Truckin' and Junkin' - August

"Let's start the bidding at $100.Give me a hundred. 50 dollars. Come on. Where ya wanna be? This is a collector's item. 25 dollars. Give me 25 dollars. Come on folks. Where ya wanna be?"

        I was at my first farm auction. It was in McMinnville, Oregon and it was love at first bid. 

There was junk piled high, piled under tables, in boxes, shoved and crammed anywhere and everywhere.  The dust never settled and the deals were abundant.  There wasn't too much that caught my eye, but as always, I did manage to load up the pick up. The men rolled their eyes as Mom and I took home the biggest load (to no one's real surprise).  

My first auction bid was on this wooden chair with a pressed leather insert and double rungs. It was hidden beneath boxes, and I didn't really know how good of condition it was in until I  won the bid.

 

I don't have any good idea for how old this chair is, and I am excited to learn how to identify the age.

I learned a good auction lesson with this ladder. Just because something sells to another, doesn't mean it still isn't for sale! This ladder was sold in a lot of lumber, and the owner turned out to not even want it. Can you believe that? I mean, this is a real fine, worthless ladder. Except, not to me of course. An outdoor table is in the future for this old ladder.

 I managed to pick up an older wood office chair with a cast iron swivel and adjustment that closely matches one that Eric made in highschool. The set goes well in the office/craft room. Also, my mom took home a 50's high chair in excellent condition. It still had the tray and leather "seat-belt" strap. Wish I had a picture to share.

Even though I was having a great time looking at old junk, it was sad to see this once working farm close-up.   At least a little "history" may be preserved in the pieces people brought home.

"Blue Ribbon" Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Okay,  they are not a blue ribbon winner, but they would be.

After several experiments, failed attempts, and a husband who found out there is such a thing as "too many chocolate chip cookies," I have come up with a pretty darn good recipe. 




1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (has to be butter - not salted)

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons hot water

3 cups white all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips 
1 cup finely chopped walnuts  (very optional)


Cream together the sugars and butter. Add the eggs, vanilla and hot water - mixing thoroughly after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients and mix. Add the chips. 


Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes. 


Do you have a favorite recipe??

Workspace Wednesday

Good Evening! This is my first Workspace Wednesday! Woo hoo! I feel like I have made a new blog accomplishment....err something.  I learned about Workspace Wednesday over at Kids Napping? I am Scrapping! 

My workspace is covered in unfinished "mini" projects....Do you ever start one project, and then think of another, and so on? Boy, I sure do! Right now I have a birthday present/card in the "wrapping" for my father law's birthday tomorrow. Also, working on the Conkerr Cancer Pillow Case Project...Let's see, what else? Oh yes!  I thought it would be fun to have a little family tree at the reuinion this weekend. There will be a lot of cousins and cousins of cousins, and not every one will know who is who....or how we're related! 

Also, with a growing family (5 weddings in one year!), I thought it would be nice to put together a birthday list and update contact info. I am always a day too late on birthdays! Anyways, I better get crackin'!

Craft Hope - Project 9 : Conkerr Cancer

My friend Paula has really gotten me into this whole "blogging" thing - I never knew how active blogging could be. The latest thing she has turned me on to is Craft Hope. 

They have introduced their latest project, Project 9:  Conkerr Cancer.  We are making pillow cases to send to children/teens in the hospital. Our Astoria, Oregon based group is sending our cases to Doernbecher Hospital....you can read more over at Paula's. 

To get to the Craft Hope website and see all the other great things they are doing, click on the "Craft Hope" button at the top of my blog. 

                                              Pillow case # 1 - with many more to come!

Dixie Doodles

I thought I would share with you a quick and easy dog treat recipe! I made-up this recipe to use ingredients I commonly have on hand.

To make Dixie Doodles...

Combine:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup oatmeal

2 tablespoons wheat germ (if you have it)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoon molasses

1 teaspoon mint extract (optional)

Roll out "dough" to desired thickness and cut with fun, small or large cookie cutters! The dough should be pretty tough, so don't be afraid to really work it! Place as many as you can fit on a cookie sheet, without overlapping and bake for 10-12 minutes

One happy doggy....

Truckin' and Junkin' - July

The Swap Meet at the Great Oregon Steam Up this year was not as amazing as it has been historically, or as I had hoped. It was easy to find good junk, but hard to find the good deal. The vendors all knew what their stuff was worth...and some thought  they knew what it was worth. Regardless, it was fun to scrounge around and see some neat things, get some ideas, and learn a little.

 To no one's great big surprise, I was able to come home with a few finds. Last month, Eric got me an old hardware scale, and last weekend I found an old kitchen scale to befriend it. The cow creamer was a bonus  for only a $1.  I believe all of my "weighing" needs are well taken care of!

I

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this old grape crate when I was paying the guy for it, but I was sure I could put it to good use. From Lamont, California to Warrenton, Oregon, it now holds our movies.

 Could you believe it if I told you that an old garden rake head was on my "list" of things to find at the swap meet? Well, it was, and I did find one! Actually, I found a whole pile of them, but the one with rusty, red paint was an easy pick for me! Again, I wasn't too sure what I was going to do with it. I knew I wanted to hang it on the wall, but not sure what I was going to put on it. Wine glasses? Candles? A picture frame! Perfection...for now.

I love all of my finds, but I think one of my favorite things about the swap meat is the thrill of bartering! I get a great adrenaline rush! Don't you start laughing! I am very methodical about my methods. For instance, when I am going after something, I purposely take out the exact amount of cash I am going to offer. Then, when I ask, "Would you take...?",  I hold out the money, just tempting them to go on and take it! This tactic has proven to be widely successful!

Do you like to barter??

The Great Oregon Steam Up 2010

The Great Oregon Steam-Up is an annual event in Brooks, Oregon, and has been a tradition in my husband's family for over 10 years.  Eric took me on our first date here, and we have been going back every year!

The Steam-Up has everything from vintage tractors, trucks, and automobiles to Machinery demos, sawmilling, flour milling, fire apparatus demos, harvesting, kids pedal tractor pulling, traditional tractor pulling, military vehicles, and a Big Swap Meet!

  This year we camped out and  had a great time getting to know all the exhibitors and vendors there! Most everything is ran by volunteers, and you can really tell the people spend all year getting ready for this big event! It's really a rare thing to see so many generations of people preserving Oregon's and Early American history.