Oregon Living 2026 – Blog #15 – More Medical and Finally our Yard Sale!

 

Note:  I am behind in my posts and just finished #14, so be sure to read that one first!

 

Sunday, April 19^th., 2026…… 

That's us in the middle by the main building

We slept in just a bit but then I had to go back inside to start the coffee. Today’s breakfast was potluck. We had a lot of scrambled eggs leftover from yesterday so I heated them up in the crockpot. Everyone brought items and we had more than enough for the group that made it to the 8:30 breakfast time! Then it was time to clean up the camp. This always takes some time but we had enough campers to all help out. I worked the kitchen and made sure all areas were clean and items were put away. Then it was swept and mopped. Others cleaned the floors and bathrooms and eventually we all got our tasks done. Cathye cleaned up the motorhome and then drove back home to take care of the dogs so Penny could go home. Thanks, Sis for watching them and the house! When we finally had the camp clean and spiffy, I got the rig ready and took off. I needed fuel so I went back into town. Sunday morning was quiet and I was able to get into a station with no issues and got enough fuel for another couple of trips. When I got back home, we had decided to stage the yard sale in the rv garage because the weather didn’t look promising, so I parked the motorhome on the rv pad and plugged it in there. We unloaded it and started laundry. But for the most part, we were done for the day. I went off to class because Cat was beat and still not feeling well. We only had a small turnout of class members and they didn’t need me to angel, so I headed back home. We watched tv and then hit the spa before an early bedtime.  

Monday, April 20^th., 2026…… Cathye had dog duty this morning because I needed to head in to town to do labs for my upcoming appointment with my urologist later today. I got that done pretty quickly and got home and we relaxed until we had to head off to Albany. Not sure about what they would be doing today, but in addition to a consult, they gave me the first part of the treatment which is a shot (in the tummy) of Eligard. That’s a hormone treatment designed to treat prostate cancer by reducing testosterone levels to slow cancer growth. They said it would “sting first then hurt like hell”. I needed to hang around for 20 minutes to see if I had any negative reactions (hives, swelling, etc.), but I had no initial pain from the shot and no side effects and was able to leave with no issues. Later, I only had a little bump at the injection site but that would only last a few days. We left with a plan and later got appointments made and put into our calendars. Next up will be the bladder resection coming up on May 5^th. That one is to go back in and check to see that they got all of the cancer from the bladder. I protested because he said he was 100% sure he got it all last biopsy but both he and Cat insisted they go back in! So, I was outvoted and will have to have another f***ing catheter for two days again!  But I’m good with that, I guess!   On the way home, we stopped by a Club members house to pick up a couple more tables we will need for our yard sale.   

Tuesday, April 21^st., 2026…… The weather is iffy these days. One day we have clear skies and it’s cold; another day it is cloudy and warmer!  Go figure!  Today, we had both cloudy and cold.  Today, Cathye’s new landscaper is coming to start in on his weeding job for us. Cathye identified an area for them to do – for a set price – with the caveat that there would be more work if she likes the results. Well, this day was put off by the guy a couple of times so that didn’t start well. Later in the morning, he texted that he was running late and would “be there at 4:00pm and would work until he finished”.  Ok, that didn’t happen!  When he got there, he said he gave most of his crew the day off and only had a young kid with him. They started in and worked maybe an hour and then he knocked on the door, apologizing and saying this was more work than he thought and he was quitting. He said he wasn’t charging us for what he did. Good, because he didn’t do too much! So, now she is back to square one with workers!   

Wednesday, April 22^nd., 2026……  A busy day!  We have our housekeeper coming to clean today and today is setup and staging day for the yard sale. We were up and out early and started setting up tables and bringing down items that we had stored up on the shelves in the rv garage. People came early and dropped off more tables, which we desperately needed, and we got things out and staged. I didn’t count but there were people at almost every one of the 24 tables we had set out!  It was a zoo but we all worked together and got everything done just after 2:00pm. Our helpers left and others came to bring more items and more tables, but for the most part we were ready. Later, I went out and put up the dozen or so signs. I didn’t have as many as last sale but we put up what we had and then went to the community yard sale board at the UM Church and then went on to Caliber for dinner. We met up with Mike and Cheryl and had a nice relaxing meal before heading home and calling it a night. I had already brought out our 30-cup coffee maker and had it made and ready to tomorrow morning.

Thursday, April 23^rd., 2026…… I was up before 56:00am and left to go to Sugar Vibes to get a couple dozen donuts for the crew. When I got back, we started in with the popups and sales table. We were ready!  The early morning start time didn’t stop the crowd.  From my experience with the Rustlers SoCal yard sales, we know we get the serious buyers early. They are the resellers and always hit the jewelry table first! We even had some with jewelry loops closely examining our items to see if we missed pricing something and they could score!  We also get our retirees and moms who have dropped off their kids at school. They made for a continuous row of cars parked out on our street for most of the morning. Lunch time we had another large wave and we were happy campers!  We had some high-ticket items ($150-$600) and we sold several of them early on. Most everything was priced right so a lot of it went the first day. Later in the day, Cat went out and got us a couple of pizzas for lunch. As I said, a lot of items sold the first day. Tomorrow – based on my experience – will be somewhat lighter, and Saturday we will get the working group and families looking for bargains. We shut down at 4:00pm and when we came in, we noticed we were sore and tired. I think Cat went to bed at 8:00pm!      

Friday, April 24^th., 2026……  I was up early again and repeated the process, this time going to Walmart for cheaper donuts. The donuts for each day were our treat. The lunch today was from Subway. We would find that each day, we would have the same Club members come early and stay all day with us. Others would come and work a few hours as they could. We had another group of workers come in for Friday. We had a steady crowd and it was a good day, but short of day 1.     

Saturday, April 25^th., 2026…… Last day!  We had made the decision to put up signs saying everything $50.00 and under was half price. That made it easy for folks to bring a lot of $1 - $5 items to the table!  We sold and sold and sold today and it would turn out to be our biggest day!  We shut down at 3:00pm today and I had a driver take me out so we could pull down all of the signs. When I got back, they were separating items into three sections. 1) items to save for our silent auction at our Strawberry Festival dance next month, 2) items to be put back on the shelf for next year. These were nicer items and will sell eventually; and 3) those that were to be donated. We got lucky here because before the sale Cat got a call from a lady asking if we would be willing to donate any remaining items for another fund raiser for a college in Portland. We were glad to help and within an hour after calling them, she sent her husband and son in two trucks and they took EVERYTHING we set out!  That really helped us out because we would have had to haul them to a thrift store or similar.  All told, after lunch expenses, we brought in almost $3000. Not bad and twice as much as any of us expected. Plus, we still have some nice items which we are pondering how to sell. Take a look at this pair of life-sized Mr. and Mrs. Claus. We found prices on eBay and just Santa alone was listed for $2300! 

 

 

We are looking at Facebook Marketplace for local pickup at $600 for the pair. We have other items we can list on Marketplace as well so the potential is there to make even more money for the Club! 

After everything was done and everyone was gone, we settled in for the rest of the evening. We ate leftover pizza and just kicked back for the night. Another early bedtime for both of us!