Kansas Farm Auction=Three Words That Make Me Smile

I know where to go to find the deals!  Drive at least 3 hours west outside Kansas City and there ARE deals to be found!  But even more than that, check out the pretty road I drove down to find the auction:

What's that large structure coming up on my left you ask?

Why, it's an awesome abandonment!  I swooned and swooned some more.  Luckily, as you can probably tell by the first photo, traffic wasn't heavy, so I pulled over and shot this home with my iPhone.  I wanted to explore the inside, but I don't go to abandonments alone, so the iPhone from the car window had to do. But I know how to return to this place, so maybe sometime in the future I will be back with my husband and good camera in tow.

Over the hill a piece I came to the corner where I needed to turn:

And let me just say that this was the best auction I had ever been to in my entire life.  I was saddened to hear this was the 2nd one as the 1st one was just 3 weeks prior.  I talked with a couple who told me they were at the first auction and only had competition with the salvage junkers.  This auction had a few dealers so the prices may have been at tad higher, but I thought they were extremely reasonable

Lots of great farm junk like the photo above.  If I had my husband with me and the truck, I would have bought a lot more!  But, as it was, I found the holy grail of my existence:  a windmill vane on its' original stem:

The second good piece of news is that it actually fit in my Chevy Equinox with all the seats down!  It's going to kill me to put this up for sale.  I'm still sitting on the fence about that one.  If you know me well enough, I *adore* old windmills. Here's a blog post from just a little while ago:

Windmill Love

And if that wasn't enough, check out the signs I had to leave behind because I didn't bid on them:

Everything sold for pretty much what I considered bargain prices.  Even though I stayed the night at a Super 8 with a horrible mattress and woke up with back pain, this auction was worth it!  My car was filled to the gills with great farm items!

And even greater is that I explored another part of Kansas.  It was an utterly delightful Saturday and one I can't wait to repeat!

Back in the Kansas Saddle. Again. And Again. And Again.

I am a glutton for punishment.  After perusing the many auctions this weekend in both Kansas and Missouri, I found one in Kansas.  Didn't I just mention in the last blog that I was going to focus on Missouri auctions?  Yes, yes I did.

However, this one looks like a scene right out of American Pickers.  See for yourself:

Doesn't that make your heart skip a few beats?  I'm driving 4 1/2 hours to get to this auction which means I'm going to spend 2 nights in a town 20 minutes away.  :)  If this auction goes high then I PROMISE I will attend the Missouri auctions only.

That is until the next Kansas auction comes along that offers hoards and piles of primitives.  Then I might have to try again.  And again.  And again.  Kansas is in my blood.  I can't help it.

Farm Auction Held Inside

I live in Kansas but right on the border of Kansas and Missouri.  Saturdays during the warmer seasons will generally find me at a good farm auction and mostly on the Missouri side.  Yesterday, however, I found what looked like a delightful auction in Holton, Kansas inside a building.  Since the threat for severe weather was looming, I felt this was the perfect choice.

While the auction was fabulous, the prices were not, at least for me.  Retail and what I consider above- retail bids were being paid and I just stood in awe at how fast the prices climbed.  To be fair, there were plenty of really, really neat things.  Here are some pictures from the auction website:

As you can tell, the tables were full of really neat items.  It was almost painful to watch these unusual items go home with someone other than me!

See the little wire chair in front of the high chairs?  I waited for this near the end of the auction.  I thought  I'd be happy to pay no more than $20.00.  It went for around $50.00.

These weathervanes that go on lightening rods went from $80-$90.00 per piece!

There was a box of lightening rod balls that may have contained 9 that went for $190.00.  Yikes!  My husband said he shot all the balls off the lightening rods at the ranch where he grew up.

A few pieces of very neat furniture also went up for auction.  The prices went quite high.  I'm not sure what the piece above sold for but the cabinet in the next picture went for $1,000.00.

While it was a delightful piece, I see cabinets similar to this sell for $200 in Missouri.  So, I guess I'll be focusing my efforts in Missouri as much as possible from now on.  My business motto is to buy low so the person buying from me can find a deal, as well.  I have to wonder if shows like History Channel's, American Pickers are making a difference in the pricing of auctions in the antique field.  It'll be interesting to see if this is the case during the next several weeks when I attend upcoming farm auctions.

Saturday's Auction House Visit

It rained Saturday so we decided trekking through an outside swap meet was not a great idea.  I looked online and noticed that the town our lake cottage is in had an auction inside its' auction house.  With just 45 minutes to spare, we hurriedly got dressed and drove to town.

The auction had a mix of old and new items, but we were able to score these treasures:

I love the jelly cabinet!  It has had a few repairs, but the bulk of the piece is authentically old.  Check out the hardware:

 The inside of the cabinet is red and has aged just enough to show crackling and loss of paint.

We purchased a vintage handcrafted wedding ring quilt with scalloped edges.  Isn't it pretty?

And, finally, I saw this frog planter from across the room and it was love at first sight.  She'll be listed on Etsy soon!  The jelly cabinet will also be listed on Etsy around the June 1 time frame and the quilt will be listed on eBay, so keep watch if you are interested!

Also purchased was a slew of vintage sewing items, not pictured.  While I still prefer farm auctions, on a rainy day it was perfect sitting inside and finding items for a good deal!  :)

Saturday's Shopping Adventure, Ya'll

You are probably wondering what the head bee will be up to Saturday.  Well, after searching high and low for an auction and coming up short, I found this event at Jacob's Cave outside Versailles, Missouri.  We went last summer when it was awfully hot and humid.  It wasn't the best place I've ever visited, but I'm willing to give it another try.

Here's a link to the article:

Swap Meet

What does a Donkey, Elf and Mushroom Have in Common?

Just the cutest little planter on the face of this planet, that's all.

You can find it here for the next 6 days:

Donkey Pulling Mushroom Cart Planter