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Monday, September 28, 2015

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....




(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







17 comments:

  1. I remember Kevin and I driving back from a prenatal class many, many yea rs ago and we hit a skunk as well. We hightailed it to Kevin's work which was close by and he hosed the undercarriage down. Luckily it wasn't too bad, so we must have just caught a bit of it. Certainly not a fun thing to do.

    My mm had an old Singer sewing machine, not a treadle one but it was in a cabinet very similar. As a kid I always loved using it and then closing it all up when I was finished.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. This was our first, and hopefully last, time to ever hit a skunk!

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  2. What a stunning house. Must have been sad for the ladies children to see everything outside.

    Love the chair and the Temp-tations. Never seen them before.

    Hope you have a lovely day. Sue


    We don't have Skunks here....thank goodness:)

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    1. Yes, three of the children were there at the auction. It must have been very strange for them.

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  3. I don't remember ever being at an auction. I am probably too impatient for something like that, but I sure love your acquisitions.

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    1. It was kind of fun to sit there for the better part of the morning. With all of our lawn chairs in rows watching the bidding. Kind of exciting when some stuff went for top dollar too. It was nice to see pretty things being valued and wanted. Better than just junk and Chinese made rubbish that you see at wholesale outlets and flea markets.

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  4. Oh, I LOVE that house!!! And I would have loved to have that set of wicker furniture I see in the auction photos!

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    1. Yes, that wicker set was very sturdy and well made. Top notch! I think the whole set went for under $100! If I didn't already have a nice set on my front porch I would have bid on that.

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  5. Oh yes, I remember that song when it came out, but I thought it was earlier than the 1970's, but so much for my memory. It ain't too good, but I do remember all the words to that song!!

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    1. I remember my parents having that song on an 8-track tape in about 1972 or 73. Lol

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  6. Smart move to get a double wash right off! The rest should fade soon. Our dogs got skunked a couple of times, yuck. The worst was shortly before we were due to leave on a ski trip and they were due to be dropped off for boarding. Couldn't do anything other than drop them off stinking, we had plane tickets, hotel reservations etc! I really don't remember how much extra it cost for skunk baths, but I do remember we gave the groomer a big tip.

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  7. Gah! Not much worse than hitting a skunk! We have one here in the neighbourhood who likes to stoll past an open window at about midnight. Bleah.
    That house is awesome. Such a shame that there were no (real) bidders. In Toronto it would easily fetch close to a million and a half.

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    1. Yes it's such a nice beautiful home, built in 1920. Our town is small, under four thousand people. A bit too far out to be a bedroom community of Appleton, 24 miles to the northwest.

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  8. What a beautiful home! I'm amazed it didn't sell. The chair is gorgeous. Sorry about Pepe leaving his Pew on your car. But then poop dead, Pepe! I miss the underbody wash of the car washes we also went to in Upstate NY. Bottom Blast they called it! Wish they were everywhere.

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    1. Yes, I don't think I saw undercarriage car washes in the South either. So necessary here with all the road salt and slush in ice build up under our cars.

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    2. Yes, I don't think I saw undercarriage car washes in the South either. So necessary here with all the road salt and slush in ice build up under our cars.

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