Thursday, March 10, 2011

Some Auction Finds

I went to the Miller auction tonight. I bought a bunch of interesting junk. Mostly old and metal and heavy. My favorite piece is this Jacuzzi access panel. I'm not sure what I'll do with it but it makes me smile when I see it.


These bronze owl andiron fronts are very cool. Maybe I'll use them as the front legs on an old trunk.

Mr. Flannery

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Oh My! Gypsy Lea's Opens Tomorrow

One day before the opening for the March sale. And we have a ton of stuff to get done. Kris has been sick, I have been AWOL, Gypsy has been struggling with the other dealers to get things in place. I finally showed up yesterday, mostly to watch Dona, Katie, Kris and Gypsy bust their butts to get things in place. Things look good, but they will look great before Thursday.

Here are some photos of the preliminary set up for March:





























Mr. Flannery

Sunday, March 6, 2011

It was a Hot Time in the Old Town

My mailing address is in a small town named South Haven, current population 202. The town was a booming railroad city in the 1920's at a crew change point. It had almost 1200 people, banks, a newspaper, hospital, lumber yard and other accoutrements of civilization. It is now is a vestigial city with empty and derelict buildings, the post office, a gas station and the municipal liquor store.

Last night while returning from a trip to Gypsy Lea's in Sauk Rapids and Italian dinner in St. Cloud, we saw a giant pillar of black smoke. We encountered a large number of fire trucks and County Sheriff's squads all a glitter when we entered the town. A derelict old building on Custer Street (named when the town was organized in 1880), the two block long main drag, was fully engulfed in flames and smoke. Firefighters from South Haven, Kimball, Watkins and Annandale were pumping water and saving the post office. (The white building to the left of the fire.)

This was the most excitement in town since the 2 block long parade last summer. Even the inhabitants of the muni were out on the street, beer glasses firmly in hand, watching the building blaze.

Mr. Flannery

A Return to the Porch

I had a visitor from Seattle this weekend. Leigh and I have known each other since high school. She wanted to look around the shops in Buffalo Minnesota. Our first stop was to see Teresa at her shop, The Porch.

I really like this British flag faced dresser. I have one with a Swedish flag in process in my garage. I started it about 6 years ago, maybe I'll finish it this summer.


Multi-color dressers are in vogue.

The shop is open the first Thursday-Sunday of each month.

Mr. Flannery

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

March at Second Hand Rose

I finally have some time away from my real job. It feels good to be back at the blog instead of hammering away on WordPerfect. (I may be the only person in the World who doesn't use MS Word).

I went to Buffalo today on a very efficient trip. With gas at $3.45, efficiency is a minimum requirement. I did banking, groceries, Walmart and then decided to stop in for dealer day at Second Hand Rose. The shop will be restocked and tweaked for general sales starting on Thursday.


Susan's dog motif upholstery is cool.


The feed store sign is great.


This c.1930 wall hanging oak school map case sold while I was there.

I like the way that these posts are suspended from the ceiling.

I WILL be posting at least twice a week, I made that promise to myself.

Mr. Flannery