Our Property Is A Rock & Fossil Show

Some of the (many) uses for rocks around our property:  

Flowerbed edging

Our actual house and shop building are built from local stone

 Natural walls

 Piled around the chicken coop so critters can't burrow in

 Large accent rocks

 Walls and tiers for gardening

 Birdbath (now planter)

 Pillars beside our driveway 

Berm

(And now you know why we named the property "Stonecrest".)

On the next post I will show you the fossil show segment.

Stone Pillars For The Driveway Entry

 This is a project that my husband has thought about

ever since we moved to the house.  

We had wooden planters on either side of the driveway before.

Mostly to protect the drainage pipe that runs under the drive

from getting squished.  

 \With all the stone around this area, it wasn't hard to locate

some vintage stone pillars to get inspiration from.

It took six 80-lb bags of mortar, many rocks from our property

and many hours of back-breaking labor....

But they are done.

Probably will have some planter on top come spring.

1840s Stone Arch Cemetery

This cute little cemetery was next door to the moving sale

we went to last Friday. You can see some of the cars from the

sale on the right.

We love this 1930s stone construction because

that is what our house is.

While the arch is from the 1930s,

the cemetery dates from the 1840s.

We didn't actually go back far enough to see the stones.

We will have to save that trip for another time.

Love the whimsical little flower on either side

of the arch.

Mother's Day & Arkansas Auction With The Whole Family 5.7.2016

I have two adult sons.  Neither one has ever hung out with me at auctions.  I do recall giving a "want list" to Son A when he was about 14 and dropping him off at an auction to do the bidding for me.  He did have a great time and did an awesome job. But no family auction time.  Until last weekend.

 

Son A and his lovely wife wanted my husband and I to join them in Branson for Mother's Day weekend.  So we picked up Son B on the way to make it a family celebration. The entertainment for Saturday was actually planned by Son A.  His co-worker's father was having an auction in Arkansas.  Our daughter-in-law had an engagement and couldn't go -- so we popped up the two stow-and-go back seats and loaded up like old times.

The auction was really on some gorgeous back roads in

northern Arkansas.  This abandoned "grocery store"

was very close to the auction.  How cool is this building?

 

I gave all my guys a break by only staying

for about the first hour at the auction. 

 

Here they were "on call" to haul stuff for me.

   

We rounded out an over-the-top Mother's Day weekend by

cranking out some homemade ice cream...

 

stopping at a couple of garage sales...

 

going to church,

and eating at Lambert's (Home of the Throwed Rolls).

Tune in soon to find out what treasures I carted home.

There Is No Place Like Nebraska -- July Junking Trifecta

I went to a friend's house Thursday morning to do some weeding.  As I was weeding I got to thinking that we didn't really have anything going on over the Fourth of July weekend, and I needed to remedy that and make some plans.  As soon as I got home, my husband said "We need to talk."  No, I wasn't in trouble -- he had come to the same conclusion and took it a step further and done his homework. 

I quickly cleaned up and packed and we took off for Fairbury, Nebraska.  He said Fairbury was hosting southeast Nebraska's largest flea market over the weekend of the Fourth.  Although I grew up in Nebraska, I never recall having been to Fairbury.  So we took a little tour of the town...

Fairbury, Nebraska was home to Fairbury Windmill Company, which was in business from 1899 until 1961.  Many of the old windmills that you see around were made by this company. Their windmill weights in the shape of bulls and horses are well known to collectors. 

These two park buildings were SO COOL.

They were built in 1936,

so I assume they were part of the CCC or WPA program.

Many vendors were still setting up on Thursday afternoon,

but at least half were ready to sell.

 

This wallhanging was made out of grain.

What a creative piece of folk art.

We saw (and picked up) a few fun things -- I'll show off my finds on a future post. 
I loved this old sled with SKIS, out of my price range though.  Then we ate a quick bite at an iconic Runza Restaurant (fooling people into eating cabbage since 1949). 

We ended the evening by attending an indoor weekly auction.  It was hot, things sold slow and someone kept outbidding me on everything I wanted.  So after we spent a big $3.00, we went back to our hotel for the night to watch some Food Network.

Friday morning we got up early to hit a few garage sales (yes, a trifecta in 24 hours -- flea market, auction, garage sales).   We picked up a few things, including buying some items from "Vince" (left) whom I recognized from last night's auction (where he was the one who outbid me on everything!)

One of the things I bought from Vince at his garage sale was this scary doll, which he ironically purchased Thursday night at the auction after I left. It was on my list of something I wanted! You'll have to tune in soon to see my other Fairbury treasures.

After the garage sales on Friday morning, we hit the flea market again.  Visited the newly set-up vendors... .and spent every last dollar we had.  Luckily, Valentino's Pizza took our credit card to pay for lunch. So we headed home with a full van, full tummies, and empty pocketbook.