Nirvana

We spent a lovely Saturday out in the hills of McDonough, NY at an on-site estate auction. McDonough is smack in the middle of nowhere and is a charming little town with beautiful Victorian homes and a sweet little general store that seems to stock just about anything and everything. It was a good buying day for us today. We filled the car for less than the cost of a week's groceries!

I had to be especially clever with the packing in order squeeze a 1950's dinette table, a large (and heavy) steel case chair, a little wooden stand and a free-standing metal kitchen cabinet in to the back of the Rav. There were also lots and lots of boxes of smalls to pack.
Somehow it always works, but one of these days I fear one of us is going to have to ride home on the roof.

Early in the auction a box lot came up that had my name written all over it. It was a box of crusty old cast iron pieces (hardware, keys etc.). I am my father's daughter after all... Also in this box was a sweet little wire egg basket from the 1930's. I'm a sucker for anything made of old wire and I've seen these baskets at auction before and they always go for more than I'm willing to pay. The bidding was fast and furious and I stayed in just a little beyond my max before backing out. I was totally bummed, so I did what any self-respecting dealer would do - I marched right up to the guy who bought the box and asked him if he'd sell me the basket for $5 and he said yes! We've had dealers come and ask to buy stuff from us out of a box lot but we almost always want what they're after - this was my lucky day for sure.

As I was packing I set the little wire basket on the roof so it wouldn't get squashed. Ken went and settled our bill while I put the finishing touches on my Chinese puzzle of a packing job. We were about a mile or two down the road when I mentioned that I thought I might've put something on the roof and left it there. Silly me. Oh well, whatever was up there was now long gone since we'd traveled over many a hilly road with several tight turns. After completely unpacking the car (I'm sure you saw this coming...) I came back for one last look and there it was, my little egg basket - perched between the rungs of the roof rack on the top of the car.

The little thing had made the trip home without a speck of damage. Of course I saw this as a sign that should keep the basket for myself. Now I have to convince Ken of this idea.

In the category of "stuff you've never seen before and will likely never see again" is this spectacular advertising tie.

It came in a box of miscellaneous stuff for $1.
I think Ken would look smashing in it.

WARNING
Weight watchers update...

Week I: Ken down a whopping 9 pounds! Me, I'm down a respectable 6 pounds. Not bad considering the suffering we've been through this week. I'm sure the weight loss will slow down but for now it's enough for us to consider another week on the program.