Picnic Baskets, Jars, Sewing - An Auction

Picnic baskets, jars, sewing drawers were all for sale today at the wonderful auction we attended.  Loads of vintage and antique treasures were to be had.  The weather even cooperated for us with the sun peeking out for extended periods of time.  The air felt like it might rain, but not one little drop plopped on my skin.  The temps were in the seventies.  You couldn't begin to ask for a nicer day to attend an outdoor auction.

I love going to estate sales.  I love finding all the things that someone else has treasured and valued enough to hold onto for decades.  Two tables of glassware were displayed.   The depression glass was shining in gorgeous pink and green.   The cut glass gleamed in the sunlight.  Cut glass is pretty in the kitchen, but get it outside and it just beams at ya. 

  (photos from auction site)

Picnic baskets, old blue jars, wooden crates, and pedal tractors were delightful to find.  I was lucky enough to make some wonderful scores, including milk bottles, sewing machine drawers, old chairs, and a few other items I'll share with pictures later this week. 

After about four hours, my boyfriend and I were both exhausted.  He loves auctions as much as I do, which is fortunate for me 'cause he also has tons of muscles and will carry all the crazy things I find to cart home.  He even managed to add a milk can and a nail barrel for himself.  The car was loaded (crammed), when the auctioneer was calling for a $1 bid for some baby items.  I had to go see what was up for a dollar -  a wicker bassinet with a stand had been painted green and was rather cute.  There were a few other things sitting around it, but I wasn't sure what was going into the pile with the bassinet. 

I won with the dollar bid, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that in the lot were two high chairs, two baby beds, a swing, booster seat, playpen, vintage potty chair, stroller, and four big bags of toys.  THEN the auctioneer told me that they still had a line of chairs that hadn't received any bids.  I'd been fetching the car when the chairs were being unsuccessfully auctioned off.  So I got the chairs too for $2.50!  Five chairs!  Three need tons of work, but will be well worth it.  Don'tcha know the boyfriend was quite happy that he was now going to load two vehicles to overflowing?  (Sometimes he just shakes his head and wonders about me, but it's all good.)

The swing and a highchair went to my SIL for the new little one.  The other things are stashed in the garage and will be given to someone that needs them or tossed into a garage sale.

I love days like today.

Now I'm exhausted, sunburned, and have bbq chicken in the oven.

What a wonderful day!

Ever wonder what I do with my auction and flea market finds?

  

Often The Best Finds are FREE

Some weeks the finds are limited. 

Dry spells are very frustrating. 

Then you hit a week when BANG, it's one surprise after another.

First, I've got to share the metal lawn chairs. These came from a thrift store about four years ago.  Both were only a buck, and they've been tucked away, hidden at the back of the garage, just waiting to be rediscovered. A little rough, I know.  OK, extremely rough, but solid.  With some work, they'll be lookers. Some stripper, sandpaper, paint, and lots of elbow grease. I'm just wondering what color to paint them? I'd really like the arms to be white, but the main body? Watermelon pink? Turquoise?  Butter yellow?

I do have my work cut out for me on these!

I've been wanting a cabinet door to make into a chalkboard.  One afternoon as I was leaving my mother's house, I saw two cabinet doors headed for the garbage. OH NO!!!  Mom had found these tucked at the back of a closet. She and her husband had no idea where they'd come from, but neither wanted the blue doors. So now they're mine, mine, mine, and are half way to their new purpose. I'll share these with you in a few days.

Now for the bench.  Oh, I love this bench. It was a hideous mix of forest green, burgundy, and gold. Someone had made an attempt to stamp it with butterflies. The poor thing had been tossed out and was sitting alongside the road, left to beg for a new home with loving (splintered, paint stained) hands to again give it life.  Fortunately, it had seen some time outside, so the paint had a good headstart on peeling. After a bit of scrubbing with a Brillo pad, most of the paint is gone.

I have special plans for this. Some paint, templates, and the inspiration of my nephews and niece will all combine into a special bench for Aunt Gertie (me).  The base coat is on, so now it's just a matter of getting on the stenciling, and a good coat of wax.

Did this last week hold any good finds for you?

I hope you scored lots of goodies.

Ever wonder what I do with my auction and flea market finds?

Visit my shop to find out.

Wordless Wednesday - Another Visitor

 

Our current giveaway can be found here

Morning Visitor

It's a lovely day in west central Illinois.  The sun is out and there's still a bit of chill in the breeze, but we know spring has definitely arrived. 

This is the time of year that I get to again do that one thing that I can't do all winter, unless of course I burn something in the oven, and that is open the windows.  I love the fresh air! 

That first blast of fresh spring air seems to blow away all the staleness, the oldness, the dullness of the lingering winter season.  The front door open.  The back deck door open.  All the windows between wide open.  Makes me so very happy.

This spring morning was a tad bit different.  As I opened a livingroom window, two eyes were peering back at me.  Nobody wants to look through a window and see two eyes gazing back.  Haven't we all been freaked out by this happening in atleast one horror movie?

He was huge.  Isn't he a gorgeous color?

Here he is hiding behind a cherry tree.

Can you see a few of the cherry blossoms?  The blossoms will cover this tree soon.  The tree up the road from here is loaded with blossoms, but it has a different cherry.  That cherry is a bit tart.  This tree has the best cherries - a beautiful red with the sweetest flavor.  I've used them in pies and cobblers, but this year I hope to dry a few and also make some cherry jam.  What do you do with cherries?  Any suggestions?

The bull has taken off now, after hopping over a fence and getting his foot caught in the top wire.  He wasn't pleased at being stuck and neither were the dogs at his delay in leaving.  The dogs just wanted him to go home. 

Sherman, the cat, however, gave little thought to the bull. 

OK, one more picture of the bull.  Here he is for his close-up.  Well, atleast as close as I was getting to him.

Our current giveaway can be found here

Getting to Know You

This blog is new, so I thought I'd toss out a little bit of info to help you get to know me better.  There are so many things about me, likes, dislikes, accomplishments, failures, that perhaps it's best if we take this in chunks of five. 

Enter Our Old Blue Jar Giveaway

1.  I have two wonderful children, both boys, both taller than I, and growing more each day.  The oldest seems to be plateauing, which means the younger of the two is fast on his heels in catch up.  It's amazing to watch what began as these cute little bundles of neediness grow into self assured young men.



2.   My boyfriend is amazing.  He is kind, patient, and maintains his sanity when I am losing mine.  He is intelligent, spiritual, and always tries to do what is right.  At times I drive him nuts and he does not understand me, but he still smiles and supports me.  Everyone should be so lucky as to have this kind of partner.




3.  I have too many projects going at once.  There are pieces waiting for additional steps, projects waiting for the weather to clear up so they can be finished outside, then there's something else over there, hidden in the corner, me hoping nobody notices.  Maybe a few somethings in the corner.  Crafting ADD?  Perhaps.  I'm sure there's a support group somewhere for it.  

4.  Although I worked as a waitress for thirteen years, I am in no way graceful.  During that time, drinks were dropped, pizza slices jumped onto the floor (one time an entire small taco pizza flew into a lady's lap), and quite a diverse list of items were broken.  These include, but are not limited to, an adding machine x2, four burner coffee maker, soda machine keys, glasses, beer bottles, brooms, mops, and vaccuums.  I break things at home too.  My boyfriend just shakes his head and doesn't understand how one person can break so many things.  It's a gift. One I'd like to give back.




5.  My dream home would be a two bedroom cottage at the beach.  The sand, sun, breeze would greet me each day as I opened the door to the world.  Of course, in the real world, days are sometimes cold, windy, and overcast, but it's never that way at my cottage.  Everyday is a beautiful 78 degrees, sunny, and low humidity.  This would be my view every evening.



This photo of Wasaga Beach is courtesy of TripAdvisor


What's one or two you'd like to share with me?  Do you dip your apples in ketchup?  Have twenty cats?  Or maybe dream of living in someone else's shoes for just a day? 

Please share a little of yourself below.

Our current giveaway can be found here

Winner - Blog Warming Giveaway

Enter Our Old Blue Jar Giveaway

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in our blog warming giveaway.  It was amazing meeting so many new people and visiting such inspiring blogs.  A total of 233 entries were received, which included some lovely comments and links.  In the next couple of days, I'll be going through and discovering each and every blog.  The creativity that I've already encountered is quite inspirational.

The interest was so strong in this giveaway, that we'll be having a new giveaway beginning next week.  What is the prize?  Well, that's a secret for now, so you'll have to check back, but if you love these jars, then you're guarranted to love the next prize.

There will be a variety of ways to enter, so that new and current followers will have ample opportunities to get in plenty of entries. 

Now for the winner of the blog warming giveaway (drumroll please)

Congratulations go out to Glenda of Gg - notes on the journey for winning our blog warming giveaway.

She was the lucky #77

with the following comment

What did Glenda win?  Six antique blue jars!  Aren't they lovely?

Glenda has a lovely blog, that I've yet to fully explore, but am eager to dig into.  Gg-notesonthejourney is "a practical blog with stories, pictures, lessons and recipes from my life as a Christian woman" with diverse topics including books, community, cooking, family, music, parenting, and spiritual growth.

Please take a moment to drop by and congratulate her on her win. 

Please also come back next week to enter our new giveaway.

If you are intersted in purchasing some of these jars, they can be found here or you can contact me at theoldblockhouse@hotmail.com.  The jars are available in half gallon, quart, and pint sizes.

Our current giveaway can be found here