Auction!

So the two adults in the Schmidt House may have a new addiction. A friend of ours took us out to a country auction. It was only about 30 miles west of our house but sort of out in the country.

We showed up a bit late and we weren't really interested in buying anything. We just thought we would see what they had and perhaps bid if the price was right. There were boxes of junk. Dolls. Picture Frames. Old Furniture. Some okay stuff. Mostly stuff we weren't interested in. Well the first piece we saw was this little piece of woodwork.  Sure, it's missing a small piece.....but it's a nice piece of wood! 

We thought it might look really nice on top of the Schrank we bough last year. And with a little TLC and a piece of wood to level it out....it will be perfect. The cost. $5.00 Yes, FIVE DOLLARS! For the top piece of wood that is....not the whole cabinet. But still, I can't buy that much oak for FIVE DOLLARS! The colors match much better in person they they do in this picture.......

And click on the word SCHRANK and you can see how it looks sort of naked without this piece of wood from the post last year.

The next piece we picked up was this little chair.

It's an old desk or school chair. Solid wood. Slight crack in the seat. Nothing that can't be fixed.....it's going into the basement office for when we have guests sitting by that desk.

The cost you ask?....$1.00. We figured at that price why not buy it. The auctioneer started at $20.00. When he got to $1.00 he usually stopped. We picked it up at that price. It is a pretty comfy chair.

The author in the house has been wanting a new printer stand. She's been looking for a wood stand that we can place two printers on. We weren't actually paying attention but this little gem also would have sold for a $1.00. But we missed the bid. Yet no one bid on it so we asked if we could still buy it after the auction. It cost us $5.00.......but the women in the house are going to paint it, redo it, and place it in the upstairs office. We brought it home, sanded down the top, and it's ready for a coat of paint. It should be in the author's office before next Saturday.

We have one more piece not pictured. A drop leaf table with two leafs. Also $5.00. The women need a craft sewing table. So that is going into the basement for a craft table. 

Auctions....perhaps a new addiction. 

Magnolias - Perfume Candies

Now for something completely different. For years we've occasionally bought and consumed Magnolias. What are magnolias? They are small candies filled with liquid. They are made by the Startup Candy Company of Provo, Utah. They are also called Perfume Candies. Why perfume candies? Well they really sort of taste like perfume. Or soap. They are a strange, unique, peculiar and we enjoy tormenting people with them. If you pay a visit to our home, and we have some on hand, you'll be invited to the try them.

If you want some of your own, you can order some here.

In our house they are stored in this little clam shell dish that Cheri found. We think it was meant for candies, sugar or condiments. We've never found anything like it before. The little glass bowls are removable. The lids flip one way or the other to uncover the jars.

Route 11 Yard Crawl

So last weekend, August 11th, the Family went out to Strasburg, Virginia. Once a year this area decides to have one giant yard sale that stretches over 43 miles through Shenandoah County. We have friends who live in Woodstock so we started in Strasburg and started to drive south. Drive is a relative term. Once you start to drive route 11 you understand why they call it the yard crawl. In each town the traffic is barely moving. Yard after yard, church property after church property and every where you look is someone with their collection of yard sale stuff to sell.

Traffic is sort of crazy......this was part of the crawling phase.

Yet there are some cool old run down houses along the way.

Gourds growing in old Wagons.

And even some very cool old houses......

Currently owned by a great, great, great grandson of the original owner.

The girls.....well they got bored rather easily....but Jessica did get herself a bow and arrow set...

What did we get? We got a couple of stereo-views. A couple of old dresses.....those pictures will come later. A couple of coin jars for Drew. An old camera bag for Megan and a killer deal on some old furniture that we are going to refinish. 

The wood is mahogany. The seat velvet.

The insides are actually stuffed with hay....

Yet the springs are good shape....

It has some neat details......

And we got the bench and this chair for $55.00.

Now we just have to teach ourselves how to do upholstery. This was apparently made in early 1900's. We can tell because there was a small tobacco bag stuffed in with the hay in the seat. The tax label reads 1898. 

Afterwards we stopped and hung out with our friends the Knapp's at their new place in Woodstock. The property sits on the river up on a hill. With a nice long staircase down to a lower flood plane and then down to the river.

 Liam and Jessica by the river.

Sushi

So we've really missed Won Won Wok in Saratoga Springs and their Sushi......so.....we decided to make our own. It worked out pretty close.....and we are rather pleased...YUM!

Cutting Cream Cheese for the Vegas Roll

 Spicy Salmon

 Avacado - -

Christina's Birthday

March 31st is Christina's Birthday.....so she had a little party:

Christmas Day 2011

Well Christina woke up at some ungodly time of 4:30 for Christmas. We have a rule in our house. The stockings are free grabs but you don't wake up Mom and Dad until they come down.

 Megan found this little thing on Pintrest and decided to make one. You basically take a loaf of bread and cover it with sugar, cinnamon and butter. Bake it for a while and then cover it with some icing. It's not good for you...but it tastes wonderful. Here is the link to the recipe!

 Jessica was most happy. Here is she is clutching her most precious new cell phone.

 Adria shipped Drew a big giant man mug.

 The Elder's came over for breakfast and so they could call home for Christmas. They always get to call home on Christmas and Mother's Day but now with all the wonderful technology they can Skype or video chat with home. This is Elder Freeman, from Meadows, Utah. He's playing with a magnetic toy that we got him.

 This is Elder Scott, he's from Genola, Utah.

 Christina completely warn out. We were in the office doing video chat with Adria and Dave.