Right after I'd clicked on 'publish post' yesterday morning, Mom called and asked if I wanted to go to an antique show with them--in Louisville. Which is two hours away. Since I hadn't gone to any auctions or antique shows for a while, I decided to go ahead and go. I wrote in the car, however, and by the time I went to bed last night, I was well on my way to 19k in The Sixth Stone.
Unofficially, my goal for the weekend was 20k. I'm not sure I'll definitely make it; I should, but who knows? If I do, that means I'll be approximately halfway done.
The antique show was a combination antique show/flea market, although they had most of the antiques in a different room. There were lots and lots of people there, though. Right away, I found a very neat handcarved spoon for $9, and then, I found something I needed: weights for when I warp the rigid heddle looms. I've been using hand weights--like for exercise--and they don't work very well. For $5, I found two old sad irons, one heavier than the other, and they can double as doorstops if needed as well. The looms will not be sliding around with these, because they are flat on the bottom.
I also bought the only piece of dragonware I saw at the show for $2.50, and a very old mug for the same price. I don't think it's anything really special, but it's nice and reminds me of my yellowware mug even though it's brown. It may be that old, even. It's hard to tell.
And then, after that (and I was carrying around these very heavy sad irons, too) I saw something I've always wanted. Absolutely always wanted, but the price range on these things aren't that great for my budget. It was a sword cane. I have always wanted a sword cane.
However, the price was $130, and while that's a very good price for an antique sword cane, I wasn't really sure how antique it actually was. It was definitely old and in great shape, but the handle bothered me a little and the inking between the bone/ivory (probably bone) carvings almost looked too fresh. And there were also some messy places that didn't quite jive. I don't think it was a reproduction, but I also don't think it was as good as it looked, either.
And, even though I did get them to go down to $100, I asked myself what would happen to this cane? Where can I take a sword cane? It would sit in my cane bucket and be pretty, nothing more. Sure, I collect canes, and to have something I've always wanted would be cool. But I certainly didn't need it. So I walked away.
After that, I felt I was well within my ability to go ahead and buy the crystal chandelier ball that I'd found earlier and not bought. It's huge--the biggest one I've seen--and it was only $17. That felt a bit better to my budget.
Last but not least, I found an old blue stoneware batter bowl for $25 from Dad's friend who was set up there (yes, he gave me a good price) and since I use my two smaller batter bowls all the time, this one will be nice to have as well.
This means I'm definitely getting rid of one set of mixing bowls, probably the blue ones that I bought a year or so ago at Goodwill. They aren't old, and I barely use them, and since it's a toss-up between my Pyrex set of clear-bottomed mixing bowls (which I don't use either, but rather love) and those, I think I'll get rid of the newer ones.
I was $11 overbudget. That's not terrible for my first time this year with a budget at an antique show. Obviously, if I had bought the sword cane, I would have mashed my budget plans all to bits, but even though I tried to convince myself to buy it, I couldn't bring myself to pay that much.
So it was raining all the way back, and by the time we got home, it was only sprinkling a bit. But the rain arrived late last night/early this morning, and we had a spectacular storm--first, a really heavy quick-moving rainstorm, and then an actual thunder-and-lightning, rattling the windows storm. The cats and I lay in bed and listened to it until it was over, and then I fell back asleep. (Mr. Basil actually got scared at one point and tried to burrow under my covers.) This morning, it's grey and overcast and the sun didn't wake me up, so I got up rather late.
We've postponed jelly and jam making until next Saturday morning, so I have today to get done what I didn't get done yesterday. Which works out for me just fine. :)
Unofficially, my goal for the weekend was 20k. I'm not sure I'll definitely make it; I should, but who knows? If I do, that means I'll be approximately halfway done.
The antique show was a combination antique show/flea market, although they had most of the antiques in a different room. There were lots and lots of people there, though. Right away, I found a very neat handcarved spoon for $9, and then, I found something I needed: weights for when I warp the rigid heddle looms. I've been using hand weights--like for exercise--and they don't work very well. For $5, I found two old sad irons, one heavier than the other, and they can double as doorstops if needed as well. The looms will not be sliding around with these, because they are flat on the bottom.
I also bought the only piece of dragonware I saw at the show for $2.50, and a very old mug for the same price. I don't think it's anything really special, but it's nice and reminds me of my yellowware mug even though it's brown. It may be that old, even. It's hard to tell.
And then, after that (and I was carrying around these very heavy sad irons, too) I saw something I've always wanted. Absolutely always wanted, but the price range on these things aren't that great for my budget. It was a sword cane. I have always wanted a sword cane.
However, the price was $130, and while that's a very good price for an antique sword cane, I wasn't really sure how antique it actually was. It was definitely old and in great shape, but the handle bothered me a little and the inking between the bone/ivory (probably bone) carvings almost looked too fresh. And there were also some messy places that didn't quite jive. I don't think it was a reproduction, but I also don't think it was as good as it looked, either.
And, even though I did get them to go down to $100, I asked myself what would happen to this cane? Where can I take a sword cane? It would sit in my cane bucket and be pretty, nothing more. Sure, I collect canes, and to have something I've always wanted would be cool. But I certainly didn't need it. So I walked away.
After that, I felt I was well within my ability to go ahead and buy the crystal chandelier ball that I'd found earlier and not bought. It's huge--the biggest one I've seen--and it was only $17. That felt a bit better to my budget.
Last but not least, I found an old blue stoneware batter bowl for $25 from Dad's friend who was set up there (yes, he gave me a good price) and since I use my two smaller batter bowls all the time, this one will be nice to have as well.
This means I'm definitely getting rid of one set of mixing bowls, probably the blue ones that I bought a year or so ago at Goodwill. They aren't old, and I barely use them, and since it's a toss-up between my Pyrex set of clear-bottomed mixing bowls (which I don't use either, but rather love) and those, I think I'll get rid of the newer ones.
I was $11 overbudget. That's not terrible for my first time this year with a budget at an antique show. Obviously, if I had bought the sword cane, I would have mashed my budget plans all to bits, but even though I tried to convince myself to buy it, I couldn't bring myself to pay that much.
So it was raining all the way back, and by the time we got home, it was only sprinkling a bit. But the rain arrived late last night/early this morning, and we had a spectacular storm--first, a really heavy quick-moving rainstorm, and then an actual thunder-and-lightning, rattling the windows storm. The cats and I lay in bed and listened to it until it was over, and then I fell back asleep. (Mr. Basil actually got scared at one point and tried to burrow under my covers.) This morning, it's grey and overcast and the sun didn't wake me up, so I got up rather late.
We've postponed jelly and jam making until next Saturday morning, so I have today to get done what I didn't get done yesterday. Which works out for me just fine. :)
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