Grandkids

 

Estate Find Saga Continued

After our eyes adjusted to the dim light and our noses adjusted to the smell, we could see the inside of the building was stuffed full of who knows what. There were at least 5 pool tables, each one stacked with an odd assortment of things. Right inside the door I made my first few finds for my list; a metal vanity stool, an ornate wrought iron aquarium stand, a metal kitchen stool with fold out steps and, nailed to the wall, a winston cigarette thermometer. Awesome! Further into the room there was a great rusty metal cart, about 10 bicycles, approximately 10 vintage pinball machines (spoken for by family), another rusty metal cart, innumerable unidentiiable objects and a piano. We had the grandkids with us so we couldn't stay long, but the attorney had the list and promised to get together with the family member for some prices. We also told him that we would like to dig more if that was alright with them? So we made an appointment to come back another day without the kids and to find out how much they wanted for their treasures.

Lucky day!

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time. It had'nt happened to me in quite awhile until just a couple of weeks ago. I had gone shopping with my daughter and we were driving home, when suddenly, on the side of the road, I spotted an unbelievable iron bed frame leaning against a building. I practically screamed at Erin, "go around the block, you have to see that bed!" When we pulled up alongside it, I noticed a man sitting on a chair in the shade so I asked him if the bed was for sale? He indicated that it might be, so Erin and I piled out of the car and followed him into the building. Mind you, 10 feet from the door the smell was enough to make any sane person run in the other direction, but, I have never claimed to be sane, so we went in anyway. Inside, we found a beehive of activity. There were about six people sweeping and hauling out junk. Apparently we had stumbled upon a family clearing out their late father's rats nest of a hoarding life gone bad and the gentleman who let us in was the attorney of the estate. Unfortunately, the bed frame we saw outside had already been claimed by a family member, but we were welcome to look around inside and make a list of anything we might be interested in buying.
This of course affected me more than any smell. Here I was, in a building untouched for over a year, unnoticed by any antique dealers, filled to the brim with treasures (or so I hoped). I knew I must have done something right in my life somewhere along the way. This was the beginning of our estate saga.