I want to make oyster stew on New Year's day. It's supposed to be good luck, but I just want it because it's yummy. ( Milk, cream, oysters; how could it not be good!?). So Eli and I went to a new (to me ) grocery store that has oysters and duck (I also want to make duck l'orange. Duck breast is one of the main reason I still eat poultry!)
I am not naming the store because I want to keep my semi-guilty feelings to myself. If you know the store, you may feel like reporting me or something, even though I didn't do anything illegal.
The butcher shop also has seafood. It is not self service. The poor girl waiting on customers did not have any help which is probably why the good luck thing occurred. Oyster stew call for 2 dozen oyster (my recipe does, anyway). They only had un-shucked blue point oysters at $1.29 each. Yikes! 30 bucks! Oh well, it's once a year. First the butcher/seafood lady told me she didn't think they had any oysters even though I was looking as them in the display window. After I pointed them out, she put 24 of them in the bag and put the price on them
We also got a big old duck which was 6 pounds at 3 dollars a pound. This was turning into an expensive experience, but, again, it'sonece a year. We got a few other things, but couldn't find shallots. Someone will have to make a trip to Trader Joes (that not where we were, btw)
When we went to check out, the man in front of us actually was buying shallots. Maybe he got the last two in the store. I wasn't really paying attention to the clerk as he ran everything through, but when he got to the oyster, he said "This say $1.29. That can't be right." I said, "Yes that was the price, and I got 24." He said, "Okay, that's what is says." I thought he was commenting on the high cost of making oyster stew, but when he gave me the total for the entire order , he said "Your total is $24.75." He had rung up the entire bag of 24 oyster as $1.29. For 24 oysters. I paid the bill and calmly walked to the exit. Eli started to say something about the cost being awfully low, but I told him to shut up and keep walking.
So that is why I feel guilty about my good fortune...but not guilty enough to go back and fix their mistake. I am just thinking that this oyster stew will be the most lucky one we've ever made. I have decided that, to ease my mild guilt, I will think of this as a flash sale of buy one oyster and get 23 free.
My good fortune continued with my discovery about some earring I already own. A few years ago, my mom gave me a bunch of bead leftover from her bracelet making craze. Actually, I think she was going to throw them out and I rescued them, thinking I would use them for play therapy. But when I looked through them, I realized they were really cool and starting making my own stuff. Because I can't keep myself from thinking I need to accumulate even more stuff than I need, stuff, I started scouring thrift stores for jewelry I could take apart and repurpose.
I was in Jefferson City visiting my parents, and found this big old vase stuffed with jewelry. It was $30, but It was really cool and I figure it was cheaper than buying actual beads at a big box craft store. I was right about that, but I also discovered some really good jewelry amongst the stuff to take apart. In that first vase, I found three stretch bad rings that retail for about $7 each and a 24 K gold chain. I was hooked!
The Goodwill near me is close enough that I could walk to it , if I could walk. I buy a lot of stuff there. I buy almost all my tops and sweaters there. I've found at least 10 really nice cashmere sweaters there. I'v also discovered the art section. There is a lot of crap in the mix. Bad poster, prints from target, and a few paint by number on velvet. However, I have found tons of originals including original oils and water colors and several signed and dated lithographs. One I saw listed at an art gallery for $300! Quite a good return on an investment of $4.
But now comes my good fortune from yesterday. I have probably ended up buying about ten of those vases full of jewelry. I actually really do use the beads and other finding in my own jewelry making. But in a few of these thing I found silver and gold chains, sterling silver bracelets with gemstones and some very nice earring.
With many of the earrings only one of a pair has made it into the vase. Lots of times they have a Clairs tag on them or they are just hideous .But this one pair....
I found the first one, and immediately felt how heavy and well-made it seemed. It was covered in some white substance that I do not care to found out what it was. I gave it a basic cleaning. It looked and felt like silver with a brass X on top. I finally dug through the vase and found the second earring. I thought they were pretty enough even with someweird substance on them They're pretty heavy, so I took them off and put them in my pants pocket. I then sort of forget about them until I emptied the washing machine. Ooops...
They were pretty clean after their trip to the laundry. I could see that there was a mark inside. It said 14K. Now, I know that silver is marked 925, but never 14k. Maybe this had gold on silver instead of brass!
Sometimes I am able to find things on ebay that are pretty comparable to some of my finds, so I tried my luck with the earrings, Searching for silver and 14k hoop earrings
Guess what! I actually found the exact earrings, and then guess what? Someone is asking $650 for the very same pair! Score! I will no longer feel bad about spending $30 on a vase of "junk" jewelry!
Here are the earrings on the left along with a silver ring with fire opals and a silver and gemstone bracelet
