121 and 122

Don and Leota Buch have had an antiques dealership at their farm near Keystone, IA for, oh, probably a bizillion years. However, their age and health has (very unfortunately) slowed them down considerably, so they sold out of the antiques business by having a two day auction. Mom and I went, both days, and had a BLAST. On the first day they sold the "small stuff" like glassware, toys and collectibles, and on the second day they sold tools and furniture. I bought a bunch of stuff, and so did Mom, but I definitely bought more than Mom. But it was great, especially on the second day, because Mom and I both got the furniture pieces we wanted at less than what we'd budgeted for it. I got a dresser for Mary's room, a "commode" (an old fashioned style of wash stand) for the dining room, and a three drawer night stand for Carl, which I plan to refinish because I only spent five bucks for it. Mom got a really nice short cabinet which is very much (if not exactly) like one she and Dad had years ago. She plans to put it in her bedroom, somewhere. And of course I got stuff to paint on: three milk cans and an old glass canister set. I also bought (for my shop) a 9.6 volt cordless drill with charger for five bucks. The drill was practically new, still in the case, but missing the bits that came with it. No problem. Dad gave Carl countless sets of Harbor Freight drill bits, so I'll just mooch one of those.

But even better than getting great deals at the sales, Mom and I had a good time. The auctioneers were really funny, and by mid-day Saturday they had Mom's (122) and my (121) numbers memorized. They also had the "dealers" numbers memorized: actually, they knew most of the dealers by name already. "Dealers" are people who own antique and resale shops and show up at these auctions looking for good deals. They got them at this auction. Everything went cheap, and everyone I talked to said that they'd have gotten 10% more per item if they'd taken a day and cleaned the bugs, dust and cobwebs out of the furniture. When Mom and I got back Sunday afternoon, we took all the furnture off the pickup, spread it out on the driveway, and cleaned it up before we took it inside. Thank goodness for Murphy's Oil SoapWipes.

So the next time a good auction comes up, I'll call Mom and if we can go, we'll go. If you want to join us, you'll have to comment to this blog so I'll know to call you, too. I even have an extra commode now, so you'll have a place to wash up.