Collections

I guess it's time for me to bend over and show my backside and a few of the many things I've been keeping tucked away.  I'm not proud of it and I'm really not a hoarder.  Really.  These are all leftovers from my days of selling antiques; stuff too nice to donate to Goodwill or sell in a garage sale (the cheapest people I have ever met in my life). So, it sits in my garages and barns.  My houses are full too, though I really don't do any primitives in my houses.  I just like them, though my collections run the gamut from sterling silver to folk art and fine art. This beautiful bowl is about 14" across the top.  Someone said they made them in graduated sizes that fit inside each other.  

And who needs an old egg crate?

I keep old canning jars and milk bottles in this cabinet.

I have two of these - tall and shorter.  I don't know what people do with these, but I like old windows.  It also has a large carved thingy with a finial that goes above doors (pediment).

This was on the counter of an old general store.  Mud daubers and spiders live in it now.

This hanging kitchen cabinet is photographed upside down, but you get the gist.

The top half of an old stepback hutch; the first primitive I ever bought.  It weighs a ton.

Well, there you have it.  I'd love to have an estate sale, but since I live so far from everyone, I don't think I'd get many takers.  It is overwhelming.  My kids don't want any of it - they either don't have room or it's not their taste.  They have told me to please don't leave all this for them to have to do something with.  I think I need to catalog everything.  I don't want them selling my Native American collection of totem poles for $10. when one of them is worth over a thousand (and I bought it for $10.00). I wish I'd never bought all this stuff, but it sure was fun looking for it - kind of like hunting for Easter eggs.

Animal Love

This is a little corner in my house that is all things dogs and cats. I am an animal lover to put it mildly. All kinds of animals; doesn't matter what kind. I think I must have been an animal in a previous life. My kids call me the animal whisperer. I just seem to know somehow what they are feeling and thinking. No kidding. I'm not afraid of anything, except maybe monster waves and large sharks. But animals I have no fear of. Maybe they sense that. I've noticed I smile the most around animals. Does this make me a misanthrope? I don't know. I just know that animals make me happy.

Olden Days

This old Mercury Flyer is from the 20's. It has a little box in the back to stack coal or a dolly. The tike sits astride the engine and steers from the handlbars on top as he scoots around the house. My grand daughter loves it.

This has got to be the oldest skateboard in existence. You should see the wheels - all metal. I don't know when the earliest skate board came into existence, but I think this must be from around 1960. It says Roller Derby on top.

Aren't these the cutest old skis? They couldn't be more than 14" long. Can't you just see the little child skiing in these? I can't imagine how they could do more than stand up let alone go down a little hill without tumbling. The little buckles and straps are all that would hold the skis on. Kind of like the old key roller skates we used to wear - not very dependable. The black skis in front are child-sized too and only have small leather straps and buckles.

Collecting Stuff

I began collecting chintz many years ago. It wasn't cheap when I started. Nevertheless, I loved it, so I was willing to spend what I could afford. I'm told that when it first came out, it could be found at Woolsworths and in cartons of laundry soap. Very cheap in its time. It comes in many patterns and colors and well as varieties of flowers. I have some with black backgrounds, deep blue backgrounds and russet colored backgrounds. I think I am partial to the pastel backgrounds with my favorite piece being a Shelley cup and saucer. The saucer is the palest pink as is the outside of the cup. The inside of the cup is a stunning full floral pattern. It is visible in the second pic; the cup behind the little ram on the bridge and the saucer on the shelf above it. I think they show up if you click on the pic. The mint green pottery at the bottom of the cabinet is a California pottery (Weilware) that my mother had when I was young. After she died, my father used it and broke it, so I found pieces on ebay and started my own collection. I only use it for special holidays, etc. When I started collecting chintz, I looked at majolica, but thought it very ugly. Then I started seeing it in a different light and thought it rather endearing. It has usually been much more expensive than chintz, thus I have fewer pieces, but I keep looking anyway. I saw a pitcher once with a rooster protecting a hen and her chicks from a hawk flying overhead which I have seen many times on my farm. I think it was only $175. so I didn't get it which I now regret. I must also mention Japanese chintz which is very affordable and I am not above collecting it when I see a piece I like. I'm not a real girly girl; I don't like to put on makeup and usually just pull my hair on top of my head in a clip rather than spend the time styling it (I'd die if I had to spend the time on my hair and makeup that my sister does). I also don't wear much jewelry, which is funny because I make it. Nonetheless, I think my chintz collection is the closest to the feminine I'll get. Besides, the animals at my Peaceable Hill Farm don't care how I look anyway, except oddly, they notice the difference when I have a hat on.

Collecting

Whether gathering dust in an attic (or barn in my case) or lovingly placed front and center over the mantle, collectibles and antiques have been just as volatile as the stock market in recent years. The true worth of an antique/collectible is basically whatever you can get someone to pay for it. It's true. Many small dealers have been priced out of the market (moi included). They lament Antiques Roadshow as the major cause - made everyone think that their Mona Lisa print was worth as much as the original - the consensus was because it's old it must be valuable. Tip - remember age isn't the number one criteria in pricing. Condition and rarity are usually paramount and sometimes a red hot market for an item. I bought and sold antiques for about fifteen years before finally getting priced out of the market. Antique malls, flea markets (my personal fav) and even garage sale prices kept creeping up until finally it was no longer profitable to buy and sell. Even the large venues like Round Top and Marburger Farm (where I used to set up) became so pricey I could no longer haul a truck and trailer load down to Texas and still make it worth the cost of inventory, overhead and profit margin. Nevertheless, it is still a huge kick to go to the fleas and shows. I could literally do it every day. So remember, another tip, buy what you love cause you may still be holding onto it many moon's down the

road. And really, it's just stuff.

Part of the many chocolate and ice cream molds I have.

Notice my columnar bottle posts at the front of my barn aka my art studio. Also known as poor man's stained glass.

This is an old stepback hutch I painted in trompe l'oeil.