More House Purging

     I'm on a roll.  When the Animal Ark guy said that they'll pick up any furniture "they think they can sell," I started getting nervous.  The pieces are in good shape, but there are some spots where varnish is missing so I decided to try my Mom's sage advice and use a product called Old English Scratch Cover.  It's a furniture polish that is tinted to match your furniture, so I got some for dark furniture at Home Depot.  It's a miracle product.  The bad spots on the furniture look so much better.  They haven't completely disappeared, but almost. Then I started to go crazy with the light version I borrowed from my Mom and began sprucing up my furniture, I mean the stuff that's staying!  Low and behold, those water marks I've been looking at for years are gone.  Let me restate:  Miracles took place.

     I became quite philosophical during the two hours I spent getting my furniture respectable enough for the "free guys" to pick it up.  I remembered about 40 years ago getting really excited when a $5 ratty old piece of furniture spoke to me at a garage sale saying, "Buy me.  I'll look beautiful once you've sanded, stained and varnished me."  I guess those days are long gone.  Now buyers want everything used looking like new, no matter what the price tag.  The same holds true for houses.  Remember those fixer-uppers where the previous owner didn't do a thing to ready the place for the market, and instead the new buyer would look at the good deal and think about how he/she could work magic and make it look gorgeous for a little more money?  Now houses need to be ready to go.  You HAVE to paint, replace the carpeting, put new counters in and get those old sinks out before you can even put it on the market.  You even have to hire a stager now.  Well I decided if that's the new game in town, I'm going to do the upgrading at least a year before I sell my house so I can enjoy the newness for awhile.
     I need to sign off as my daughter just called from Cambridge and wants to Skype so I can see her new house.  She's living in a house with 3 other 20-somethings and I haven't seen it yet.  Can't wait!