economist suntribune opinion thursday may 23 2002 fundraising phase two my yard sale building a twoseater out the back or marrying for money would be a whole lot easier six weeks ago i put myself into a moneymaking mood on purpose the bathroom in my little cottage needs reno vating since im flat broke i needed to come up with a way to raise some fast dough just between you and me at 56 id like to be able to set my fanny down on new porce lain i reviewed the options robbing a bank putting the mark on a rich relative or exploiting my own talents the sad truth i dont have the person ality for robbing banks im too flighty while i do have a few wellheeled relations theyre all penny pinchers i had to face facts you can count my talents on one hand i can give birth grow flow ers collect rocks write columns and cook in the interest of time and the absence of a vital body organ i eliminated surrogate moth ering and in the absence of hungry customers i ruled out cooking the answer was to put a for sale sign on my flowers and rocks hopefully id have a new toi let shower and sink in no time part one of my get rich quick plan was put into action i spent three days in the hardwood bush on the family farm and dug up trilliums may apples the digging and the haul ing were hard the selling was easy on may 11 i rented a booth at the well known markham farmers market and sold the rocks that id collected in parry sound and muskoka i also sold trilliums and apples the wild flowers were gone in less than an hour i made enough money to cover about 35 per cent of the new bathroom part two a perennial plant sale and a yard sale is scheduled for 8 am saturday at my home just off the ninth line at musselmaris lake my fingers are stiff my face is wind burnt my nails are broken my backaches i feel good and joan ransberry work the past two weeks have been taxing i have new found respect for people who hold yard sales its quite the task the marketing alone is amazing getting thousands of people to come to your house isnt easy meanwhile my hat goes off to people who operate retail nurseries this is back- breaking work ive divided the plants in my garden and divided the plants on the family farm i got up at 5 am drove to huntsville dug up a large perennial garden in cottage country and brought it home in a truck i also potted plants from family friends and neighbours and am now proud to say im offering quite a selection my little sale is not so little there will be more than 400 plants yes i have trilliums both red and white contrary to some readers opinions i am not breaking the law by selling them trilliums are indeed a protect ed flower they cant be picked but they can be moved from one home to another my plant sale includes a small wildflowers table with dog tooth violets blue vio lets may apples and others i even found a patch of jack- inthe pulpits when i spotted the first jack i squealed like a pig i hadnt seen one since 1956 my fingers are stiff my face is wind burnt my nails are broken my back aches i feel good now for the yard sale i have the usual too many mugs too few antiques but it includes new items from an overstocked gift store if youd like to donate to the ransberrycan cause follow the handmade signs along the ninth line and into musselmans lake theyll making money is hard take you to my house learn how to talk to others about their smoking canadian akklls societys smokers helpline this messagn brought to vou jisji 18775ij5 jsj funded in pan by the ministry of hdlih and longterm care community servlco of economist suntrlbuno zmms happenin fit the the weather has been a bit surprising but have faith sooner or later it will warm up and well all have our hands dirty in the garden one thing that we continually hear is that weve shopped around and weve been everywhere and you guys not only have the best stuff but youve got the best prices too you may not have everything but the quality of what youve got is great for this week weve got small stuff you can mix or match to make your own basket urn or window box the million bells are especially nice this year but theres verbena bacopa lobelia new guinas gazanias and lime plus a lot more wed be happy to plant any arrangement that youd like in your containers or ours there is a 750 fee for smaller and a 1000 fee for larger creations arbours weve received our first arbours made of unpeeled cedar similar to last year more stuff to come including trellises and bridges coconut mixed baskets these mixed hangers are either large or extra large and look great geraniums weve got a good supply of hangers including ivy geraniums and medium size mothers in a lot of different colours patio pots pots of colour for sun or shade as far as the eye can see we get huge praise for these bacopa and lobelia in large size fibre hangers theyre best in fibre because theyll hold the moisture better gives you a bit more maintenance leeway hibiscus weve received a great shipment of hibiscus bushes and standards at 3000 and 4000 really nice mandevilla have started to arrive watch for them this weekend and dont forget that for any pot you buy at our store you get a kates buck that you can spend in her store on great garden accents whats folt bratwurst sausages our sausage feature for this week will be our bratwurst what i like about these sausages is that they have a standuptoanvthing taste especially to beer a cant be surprising though f because beer is one of the js pik ingredients f j of reg 399 lb ms this week something new weve imported a new bbq sauce from the montgomery inn in ohio its a brushing or a dipping sauce and we really love it from our entree kitchen this week we have a variety of boneless skinless airchilled chicken breasts we poach these slice them and serve them up in either a tresh orange pine nut sauce a porcini mushroom sauce a pesto sauce or a lemon sauce one container should serve 2 hungry people or 3 of a moderate appetite j0sk bbs 1 theyre available in our entree freezer just heat and serve reg 1495 ea off this week smoked turkey drumsticks in case you missed out last week weve made another batch of our now famous smoked turkey drumsticks tlk dflsthh jh when theyre gone l h vl jh w theyre gone pile 0 bones this week we have a good supply of our teriyakimarinated prime rib bones forget about your barbeque this time theyre really good just ovenroasted we sell them in a pack of 3 lb or more and it serves 3 or 4 people its a good meal and a good deal come early when theyre gone theyre gone minestrone soup i used to think that the literal translation of minestrone from italian to english meant everything but and sometimes including the kitchen sink its like you open your fridge and start creating that thought returns to me as im watching them prepare this soup in our kitchen it has a lot of different ingredients but they all jgjs bbbj fl lend a hand in the flavour its really m fl delicious and its low fat for sure jf pk rxre reg 549 ea jjfw raif serves 34 0 week appive caramel coffee cakes these are an amazing coffee cake made with spiced apples and caramel baked through its then brushed with buttered apple cider and drizzled with caramel and is it good it is in jaanas words ggfe 8 f moist and beautiful w t yq rg 1095 ea off this week village w 1 these are a fairly unique mennonite openfaced apple pie which we make on an occasional basis they keep very well and while their flavour improves over time their visual appeal diminishes but we do make them often enough to keep those customers who love them in good supply this week jaana has made them in the traditional spiced apple version and being the creative artist that she is shell have them with apricot pear and ginger sour cherry wild blueberry and fresh raspberry why stop fc jbsb 0 reg 1095 ea w fc serves 16 depending jmi on if someone is looking hhsy kai this week you could f get your raffle tickets you could win a number of great prizes including a years shopping in our store all of the money goes to markhamstouffville hospital 45000 last year tickets are 1000 each and are available from any of the members of the unionville slopitch league or at our store only three weeks to go grocer quality foods specials in effect until closing sunday may 26 hours mon 1100700 tuesthurs 900700 fri 900800 sat 900600 sun 1000500 548 garlton road unionville 9401770