Road Trip - Upper Mississippi

With a beautiful October Saturday on deck, CG and I made a last-minute decision to take a little road trip to the upper Mississippi river, and headed out last night. We spent today touring the little towns on both the Wisconsin and Minnesota sides of the river.  Peak color is past, but there were still spots of brilliance here and there.

We arrived at one of the locks just as a barge was going through.

The Nelson Creamery was our lunch stop.  This former cheese factory now serves the best sandwiches...and ice cream!

You can also buy hundreds of varieties of our delicious Wisconsin cheese.

The sense of history in the old towns is palpable.

You can borrow a bike in Stockholm...

We stopped at a few antiques shops; honestly, none were very exciting...but you never know!

We're spending the night above a storefront on the river...tomorrow we head home.

 Did you do something fun this weekend?

A Whale of A Sale - Antiques on Main Estate Sale in Wisconsin Dells

 Early last Friday morning, Kathy and I headed up to Wisconsin Dells to attend the second weekend of an estate sale conducted by Antiques on Main in Reedsburg.  (Wish we'd been there for part one!)  Things left from the first weekend were 25% off, while items that were making their first appearance were full price on Friday.

The yard surrounding the old farmhouse was loaded with furniture in the rough, while inside the house, every room was literally packed.  Sarah & Dale, proprietors of Antiques on Main do an excellent job of organizing & setting up a sale. They & their staff spent eight weeks getting ready for this one.  

I walked through the house over and over, gathering items and putting them in a holding place. Each time I re-visited a room I'd find something I'd missed before.

 One room was filled with lamp shades, toys & fabrics.  Another had tables full of books.  A small bedroom upstairs was devoted to frames & framed prints while a small porch held tables laden with lamps.  There was a room full of pottery.

China cabinets and shelves were filled with small decorative objects. 

Small cases held the tiniest treasures.

These photos were all taken mid-day Friday, week two, after loads of items had been purchased. Does this give you an idea of the scope of this sale?  Outside, my heart was captured by this gnarly dental cabinet.  The possibilities for decking this piece out for a show are amazing.

 Fortunately, I came to my senses and realized that I have nowhere to store it; CG just wouldn't 'get it'.  Thankfully, Kathy then bought it so I will get to see it again anyway!   I have a hunch that you'll get a chance to see it at Junk Bonanza in September.   I'll show you a few of the items that I did buy.

Five schoolhouse lights.  Awesome!

Sweet ephemera.

A pair of watercolors on paper. (sold)

Irresistible birds - oil on board...

...and several other interesting paintings. 

This Viccy doll settee...

...love the cherub! 

Other purchases are still being unpacked and put away.  

It's such a pleasure to attend a sale that has an abundance of wonderful items. When you drive a long way to attend a sale it's great to find that the quality and quantity of items has been honestly represented in the ads.  Thanks for a fun sale Dale & Sarah.  We had a blast!  See you at Elkhorn!

A Super Day At a Country Auction

I love auctions.  I especially love country auctions. A country auction loaded with great items and sold by a top-notch auctioneer?  Triple love.  At 5:30 Saturday morning I hit the road for a 163 mile drive to attend just such an auction.

 Chuilli's Auction Service was selling the estate of a collector gone wild.  Auctioneer Jerry Chuilli, (pronounced chili), assisted by two other auctioneers ran the two-day, two-ring sale.

  I don't get to many Chuilli auctions; most of them are 3-5 hours away from me.  Their ads are often enticing and this one looked just too good to miss. I was able to attend only the first day.

 The first thing you'll notice at a Chuilli auction is a big tent. (In this case, 2 big tents). With chairs.  That's rare. Most outdoor auctions in Wisconsin are byocaiywsosbau, ('bring your own chair and if you want shade or shelter bring an umbrella').

Items were clean and well-organized.  There was a huge amount of merchandise to be sold, yet it was sorted in a way that  made it easy to preview each item. Large items were lined up on the grass.  Small items were divided into box lots.  And guess what? They sold the whole lot without piddling around. I can't tell you how many auctioneers bring up a flat of stuff and then start choicing out the items...it can take 10 minutes to sell one flat.  Not here.  Shown & sold. 

The auctioneer stood in the center with a table on each side. Each table had a staff member who put the small items up on a platform so you could tell exactly what was being sold.  In the meantime, the staff member at the other table was loading up, readying his lot to go up.  This is the most efficient system I've seen.  Buyers were able to see what was about to come up and there was no delay for the auctioneer...sell from the left, sell from the right, sell from the left...

And speaking of staff...all seemed relaxed, yet very efficient.  A group like this doesn't come together by accident; the tone of a business is set by the leader. Jerry's demeanor is calm, confident and professional.  (So many auctioneers in this state get frustrated, snap at their employees and bidders, don't know where they're going next, waste time trying to wring blood from a turnip....). 

 A few select items came home with me; a wonderful box of prisms, a delightful folk art memory jug, an advertising umbrella, some clocks, toys and other odds & ends. Some of it will be available at the Elkhorn Antique Flea Market next weekend.  You'll see the shabby table & bench that I got at the Viva la Cottage Door County show next month. 

This auction was well-worth the long trip; I only wish I could have returned for round two today! 
Enjoy the rest of the photos.

Tornado Damage at Old World Wisconsin

On Monday night a tornado touched down in the small village of Eagle,Wisconsin, about 15 minutes from here. Many homes were destroyed and countless others were damaged.  Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.  Old World Wisconsin is located in Eagle.  It's one of our favorite historical sites and I've blogged about it twice; last summer and at Christmas time.

Old World Wisconsin was hit bit the tornado and is currently closed for clean-up.  Thankfully there was no major damage to the historical buildings, but many trees were lost.  Check out the amazing photos of the damage here. Our granddaughters are coming to visit soon and two of them are scheduled to attend the One Room Schoolhouse Rocks day camp there.  We're all hoping that the site will be able to re-open soon.

The Old World Wisconsin Foundation has established a fund to help with the clean-up expenses. Here's a link for anyone that would like to contribute.

Northwind Show Continues Today

Come on out to the Northwind Perennial Farm Today  - Sale starts at 9 and you are going to love what you see.  The grounds are amazing, perennials are on sale and you'll find wonderful vintage treasures for your garden & home.  Here are a few random photos from yesterday.

A corner of our booth.  We're located down the pathway from the big barn.

The resident cats made the rounds all day

The most interesting dead tree ever

Vendors on the lawn

What I resisted...(rumor has it they are VERY good!)