What a weekend!

You know when you're retired (or maybe you don't know), you sort of lose track of days, weekends, etc. That's true to some extent. But having worked most of my adult life, the pattern of work during the week, relax during the weekend, still dominates the psyche. This weekend we had our yard sale. And "relaxing" is not what it was. In fact, I'm so tired I think I'll make this entry a short one because that bed is calling me.

We just returned from dining in Bay Ridge at the 101 Restaurant (at 101st Street -- very creative naming of restaurants nowadays, no?) We were joined by my Aunt Sissy and her daughter Cory who is visiting (from Victoria, Canada) for a week or so. This is a pricey, but lovely, restaurant on 4th Avenue with a nice view of the Verrazano Bridge.


Aunt Sissy and Cousin Cory at 101 Restaurant in Bay Ridge.


Stacey and Cory after dinner in Bay Ridge.

That lovely dinner was the finale to a very hectic and exhausting two days. You might remember that I spent a few days last week pasting up the flyer for the yard sale. Well, the word was out and the customers came -- in droves. But only for a while. Saturday the rain came -- right after the customers and that put a damper on business. Crazy busy at 9:30 a.m. onwards (it was called for 11 a.m!), then tapered off around noon, then the rain and ... nothing.

What miserable, terrible, awful weather we're having this spring! Both Saturday and Sunday were cold, damp and then rainy. This really ate into the turnout for the yard sale and somehow, tired us out even more. Tired is the word. Schlepping boxes and boxes of Mayfair Photo merchandise from the garage out to the sidewalk. Setting up tables. Bargaining with customers (who didn't want to pay more than 50 cents, no matter what the item or the value.


Our frenetic yard sale.

On Saturday, after setting everything up and dealing with mobs of people, it finally began to rain at about 2 p.m. Everything was quickly either covered with tarps or dragged into the back of my car or way back into the garage, pending the letup in the rain. Then everything unloaded once again...but this time no more crowds. Not fun.

When we finally finished we decided to eat out instead of the barbecue we had been planning. We were just too tired to start cooking and serving. Our friends, Stephanie and Peter and my brother Lee and sister-in-law Alexis (all of who partook in the yard sale with their own chazerai all headed for what used to be Mayfair Photo on Coney Island Avenue. Mayfair was, of course, the family camera store (since 1924!) Lee and I, partners since 1978, closed it last July. In its place: The Istanbul Turkish Seafood Restaurant or, as a sign on the roof proudly proclaims: Fish Kebap.

The restaurant is our new tenant and we've eaten there quite a few times. I must say it's a wonderful culinary addition to the neighborhood (2817 Coney Island Avenue near Avenue Z). The emphasis is on fresh fish, mostly charcoal grilled. There are wonderful salads and mid-east appetizers. We have not been disappointed yet. Highly recommended! Tell them you know the landlord!


This is what became of Mayfair Photo


The Instanbul Seafood Restaurant -- setup for a party on Saturday night.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday except it poured all night long and into the morning. So whereas we were raring to go on Saturday morning - having risen very early and having the tables and all set up by 9 a.m. -- this Sunday morning - having been exhausted from Saturday -- I slept (waking intermittently, hearing the downpour and returning to sleep) until 9:30. We barely managed to begin setting up our tables around 11 when a few shoppers started to appear (repeats from yesterday). It was a cold, raw day. Stephanie and Peter didn't return (they had had it and most of their merchandise was sold on Saturday). But the four of us remaining were joined later in the day by Marlo (Lee and Lex's daughter) and her daughter, Olivia. The latter little darling helped immensely to lighten the dreary and cold day. She is such a beautiful little jewel of a girl. Playing with her in front of the house brought back long distant memories to me of her mother when she was a wee lassie and equally delicious.

And so it went - the two days of our epic yard sale. Are we glad it's over? Oh yes ... and yes again! Was it worth it? Not really - we didn't get rich. Was it enjoyable? Actually, we had lots of fun, bantering with the shoppers and hanging out together.

Today, Sunday, in the waning hours of the yard sale's second day, Stacey cooked up the barbecue that was planned for last night and we sat in the cold, cloudy mist of a day, in front of both our house and, next door, my parent's deserted (and now sold to others) house. We reminisced and thought about those departed old ones while we munched on hot dogs and hamburgers. Our house is up for sale. My brother and Alexis just sold theirs. My parents house is gone. So it was a bittersweet moment for all of us and a bit of closure for what seems very much like the end of an era.