2009.08.20 Jewelry Fittings

Don and I worked out early and then went home to shower. Then the really fun stuff began. I went through my jewelry a couple of weeks ago and some of the real jewelry I have no longer fit my fingers. I wanted to be able to wear these rings so I took them to a place called Karat Patch to be re-sized. I think the Lumadues recommended the place but it may have been the Hatfields. Anyway, I trust these folks so off we went to Karat Patch to get the resizing accomplished. I had great fun with these people who seemed down to earth and cleaned up one item with me participating in the clean-up. Cost $-0- and it is now a wearable item. At first Heather (the girl who helped me with all of it) did not think the tarnish would come off the necklace we were cleaning but when we finished it was nice and shiny and wearable again.

So on 8/19/09, Karat Patch called to say my jewelry "repairs" were ready. Really, it was some rings that no longer fit well on my fingers so I wanted to be able to wear them as they are my "good" jewelry, a.k.a., the real stuff. (1) One is a wonderful sapphire, white gold, and diamond ring that I wore for years and now sadly does not fit. They did just a wonderful job of sizing that ring and four others to fit my fatter fingers now. More than one of the ladies in the jewelry store came by to say, "Oh, you are the one who owns that beautiful ring. We all just love it."
(2) Another ring was a pearl and diamond ring they all called "sweet" that was a size 4 before and now needed to be an 8. To be fair to myself, it was bought to be a pinkie ring but falls off that finger pretty easily so I now have it fitted for my ring finger. I was amazed they could do it as the gold band was pretty narrow to start with but they did do it and it fits my ring finger beautifully now. The other rings were (3) a silver ring with a cross carved into it. I don't remember where I got this ring at all but it was solid silver and could be sized so I did it. Some of the rings I took in were bought at a high end store that sells really good fake jewelry that might be silver plate or something. These could not be sized as silver plate blackens if you try to heat it to resize and then it is unwearable forever. Heather said, "Wait for winter and your fingers will shrink. Since these almost fit anyway, they will fit then." As a matter of fact, most of them can go on my left ring finger but my right ring finger is a little larger and they won't go on there with out forcing them on it. I just can't do that without being afraid the ring will be stuck there for the long haul.

(4)Then there was another sapphire, diamond and yellow gold ring that is not as fancy as the first sapphire ring but that I love nonetheless. The band is way thicker than on the first sapphire ring. And now it fits too. (5)And there was a $39.95 Carolina signet ring which they polished up and sized which I can now wear because it finally looks clean and new again. I think it was silver. I showed the girl the price tag so we could get a laugh out of it but she took me seriously and went to the jeweler to get advice and he said he could fix me up on this one.

I left one more necklace which was broken and I love it. There was a bar that used to hold the topaz pendant on the chain but the bar has fallen off so I can't wear it at all unless the missing bar is put back by someone who knows how. They should have it ready late next week or early the following week. I asked for a bit of a longer chain since the one it was on is something of a "choker" the way it is. It matches some topaz earrings I have and I am also excited about getting that back soon so I will have my set back together again. I do love topaz and I have lots of topaz looking stuff but I don't know if much of it is real.

I know of two rings I have lost, one was a topaz ring I had since high school I think and another is a diamond and gold ring that was really really pretty and I believe valuable. No use crying over spilled milk but I do check the pockets of everything I get out of the closet just to see.

I had a great time at the store. Heather and I have a great time together and we laugh and laugh over some of the stuff I have. They also have a dog that someone brings in every day. The dog is named Alfie and he is as laid back and loved as any creature you will ever see. Alphie even has a business card that the owner of the place is proud of and gave me one. Alphie has a title of "Head of Security." But he mostly sleeps and wakes up when someone wants to pet him or when someone fixes food in a back room microwave. He left me suddenly while I was admiring him and the people helping me said, "Oh, it's lunch time and someone must be heating up something in the microwave. Alphie always goes back to see if they are willing to share their lunch with him." We then talked and talked about our own animals and their quirks. One lady has several cats and had to turn one into an outdoor cat because it kept getting her up in the middle of the night for food. Just like my Gray who is not about to become an outdoor cat. I got to tell my Milo and the shower story and Milo and the printer story. We just had the greatest fun talking about our pets. One of them even has a friend who uses my vet for his animals. I always put a plug in for Dr. Green whenever I can. I really believe in this doctor.

Then I went to Providence Cafe behind the jewelry store for lunch while I waited for Don to get finished with his Men's Group at church. There, I ordered an Asian Tuna Wrap sandwich which was one of the cheaper things on the menu. $12.95. When they ask you how you want the tuna cooked, you know it isn't coming out of a can and it is going to cost something. Anyway, the service was great, the sandwich was good, the people were friendly, and it got me a nice cool place to be while I waited for Don to finish his Thursday lunch get-together.

All in all a really fun, good morning.