Having Fun at the Little Bear Fair!

Posted on October 28, 2017 by Teresa | 2 Comments

My day off happened to be THIS beautiful fall day! So I got up nice and early, drank some coffee in my PJ's, got dressed and caught up a few things around the house, then hit the trail all by my lonesome. The Little Bear Antique Fair started today, and I don't need much persuading to get my tail over there to check out all the wonderful treasures. It's a great place to start your Christmas shopping if you have friends and family that like antiques and oddities. That's why it's good to go by yourself.

This is the earliest I've ever gotten to one, and there were quite a lot of folks right at the starting gate. I'm sure they were all hoping for first dibs on the best stuff! I've gotten lots of things over the years at this twice annual sale in Bozeman, and always anxiously look forward to it.

Authentic Christmas stockings, and kids red wool snow pants from many years ago.

I found a just right “something” for my good Mom, but it's a secret til Christmas! Saw lots of good stuff, but contained myself and kept a latch on my pocketbook. Quite a few things I spotted I already have at home, but mine were mostly rummage sale finds which I was lucky enough to find over the years, and for a whole lot less “moola” than they were asking at this sale!

I have been searching endlessly for an antique panorama of Cowboys. They seem to be pretty darn rare. I found a pretty beat up one at an antique store a couple months ago, and nearly fainted when I saw the $500 price tag! Today I saw 3 awesome panoramas that I was salivating over…….$1,500, $2,400, and lastly $4,000!!!!!!!! Gosh, who'da thunk it! I believe I'll hang tight. I live by the mottos “All good things come to those that wait”, “Haste makes waste”, and “Patience is a virtue”. I've found there isn't a much worse feeling than having buyer's remorse; and being the penny pincher that I am, would never dream of spending that kind of money on what is essentially a do-dad. But, boy, am I ever a sucker for a good do-dad…..at the right price.

Here's a pic I borrowed from Pinterest to show you all what I mean by a cowboy panorama. This is taken of one of Ralph Lauren's homes, and I'm pretty sure he can swing the price tag these panoramas are commanding 😉

Anything “Ralph Lauren” just turns my crank! I could give a hoot about clothes/fashion, but his home lines are to die for in my opinion.

I really didn't feel too bad about not getting anything this trip thru the antique fair. With all my Mom's sorting and purging, she's given me some awesome stuff over the last few months.

This “Library of Health” book was my Great Grandmother's. I put it out with some of my Halloween stuff because it's got a bit of a “Frankenstein” vibe to it!

There are all kinds of charts of body parts inside that flip thru one flap at a time to show all the layers of said body parts. Cool.

This is my Great-Great Grandmother's platter, and must be around 140 years old, give or take, as close as we can figure. That's a long time for something this fragile to still be in one piece, and with no chips or cracks. I will be it's steward for as long as I can, and hope the younger generation in our family shapes up and starts to appreciate these family heirlooms.

I also took a lot of the leftovers from her garage sale. She didn't have a great turnout because the weather was so cruddy that weekend. She was pretty much forced to donate all that was left because there is so little room in her new house. I just couldn't stand seeing my Great-Grandmother's cuckoo clock from Germany go, some antique pictures, and other smaller things that were gifts to my Mom, or things that meant a lot to her but she still had to part with them. So if I could squeeze them in my house, I took 'em. Maybe when all their remodeling is done, she'll have the room to take some of it back.

Hope you all have a “Spooktacular” Halloween!

TTFN,

Teresa

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A Months Worth Of Blabbering

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Teresa | 2 Comments

It's been awhile since I've popped in. Just a bunch of this and that going on. I'm never sure lately, when I first peel an eye open in the morning, what day, month, or year it is. If the radio alarm turns on I know it's a work day, then I try to sort it out from there. It went from that really bad snow storm in May, to 90+ degree temps just days later. The hot, dry summer persisted to the beginning of September, then temps dropped to 30's – 40's and we had to fire up the woodstove, after absolutely melting the week before. That lack of transition makes my poor brain darn confused.

Since I don't have any specific subject matter, I'll just toss a few photos out about what's been going on, and a few leaf peeper views.

My flower gardens are pretty much caput after a few hard freezes. But the grass is greener now that it's cool; much more so than when it was so hot this summer and it was cooked and yellowed.

I climbed over, and rearranged the cabin boxes in the storage room, enough to reach a bit of Halloween decorations. Our house is the only one in a 10 block radius that has any decorations out. Not many seem to be too enthused about the holiday yet, but it makes me happy to see the lights twinkling on my little porch!

My folks are 2 months in at their new place. Oh my gosh – what a Herculean effort it has taken to get them just to where they are at this minute. And they are probably only 1/2 way to where they need to be.

A blank canvas, pre-fenced.

The first thing they lined out before even moving, was to hire a fencer to enclose the entire 7 acres so they'd have a safe, secure place for the little horses. That whole process didn't come without it's bumps and bruises. The first guy only did about 1 square acre, then my folks were lucky enough to find a different guy that was a bit more enthused and motivated to get the job done. It was horrendously expensive, but had to be done. Fencers, especially good ones, are few and far between around here.

Then came the barn builders. Wow, they were some kind of organized! I can't say enough good things about this fledgling business. They were phenomenal, and very affordable comparatively. My folks had to hire a separate business to come out an prepare a pad/foundation before the builders came. That took a couple days to haul all the fill dirt/gravel to the site, then level and compact everything with the big construction equipment. The barn builders started the next day. The framing crew came first, and this is what they accomplished in just 1 day. Amazing!

Take a look at that mighty pretty fence in the foreground, too!

On day 2, a 2nd new crew came to enclose everything with metal sheeting. Not an easy task with the wonderful wind we have around here. They, also, were no nonsense, and this is what it looked like at the end of the day. Really, dirt to this in 2 days!

Front view, and to the right of the house.

The back side.

The opening on the left end will be framed in to make it not quite so vast, and then regular barn doors will be built and hung in the smaller opening. Individual stalls will be put in at some point. For now, it is good enough shelter from the wind, rain, and snow as it stands. The middle section will hold all the hay, and be a place to park much of the equipment out of the weather. The right end, with the door, is my Dad's shop. A third crew came back about a week later and poured a cement floor in the shop section, and finished everything off. All in all, it is a handsome, well built structure that will surely add value to the place.

Then there's the house……my Mom calls it a Barbie Doll house. It is significantly smaller than the house they moved from. She sold a ton of stuff to an antiques dealer before even moving, gave gobs of stuff away, and handed down important heirlooms to us kids and other family members. There still was nowhere to put things, so she pared down even more and had a big rummage sale to boot. Even though they absolutely did not want to take on major remodeling, she decided to go ahead and turn the garage into a living room, as they really had no space for the things that make a house their home. So everything has been turned upside down inside. Farm activities and dogs + pale blue carpet = not a good mix. Out it goes, to be replaced with hardwood floors. Crazy kitchen layout + old appliances + dark wood cabinets and blue flowered bedroomy wallpaper = bye bye. To be replaced with practical new appliances with no added frills or do-dads; new granite countertops in place of 4 inch tile and grout counters; and cabinets to be painted a nice light color, because that's what she likes. New paint, new light fixtures, new window coverings. All this before even starting from scratch in the garage. A couple that did work on my little house, my present house, and my folks farmhouse, have come out of retirement to work with my folks on this new place. That was a lucky break because it is near impossible to find anyone worth a hoot presently with this crazy housing “surge” our town is experiencing. The carpenter that was all lined out to help Bruce at the cabin has never bothered to even show up. While waiting on the many things that have been ordered, they've taken on a half dozen smaller projects, and also got the garage door pulled out and the new window put in.

Having the garage turned into living space should make a significant difference in how they will be able to function in the house. This garage is 600 square feet, with an added area that will be utilized for storage.

To put this in perspective, the whole main floor of our cabin is 576 square feet, and we have to squeeze in a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and hallway!

The walk thru door will be removed, and a new door placed on the opposing wall for access to the patio.

A wood stove will be put between these 2windows.

It's like I said before, it has been their lot in life to turns coal into diamond at every home they've owned. Although this house was more than adequate when the bought it, it just didn't function the way they needed it to. It wil be a most excellent little farm when they get it all put together.

Luckily, the weather has been fairly decent these last several weeks, which has helped them move things along. I have been very much enjoying the beautiful fall colors, and wish it could stick around.