Fall Festival Vintage Market

 

This Month the Fall Festival Vintage Market Themed Event at HIGHLAND YARD VINTAGE fell within the same Four Days as the SWEET SALVAGE Event.  Both only run for the Four Days, so Today I plan to attend the other one over in the far East Valley.  We had a big Storm last Night and it's still Dark and Ominous looking outside, but, we need the Rain and it's definitely Cooled everything off to a pleasant temperature that Feels like Fall... Finally!  It won't last, so, we're gonna enjoy it while we can.  The Man can come with me to this Event and tolerate the Crowd sizes.  There can be a lot of people there, but he can retreat to the Antique Mall section in front of the Warehouse that Hosts the Monthly Events, MERCHANT SQUARE... if he gets Sensory Overload.

Last Month had been overwhelming to him and he got Sensory Overload, but, that had been the Halloween Event and those are always packed with Shoppers.   The Fall Festival will have a similar Vibe and even some Halloween, judging by the FB Preview Sneak Peeks, but, might be less crowded?  He'll still want to risk going since he likes the Scenic Drive out there, which goes past a Reservation and has unspoiled Vista Views with no development and a Mountainous Backdrop to it.   And, he likes the Antique Mall part of the Experience, not so much is he Into the Events, but, he pretends to be so that I'll invite him along.  *Winks*  His faux Enthusiasm won't Win him any Oscars, but, it's Amusing that for my sake he'll fake that he thinks it's all fabulous.  *Smiles*

I got Paid Yesterday at Work and by pure Serendipity it Paid for my Mercantile Haberdashery Cabinet I bought from Big Kenny on Thursday.  So, Selling Off some Stuff has once again Funded something I needed and wanted now.  *Happy Dance*  And that's why the discretionary income from my Showroom comes in handy on a Fixed Income, it pays for things we couldn't otherwise afford after Living Expenses drain the Retirement Budget or when we have an unexpected Crisis, it gives us some Cushion.  I'm Grateful our Pensions cover the necessities, but I don't want to spend Retirement just being Basic, I'm too Extra for that, it would make me Feel deprived of the Best Retirement we Worked so hard and long for and to enjoy.  I don't think all Retirees should be living Hand to Mouth after a Lifetime of Laboring at Careers/Jobs and Sacrificing to Raise a Family. 

Now we have the Time, without our demanding Careers, to do what WE want to do and enjoy, so, I like taking full advantage of that Luxury.  If you're broke all the damned time it would be challenging to tho'.  So, I'm Selling Off what I Invested in to Fund what I want to do and have NOW.  And, I enjoy the Antique Mall Adventure, I've made it my Happy Space and made an abundance of Friends who are Kindred Spirits there.  Where else would I combine Work and Pleasure so seamlessly to make Extra Bank for our Old Age, I ask you?   Sometimes I'm Amazed how long I've lasted there, given how many Vendors over these many Years have washed out trying to keep a Space there and make it profitable to.  Many do operate at a Loss all the time, I wouldn't do that, no benefit.

It's not as if I'd expect to make a Living at it, I don't know how anyone can these days?   Even most Designers I know have Pensions too or a Real Job, as they call the Careers/Jobs that actually cover their Living Expenses and provide Financial Stability.   I don't know but a scant few who actually make a Living at Selling via these Events, Shows or at an Antique Mall Space or even a tiny Brick and Mortar Indie Shop they Own.  Often the Wife Owns the Shop and the Husband has a Full Time Career/Job that actually Supports them on The Regular to provide Security and pay the Bills on time.  Most of my Indie Shop Owning Friends have since Closed their Shops and now only the Event Shops are still solvent... and, lately, they're struggling, from what I'm Hearing.

So, combining Resources by banding Together with other Designers is what the Wave of the Future is looking like to still even have these Wonderful Venues and not Lose them all.   It's Collective Retail, much like Generational or Communal Living is becoming necessary to Share in the Expenses of the Overhead and to Keep enuf of your Income for Quality of Life afterwards, when the necessities are Paid.   Or, to even afford the Rent/Mortgage at all.   The American Dream is dwindling for a lot of folks, especially the Young and the very Old.  While, The Billionaire Boys Club and Big Corporations have record profits and exploit the rest of us, while getting Welfare for the Obscenely Rich.  For those who say they abhor Socialism, Listen, the Rich Top 1% in America have benefit from Socialist Policies and Favor for Decades now meant exclusively for them only.  You just haven't.  And they wanna convince you to keep it that way Politically.  Hand Outs to the Wealthiest who don't Need it and Cut Programs for the struggling who DO Need it.

Anyway, it just bothers me that the Financial IQ of so many Americans is so low or limited that they don't even know Basic Economics 101 and it has to be explained to them like you would to a Child.   And thus, they can be easily conned and manipulated by the Elite that prey on them and exploit them mercilessly, by convincing them of Bogus claims and shameless misinformation or downright Lies.   Shit like Trickle Down Economics, which is a Fantasy touted by the Elite for Decades, that if they make more, the additional Wealth they will willingly spread around, never happens.  And the newest Con, extreme Tariffs are gonna be Good for you Regular Folks and the Exporters like China who Produce what we Need and have come to rely upon will foot the Bill, nope, the American Public will.  I saw Mark Cuban trying to explain all of this at a Rally so that Voters will Understand Basic Economics 101 and Expose the Con, and it's Sad to me that he even has to, but, Bless him for trying.

China is gonna Pay for the increase in the Cost of everything we must Import due to Tariffs imposed, like Mexico was gonna pay for that Wall... you know, the expensive one that was a big 45 Grift and never actually got Built, but, somebody got Paid.  *Wink and a Nod*   And I saw a Meme recently that did make me Smile, tho' it is a Sad Testimony:

"OMG, the economy is so terrible you can't even afford Eggs... but hurry up and buy my Bibles, tacky Gold Sneakers, Digital Trading Cards, and gaudy gold-plated Watches." 

I deliberately entered into an open conversation on The Book of Faces with a Friend who saw the Meme and said don't they know they can get a Gideon for Free at any Motel?  *LOL*   I know she and I are on the same Page and so I put some Bait out there to discuss the Sad Testimony of said Meme.   To see who Bites?  *Snicker*  Becoz it is the peeps who loudly protest their Economic Plight, that they can't afford basic necessities, and yet will gleefully buy the inflated priced Grifts he's hawking to them and they can't get enough of!  It doesn't Square.   I've seen it at the Antique Mall, where his Base of The Devoted are Buying all his Grift Objects at inflated prices and will want to then stand there and say how they can't afford Gas or Groceries, but, he would fix it for them!  *Huge Eye Roll... I just stand there with a Blank Affect, becoz, really, there are no Words!* 

 They've got Eyes Wide Shut.  And I'm thinking to myself, well, if you have correct Priorities and Good Stewardship of what you do have, you'd be Buying your necessities instead of this inflated priced worthless crap he's Conning you into thinking you have to have to show your Devotion to a Lunatic.  And, if you think Prices are high now for what you need, wait 'til he enacts a 60% Tariff on Imports.   Oh, and Deports the very people who are doing all the Hard Labor that keeps your Prices low in this Country for what we don't have to Import and there's nobody then to fill those vacated positions.   Coz I ain't seen an American Worker in them Fields doing Migrant Farm Work for as long as I've been Alive and that's damned near Seven Decades now!   And Allen said at the Meat Processing Plants he was damned near the only American that could or would do the Work and it was 99.9% Immigrants that are processing our Proteins for consumption.  

 And, go look in the Kitchens of most Restaurants... or whose doing Maintenance Jobs like Landscaping, Domestic Help in Homes and Businesses.   Even in The Trades, The Son Testifies that more than half the people he has ever worked with in Construction and Manufacturing are not American Born Workers.   And I would challenge any American saying Immigrants are taking THEIR Jobs, to actually provide any Evidence they have ever done those Jobs or would want to or even could?   I had a heated discussion once with a fellow Retired Banker who I know has only done White Collar good paying Careers, but is complained about Illegal Aliens taking OUR Jobs and I asked her, what fucking Job have WE ever done that an Illegal Alien is doing right now?  I'll wait... *Winks*  

If you are so unskilled or uneducated that you NEED an exploitation Job, perhaps it is time you developed a better Career Strategy to sustain yourself and quit Scapegoating to justify your own limitations, failures and disappointments in Life.  And for an Old White Billionaire to tritely tell the American Public that Immigrants are taking the "Black and Brown Jobs" that Americans should have, to that Racist Fuck I say, a Black or Brown Job has been the Vice Presidency and the Presidency in these here Modern Times, so what the fuck are you talking about DonOld?  Keep up and quit living in the Past.  Yes, White Nationalists like himself would like to take Minorities, Women and Gays back to Archaic Draconian Times when they had no Rights and pretend that to be an American you have to look just like them... but, as Kamala says, we're not going Back!!! 

  And the ONLY Non-Immigrant Ancestry belongs to the Indigenous Tribes in America, everyone else's Ancestors came from somewhere else.  Except, read your History folks, most all of the Southwest used to be Mexico before we bought it from them.  So a lot of Hispanics in the Southwestern States have Ancestry here that goes much further back to the Land they now occupy than any White Person living here's Ancestry does.   I have a Hispanic Friend whose Family has lived in Arizona for over 10 Generations.  So she finds it Rich when any White Person tells her to go back where she came from... since, her Family came from HERE.  It's the Racist Fuck who definitely came here more recently and should therefore go back to where ever THEY came from.  And mebbe also take some History Lessons so they're not so Ignorant.  *LOL*  And, America is the Envy of the World right now in how much Economic Growth we've had... the Stats are beyond Amazing compared to any other Country.  The average annual median Income in our Poorest State, Mississippi, is still higher than most other First World Countries!

LATER:  The Day was glorious after a good Rain, it was in the 60's most of the Day, Clear, no Pollution, Breezy... wonderful to be Outside in.  The Event was fantastic, they still had a lot of Halloween in both the Event and the Antique Mall.  So, Yes, I did some Retail Therapy and got some Halloween, including some Vintage Halloween from way back, probably 1920-1930 Era.  Whoop-Whoop!  Better yet, everything was 10%-40% Off that we bought in the Antique Mall.   In the Event I bought a Decorated Top Hat from an Artist Friend who Creates the best Halloween Props.  I've bought from her for Years and I just Loved this Hat Creation, which even has a Party in the Back.  {Above and Below}  Everything else I bought in the Antique Mall was all Smalls, but good Smalls.  And The Man got a Fly Tying Kit, he has a Collection of Fishing Flies his Dad Created, my FIL was Masterful at it, and so The Man wants to try to get better at Tying his own.  He's got enuf Supplies to do it now to last an Eternity and Open a Business.  But, I'm the same with my Art Supplies, so... I won't be critical.  *LOL*

My Mint Mascarpone French Toast and Lavender Iced Coffee was Visually Stunning, Editorial and tasted Sublime.   It was particularly Minty this time around and there's always enuf in the Serving for Two Breakfasts.  The Man had Sausages and Biscuit N Gravy off the A La Carte Menu, he hasn't had much of an Appetite, so the little side portions are enuf for him without him wasting a lot of Food he just won't end up eating as leftovers.   He likes the Idea of Eating Out a lot more than actually Eating... he spends more time fiddling with his Menu, Napkin, Utensils and Food than he does consuming what he orders.  *Le Sigh*  I have to keep him on Task and remind him to LOOK at the Menu and actually choose something, than just moving it around on the Table, like he's making a Vignette, for the first 10-15 Minutes, so that he'll be ready to actually Order when the Waitress takes our Order!  It's like he Forgets why we're even there!?  *Eye Roll and Big Sigh*

Sometimes he even decides and then immediately Forgets what he decided on, so I have to Order FOR him or we'd never place his Order!  *LOL*  Our Young Waitress remembered us, I guess we're very Memorable... ha ha ha... I remembered her becoz she has the same Beautiful Green with Golden Flecks Eye Color as our Grandson, The Young Prince, they're mesmerizing.   He Hates when people tell him what Beautiful Eyes he has, but, our Waitress was quite flattered, tho' I'm quite sure she gets told a lot how Beautiful they are.   I decided to dredge up some Blast From Halloweens Past Pixs of The G-Kid Force that happen to be some of my Favorites of them when they were Littles.  Both of them still dress up for Halloween every Year and I'm glad they enjoy Costumes and fully immersing in the Holiday with Fantasy Wardrobe.  You can be anything you can Dream Up on Halloween and are only limited by your Imagination. 

No Words needed for the Nostalgic Flashbacks of Halloweens Past, they were just too Cute and I'm completely Biased about that.  *Winks*   A lot of the best and Oldest Images aren't in my Online Photo Archives tho', I just didn't transfer that many to my Computer before Blogging in 2009-2010.   It just wasn't necessary to when I wasn't Blogging, so prior to starting my Blog, everything I'd Photographed was Old School Hard Copies and nothing Online to put on a Blog Post.   I can always remember when I began my Blog by how Old The Young Prince was when he told me what a Blog even was and set it up Online FOR me at Age 9!!!   He was Born in 2000, so, easy Math.  *LOL*  He also taught me how to transfer Images to Photo Archives to use for Blogging purposes and to Translate my Blog into 50 Languages for an International Following.  Yes, Boy Genius has been that Smart forever, he was a Genius Toddler, it was eerie sometimes the vast knowledge he accumulated by Age 2!!! 

 Initially my Blog Posts were more Writing and less Photography becoz I just wasn't that good at inserting Images or enlarging them to a Size I liked.   Back in the early Days, my fav Blogs were the Visually stunning ones that attracted me with their Eye Candy.  I wanted to be like those Bloggers when I Grew Up.  *LOL*  But, I also like Writing, so, had to develop my own Happy Space here that was just satisfying to me personally.  Whether anyone visited or not was not really a focus at all, becoz the Blogasphere seemed so vast that I couldn't Imagine anyone even finding my Blog, let alone bothering to Read it or become Supporters/Followers of it.  So, that all was an added Bonus I didn't expect, and still find to be pretty Amazing when you consider how vast Cyberspace actually is!   And, how long I've now been at this and never tired of it.  In fact, I'd go thru Blog Withdrawal if I couldn't Blog and also visit other Blogs.  *Winks*

So, the Devil Noisemaker in the previous pix and the Black Cat Noisemaker in the above pix are the very Old Halloween Collectibles I got while at the Antique Mall.  I didn't get the Witch one, since, I had to choose my Two Favs to Buy and keep to a sensible Budget of what we were spending overall.   I'd also gotten the Three Green Beetles in Lucite, a Halloween Divination Coin in Lucite Holder {pictured below back and front}, the Black and Silver SCRABBLE Tiles that spell GOBLIN, an Antique Tintype Photo of a Creepy Old Woman in a long Victorian Dress, and the Mummy Articulated Wooden Art Doll.   The Man was like, just Buy it, you're not gonna have the Time to make one at Home, and he was Right about that, I got too many unmade Projects to do in a Lifetime as it is.  *LOL*  And lastly an Old Pharmacy Bottle filled with various Wooden Dice, Scrabble Tiles, Bingo Wooden Discs and Wooden Game Pieces.  Since it was all Smalls and all on Sale, it was just the right Timing to Score all of it Cheaply.

Since Halloween Collectibles have been so scarce this Year it was a Rush to find so much of it at one Event/Venue in one place.   Oh, I almost forgot, I Scored Two more of the Blow Mold Mummy Tumblers from the 1970's from the same Vendor I bought One from and a matching Pitcher last Month.  This Month they'd marked everything down 40%, so, I could complete my Set for just Four Dollars!  *Whoop Whoop*  I've got some of the Blow Mold Jack O'Lantern 1970's Tumblers For Sale in my Showroom, I've Sold about half of the stash of them I used to have.  I don't throw Kid Halloween Parties anymore so didn't need as many of the Tumblers as I used to Host a Themed Halloween Party with back in Da Day.  *Smiles*   But, since I have the Rare Mummy Pitcher, having 3 of the Mummy Tumblers now makes it a Set.  And of coarse there is the Frankenstein one and you simply MUST have at least One of each to Keep for Nostalgia's sake.  *Winks*

I took plenty of Blog Fodder Imagery at the Event which will last me now thru Autumn's End even if I don't attend any other Seasonal Events.  They are winding down now so it's just Pumpkin Festivals, Fear Factor Farms, the Arizona State Fair, Halloween Night and Dia de los Muertos Celebration that is forthcoming.  It is very doubtful I'll attend the Fair this Year and Princess T and her Friends have to all Work on Armband Day, so, have Opted Out too.  I don't know why they have Armband Day for unlimited Rides on a Midweek Promo since all Kids are in School and all Young Adults are at Work?  By the time they get out of Work and School the Armband Window to use them is expiring since they're only good thru certain Time of the Day earlier.  You'd have to miss Work or keep your Kid out of School to benefit from the Promo.  Most responsible people aren't gonna do either.   Bummer, but, last Year I must say it was a Shadow of what it used to be and a lot of Vendors aren't there anymore either.

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Happy Autumn Vibes my Friends... Dawn... The Bohemian