In 2002, due to family concerns, we moved, lock, stock, barrel (and all my inventory) to the spectacular High Country, right in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Avery County, North Carolina...and once again, I opened a little retail gift shop. While it is beautiful here, it is certainly different than sunny So. Calif...they actually have season changes here...something we never saw in So. Calif...and in winter, with snow and ice, the weather frequently kept me from opening the doors to my little shop. It seemed that the shop was more often than not, closed due to weather, from December through March. Hence, the first idea of trying to supplement with an on-line store began to seem like maybe a good idea..but at this point, it was just that...and idea in the back of my mind.

Then in September 2004, this area was visited by THREE HURRICANES...all in ONE MONTH! That "cute little bubbling brook" at the back of the shop...became a raging monster...and the flooding was horrible. No one was prepared for it, but my family pitched in, we sloshed in, cleaned up, tried to dry out. I re-opened...only to have the second Hurricane in two weeks, hit. Again, we cleaned up, tried once again to dry out. Within days, the third was bearing down on us. I simply moved my inventory to high ground and gave up the idea of a retail shop here.

Then, I have some wonderful friends who suggested that I stop "just thinking about" trying to establish myself on-line....and out of necessity...and an overwhelming amount of inventory with no "shelves" anymore....my eBay store was born!.... and, eBay, here I am!

Because the "overhead" on E-Bay is considerably less expensive than operating a gift shop in the real world, I have found I can offer many things at considerably less than I would sell them from a retail shop. I offer different things every week or so, seeing if I get any bites, and what items seem to interest E-Bay shoppers the most.

Now, working from home on eBay, the snow and icy weather in winter sometimes still hampers my ability to get to the post office every day and this frustrates me (especially when one is not nifty at navigating through the snow and ice!!!). But my brother, laughingly helps out when he can...and trudges, on foot when necessary, through the snow back and forth to the post office for me sometimes, with a pack of packages for mailing to my customers...much like a High Country Santa.

I know a lot of you guys are looking for the wonderful surprises that you hope to find in many of the E-Bay sellers "yard sale" or "garage sale" items...but don't overlook those of us who have really nice, brand-new (and priced much lower than retail!!) items to offer. Seasonal items, all kinds of bunnies, and bears, and dolls, Oh My! Quilted throws, some holiday lace, Elves, and Angels of all kinds. A room full of baby items, home decor, neat things for a favorite doggie or kitty lover, and lots of stuff in between. My inventory changes almost daily.

While I love the gift peddling business... I also have a hobby..I am an egg artist. In the Egg World people know my business as EGGSPRESSIONS OF LOVE ... and I decorate real egg shells. When I attend egg artistry shows, I sell lots and lots of tiny items that egg artists love to find...everything tiny enough to fit into real goose egg shells. One day, soon I hope, I want to establish a "department" in my eBay store and list hundreds of those tiny items eggers are looking for.