Vintage fun!

Some of what came out of the barn I showed in the last post

 

A wood wash tub.

As in washing machine.

Kinda makes you appreciate our modern ones, huh?

 

Four wheelbarrows.

Two with metal wheels and two with rubber wheels.

Perfect for your yard filled with pumpkins & mums.

Or flowers next spring.

  

 

Isn't this old rusty tool box the coolest thing ever?

Or is it a tackle box?

Hmmm.

 

 

 And how about this grinding wheel?

This was literally spoken for within seconds of us putting it out on the floor!

Very heavy!

 

 

A Griswald burner.

I don't know if it could still be used as a burner or not.

But I think it would look great on a porch with potted plants setting on top.

 

 

We're always on the look out for more wheels of any size.

The biggest one in the back (right side) sold within minutes.

 

Vintage fun!

Auction day

George and I went to a farm auction on Saturday. It was threatening rain, in the upper 40's and windy. Brrr!!! Oh! And on a hilltop......just right for the wind to cut right through you.

But when the contents for sale come out of a barn like this one, you smile despite the cold.

 

Isn't that cool? We didn't get to go inside the barn, though I would have liked to. Everything for sale had been removed and was laying around it and in a large yard up from it.

 

Looks like it's in the middle of nowhere doesn't it? Alas, it was actually right beside the highway...

 

 

I was standing in the same spot when I took the barn picture and the highway picture, so that shows you how close we were to the highway. I'm sure before the interstate system, it was a nice quiet farm. But now, you hear the constant roar of the traffic.

 

 Sigh.

 

Back to the auction. At first, we thought we had driven an hour for nothing. The bids were high. Way too high for our blood.

 

And one man in particular was bidding on everything we wanted. And getting it. We couldn't go anywhere near his prices. Usually when that happens, it's because we're bidding against an individual who is buying for his or her own collection.

 

But in this case, the man was a dealer. His customers must have lots more money than mine do! I don't know how he was making any profit when he was paying so much up front. Oh well, that's none of my business is it? lol.

 

But as the cold morning wore on, the sun started peeking through, and our luck started changing.

 

 

When it was all said and done, we had a truckload. And could have had more, but we passed on several things because we knew we were full.

 

It's all barn dirty and needs a good hosing off. I did a little of that yesterday, but the weather was even worse with a cold steady rain. No need to make myself sick playing in the water!

 

The weather looks a bit more promising today, so I'll be pulling everything off and cleaning it. Then it all gets loaded back up, then unloaded again at the store where the slow process of entering it into inventory, pricing and tagging and putting it out on the floor begins.

 

Lots of work involved, but the thrill of the hunt never gets old!

New Fall Crafts

Some new fall crafts I've been working on....

Instead of putting these scarecrows on a wreath,

I opted for barn wood...

I picked up an orange piece of fabric at a thrift store.

Very, very orange.

It was just enough to make some bowl filler size pillows,

which I decorated with some black paint.

The boxes in the center are vintage berry boxes.

Complete with berry stains on the inside!

I had fun turning them and the small flower pots

into jack-o-lanterns!

And speaking of fun......

I wish you could hear the giggles every time

someone reads the slate on the left out loud!

If you think

I'm a Witch

you should meet 

my Sister

Or the other one...

If the broom fits, ride it. 

Fabric scissors

I saw this on facebook this morning, and it cracked me up.......

Growing up, this was a hard and fast rule. The fabric scissors were for fabric, and fabric only!!! We didn't dare use them for anything else! We didn't want to take a chance on unleashing the fury of our normally sweet natured mother!

And, when I grew up and had a home of my own, the rule went with me.

My mom was a wonderful seamstress who made many of our clothes, including my wedding gown. (though she said if she had it to do over again, she would have just bought my gown! lol)

My sewing skills are limited to craft projects. Which means my fabric scissors don't get nearly the work-out hers did. But still.

They are for fabric, and fabric only.

That's just the way it is.

Ted in the above picture must not have grown up in a sewing household, or he would have known better!

"Junkin" finds

 

Always on the lookout for more sleds!

Oh, by the way, that school desk on the left?

 That's the kind I used in grade school.

Ahhh, memories.

 

 

I love this old chair with arms.

Perfect for your porch.

 

 

Note part of the wagon wheel spokes are missing on the left lower side.

We call that "character".

 

Another school desk.

We've been finding several different styles lately.



We bought this park bench mainly to have a spot where customers can sit

and rest a spell. But, a couple people have shown interest in buying it, so......

I may be on the lookout for another seat for customers to sit and rest a spell.

 



 

My favorite thing about this chair is the way it folds up.

Which I didn't get a picture of.

Oops.

 

 

These sold within an hour or so of being put on the floor.

With 2 other people also wanting them.

Where can I find a dozen more?!?

 

Can't you just see them this time of year

with pumpkins and mums spilling out of them?

 

Or ferns in the summer?

 

 

Windows, windows, windows.

Always in demand.

 

So many uses for old windows!

Plow with a surprise twist

We bought this marking plow at an auction over the weekend. Isn't it cool?

 

But what's really cool is how it turned out in the photo. Look closely just under the handles. See the ghost?

It's actually in the opposite display window, but it's reflection showed up in the photo. How fun is that!

You never know where a ghost might be lurking..............

HA!

Shop harvest and Home harvest

It's harvest time! Both at my craft shop and at home. Late summer/early fall is always a very busy time of year for me.

 

Turning this.........

 

into this.......

 

 

And this.........

   

 

into this..........

 

 

*And this.......

 

 

 into this.......

 

 

There's not much I can do about the timing of the garden. You plant in the spring & harvest in late summer/early fall. That's just the way it is.

 

There is certainly something I can do about the crafting harvest though. I can sew and paint pumpkins in the heat of summer. Or the harsh cold of winter.

 

But somehow, I always end up crafting pumpkins at the same time as I'm harvesting the garden. I never learn........

 

I had planned to sew some Indian Corn for the craft harvest, but when one of my handmade suppliers beat me to it, I happily placed a wholesale order with her......

 

 

Why? Because the green beans may be pulled up, the corn may be cut down and the stalks fed to the cows, the cucumbers and cabbage are long gone...but the tomatos are still going strong. There's more juice and salsa and tomato pieces for chili etc. to can.

 

In case you're wondering what we do with all that tomato juice, I'll tell you. It's the main ingredient in the best Tomato Soup you will ever taste.

 

Sorry, no photo, but I'll tell you how we do it.

 

Stir together:

3 TBSP sugar

4 TBSP flour

 

Stir this into 1 quart tomato juice. Heat to just boiling, stirring often.

 

SOOOOO much better than condensed soup! Once you've eaten this homemade tomato soup, you'll never be able to eat condensed tomato soup from a store again. Well...that's been our experience anyway.

 

You can use store bought tomato juice, but I'll warn you, it's not the same. Years ago, we ran out of juice and bought some brand that tasted pretty good when made into soup. But I don't remember what brand it was, and we've tried again from time to time if we ran out of our own juice. We've never found a good substitute for our own juice again. It may be out there, but we haven't found it again.

 

This soup and a grilled cheese sandwich is a winter classic in our house, especially when we come home on a cold winter's day after church and want something hot in a hurry. Ahhh, good stuff.

 

*Keepin' em honest - I did not take this green bean picture. I don't have a picture of our green beans, and we have already pulled the plants up since they are done producing. Google brings up just about any picture you want, and that is where I found this one that looks like the green bean plants did in our own garden.

 

The rest of the pics are mine. All mine. Honest.