Dead Skunk In The Middle of the Road....

Anyone remember that song by Loudin Wainwright 3rd back in the 1970's?   

Well, that was our excitement this weekend----  on our way home from Steve's brother Pete's and Cindy's marvelous wedding (will write more later about all three weddings we attended this month)   we happened to see a "sachet kitty" in the middle of the road.  We could not swerve to avoid it, due to oncoming traffic.  I think he was already spewing his stink stuff before we hit him... and we felt him roll under the car with a thud underneath by our feet.  EWWWW

Immediately we turned off the air vents so none of the stink would come inside the car.  We drove in a beeline to the nearest car wash with underbody wash feature.  We went through TWICE with the slowest crawl ever for the underbody jets to squirt the most water and soap.  I don't know if car washes in the south have underbody wash, but here in the north they are necessary for road salt in the wintertime.

We drove home, and decided to park out in the yard, and not in our garage.  We rushed out of the car into the house and took showers, but the smell was getting fainter by the time we went to bed.  In the morning it was a bit noticeable, and by afternoon being parked in the open field breezes out at the museum, it was not too bad at all.

Now as I write this on Monday evening, this morning I used it to bring my elderly neighbor to visit her daughter in the hospital, and I could smell a faint whiff when the engine was hot, but otherwise on the inside we were fine.  I think we escaped the worst fate ever!!!!  



On Saturday morning, our neighbors two houses down were holding an auction.  It was all the antique furniture and belongings of their mother who is now in a nursing home.  The house has been on the market for a while, but they also put the house on the auction block too.  Sadly, the only bid was too low, and not accepted.  Here is the house....

217 N. Madison Chilton

(this Zillow link says not on the market, but it still is) 

The day dawned clear and promised to be sunny, so all of the antique furniture was brought outside and set in rows on the stately lawn to get the best attention once the auction started at 10 am.  We wandered over about 9 am to set up our lawn chairs, stake our claim to a good spot, and peruse the items.

Theil Auction and Realty Services held the event....

I had my eye on a couple things, which my buddy Herb Buhl ended up with!  A mission oak fern plant stand and a barrister bookcase.  I will have to have a talk with that guy... hmmm outbidding me!

But the happiest purchase I made was this lovely old oak office chair.  You don't find them too often without the arms.

Here is after we got it home and I cleaned it up

I didn't want a chair with the arms when I sit at my treadle sewing machine (it matches the 101 year old cabinet for my Singer Treadle Machine!) See how cool this parlor cabinet is? The treadle is hidden down inside the cabinet.  The sewing machine rises up and down like an elevator on a rolling spring coil.  When it's all closed up, it looks like a lovely piece of old world oak parlor cabinetry.

This machine was lovingly gifted to me by my quilting teacher friend, Paula.  What a treasure and I love to sit at it and sew blocks for quilts on the 101 year old machine.

Also when using the chair with my sockknitting machine, having arms on the chair get in the way of the cranking motion. So it will do double duty for me.  I got the chair for a mere $25.00!  What a bargain!

Also I bid on two boxes of stained glass pieces, tools, leading and supplies for making stained glass windows!  They belonged to the woman of the house, and these tools are what she used to make the stained glass window in their bathroom.  I have never done stained glass, but there is a book and I am willing to learn.  I paid only $9.00 as nobody else seemed to want them.  My bargain! Each time I look at that stained window in their house, I will smile inside, knowing that Jovie made it with the tools I now own.

The last thing I bid on was something I had admired for a while from a fellow Facebook friend Vicki Hawkins... she buys and collects "Temp-Tations" bakeware sold on QVC.  Although they are not old or antique, the items are all hand painted in a wonderful theme.  The bakeware can go from freezer to oven or microwave to table and have nice metal racks to keep the heat from damaging the diningroom table.  I saw a set in the auction and thought if they don't go over $20 I might go for them.  Yup.. got em.  $20 bucks.   I looked these pieces up and I got quite a deal!   I don't think I would ever buy them new from QVC, but I will watch for this pattern at rummage sales and thrift shops.  They are called Temp-Tations Old World in the blue color theme.

We left the auction before it was done, and had to get dressed to rush over to North Shore Country Club for brother Pete and Cindy's wedding.  It was lovely and I will do a blog post later on the wedding.

And that was where the dead skunk came into play... on our way home. EEWWWWW