Thoughts on Auctions, Antiques & the Difference Between Saturday & Sunday~*

My parents called us up Friday.  Well, to be strictly honest, they text-ed us up as I hate, despise and systematically avoid talking on the phone.  I have hearing issues. And attention issues.  Lots of issues.

Anyway.

Dad had found an auction.  Did we want to go?

Yes.  Always yes.  Auctions are Awesome.

It was a weekend long affair with viewing times starting at 11 and the auctions starting at 1 Saturday & Sunday.  Or 1ish really.  We are in the south & time is not a fixed point so much as a general guideline.

This was not our regular auction, which is a hoighty operation where we can't afford anything & just go for the previews & the opportunity to touch cool things from centuries ago like our own personal museum.  This was a good ole tin shed & tent affair.  The kind where there is a bit of everything & we can actually buy stuff.

The Saturday crowd was sweet.  Farmers & locals looking for bargains.  Wonderfully relaxed atmosphere, empty chairs & a general marveling at how low things went for.  Our kinda folks.

A Victorian pump organ, functioning & with stool went for $200.  A federal period drop leaf table went for $40.  An ornate clock from Germany went for $60.

Then there was the trench art.  As many of you know, both my husband & I are historians.  I study civil disobedience in American history, my husband studies World War I and the period in Germany that followed (known as the Wiemar Republic).

World War I was arguably the worst war in modern history.  I won't go in to details.  Suffice it to say it was really, really bad.  While waiting to die in the trenches, a lot of soldiers on all sides focused on making art out of whatever they had on hand.  It was an artists war really, lots of writers, poets & artists enlisted for the experience only to find themselves in hell.

Anyway.

We started collecting trench art a while back as an homage to the boys my husband studies & they had four pieces of trench art--in this case, vases made out of mortar shells-- at the auction on Saturday.  One was in original condition, 3  matching pieces had been polished recently by some no doubt well meaning but incredibly stupid person.  All had thistles as the motif (which was popular in the war), all were made in 1917, 3 French, one English.

My husband & I were flipping out.  Of all the treasures we wanted, these were the big ones.  And we had a severely limited budget.  So we crossed our fingers when they were brought out at last.

And we won.  We also brought home a few group photos from the same period.  And my parents bought us a fantastic (and huge) recruitment poster from Newark New Jersey.  Oh!  And I got a calendar plate from 1951 & the California commemorative plate from '52 that I mentioned in a post the other day.

The lot also came with a 1962 Seattle World's Fair commemorative plate that I gave to Mom cos she actually went to the fair.  I'll share all of the treasures in future posts, no fear~*

We were very excited to come back on Sunday.  There were a few things we were interested in & given how low things were sold Saturday & the amount we could still afford to spend we had every reason to believe we might nab a few more goodies.  Some things we just wanted to see what they would go for.

But there were some pieces of ephemera I was particularly interested in bringing home.  A set of postcards from Tom Randall to his cousins from all over the United States.  

Some old ledger books.

And other treasures.

So we got there early & settled in.

Dude.

Totally different crowd on Sunday.  Rich snotty sorts with plastic surgery'd all ta hell women wearing dresses 4 sizes too small and weasly thin pony tails that grayed men in mid-life crises grow.  L.L.Bean catalog'd, artfully disarrayed wealth on display.  People leaving trash on the floor or on antique tables because they were too rich or too pretentious to be bothered throwing it away.   Icky people.  The people we decidedly are not.

And the prices.  Holy smokes.  It was night and day.  A globe from the late 1990s went for a $250.  Tea sets & silver plate went for multiple hundreds.  Queen Anne tables sold in the thousand dollar range.  A modern reproduction of an 1890s four poster went for multiple thousands.  Bidding wars broke out as frienemies tried to out spend each other.  The whole room was thick with mean-spirited competitiveness.

Our goodies were snatched up at prices way beyond our budget.  Goodbye Thomas Randall's postcards.

We did manage to bring home some chalkware Toby's for ten bucks.

The rest of the time we were simply stupefied by the snot factor.

We do not like the Sunday crowd.  We will not go back.

Saturday, however, we will do any day of the week~*

Have you ever been to an auction?

Web Wandering Whatnots~*

**A quick note of thanks for all your kind comments & emails yesterday, it meant a lot to know your thoughts were with us.  Thing 2 is adjusting to life without his constant companion, & though this morning was a bit tough, he's doing okay.**

Here is a collection of interesting websites (at least, interesting to me) without any particular theme.  Cos yes I May be random.  That's how May works.  Awesome, eh?

10 interesting nightstands.  Because nightstands should be interesting.  Technically they could be end-tables too, but I suppose that isn't as sexy~*

We drink bottled water.  Before you judge, we also get letters from our water provider every other day saying they accidentally over-chemical'ed somehow or the other & while its perfectly safe to use our water for cleaning or boiling, we probably oughtn't drink it for a day or two.  So, yeah, there's that.  
Anywho.
Here are some smashing grand ideas for what to do with the bottles after the water has been consumed~*

And while we are reusing, here are ten ways to reuse old t-shirts~*

Okay.  I can't really explain this one.  I mean, it's art, and it's just cool.  Go there now & see for yourself.

And saving the best for last...

I could spend hours hanging out at the Skunkpot site.  Its not a social network.  In case you were wondering. 
The Photography section is my favorite~*

Stumble across any interesting web treasures lately?

A Bit of Sad

I apologize for my lack of blog visits today.  We've had a bit of sad.  My son's dog passed away early this morning.  She was 19 years old & lived a wonderful life.  The past few weeks she had been feeling poorly, & we had prepared Thing 2 for this possibility.  All of us are okay.  We all stayed home from school & hung out & reminisced a bit.  

She was a good doggie & we loved her very much.  

Rest in peace Rascally girl.

We should be back to the regular routine tomorrow.  I already have a blog post scheduled & I'll catch up with my bloggie reading in the morning.  

How Tos-Day...er...What I Dids-Day~*

We've tons of projects going on in our little house Cecilia. Rooms being painted, light fixtures being changed, blinds being installed & new treasures being carefully placed all about. Outside we've been pruning & trimming-- not planting yet, though that is to come.

The end result is that How Tos-day is evolving into What We Dids-day. At least a bit.

If you've followed along on instagram, we discovered an awesome auction thanks to my parents & spent a great weekend finding treasures & bidding & spending more than we intended but less than we could afford {which always makes my mister happy}. I'll share more on the auction Thursday. But I did want to show some pics from the Farmer's Market Saturday morning.

As you can probably tell, it rained most of the day. That didn't dampen our enthusiasm though-- our tomao guy was back! We got several baskets to turn in to sauce & fried green tomatoes. The big juicy 'maters aren't in yet, but these will hold us over until they arrive.

I'm Taby, and I'm a tomato-aholic.

As far as projects, today I'm sharing a quick kitchen remodel I just finished. For quick reference, here is a before {from the Xmas Tour}



I love repainting. I'm not one to paint with the idea of never having to paint again. If I am happy with a color for a year or two, I'm good. I like change. The whole joy of owning a house, for me, hinges on being able to viciously rearrange my environment at will~*

So. Its been a few years, its time for a change. A new coat of paint, a new above the sink light {a sweet cottage jar light in white with every intention of finding a tinted mason jar to replace the standard shade} and come August, some new appliances. Lest you think I've completely lost it, the appliances are 7 years old & the stove & dishwasher were not exactly top-of-the-line. Our fridge will last a while longer. Maybe.

Anyway.

Stage 1 & 2: new paint, new light~*

Whilst doing this paint job, I decided to paint up the ceiling fan as well. Easy Peasy. Remove the blades & hardware, wash 'em up & scrub with degreaser, dry thoroughly, spray paint both sides of the fan blades making sure to get the edges, while they are drying repaint the body of the fan to match, then replace. Vuala!







In looking at these pics, I think it may be time to touch up the ceiling too. I hate painting ceilings...bah. No one looks up anyways, right?

I also repainted the owl cork caddy Thing 1 got me for my birthday. It was originally a dark metallic-aged-bronze, which was lovely, but didn't fit in the kitchen. I spray painted him white with a nice flat paint, and hand painted his bow tie a cheery spring green.

He's much happier now.



 And so am I.

At Saturday's auction I scored a white & gold calendar plate from 1951 & a commemorative California plate from 1950 (the 100th anniversary of California becoming a state) in the same colors that will be added to the kitchen walls shortly.

We also need to finish framing in the plastic-cut-glass-look piece behind the stove that was intended as a panel for a drop ceiling but we are using as a back splash {it can stand the heat, is easy to clean, and allows the color of the walls to come through}. It is being held up with a few dots of hot glue, which is awesome. If it continues to hold I may add more on the entire back wall 'cos it looks cool.

I love things that look cool.  Or at least, my weird version of cool~*

I've been working on the craft room simultaneously, and there are a few traditional how-tos that are in the works as well. There is much awesomeness to come~*


What are your summer projects this year?