More Junk for the Shops

We went picking on Tuesday and I bought this green legged table out of the implement dealership in Carlos.  It was frozen to the floor in the abandoned back building.  It was also covered with a terrible piece of linoleum.  I pulled the linoleum and sanded the mastic off of the oak top.

 

 After the linoleum removal but before sanding.

 It was even warm enough to stain
the top outside on the driveway.  The coat
of poly waited for inside at SHR.

 Before and after a good sanding on a metal

stool with lots of chippy paint.

 

 And another sanded stool.

 

I took the desk and the stools into SHR this evening to haul them before the predicted thunderstorms hit.  I will then spend Saturday and Sunday, if needed, finishing my space for the April sale.

Mr. Flannery

I Worked Outside Today

It was 32* and marginally sunny here on the tundra today.  I got outside and worked on my first junking project of the year.  It was warm enough to use the electric sander, but way too cold to add the poly.  I'll bring the desk into SHR to warm up and add the sealer later today.

 

 This is a fine little metal desk with two drawers.

 

 The desk was covered with grease which

may have protected it from more rust.

 

 Babe was helping as usual.

 

I have other materials that I have gathered over the winter waiting for a real entrance of Spring.  But it was good to get outside for a couple of hours today.

Mr. Flannery

Spring? At Second Hand Rose

I spent the weekend getting my space at Second Hand Rose in Buffalo set up for the March four day sale.  I have a number of real antiques this month and everything appears to be from the HEAVY side of the spectrum.

 

 This antique desk is from about 1830 and at

180 y.o. is a very true ANTIQUE.

 I have always liked the folk art quality of these Mexican  pottery pieces from the 1930's and 1940's.  The blue pot above is decorated with very stylized snails and other sea creatures.

And this may well be a Chevrolet snail fossil.

Mr. Flannery

It's a Sign

So we were picking in Minnesota in early February.  It was only -17* when we left for Carlton.  We had picked a farm there last Spring and bought a buckboard type wagon.  Now we couldn't find the damn farm.  Neither Chris nor I are directionally challenged, but the farm had disappeared.  We traveled from Barnum to Duluth without any luck, so we went to Superior to pick up a box that I bought a year ago but didn't have room to haul.  And we couldn't find that place either.  Back and forth on County Road A, but nothing.  Just a lot of blank cold windshield time.

 We decide to go to into Superior for lunch.  Superior is a dead town.  It has been abandoned since the 70's.  Lots of vacant storefronts, lots of dead businesses.  Then I spotted it.  An old business sign with my name on it, literally.  I made Chris stop.  I wanted to see if we could find the owner and buy the sign.  I decided that I'd check at the Chrysler dealership next door, but first I'd see it there was a note on the building.

 I cross the street, ah yes that sign would do nicely.  Then I look in the windows, no note, just an almost empty office.

 I pushed on the door and I'll be damned, it was open.  I walk into the almost empty office and hear voices.  I yell out "hello" and a woman appears in the doorway from the back room.

Well it seems that it is her office, that its her sign and that it is still the offices of Bergstrom Electric.  It seems that I sumbled upon one of the few oldtime businesses still operating in downtown Superior.  And, not surprisingly she was not interested in selling her sign.

It was just one of those days.

Mr. Flannery

PS - We had the best Italian lunch at VIP pizza and ultimately found the buckboard.

Burt is helping me CATagorize my eBay items.

 

Mr. Flannery

Picking Thru Bob's Junk

We went picking yesterday.  We ran across a very interesting guy, Bob, and his junk.  Bob is an eighty year old semi-retired upholsterer and castle builder.  In addition to gathering massive quantities of junk Bob has run a successful business, raised 11 kids, participated in establishing a traditional value based private school and built his very own castle.

Bob's junk is piled into the family compound.  Chris, Morgan and I were there for more than 4 hours yesterday and barely scratched the surface.  The photos here are to show you what I like the most about picking and what I like a lot less.  I like the people that we meet.  Bob is one of the most interesting people that we have encountered.  I dislike the digging through piles of stuff and the mounds of dirt that we meet.

The compound is located in a 22 acre former granite quarry site.  The quarry closed with the crash of 1929.  Bob added new warehouse and factory space to the existing quarry buildings.  Ultimately Bob built his castle in the sky on top of the 65 foot tall granite slag heap.

 This is the parking lot showing the scale of Bob's building.

Live Edge Table - Very Cool

I bought a nice metal table base at an auction a week ago Saturday.  It was an old apartment size gas stove base that had a steel plate attached as a top.  When I bought the base I told my friend Bonnie, that I was going to attach a live edge burl wood as a top.  Then, on the next Thursday, at another auction, I bought a great oak slab that someone had mounted to a crappy little set of legs.

We counted the rings on the oak slab and quit at more than 100 years old.  I think that it looks great on top of the steel Queen Anne legged base.

Mr. Flannery