Estate sale finds

We went to two estate sales today.  The first one we went to was to look at some furniture.  It opened at 0800 and I was afraid the early birds would snap up all the good stuff.  But there was a line when we showed up and they were just opening up the garage doors as we headed that way from our parking spot.  We divided forces for a quick look see and grab.  I snagged some dies (for making threads on metal), a hand planer and a large hand drill base.  I have one base but this one is larger and nicer.  We met back up in the living room, snagged a few books and some beautiful pie crimped pottery bake ware.  We paid for that stuff and made a second pass.  I netted an old post hole digger (in our bid to be cheap, modern post hole diggers don't have enough steel in the walls and the tips bend over easily when you hit rocks.  Old ones have thicker walls and can take a lot more of a beating.)  I also snagged a hole aligner (I know there is a proper name for this tool, but I just don't know it.) (It looks like a prybar but one end has a 3 inch 90 degree prying end and the long straight part is round and tapers to a narrow point.  You work the point end into a hole you are trying to line up and then start reefing and beating it with a hammer to get the holes to line up.  I need one and did not have one.)  We paid for this stuff and then made a third pass.  Sarah and I found a tiny glass jar with a 1955 penny in it.  They had to blow the glass around the penny.  She paid $5 for it!!  I found a metal ceramic bed pan and paid $10.  Go figure.  We ended up with one more book and then headed off to the second estate sale.  Someone at this sale had asked Annmarie if she had been to the other one and then told her where it was.

The second estate sale had more stuff.  The previous owner had collected hand wood working tools.  He had wood planes from the 1890's.  There was a #40 plane that was three inches wide and over two feet long for $40.  I almost bought it, but the agreement is tomorrow is 50% off day and we will check first thing and I get it if it is still there.  I did not get any.  I was hoarding my money.  There was at least $400 in tools on the table.  Not what they were worth but what they were marked for sale. I did snag four pipe clamp setups for $5 each.  I need about another 4 pipe clamps and some longer pipes to fill out my clamp section.   I found some tea towels, tried on some jackets but they did not fit.  Annmarie found some small camping cookware for us.  They had a Craftsmen table saw in the back yard.  It had a locking fence that you screwed down so the fence did not move (Trust me, I locked it and beat on it with my fist violently).  It had all the parts 10 inch blade.  The table is all steel and about three feet wide with pipe sticking out for more extensions.    I was holding out for the spendy table saw but Annmarie doesn't want me to put off any more projects.  My current excuse is we don't have a table saw good enough to do finish work on (which was true till today).  So Annmarie persuaded (as only a wife can do) to settle for this now and to get the old house cleaned out and wired so I can start building some nice furniture grade stuff for the house (plus she gets window trim with this also).  She really wants the windows to have trim in them.

I need to be fencing but it is too hot.  I went out to the barn and dug out the corner of the second hay room.  I moved absolutely everything and dug it all out and threw it out the barn door.  The far corner had almost three feet of dust, bird poo and alfalfa dust.  It looks much better. After further review of the main part of the barn I think that only two ten foot sections of floor will need to be replaced.  This will cut down on the costs for the barn dramatically.  I would like to get the doors cut in to the other hay storage section and the door cut into the future tack room (now grainary).

Hay storage area entrance from barn side.

Sorting chutes leaned up on end for storage after cleaning it out.

Hay storage area looking toward barn entrance.

Pile dug out of the barn.

First thing in the morning we are going to corral the sheep.  Then we are going to tag them all (boys get blue and girls get red), worm the half that didn't get it earlier in the year, band the boys that need it (five I think), peel off the wool on the one ewe that is too lazy to rub it off and I want to weigh the largest whether to see if he is over 80#.  Would like him to be around 90# for slaughter.  I have two customers waiting for the next available lambs.  I also need to start thinking about laying in some hay for Winter.  Especially, since I have a nice cleaned out area available.

I will come back after Annmarie has fixed our computer and add in some pictures of the hay room.  On a side note, I do have the sheets for the chicken financials for the last two months and once the computer is fixed I will complete those and post them.  They are going to be depressing so I have been subconsciously avoiding them.