Splish-Splashing Away at an Auction

You may have heard that we've had a little rain here on the tundra. No problem for my house or anything around Flannery Bay, but there has been some flooding and wash outs elsewhere. And it did rain. It rained hard for a couple of hours, then broke for a half hour and then another couple of hour wave hit. I couldn't work on painting my bin cupboard or staining my cart coffee table, so I went to an auction.

The auction was surprisingly well attended for the weather. I got there, as is my normal style, about an hour after the auction started. It was a household retirement and move to Texas before the next winter auction. Nothing truly surprising or delightful, but a bunch of stuff "with potential". (Much like that D student in 3rd grade who you are trying to motivate).

Last week I studied the new Restoration Hardware Catalog. It has a great Industrial, bordering on Steampunk, look. It has been very inspirational for my inventory at Gypsy Lea's the next few months. So I was especially attune to finding some industrial type fittings at auction.

First I bought 2 medium size iron and wood pulleys. They have big hooks, wood wheels and a hinged latch that can be opened to set in the rope (instead of threading it through for the entire length). They will end up as hangers for a ceiling lamp or maybe a pot rack.

The 3rd and 4th waves of rain hit the auction while I was there. The grass between the racks was turned to an oatmeal like texture quagmire. People were grasping the shoulder of the guy next to them to keep for sliding down the muddy slope. And then it rained some more. The auctioneers split into two rings to speed up. The crowd melted away and the split made it even smaller. That's when the bargains started.

I bought a small metal humpback trunk, a painted wood shipping box, two old flat top trunks, a red painted corner cabinet, 2 bookcases, a weird cupboard, a 1970's bar/dry sink and a great wooden homemade carpenter's box. Now it was dark and muddy when the auction ended and the garage where my furniture was sitting was blocked by two of the rack trailers. So I decided to stack everything in the garage and return during daylight to load my treasures. The clouds are supposed to part soon, so I'll attach my trailer and return to the auction site this afternoon.

I'll have pictures later of these many treasures.

Mr. Flannery