Primitve hanger.

Saw a utility light in the garbage at work. Couldn't let it be. Cut off the extension cord and pried off the metal protector cage and now it's hanging in my kitchen.

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Antique storm...something.

Thought is was a storm window. Then I was told it was a stormer for a door. Small door. For a hobbit, maybe. Course the inside of the door would be smaller. I don't know. It's from an 1890 farmhouse in Greenfield. I'll make some use of it.

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Dumpster Diver Jeff!

 

Primitive/toll Noah's Ark painting. Stopped in at Bethesda Thrift Store in Hales Corners where my 3rd cousin Katie works and unexpectedly walked out with these treasures. $19.12. The lot! I'm good. Click on READ MORE! to see more of my booty.

 



 

Wreath.

 

 

Basket #1.

 

 

Candle holder? Sort of big for that. Candy? Nuts? 

 

 

Another candle holder?

 

 

 

Basket #2.

 

 

Small carafe.

 

 

 Tchotchke, knickknack, bauble, thingamajig, doodad, trinket, or another candle holder, maybe?

 

 

Basket #3.

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Estate sales will put me in the poor house.

Motherlode. Well, it's subjective. Or relative. One man's junk (as they say). Couple was in an assisted living home and they were selling everything. Golden years, right? Click READ MORE! for the rest of my bounty. I think the ladder is my crown jewel.

small wooden ladder

set of 6 blue old fashioned glasses

2 brass candle holders w/red insert

cobbler's tool w/4 shoes

ironing board

soft rake

hard rake

antique handled shovel

antique bamboo fishing pole

brass chachki holder (like the brass holder isn't a chachki?)

Currier & Ives Four Seasons of Life/wood frame, set of 4

The whole lot = $39.50

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I'm pickin' the pickin's! A pair of brass spittoons.

I suppose you could call that "re-picking".

My Uncle Butch (mom's younger brother) is retired and, for lack of a better word, is a "picker" (and a gentleman farmer). He attends auctions and bids on anything that's either metal or contains metal - aluminum, brass, steel, iron, copper - then resells the stuff to the recycling plant. Stoves, washing machines, tools, hosing, fencing, bed frames - he strips whatever he purchases down to the metal and sells it by the pound. He's been doing this now for 2 or 3 years.

I spent some time at his home yesterday after work. We watched an episode of Bonanza (the one when the Cartwright's...forget it) and he showed me his wares. He's got a lot of stuff. I stumbled on these two spittoons. - 4 pounds total weight at around $1.20 per pound (give or take)...$5.00 for the lot. Nice decorative pieces.

Uncle Butch's retirement profession seems to be a popular one. My brother and I frequently tune in to American Pickers on The History Channel. We both have an interest in antiquing and flea markets, old stuff - other people's junk. I'm a pack rat. So is Jas. Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz (above) scour the countryside looking for anything they feel they can resell at a profit. Some stuff they keep for themselves but most they sell or pick for clients with a particular need in mind. Stores, museums, people's yards, barns...you name it, they pick it.

I'm looking forward to the snow melting and a warm Spring day. I'm gonna head back to Uncle Butch's and see what other treasures I can find.

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I picked up a nude woman today.

So I'm finishing up my 5-mile walk and I see there's a moving truck outside a home a block away from where I live. I notice this woman (above) sitting on the sidewalk across the street with a note attached: FREE SCULPTURE. So I took it. I'm a pack rat - see for yourself. It's in my roommate's flower garden in her backyard. I hope she likes it. I do.

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