This is Pretty Damn Cute

As the purveyor of hogs at the shop, the roses have decreed that I cannot determine cute. It seems that those items that I claim are cute, AREN'T. I can do strange, unusual or downright weird, but cute is outside my expertise. Well I went to an auction yesterday and I found this large "Dick and Jane" type portfolio. (Each page is about 2 feet by 3 feet). And in violation of the directive I have declared the folio CUTE.

What do you think? Are these pages cute?

Mr. Flannery

The Perfect Christmas Present for the Wife

I attended an auction last weekend. The last one before Christmas and the start of the dry season. There are only a few auctions scheduled between now and Spring when the outdoor auctions will begin.

Dave and Dave were pushing through the stuff.

Of course Dave did give some consideration to his Christmas Party wardrobe. While Eric made a recommendation concerning the hem.

Then it appeared, the perfect Christmas gift for the wife. It is shiny white with a gleaming chrome tray under the wringers.

Now you know why Mr. Flannery isn't married any more. Merry Christmas.

Mr. Flannery

Still Some Christmas Available at Gypsy Lea's

The snownami weather last weekend highlights one of the problems with our occasional sale model at Gypsy Lea's. A blizzard can white out an entire sale cycle. Luckily we had good sales on Thursday and Friday, but the blizzard really held down sales on Saturday and Sunday. Gypsy lives within a couple miles of the shop. Give her a call and she may be able to meet you concerning buying something that you see in the photos.

Lots of old white ironstone, silver and shiny items.

Heavy cast metal Art Nouveau trinket box.

School wall map of Iowa.

Office desk and chair c.1930's.

Mission style chandelier.

Antique incubator table.

It looks like black glass, but in direct light it shows dark purple. Great Bohemian crystal chandelier.

Cool doll size Victorian chair with a matching settee.

3 cubby mudroom hall tree.

Leather love seat. Pre-decorated Christmas tree.

Red Wing reed ware yellow mixing bowl circa 1934.

Yellow ware mixing bowl with cool basket weave design.

Red Wing yellow ware blue banded bowl.

3 lower cubby mudroom hall tree.

You can still do some Christmas shopping (maybe) at Gypsy Lea's.

Mr. Flannery

They are Calling it a SNOW-NAMI

Yesterday we got hit right square in the face by one hellova blizzard (and I'm not talking about the kind that they sell at Dairy Queen). Here on Flannery Bay we received about 14 inches of snow (while it was more like 20" in MSP and 26"+ in Western Wisconsin). The snow was accompanied by 40+mph winds and real temperatures well below zero. This morning there was bright sunshine, but the temperature was still -7*.

Here's the view out my front door this morning. That grayish pile is my GMC pick-up.

I was scheduled to work at Gypsy Lea's this morning so I had to bust my way through the 5-6 feet high by 20 feet wide drift at the top of my steep and snow packed driveway.

This is what the driveway looked like after 15-20 minutes of me blasting at it with my 4 wheel drive truck.

This is one of the reasons that we can survive with this type of weather. The County road near my house was plowed clear by 9 AM.

At least we have the equipment needed to deal with the weather that we have to fight.

Mr. Flannery

December at Gypsy Lea's

As most of you know, I sell some of my hogs amongst the roses at Gypsy Lea's. This is a wonderful occasional sale shop in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The occasional sale sees the shop open only four days each month. Gypsy Lea's takes this concept in another direction.

Most shops either have a single seller displaying her goods through-out the shop or multiple dealers, each with an assigned area that they are responsible for filling and decorating. At Gypsy Lea's we have 10 dealers, but no assigned spaces. Our goods are intermingled with my hogs popping up here and there right next to some of the roses. The entire shop is restocked and reset before each monthly sale. Its a lot of work, done mostly by Gypsy and Kris, but the presentation has a wonderful flow that doesn't happen in those shops with discrete spaces.

Our December sale started on Thursday. Here are some photos of the set-up.

A fabulous shelf unit made from the top of a Victorian pump organ painted a luscious red.

Ducks! Does anyone need some ducks?

I love this white enamel store scale.

And this large brown piece is my hog.

Mr. Flannery

Second Hand Rose and the Changing of the Guard

Mr. Flannery's adventures in the shabby world are predicated on my interaction with the Roses. My stuff is the hogs and the shabbies produce the roses. Well Buffalo, Minnesota's original occasional shop, Second Hand Rose, is making a transition to a new era this month.

Rose Darden, the first of the shabby Roses that I met, has been the founder, taskmaster, owner, mentor and inspiration for Second Hand Rose. She has a unique combination of business acumen and creative energy. Rose has herded her crowd of creative cats permitting them the room to "do their thing" while keeping the business on a sound footing.

Rose has sold the shop and semi-retired to the position of "just another dealer for awhile". I met the one of the new owners, Brad, as they were prepping for the December sale. He and his wife Amy are enthused and ready to keep Second Hand Rose as the premier occasional sales event in Buffalo. Rose is ready to "just create" without many of the business hassles and spend time with David doing different and exciting things.

The photos are just a sample of Second Hand Rose this month.

Good Luck to Rose with her new adventures, good luck to Brad and Amy on their new business and good luck to the many shabbies who sell at Roses in making the transition.

Mr. Flannery

P.S. - The December sale starts today, December 2nd, runs through Sunday.