I always feel a little hungover after a big auction night. My favorite auction meets twice a week--Monday mornings and Fridays evenings. I went to both this week (which I guess seals the deal that I'm not closing the store). It's a very friendly and social (meaning people talk while the auction's going on and the auctioneer doesn't yell at you) auction with good food cooked by Bonnie who spoils us with veggies grown in her garden and down-home baking. Don't get me started on her corn chowder. Perhaps it's a sugar hangover--that brownie was huge. It's a full evening--Fridays I leave around 4, drive an hour on back roads, then I have an hour to preview and chat and eat. I've become a regular there, not on the inner circle of old-timers, but comfortably on the fringes. Regulars are an eccentric lot, which makes me feel right at home. The auction starts at 6 and goes until about 9:30. Then it's pay and load the car, and drive home by which time it's late, but I'm too keyed up for bed. That's a big Friday night for me--no high heels involved. I only go on the weekends I'm not in the Catskills, which is plenty. I need room in the garage for the cars. Winter is coming.
But you are probably wondering about the above-pictured chalkware cat. I did too--was it was meant to hold an ashtray or perhaps a beverage? The auctioneer enlightened us. It's for a goldfish bowl! That got my hand in the air, for it seems the embodiment of whimsy. I am tempted to keep it, though not certain I want to get into goldfish maintenance. I could put flowers in the bowl, but that just wouldn't be the same--it so obviously needs goldfish. Actually I would love to put it on the checkout desk in the store, but then I'd need to hire a goldfish babysitter, which isn't in the budget.
See my lovely hydrangea shrub in the background?
I also bought these child-size Adirondack seats.
And a box of doggie prints.
Some may be be original pencil or pen and ink drawings--I have to take a closer look.
This one is titled "Lost".
So what do you think? Should I buy a goldfish?
I think you NEED a goldfish~
ReplyDeleteYou can put the bowl on the hand/stand and plant it up with a tiny terrarium.
ReplyDeleteNo fretting about the fish when you're at home.
Auction nights sound fantastic.
xo Jane
Yes! Buy goldfish! That would be cool on so many levels! :D
ReplyDeleteThat's funny--I'm the same way with the Goodwill store here. It's the bulk of my social life as well as fun trying to get to the new items as they come out.
ReplyDeleteYou could put a little potted plant there for the cat to play with and set it by the register.
Hello Jen:
ReplyDeleteIf, and it is a big if, you can find someone able to care for the goldfish on a daily basis, then we think that it would be such huge fun to have on the counter of your store. Failing that, keep it at home! It is not that we are particularly fond of fish in bowls, or tanks for that matter, but it is so unusual, and whimsy, as you say, that you should hold on to it. We most certainly would.
The auction sales sound great fun. Ready made entertainment twice weekly.
The cat who is goldfish bowl holder looks cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd as many commentater wrote, to add a bowl for tiny fish is much cooler.
Youe descriptiona nd your pictures convey well your agreeable moments.
I love the picture "Lost".
Jen, thank you very much for your usual responce on my comment.
I love your post. I love auctions. My dad used to run an auction house. He had auctions once a month and inbetween I could go and look over the stuff he was acquiring for the next sale. My mom and I cooked and served the food, but I could bid from the food table and my home holds the wonderful things I bought. I loved seeing the regulars and getting to know everyone. I miss those days so much and your post brought them back wonderfully! Oh, I would get the gold fish, at least for a while.
ReplyDeleteOh Come ON, Jen ...you could do it! get a great big hardy gold fish..name him "Flipper" and just carry him back and forth to the Cats with you like a traveling companion. I think it is a very good idea...Have you ever seen that movie "What about Bob ?" with Bill Murray ? He carried his gold fish (Gil) around his neck in a jar.
ReplyDelete- KAT -
You guys make me smile!!! Thanks for being the best commenters a gal could dream of. I was going with a terrarium via Jane and maybe putting in a tiny pool with a teeny tiny fake goldfish, but then I read Kat's post, and her gumption and the image of Bill Murray carrying a goldfish around his neck in a jar is giving me courage!
ReplyDeleteI have never been to an aution Jen,
ReplyDeletemaybe I should start going
Or
maybe not, if I got loose you never know what I would come home with!!
You got some lovely finds at yours!
Hoping you have a good week Jen.
x Fiona
That sounds like so much fun! I love the chalkware cat. You should totally get a goldfish. :)
ReplyDeleteJen,
ReplyDeleteThat is so cute, definitley a keeper! Do the goldfish, it's fun till you find them upside down! (lol)! We had one growing up, his (?) name was Elmer and he lived a long time! He even fell into the garbage disposal side of the sink once, not running of course, when we were cleaning his bowl and was fine when we "fished" him out! They are actually pretty cute! Give it a shot, after all, you've got the purrfect home for him or her!
Rebecca
i `ve never been to an auction! but threafting though flea markets and charity shop IS my social life! i love the pictures you found, and i am sure i have seen this dog in a norwagian blog sometime ago... i try to find out more about it : )
ReplyDeleteFun post! I would have a ball at that auction, i'm sure, including the drive on back roads. Love the joke-yness of the cat holder... maybe instead of a real fish you could flip the joke and put a faux bird nest in it?
ReplyDelete