Going, going, gone

My haul from an auction a few years back. All of this for $11.

We have a closing date for our NY house!

In celebration, we went to an auction.

My mom introduced me to the world of bargains available from estate auctions. We followed a father-son team of auctioneers. They had their set patter and their set jokes. From them I learned the term "by the each"--selling two or more items at once but you pay two or more times the money. And when they couldn't figure out what something was, they fell back on "It's a nice one!

We've now attended a few outside auctions in Indiana and felt right at home with the same type of jargon, the same lame jokes, the same crappy sound systems.

But there is one big difference.

At every country auction in New York, there was a large tent set up with chairs. The auctioneer sold from the front and his crew toted in the goodies. You sat, more or less in comfort, chatted with your neighbors, scarfed down the goodies offered for sale.

Here we found no tent and no chairs. The items for sale are laid out on large flatbed trailers and the audience follows the auctioneer around the lot. This means you STAND FOR HOURS!

I'm out of shape and not used to standing for that long. I guess that means I'll have to start a training regime for the spring auction season.

BTW--the celebration auction we attended? I did buy three enamel roasting pans, a tea kettle, and a few other miscellaneous kitchen bits and spent a whopping $2.00. That's my idea of stimulating the economy.

Blame the Grandkids

We let our grandchildren name the chickens, so meet

Brownie, Stripey, Cinnamon,

and Hot Dog.

I named the cats--Penny and Dale, two Ginger Rogers characters in Fred Astaire pictures, but I bet you knew that.

Strategies

Kitten Penny patiently tracked a small lizard. She persevered, finally pounced, and caught it.

Kitten Dale yawned and watched, seemingly not interested in such goings on.

Then she calmly walked over and stole the lizard. Her growls made it known to all and sundry that the prey was now hers. Dale toyed with it for awhile and then ate it.

Treachery wins over honest hard work again.

Reminders

Helping grandma make ice cream

I apologize for the lapse in posts; we're involved in a real estate transaction.

What a minute! Didn't I already post, moan, and groan about that? Yup, but it's happening again. Still.

The first offer on our house fell through--much stupidity and weirdness on the buyer's side.

This time, we have a, well, shall we say inexperienced (anal, incompetent, obnoxious?) assessor who is holding up the deal. Fates preserve us from bureaucrats with a little bit of power.



Sweets for the sweet


Anyway, in the meantime we got a fun visit from kids and grandkids. There is nothing like a 4 and 7 year old to remind you what's really important in life!

What's Old is New



Table made from recycled teak, from www.exbali.com

 Recycling is the rage.

Bloggers boast about turning old dog chains into jewelry, vintage oars into scarf racks. Glossy magazine articles feature crafters who repurpose bed frames into benches, plastic framed mirrors into chalkboards. The end products always take your breath away with the artistry.

I needed a plant table. Tom took 6 pieces of 2'x4' and a ratty, wormy piece leftover from the doghouse we demolished, and voila!, a work table.



We've been reusing and recycling our entire lives but this creation, although functional, is never going to make the cover of Dumpster Delights*. I'm betting it will hold plants just as well as teak, though.



Tom showing pride in his work.



*There MUST be a magazine by that name!

Island Style

In our search for scrounged materials to use in the chicken coop, we found surfer dude under a cabinet in the garage. I think it's a sign, a reminder that the spirit of aloha should always be in our lives even when we are far beyond the Pacific.

Shaka, brah!