "strikes" was calling another shop owner "comrade" for supporting Obamacare.

Back to work.

Vintage 1990's Seraphim Classics Angel Figurines

My first experience with the Seraphim Classics line of angels was in the mid 1990's.  I first saw them at the Hallmark store at the local mall and thought they were very pretty.  I bought my mom one for Christmas.

Then, after opening my vintage shop on Etsy I found one at the local Goodwill thrift store near me here in the Mexican War Streets of Pittsburgh, PA.  It was Felicia the Adoring Maiden from 1994.  I tried to give her heavenly light for my first pic of the listing:

Then just yesterday I found another one at the Goodwill across the city that I rode my bike to on a beautiful, sunny spring Sunday.  It is Harmony Love's Guardian from 1996:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/243775975/vintage-seraphim-classics-angel-figurine?ref=shop_home_listings

I did not give her Heavenly light, but I intend to retake the pics and add it.

They are very pretty angels that were very well done.  When I see any others, I will buy them and add them to my shop.

An Encouraging Morning: High Search & Total Views

So I finished yesterday, a wed, with 277 views from Etsy search, 1 467 total views and only 48 Google views.

But here on this beautiful, sunny spring morning, I already have 115 views from Etsy search and 842 total views at only 11:30am.  That is very good to see.

I like to be at 100 search views by 12 noon, and for the past couple days I was below that.  So this is good to see.  And, it is on a thursday.  Not a weekend.  Which are usually my higher view days.

My search views and total views have not dropped off, but have gone up, since the new layout.  Even this morning I had 211 listing views in the 10am hour.  So people are still browsing my shop even with scrolling.

Although my Google views have dropped in the past month.  Which must be because of the recent Google changes.

But my views from Etsy search have been unexpectedly high this month.  I've been in the 300's.  Which I did not expect.  I was in the 200's most of last month.

My search views usually drop in march, and have stayed down through the summer.  But not this year!

Good to see!  I am looking forward to this year of selling in my vintage Etsy shop!

Back out into the beautiful, sunny weather.

A Good Sign: A High View Day Yesterday in my Vintage Etsy Shop

So it is only nearly a week into the new shop layout, and yesterday was a day of high total views.

Even after 12 noon, at about 12:30 I had more than 800 total views.  So that shows me that visitors are able to and will browse my shop of more than 1,300 listings even with scrolling.

I finished with 1,858 total views too.

And I also finished with 335 views from Etsy search.

It was a Sunday.  So the high search views were expected.

Also, Google views were at 49.  They have not dropped off, if they will, because of the change in the coding our our Shop Announcements.

It was an encouraging day.  It gives me hope for the coming days and year.

A Vintage Nude Female Reclining Done in Cast Paper

The local Goodwill on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was having a lot of great items in the store and the quality went down around 2008-09, as you would expect.

But one of the finds I was very surprised to see when I walked in was this large framed piece of cast paper art that is also signed on the back:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107772552/rare-female-nude-art-framed-cast-paper?ref=featured_listings_row

It is a 3-D relief image and I believe it is the artist's rendering of the classic painting "Venus at Her Mirror" from 1600's by the Spanish artist Valasquez:

 
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus

I looked the framed art over and it was in great condition.  So I carried it home.

The work is by the artist 'Copper' and titled 'Classic Repose'.  A sign to me that it is based upon the painting of Venus:

It has been very popular in my vintage Etsy shop, and also on Twitter.
I like having it in my shop for that reason alone.  And I also admire it as a work of art.

A Vintage English Bone China Teacup by Royal Stafford

I have been selling vintage teacups in my Etsy shop for more than 4 years now, and one of my favorite makers is Royal Stafford.  I love the wide rim teacups by them.  The quality of the bone china feels so much better than many other makers.

One of my favorite patterns, and most popular patterns, is this beautiful one I have had in black, navy blue, turquoise blue, green and this is my 2nd one in pink:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/66555771/vvintage-english-tea-cup-and-saucer?ref=shop_home_listings

This beautiful pink bone china teacup has an embossed pattern on the gold bands of both the teacup and the saucer:

I sold the first pink I had to Asia.

I wonder where this one will go?

Time will tell.......

A Vintage 1960's Mid Century Modern Dixie Dresser for the Bedroom

I have had a lot of success with mid century modern furniture in my vintage Etsy shop for the past 5 plus years.  And it was late last summer, the summer of 2015, when on one of my trips down to the nearby Goodwill after a day of working my garden job that I saw this set of high boy drawers.  When I saw the price on the tag, I wanted them!  Especially when I pulled open the first drawer and saw the Dixie label.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104223895/vintage-1960s-dixie-mid-century-modern?ref=shop_home_listings

I browsed the rest of the store and bought some things, but did not buy the vintage piece of bedroom furniture.  But I kept thinking about them on the way home.

For the next 2 days I thought about the drawers and wanted them.  I decided to make the trip across the city to buy them!  What an experience it would turn out to be.

First when I went back into the Goodwill I was surprised the piece was still there.  But I took off the tag and bought it!

The next trick was getting them home.  I don't drive so I knew I would have to hire someone.  And with the price I paid I thought it was worth it.  Even though the top does have some scratches, wear and a slight gash:

I had to pick the vintage piece up in 2 days and it took me until the night before to get someone.  Most people wanted too much for the job.  But I found a guy who sounded like a good guy and honest who would meet me there the next morning.

I had told him I thought the piece would fit in his SUV, but when we went to load it, it was too wide.  So that started the process of figuring out how to get it loaded.

I ran over to Home Depot and bought some rope.  We were going to take out the drawers and tie it to his roof:

We got it loaded and drove home, and on the drive I thought we had a good talk.  He was a nice guy, a dj, and he told me some interesting things about his work.

When we finally made it home, I paid the guy a little extra for the extra work he put in to get the piece loaded.  He appreciated it and I told him I'd call him if I needed him again.

I got pics taken and got it listed in my vintage Etsy shop.  And it has been pretty popular.  Not as popular as other 1960's pieces I've had in my shop, but I think that is because people might be sorting by price from lowest to highest, and mine isn't near the lowest.

It was an experience to buy it, get it home and list it.  But I am glad I did.  I feel it has brought people into my shop at least.

I will see what happens with it.

Book Preview: Glimpses of Heaven, by Trudy Harris R.N.

High Views Yesterday, The First Day of the New Etsy Shop Layout

So I am not happy with the new layout.  For a number of reasons.  One of them is that it is more work to renew listings.  There are many more clicks involved.

I kept my own Shop Policies, which was supposed to be a penalty under the new layout?

But, it might be that the language was misinterpreted.  That Etsy was really saying NOT having Policies would affect a shop in search.  Not using the shop's own policies??

So I finished the tuesday with 352 views from Etsy search.  And that was higher than my search views have been for a week or so.  They had dropped back down into the mid 200's.  But jumped up yesterday.

I also finished with 1,644 total views.  Still decent.  Not as high as the days over 2,000 last month, but pretty good.  Could they have been better is the question???  Was the infinite scrolling in my shop with more than 1,300 listings and a teacup section with nearly 700 listings affected by the scrolling???  Probably so.

Today's search views are decent here right before 12 noon with 109, I like to be at at least 100 by 12 noon.
And I have 753 total views at 11:37am.  So people are browsing my shop.

It's only been 1 day.  But results have been good so far.  Other than having to work on my shop myelf, that is.  

I just Dreamed of Carried Underwood

In my dream I was working on a vacant house.  Or doing something to it.  Closing it up or sealing it up somehow.

I sang a song as I did.

Then I was with my sister.  And I sang a song she wrote?  I didn't think either song was that great.  And that I only sounded ok singing them.

I left the house to go somewhere and with a friend or co-worker I walked between the house next door and behind the house next door.

And Carried Underwood called to me from inside the house something like, "Wait a minute" and came out side.  She was pretty and said something like, "I like the song.", and I wondered which one she meant and that they both did not sound that great.  She said something after that, but I do not remember what it was.  .

I told her about the song.  Just a sentence or two.  And I did not think it sounded that great and then I said, "It was nice to see you.  You look nice.".  And started to walk away.  I said it casually.  It was Carrie Underwood after all.  I wasn't going to flirt with HER. She wasn't going to like ME.

And as I walked away she said in a very enamored way, "You look like an angel!"??  Something like that.  She said I look like something.  And I was very surprised and how she said it.  In a sweet, enamored, flirtatious way. Then I woke up.

And decided to check my email....

...I did have a message in my shop titled "the Angel".

So the dream was about me singing a couple songs that my next door neighbor Carried Underwood heard and liked.  She said something else too.  And then I got a very unexpected response from her.

Who is Carried Underwood to me in real life?  A Godly Christian singer with a great voice. And, of course, very attractive..

**I haven't watched this video in more than a year and I decided to add it to this post, and you see the profile is  "Dreamcatcher".

Oh well.

I did decide to call my oldest sister last night, and I was very surprised to learn that my mom used to sing.  My sister told me she was a lounge singer?  I NEVER would have suspected that for a lot of reasons.

Oh, well.

Back to bed.

My $2 Million Dollar Dream that Wasn't

So it was more than 8 years ago when I wrote to my angels and asked them what I had to show me in my dreams something I had to look forward to in life.

That night I had a dream....

.....I was in a house, and a person with short, wavy blonde hair was in front of me and pointed and said, "Go in there.".  It was a person I had seen in my dreams before. My guardian angel or one of my angels.

I walked over to the doorway and looked into the room.  On a table, lit up was a check that I thought was for $200,000 or $250,000.

I turned out of the room and my sister was there and all of  a sudden she was all over me talking very fast.  Asking me for things or something??  Then another lady was there too.  Doing the same thing.

I woke up and thought I had a dream that I'd receive some big check.

About a year after that, after not having received any large amounts of money,  not at all.   I had another dream...

....I was in my bed and I had this knowing that I was going to have $2 million dollars.  And 2 of my sisters and my brother in law were there.  They were talking among themselves. I got up out of bed trying to think with my head how I was going to get it.  Was I going to inherit it?  Was someone going to give it to me?

My one sister came in front of me. Looking down and still talking to the others.  Then my other sister did the same thing.

All the while I was still having the knowing I was going to have $2 million.

I woke up.

I never got an answer how
 
So over the next 7 years, Nothing.  No big check.  No $2 million.

Then, the fall of 2015 I had another dream.

I was in my bedroom or in a room, and a different older man was in front of me.  He told me because of all the money I had given away I was going to receive the $2 million dollars.  I said to him, "Are you serious?!"

And he told me there was something else I had to do.  He told me what it was, but I didn't catch what that was.

So, here I am in the spring of 2016.  Still nothing.

I am either stupid for thinking the dreams were messages and meant something.  Or, the dreams were messages and it was not cool to give me such dreams 7-8+ YEARS in advance.  Not cool.

Oh well.

Peace in the Valley - Elvis Presley