Yes! I am blessed!

I went to the most awesome auction yesterday with my son, Michael. I had not planned to go, but when Michael called me and told me that there was some good stuff, I figured it would be nice to spend some time with him. I always find auctions entertaining, and this one did not disappoint. My only regret was that I didn't bring my camera; although I'm not sure the interesting folks I saw would have appreciated me snapping pictures of them spitting and woofing down the nachos, hotdogs, and other such nourishing auction fare while sitting amongst their winnings.

There really was only one thing that I was interested in--given my economic state. There would have been plenty of things if I had money to play with, and I wasn't trying to get rid of stuff. The item that caught my eye was a chandelier.

This was a consignment auction, so the variety was quite interesting. Living just a few blocks from the auction came in handy--translated to mean that I did not have to use the porta-potty or eat the auction fare. So at lunch time when they took a break from the inside stuff to do the cars, trucks, campers, bobcats, etc. , we ran home. Since we hadn't bought anything at this point, we decided to go back and hopefully, our items would come up. And did they ever!

Anyway, after a week of feeling like a loser--this day made up for it. The first item I bid on was the lovely armoire below. They started the bidding at $100, which we jumped on--or should I say hollered at. The crowd seemed to go mute or something. Nobody else bid against me. Nobody. My mouth dropped open when the autioneer yelled, "SOLD!" I still am dumbfounded. Once word got out about my unbelievable deal, other family members started showing up to cheer me on or rub my shoulder hoping to catch a portion of my blessing.

If you haven't been to an auction, believe me, it is unusual for the crowd to go mute. Trust me. And then it happened again and again and again. With the exception of one item, nobody said anything when I bid. Is that a blessing or what? Even the one item someone fought me for only involved a bid war of $2.50! I do realize that by late afternoon when the crowd had thinned as well as the remaining folks' pockets, this worked to my advantage! But there were still dealers there who somehow missed their opportunities to fight it out with me. Go figure!

ironstone dishes, $5
chair for Kenzie, $5
blue vase, free (gift from neighboring bidder)

Towards the close of the day, the chandelier had still not been offered. Husband Michael asked the guy if they'd put it up, and he said they would not. I was a bit disappointed since that was the reason I had spent the entire day there. The lady in front of us, who owned a shop in a nearby town, went and talked to somebody; and the next thing we knew, the chandelier was up. The bidding started and ended at $25. Once again, the crowd went mute!

We got another interesting light fixture for $5, once again being the only bidders. Some family members did not find that surprising.

I had to fight it out for the chair below, finally winning it for $10.

My last purchase was four pieces of old ceiling tin. It was my only mistake of the day. They started the bidding at $10, and I lifted my number. I should have yelled, "FIVE!" instead. My family would then chastise me because my enthusiasm cost me $5. The crowd was once again--you got it--mute! I have no idea what I will do with it; but wherever it ends up, I'm sure it will always scream at me that I overpaid!

As I finish this post, I am reminded that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps those of you reading this think I ended up with a bunch of junk. If so, please don't tell me so. A water pipe broke in our house this morning and the hot water heater gave up the ghost. Let me revel in my one day of seemingly unexplainable good fortune while sitting in my pajamas with my teeth unbrushed.