My father was one to collect every book by favorite authors and I sold many of those sets on eBay that I wasn't going to read myself. A few of them that excited some interest (and shipped to the UK and Oz) but most went for modest prices. I sold them in lots of 3-5 at a time as I was trying to increase my participation score on the site and selling and shipping books is easy. Others went to Half Price Books for a few dollars. With the office ceiling collapse three years ago I got rid of a lot of books because everything was moved out of the room for repairs. I have a tile floor in the den with 14" squares, so I created a book alphabet, piling all of the As, Bs, Ss, Ts, etc on various squares, and was able to find the duplicates. Those went, along with those that were no longer of interest to me. Many boxes.

A tour of the closet blouse rack today identified styles I don't wear now, are too-short-sleeved, or are way too big. A few big ones with long sleeves good for winter-time layers will stay. One large knit top I'm keeping is my favorite color and neckline that I can wear under something else so the sleeves and size aren't a problem. In theory I could do that with any of the large knit tops, but I'm not in love with them and can use the space.

I had some pint glass jars with handles (not suitable for canning) given me last year by my next door neighbor, in with a batch of good canning jars. I've used some for fresh pickles, but I still have a dozen or so unused, so they're headed to Goodwill.

I did a pretty good job of not spending over the last three weeks, with one more week to go in my offset no-spend month. With the exception of the new phone. And if I see a frozen turkey that is organic and not pumped full of salty solution I'll pick it up. The only turkeys on the Costco website are fresh, halal, and eye-wateringly expensive, upwards of $150. When I last looked up meat (lamb) it was the same - but a trip to the store reveals meat or freezer bins full of the regular issue versions of the lamb, so I expect the same of turkey. I'll go see if they have a large frozen bird to stash for later this month. Otherwise I'm trying to not spend and I did bring in some eBay cash.

A quote came in on the price of heat pumps - they have gone up considerably since last summer. The price I pay for waiting in this economy. I'll visit the credit union this week. I'm told prices will go up again on Nov. 15.

Patty, if it's any help visualizing the trip, I'm in a very easy-to-reach area, just outside an outer loop of Interstate highway around Fort Worth on the SW side of town. If you come in from the west on I-20 you have very little of the stereotypical urban congestion to deal with. And I know what you mean about driving around here - I NEVER drive to Dallas if I can help it. In over 30 years of living here I've probably driven to Dallas less than once a year on average.