Pandemic Purchases Anyone?

The 2019 Christmas holidays came and went, the New Year started and time came to settle up holiday spending bills and maybe start saving❓

Until early March, the COVID-19 pandemic erupted and shutdowns began — restaurants to retail stores and speciality shops. Online buying became more popular, surging with purchases of essentials and some not-so-essential items too.

Our essentials buying patterns didn't change. We continued grocery shopping with new protocols of social distancing, mask wearing. No need to shop as a planned Sept trip was cancelled and not going anywhere meant nothing new was needed. 

That left time (and money) to buy several completely non-essential items. In my defense, all were good deals and one is no longer in my possession.

Why Buy? Because they were there.
Did I need them? Absolutely not, see above comment.
What did I buy? Continue reading to find out.

Photography is a hobby and while I wasn't planning to buy anything, looking at eBay listings resulted in purchases of 2 Panasonic Lumix digital cameras, both were older, pre-owned models, ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, very far from new. 

Bidding on eBay can get crazy, especially at near-auction end. Many sellers list items as Buy It Now some with a Make Best Offer. That's how I bought the cameras — Best Offer was made  and accepted on both. If a seller accepts a Best Offer, the item is off the market and placed in the buyer's checkout cart. I honored both purchase commitments. 

The black ↓ Lumix DMX-TZ5 (top), new in 2008, was described as a great travel camera with a stabilized big zoom lens in a compact package. This was when a 9.1mp, 10X zoom (28-280mm equivalent) was big news on a small camera. The camera doesn't have manual control over shutter speeds, aperture or focus, but does provide exposure control. 


The silver ↑ Lumix DMC-ZS25 (bottom), new in 2013 has a 16.1 mp, a 20X zoom super zoom (24-480mm equivalent) has both auto and manual exposure control. 

Both included extras. The Lumix DMC-TZ5 included a charger, two original Panasonic batteries, 16MB SD card, small camera case. Its original, new price was over $200, my winning bid, $25 plus shipping. The Lumix DMC-ZS25 came with a charger and three batteries. Its original, new cost was over $300, my winning $39 plus shipping. 

The above view shows both cameras side-by-side with zooms extended. The build quality between them differs in that the older black one is heavier with a metal body.

My third pandemic purchase is the small black item in the photo, a bluetooth speaker seen at a local flea market Seller said it's the last one at $5, adding give me $2, so I did. In the  original package with charging cable, this Onn brand sold at Walmart for $12. 

Savings was $10 on an unplanned purchase that works great. It pairs up quickly with an old iPhone used for podcasts and audio books, and turns off when not in use. I've been using it more often than an Anker bluetooth speaker bought 2 years ago.

UPDATE: The Lumix DMC-ZS25 camera has a new owner in another state. While a good deal, it wasn't needed. Coincidentally, it sold as a Buy It Now within a day of being listed. I'm keeping the DMC-TZ5 which is compact and handy for in-town walk-arounds.

Just Wondering❓Buy any non-essential(s) — Do share; this is a no judgement blog.

Forgot to mention, Grenville bought this → after a lengthy search. It's a pity cherries are no longer available in the local supermarkets; he can always pit olives until next season.

Welcome Autumn 🍁 September is here 🍂

We Fled to a Flea Market

Yes, that's what we did this past weekend on Sunday morning. 

It wasn't a far excursion as we visited the Londonderry Flea Market (LFM), about a 20-minute drive from Nashua, NH, where we live.

We didn't go to buy anything specific, but just wanted to get out to look at stuff we didn't need to want to buy. 

Do you plan to buy something, when going to a flea market or thrift store? 

Most folks, ourselves included, like love to browse. We can spend a lot of time doing that. It's something we've been missing in recent months with COVID-19 related shutdowns. While the LFM is an outdoor venue, we masked-up. Others did too; some didn't. It was suggested at the entrance, but not enforced.

To us, this it was an excursion. We successfully avoided bringing home more stuff. 

We spotted a variety of cars — very small to very large. The limo below wasn't for sale, but available for event rentals. The sign wasn't visible at first glance, and we wondered if it might be for sale. It wouldn't fit in our assigned parking space, so we'd have to pass it up anyway.

The great thing about a flea market is you never know what you'll find (or not find) there. Maybe, it's something you've been looking for or something you didn't expect to find — a treasure like fishing poles, bicycles, old tools, boxes or assorted screws. We already have a lot of those now and some of them are loose ones.

There's definitely something for everyone, like these items. After all, who wouldn't want Elvis in their home?

There was a large number of shoes from bronzed baby shoes to high heels. Our parents didn't have our baby shoes bronzed. Did yours? 

Online, I learned that since 1934, the American Bronzing Company in Columbus, OH, has bronzed over 14,000,000 baby shoes for sentimental parents at prices ranging from $65 to over $200. But, the market for bronzed baby shoes is minimal to non-existent; secondary market values range between $10 and $15, unless the baby shoes belonged to a well-known personality. The ones below were unmarked and no seller was around, but it's doubtless they belonged to anyone famous.

The LFM covers some 30 acres. It's open weekends starting in late May-early June from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting. This was the second week of operation. Compared to a couple of visits last year, we noticed the absence of many vendors with empty stalls like these below. Most likely, we'll make a return visit later this summer.

Some sellers are regulars who maintain a regular spot area the entire season, bringing in new and/or different items weekly to increase their inventory. Others are known as weekend or yard sale sellers, who rent space to sell no-longer needed items on a one-time basis with a potentially larger buying public.

Years ago, manual typewriters were in widespread office and home use. We've seen many vintage newspaper office films showing reporters typing on them to meet their deadlines. Smith Corona was created when L.C. Smith & Bros. united with Corona Typewriter in 1926. I typed high school papers on a Smith Corona typewriter similar to the second model below.

Searching for a very low maintenance pet, these cats would certainly filled the bill.

Most weekends, there's a good-sized area where shoppers can purchase food items like burgers and hot dogs, subs, fries, and drinks. Then, sit and enjoy them at tables under a tented area. However last weekend, the food tent was empty; no food was being sold or enjoyed.

There's also an on-site pond but I didn't take a photo. Last year we saw boat rides being offered and visitors can also bring remote control boats. This year we didn't see any of this activities on our visit. Maybe, they'll resume as the season progresses.

Entry admission is $1.50 per person. Seniors 60 and over and children 12 and under get free admission. As you can imagine, we fell into one of these categories.

On the weekend, we also went to a nearby park, details and photos in another post.
Hope that as many of you as possible have been able to get outdoors too.

Carried Away?

A while back, Grenville posted that in late July we will become 2nd time grandparents with the arrival of a granddaughter.

And, as we did earlier for our grandson, we’re already gathering baby bargains in the local thrift stores.

Many items are not only like new – some are brand new and never worn by a baby – maybe too many outfits in the same size?

WHAT deals we’ve found! The bib above and this hat were 25 cents each. At these prices, we can afford to buy a wardrobe and have $ left over for toys – or a college education?.

Saving money aside, this is great fun. Any clothes she can’t use will be donated elsewhere, so it’s all good.

We’re trying to avoid the all-pink look, adding yellow and purple outfits.

This week, we got a chance to buy blue baby clothes as NJ friends became 1st time grandparents and we sent these for their new grandson.

Can you tell that we’re having a great time shopping?

Clouds & Cameras

The forecast was for another day of scattered showers. Since there was no outdoor work to begin, Grenville and I headed to the closest “big city” shopping area of Salisbury, MD to check out a new digital camera for him.

The skies were beautiful when we started out around noon.

The further we travelled, the more spectacular the skies became – what rain – surely the forecast was wrong.

Then, we noticed that the closer we got to Salisbury, MD, which is about 90 minutes from home, the skies were darkening – a lot.

Soon enough, they opened up. Luckily the downpour stopped by the time we reached our destinations, Best Buy and Staples stores.

Grenville looked at the models available in each store. While he didn’t buy one today, he’s narrowed the search to Canon digitals,  possibly the PowerShot S130.

We don’t go on shopping excursions very often. Our options are somewhat limited where we live, so we often order online. However, some items like cameras are best seen and handled to get the “feel” of them. I was  able to check out a Nikon D90 which is the digital SLR camera I posted about earlier and plan to buy soon. It was heftier than  expected after reading some reviews; it still remains my top choice as have a couple of lenses to fit it.

The weather improved considerably on the drive home and we were treated to some beautiful sunset scenery.

Clouds were not the only interesting sights today. I shot these trees (using a camera, of course) while Grenville was busy driving.

Even though we didn’t buy anything, except copy paper at Staples, it was a good day to get out for a drive. And, we both got to check out what might become our next digital cameras.

We hope you are having a wonderful weekend too. Sunday is supposed to be sunny and rain-free here. YEAH!

Shopping (and Dining?) at Lowe’s

Last weekend, Grenville and I made a trip to the nearly big city of Pocomoke, MD which is where the closest Tractor Supply and Lowe’s are located. One of the items on our list was bird seed. These Lowe’s shoppers had the same item on their list, minus the purchase.

An advance scout standing below pallets of birdseed.

Getting a closer look.

Save some for me !

Soon a line formed . . .

Getting ready for a backyard barbecue?

These birds hung around the seed area for about 5 minutes until an influx of human shoppers invaded the aisles. (The camera was a small Panasonic digital with a limited 6X zoom; available light was used as the built-in flash would not have been useful.)