I woke up a few Saturdays ago to what can only be described as the ideal day to stay in bed. It was dark and menacing looking with the forecast calling for pounding rain all day.
I'm sure you know the kind of day. It's what many people refer to as a pajama day. You wake up, and pad to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Looking out the window it looks closer to nighttime than daytime. It's the kind of day you can make your coffee, get back in bed or on the couch and watch television or read a book guilt free, with the only reason to move being a smoke alarm or having to pee.
Somehow with rain, comes absolution of guilt for laying around doing nothing.
So I made my coffee, got dressed and headed to an outdoor antique festival.
My niece called me late the night before to ask if I'd go with her. She never gets to go and since it only happens twice a year it was now, or wait until next Spring. Who knows what might happen by next spring. All the antiques in the world could disappear or burn up or be eaten.
We were at the show for approximately 9.3 seconds before it started to sprinkle rain. 1.4 seconds after that, it was a torrential downpour that lasted for 3 hours. I don't own a raincoat. Apparently I'm too stupid to own a raincoat. Or optimistic.
She does own a raincoat, but was too stupid to wear it.
Not a surprise when you consider she also willingly went to a Bikram Yoga class by herself. For fun. 'Cause she thought it would be fun. It wasn't fun. It was vomitty.
We did have a single umbrella that we shared only it didn't go well. I started out holding the umbrella because it's my umbrella and I'm particularly fond of it because it says "Shit, it's raining" in French on it. Also I knew she'd be an umbrella hoarder. She's the type. If you met her in the grocery store and took one look at her you'd say. Hurmph. Umbrella hoarder. She's probably really nice and all but ... umbrella hoarder.
I have no idea how it happened but one minute I was holding the umbrella and the next minute I was standing beside a 9 foot tall stuffed bear and a $6,000 harvest table, soaking wet.
I spotted her in the distance with the umbrella and ran under it but it was too late by then. I was soaked right through and my fingers were starting to get that weird wrinkle thing they get when you've been in the bathtub too long.
And my hair got wet. As every woman knows, it's not the wet feet, it's not the see through top, it's not the being so cold your nose turns alcoholic red. It's the hair.
First the things I didn't buy ...
This chair.
I loved this chair and ottoman for my living room, and at $450 for the pair it was a good price. But I wasn't in the market for a chair and it was pouring out and I couldn't make the decision under pressure. Buying something big at an antique market on a whim is dangerous territory. It's not like buying something from a store that you can just return the next day if it doesn't look good or you decide your impulse buy was a little too impulsive.
I also didn't buy this table.
EVERYBODY who walked past this table stopped to look at it. It was wood and metal and had stools built into the legs that you could spin out from under the table and tuck away when you were done with them. They could also be moved up and down. It was $3,200. It was a great piece, but in my opinion priced too high for its age and materials. Industrial is in, but it's not that in. Also the table was huge which means even if you could afford it, you'd also need a massive room to accommodate it. It's the type of table that would appeal to someone who lives in a loft. And loft's are usually not huge. See? You're getting a little lesson in pricing antiques today too.
Now onto the stuff that WAS purchased. These were not bought by me. They were bought by the umbrella hoarder.
We had a bit of a scuffle over these lockers, but since she has 3 kids and long, sharp fingernails, I let her have em.
Now onto what I was able to buy at the Christie Antique Show and Sale with the $80 I brought ...
An incredibly strange handmade egg basket from a general store somewhere outside of Stratford, Ontario. ($23)
A beautiful crock with cute little handmade ears on it (those are the handles). Crocks are cheap now. They've gone down in value. If you're a collector or want to start collecting them, now's the time. (Paid $22)
A burlap chicken feed sack, which I'm going to use to hold my potatoes for the winter. ($10)
A handmade copper pot from around 1860. It needs to be retinned. All copper, even copper from the 1800's had tin poured into it. The tinning prevents the slow poisoning that can happen from cooking with acidic foods on a copper surface. If you have a copper pot or pan and it has more than a quarter sized area of copper showing through the tin, you need to stop using it and get it retinned. ($25)
I'm going to teach myself to retin my pot. For fun. Because fun isn't only reserved for Bikram Yoga.
Jeni
It is supposed to rain in the morning. I REALLY hope so. Then I can go to work and say "Merde il pleut!" when I walk in. That'll impress everyone! ... or reinforce what an eccentric I am ...
marilyn
love it all! and the little chick is cute too...i have a matching pair..maybe they should get together! and i too loved that line..personally i know your niece..she is a scrappy little thing but you could take her!
Danice
Great price on the bag!! My sister has been looking for some and my mom spotted one somewhere and it was 90!
Melissa
What I wouldn't give to go antiquing with you! I bet you have a knack for ferreting out the best stuff! You scored very well with the $80, btw.
Joanna
Love the egg crate! Like the Amish here in Indiana use!
Shauna
I so want your umbrella and it's the only thing not pictured here. That table is a close second, but for the price I'm studying it to see if I (or anyone I know) could possibly make a similar one. It's those little spin out seats that get me.
theresa
so with you...would be awesome in my little kitchen if it were just the three seats...come on Karen you could make one of those right?!?!
Karen
I actually thought about it and half figured it out, LOL. But no. I won't be making one. No ma'am. :) ~ karen!
Barbie
It's so funny that Marti said that....I had to go back and re-read the 2nd paragraph...but the funniest thing is I actually thought to myself "I really love the way she wrote that" to the very next thing you wrote.
" Somehow with rain, comes absolution of guilt for laying around doing nothing."
Not just because of what it said but "how" you said it. I'm a little weird that way. :)
Also, I think you should make sauerkraut with that lil crock....
http://www.katecourysfarmhouse.com/how-to-make-your-own-sauerkraut
PS: I LOVED that table.....but I agree the price tag was ridiculous!
PSS: Every time I see an egg basket I always think "Oh I bet Karen would love that, I should grab it for her" then I remember we are not "see ya tomorrow at the get together" kind of friends... ha! ha!
Karen
LOL! I get that a lot. People wanting to pick things up for me then remembering they don't actually know me, plus I'm often in another country than they are. I only like sauerkraut on Rubin sandwiches. Perhaps I can find a teeny tiny crock. Come to think of it, I OWN a teeny tiny crock. Now I just have to find a teeny, tiny cabbage. ~ karen!
Laura Bee`
My goodness - maybe there IS a way you will eat brussel sprouts!!!!!
Lisa in Montana
The 2nd paragraph reminds me of Douglas Adams' writing (RIP), which would be why it reads so well.
Karen
This is all so strange. I wasn't really impressed with my second paragraph, LOL. ~ karen
Chris
Thank you for the tips regarding crocks. I need to find a larger one to hold all my kitchen utensils that I use frequently. Right now I have them in two small ones and is eating up what little counter space I have. Good on you for braving out the rain. It was a nasty day! I am waiting for the spring show but will try to find some crocks until then. Again thanks for all the good information.
Auntiepatch
Rain? Is that the wet stuff that falls from the sky? We are so far behind this year in San Diego that everything is covered in dust! If the cats sleep long enough in one place, they leave a clean spot when they get up! Please send some of that rain to So. Calif.!
Great finds at the show!
qtpuh2tme
Sometimes, the French get it right. ~;)
http://stores.shopcarefulpeach.com/-strse-3146/Careful-Peach-Boutique-Merde/Detail.bok
Nancy Blue Moon
I love it when you go to the Christie shows..you always bring home some cool stuff to show us..Those lockers would be so great to have in the mudroom..I think I would have wrestled in the rain & mud with her to get them..I want an umbrella that says "Shit It's Raining" in French..I bought the BH&G Christmas mag last evening..It was very nicely done..Great pic of you and the other "chicks"..lol
Thera
I took shop in high school and we had those tables, good finds!
Amber
That egg basket is amazing! I've never seen anything like it before. Merde il pleut here too and I'm at work, not working, wishing I was in my pajamas.
Niki Dee
I was hoping to see a shot of the umbrella as well. It sounds adorable! It must have been difficult to see the lockers go. Lockers, just like those, are on my wish list. I probably would've looked like shredded paper but those lockers would have been traveling home with me...lucky niece!
saf affect
Great haul! I missed Christie this year so I am happy to live vicariously through you. :)
Jeanette
Love the lockers! You should let us see them when she has them fixed up and in place.
Linda S in NE
I think she just did. (Judging only from Karen's description of her neice.)
April @ Money Pit Love
We saw you when you walked in and I was totally going to be like, Hey! I'm Money Pit Love - AKA Your Stalker!!! But my husband, who I dragged to the show with me, held me back. It's all thanks to him that your blog post does not contain references to being accosted by a blogger super-fan :)
The rain was AWFUL. We hid out in the bathrooms waiting for it to pass until it got a little weird (it would seem there's only so long you can loiter in a public washroom before people start snapping your photo and calling 911, even in a crowd of 100 other people doing EXACTLY THE SAME THING). Then we got lunch, and then we gave up. I'm amazed you stuck it out!
Love the egg basket, the crock and the lockers. Awesome purchases, all. I went with the intention of buying a chicken-shaped butter dish but no such luck. Will have to wait for spring :(
Karen
I was accosted numerous times at the show by Art of Doing Stuff readers. I will just assume you're saving your accosting for the conference this weekend. ~ karen!
Feral Turtle
80 bucks well spent!
cred
Love those lockers! Would be a great place to store the wet umbrella after hoading it from your aunt.