Tricky Dogs Still Cool As Ever

Here in the Missouri Ozarks, summer skipped to winter in just a few days.  One day I have the air-conditioning on in the van and then the next thing I know I'm turning on the steering wheel heat and cranking up the heated seats.  So it was, I woke up early Saturday morning to make a trek to a "3-story home" auction.  The owner had passed away and it was purported to be a very large auction with 2 rings!  

When I came into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee while getting ready, I noticed the window panes on our 1930's log cottage were frosted from the cold.  I saw shadows dance across the layer of white from the wind blowing around the leaves on the trees.

I looked at the thermometer and it was in the upper 30's.  

In October.

We are still at the "summer house" which means that I don't have all the winter necessities but I have brought down long pants and sweatshirts, which I supposed would be good enough.  I got ready and warmed up the jalopy and off I went.

It's a gorgeous drive on 83 Highway.  Large stone outcroppings give way to the vastness of Truman Lake.  The road is windy and heavily forested on either side.  I just couldn't wait to get to the auction which sounded completely worth the cold weather and longer drive.

Except the auction wasn't worth the drive at all.  Three levels?  Only if you count the unfinished basement filled to the rim with ceramic molds and half-painted ceramics and old caked past-their-expiration-date ceramic paint.  There was a large tent but it was quite a buzz-kill going inside.  There were a couple of choice pieces of furniture but the rest were duds.  Dirty, too.  There were boxes upon boxes upon boxes of books, flotsam and jetsam, and plain junk.  The two flatbeds of better things were just slightly better than the boxed goods.  Just slightly.  

When the auction started, I immediately knew this was a mistake.  The prices were ridiculously high. I was kicking myself in between shivering from the cold wind because I went to an auction several weeks ago in the same vicinity by the same auctioneer and swore off ever going again because of high prices and an overrated auction bill.  But now I know well to just skip over this auction company's name and not even bother reading or looking at pretty pictures to entice me to their auctions.

I stayed through the first flatbed; 2 hours worth, and then headed over to the tent while they auctioned furniture. (Still in one ring, I might add)  The prices were going higher than retail, so I took my few items I bought and paid the $11 at the trailer before piling back in the van.

I did, however, pay $2 for a special memory.

(Photo Credit:  eBay  )

I haven't thought about these dogs for years!  I don't know if my great-grandparents had them or if it was at my grandparents' home but I was fascinated with these magnetic dogs as a child.  I could entertain myself for quite a while and I'm pretty sure I'm equally as fascinated now in my 40's!  

When the box went up for auction I threw up my number.  I was tickled with this buy that will be headed to Etsy soon.  That is if I can bring myself to sell them!  

So while I didn't stay at the auction long or fill up my van, I did enjoy the gorgeous drive and was thrilled to find a piece of childhood I had forgotten about all these years.  Auctions are all so different.  Some are good and others are not so good.

It reminds me of my grandmother.  Two doors down, her friend of many, many years passed away.  Awhile later the family held an estate auction.  My grandmother walked over and was absolutely appalled at the dust on the furniture and glassware!  " She would be so embarrassed if she knew this was what her furniture looks like. People will think she lived in a dirty house.  She was such a clean person.  I can't believe no one in the family cleaned all of her things before putting them outside."  My grandmother was beside herself.  My grandmother is a clean freak, too.  

But she's right.  Things would display much better if they were dusted and cleaned.  But the reality is what I see; dirt and caked-on dust.  The house I went to Saturday had been empty for 11 years and the items showed it!  

Still, I enjoy the thrill of the hunt even if I hit a dud or two.  It's just the way of the business.  At least I didn't walk away empty-handed.  And I'll make a few bucks overall from my purchases and that's the name of this auction game.  That and the memories.  

Aaannnnddddd it's October. October! OCTOBER!

Ahem. With all good intentions, I am back to my shop blog.  Not that I ever truly left or didn't think about it but my best reason I'm going to give for a lack of blogs is that my MacBook Pro bit the dust. Seriously?  But I have an Apple!  Apples don't break.  Well, they do and by the grace of our Lord Jesus, I had just 80 days left on my extended warranty which meant I left my computer with the fine Apple people to be fixed.  Fixed meant wiping every living thing off my hard drive.  I lost everything BUT for a few spreadsheets the fine Apple Geniuses were able to salvage.  The rest, well, I'm not sure where that stuff goes, but if there's a hard drive heaven, it is now filled with much of my drivel.

The upside is that my computer has all new insides.  So it was like picking up a newborn Macbook Pro (for free!) which meant I had to load everything else back on, connect to printers and so on and so forth.  Except I really haven't done much of that, to be honest.  But, it put me on a blog diet.

So, what's been up, Head Bee?  Well, we have a Facebook page.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before but I am good at keeping that updated because, well, I do love my Facebook!

Need the link?

HERE IT IS!   

I'd appreciate a "like" on the shop page.  Occasionally I will run Etsy coupon codes, so keep watch!

We are still in Missouri as my husband is filling in at a pharmacy where they need his help.  I'm hoping to take my camera out soon to take pictures of the gorgeous, ever-changing leaf colors.  We've never been down in the Ozarks during the change and my, it's quite beautiful!

Delavan Cottage is mostly finished.  I say mostly because we have just a few little things that need to be done and landscaping to plan, but for all intents and purposes, it's done.

We need to paint the front 2 doors a different color green, but here is the finished look!  I just love it!

The living room/kitchen turned out great, too!

We put in a pathway between our two cottages:

The bathroom is all done and now has a washer/dryer!  And drywall!  Man, was that ever a fiasco.  I will eventually bring my good camera and take a complete folder of pictures to see the finished product!  But as far as dealing with the construction company, we are done!  Yay!

I have been going to some auctions as my health allows.  Here's a sneak peek of some things that will be hitting the market soon.

And here are just a few pictures of our cottage space at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri.

There's many more pictures of our booth on our Facebook page!

Stay tuned!  A big old sale is in the works at the shop!  So if you're keeping your eye on something, you might want to keep up.  I'll post when it happens.

What does the Fall bring?  I hope many more auctions.  I'll also be heading up to Illinois to help my dad begin downsizing.  With that, I'm hoping that some of his vintage and antique items he will not be keeping will make their way into the antique mall.  Never a dull moment!  Right?

Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon.  I promise!

Swiftly Moving Summer

I say this every year:  summer is flying by!  Why, just last weekend was the 4th of July and after the 4th it seems like within a twinkle, summer is gone.  It hasn't seemed like much of a summer here on the home front.  With the remodeling of our guest cottage (painting, flooring, crown moulding etc), 2 months have escaped with just one boat ride the entire season thus far and a whole lot of meetings with several general contractors, roofers and heating/cooling guys and have I mentioned how much electrical and plumbing we've done to the old guest cottage?

Of course this means I haven't been active in the auction circuit because, frankly, between time and money, auctions have had to hit the bottom of the totem pole.  I had hoped to go to an auction last week but that didn't work out.  There's one tomorrow but the weather doesn't look fantastic, but perhaps we'll try anyway because our booth has done well in the past 2 months!  Selling means we need to replenish and selling also means money in the pocket to replenish!  It's an addiction, I tell you!  Buy to sell to buy to sell to buy. . .  :)  It's a delicious addiction, I must say!

With that said, though, I haven't been away from vintage and antiques.  I spent nearly 2 months at the cottages and during that time we have purchased furniture and other odds and ends for the guest cottage by shopping in our storage unit (Ha!) and going to a few antique shops in Missouri.

Here are pictures from the last 2 months:

Looking through the kitchen window in Delavan Cottage to our Moonlight Cocktail Cottage next door.  We were way behind in leaf duty and my lovely husband worked an entire day wrangling the leaves so we could hire Stan to push them in the back 40 with his Bobcat!  :)

This is our cottage and after driving down one afternoon, I had to sit in the car to finish the "Happy" song!  I love this view and XM!  :)

The rest of the pictures are from the guest cottage named Delavan Cottage.  We purchased the vintage farm table and mis-matched chairs last Fall in Columbia, MO.  I love how they fit into the space perfectly.

I wanted a vintage table to go between these 2 chairs.  We found this sweet table in Lincoln, MO and underneath the writing says, "Wedding Gift 1941."  Isn't that fun?  The vintage Hunting and Fishing book was purchased at an antique shop in Walworth, WI.

The Motor Court sign is hung above the bedroom door.  The Old Man and the Sea picture was purchased in Wisconsin.

Not sure if I mentioned this, but Delavan Cottage is named after Lake Delavan, WI where my Dad spent his summers.  So collecting vintage Wisconsin pennants has become a passion.

We don't have many yet, but the newer ones are being placed on the ceiling of the screened-in front porch.

We drove up to Illinois to pick up my parents' bedroom set.  Since my mother passed away in 2009, my father has moved his bedroom downstairs and wasn't using this set any longer.  While it's probably not the most beautiful set in the world, it reminds me of my parents in a lovely way.  This set has been there since the day I was born and I felt it was the perfect set for Delavan Cottage!

My father loves boating and has decorated his home in a nautical theme in places.  He sent us home with 2 of the 3 ships for the mantle.  While out antiquing, we found the additional ship on the left hand side.  The large framed original painting was found in Lincoln and the adorable vintage lamp on the mantle was found in Columbia.

The lamp has a burlap shade.  All the rage of burlap has come around once again!

The bedroom had new carpet installed and then my parents' bedroom set went in.

We found the handmade vintage pond sailboat in Columbia, as well. My handy husband built the stand.  I have lots of luck shopping the antique shops there!

I picked up the vintage wood skis in Warsaw last Fall.

The large original painting was found last Fall and was originally slated to be the centerpiece of the mantle, but it fits in the bedroom much better!

I purchased the vintage camping awning lights on eBay two years ago to use next door, but never found a way to hang them.  They fit into the screened porch perfectly!

We purchased a new shed to put on this property.  It's become the "wood shop" and will be used to refinish primitive antiques and it's the go-to place to work on projects.  My husband is very, very excited!

We painted the shed at Moonlight Cocktail Cottage Betsy Ross House Blue a few years back, which is an historical paint color so with the blue left over our vintage rocker got a fresh coat of paint as did the 2 adirondack chairs for Delavan Cottage's front porch.

Our vintage motel chairs got a fresh coat of yellow paint, but they're not quite finished.  I ran out of paint!  :)  I love the color, though! Do you see the heart shutter on the tree?  A cottage a few doors down several years ago was getting a remodel and we found the shutters in the burn pile, so we rescued them!  :)  I may not be a dumpster diver, but down here in the Missouri sticks, I'm a stealth burn pile picker!  Haha!

This is the last picture before the construction crew arrives next week!  We're getting a new roof, new soffits and venting, drywall in the bathroom along with a built-in closet.  The kitchen will get a new pantry (yay!) and a double sink.  The front two windows are also going to be replaced.  I'm very excited!  My husband will be building railings for both doors out of vintage oars!  :)

After all that, then we can plan on landscaping.  It's really coming together and it's a great place to relax for our friends and family.  And I'm not going to lie, my husband and I have been spending some down time catching up on movies we missed on the big screen! After all, with all the work we've done, relaxing, at this point, is pretty high on that totem pole right next to auctions!

What's New at Dancing Bumblebee Cottage?

Oh so many good things are headed to the shop! We are going to fill up that 130 square feet to the gills!   I was going to head in today, so this weekend I spent digging around and getting things ready and priced like crazy.  Last night my husband, in his underwear may I add (HAHA!), filled up my little Buick with all sorts of goodies.  Then he texted me today saying he actually has the day off tomorrow, so we'll just do everything in one day instead of spreading the filling up over 3 days, which was originally planned.  This is good for me to have help! So we'll have two vehicles full.

Many new things that haven't been seen at the West Bottoms are ready to go like these items:

This sign is from our own collection.  I have enjoyed it so much, but it's time to let it go and put it back into the world for others to enjoy!

I'm nuts over this box!  It was discovered deep in a barn in Cole Camp, Missouri.  The metal against the red letting just sends this right over the edge of awesomeness!

Yes, this is a church board!  Yes, it's THAT cool!  Remember this auction I blogged about in Maud, Missouri?  Here's the link:  Maud, Missouri Church Auction

It has taken me 2 years to bring this to the general public.  I've enjoyed it in our studio, but it's time again, to pass it along.  If I have room, I'll bring in the acolyte lighter, but that may have to wait.

This old Moore receipt holder is big and heavy!  It still has some extra receipts, as well.  Look in the upper left hand corner, the phone numbers have 3 digits!  I'm adding a little chick for display!  :)

I am bringing in a plethora of quilts dating back to the late 1800's to the 1950's.  Stay tuned, the next blog will include a story about one of the quilt tops.

This is just a small smattering of what you'll see when you visit us at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri.  I'm bringing in my good camera tomorrow, so I'll pass along pictures.

We are also putting a few items on sale.  I'll let you know all about the sale items on Facebook, so check us out and "like" us for current updates.  You can find us here:  Dancing Bumblebee on Facebook

Going to get back to work and just maybe I'll get a few Etsy listings up.  :)

The Cottage Has Expanded!

Yesterday we moved into our expanded space at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri.  This will be a 3-part moving excursion.  Yesterday we brought in 2 large farm gates that were purchased at a Missouri farm auction earlier this year (pre back issue!  :(  ).  Here's a picture I took of one of the gates shortly before loading in the truck:

We also brought in much of what was in our booth in the West Bottoms as well as a few more pictures from other auction excursions.  Big Creek was super busy yesterday so I hastily shot a few cell phone pictures before I left.

I wanted to show you this corner that I think turned out sweet.  We'll be adding in more pictures on the wall and everything isn't finished,  but don't you love all the old chippy paint goodness?

On top of the white table is a vintage multi 4-use bread pan.  These old bread pans are great for baking multiple loaves of bread at one time but they are also great for display.  I placed 3 vintage hand-painted floral plates in the pan as well as a 1940's farm auction bill.  Isn't that an adorable display?

I'm heading back in Monday to bring in the primitive chicken coop shelves and several antique hand-sewn quilts that I have collected over the past year from various country auctions.  Wednesday we will bring in additional vintage framed pictures to hang on the wall and then we should be set for awhile.

Wednesday I will bring in my good camera to get better pictures to share.

- - -
My issue with my sciatica nerve impingement is preventing me from going to an auction this weekend which is just as well.  I will be posting some lovely goodness on Etsy!  Yay!  So check our Etsy shop out this weekend!

See Our New Look!

Have you visited our Facebook page lately?  Don't know about our page, here's the link:  Dancing Bumblebee Cottage is on Facebook!

"Liking" our page will give you updates of both our booth at Big Creek Antique Mall in Greenwood, Missouri and our Etsy shop.  There will also postings about the auctions I attend the overall fun of hunting down the best vintage goodness to bring to you, our wonderful customers and friends!  And keep checking back because I'll periodically list coupon codes for our Etsy shop.

If you click on the link in the sidebar to our Etsy page, you'll notice that we've changed our logo.  Thank to runningwithfoxes on Etsy, we have a cohesive online look between Facebook and Etsy.  She was wonderful to work with and if you ever need logos, banners or website graphics, please visit:  runningwithfoxes

Don't you love this?

We ordered business cards from Vista Print which matches well with our online presence:

This is the front of the card:

And the back:

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Two nights ago, we officially moved out of Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms.  It was really bittersweet.  I so love the owners, Brent and Chris, and my fellow vendors.  The building is so incredibly cool as is the entire West Bottoms.  But the sweetness comes when I no longer have the drive downtown which includes racing on the 6-8 lane highway and finding parking close by and unloading into the large building, taking an elevator to the 4th floor and loading my booth.  Because of my new diagnosis of spinal stenosis and sciatica, it was just time to move at a slower pace.

Since our garage is filled with treasures, I will slowly be working on our expanded space at the antique mall as well as occasionally posting things on Etsy that have piled up.  Ahhh, the life of an antique dealer is one that chaos reigns and the love of vintage abounds. . .

Now what auction will I attend this weekend?  Hmmmm . . .

Dancing Bumblebee Cottage Is Now In Big Creek Antique Mall

Well, here we are almost at the end of April. Life sure moves along at a quick pace!  Today (Saturday) is the last day we will be down at Pete N Repeat Repurposed in the West Bottoms.  We are moving out Tuesday.  While it was a fun run, things just didn't work out for me for various reasons.  It's a wonderful shop with even more wonderful fellow vendors, so I wish them all the best of luck going forward.

Back in the late 1980's, my mother and I shopped the antique shops in Greenwood, Missouri.  Over the many years, I still go back and enjoy every minute.  So it made sense to move our business over to Greenwood.  We have located to Big Creek Antique Mall at 509 West Main Street.  Big Creek is a fairly new shop opened just under a year.  We are located in the back corner and as of May 1 will inhabit 130 square feet.

The shop is open 7 days a week, so you'll be able to browse at your convenience versus the First Friday weekend and every Saturday that was available at the West Bottoms.

Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite.  We are just beginning to set up our cozy cottage, so this is definitely a work in progress!

My auction hopping has been temporarily put on hold.  A week ago I spent 4 days in the hospital and found out I have lumbar spinal stenosis.  While this is a somewhat common ailment to the older generation, I don't quite yet fall into that category.  I am on a plethora of medications to help it feel better and I hope to avoid surgery, but this has slowed me down.  Luckily I have enough stock to get me through for a little while, but with the auction season ramping up, I'm hoping that I will be able to jump in with both feet soon.  And when I do, I'll be blogging about the auctions right here.

So check back often!