The work table

This is what we went to the auction last week to buy. We had no clue what it would bring, and really thought it would be out of my price range. Surprisingly there was only one other bidder , so we performed a little happy dance when I was the high bidder. Then we realized why, nobody wanted to have to load it. This sucker is heavy! Luckily I brought my muscle to help me, otherwise known as Mom and Dad. It turned out it's not nearly as heavy as we thought.

The former owner used it as a work table, but I'm going to use it as a checkout counter until it sells. I think it would make a beautiful bar. Usually I paint all the furniture I buy to refinish, but I think my Dad would have cried real tears if I had done that with this piece. The top is a solid slab of pine, 2 1/2 inches by 8 foot 4 inches. The ends are also slabs. I pulled out my favorite stain, Early American and went to town. While I was working, my Dad kept reenacting bar scenes from old Western movies. I think the fumes from the stain were getting to him. So if I can tear him away from it, this will eventually end up in the shop in Wimberley.

New Adventure

This post has been a work in progress for months. Way back in November I made a huge leap and bought a space/building at a trade days in Wimberly, Texas. It will be open one Saturday a month starting in March. I still don't have good pictures of it, here is one with the prior owners merchandise....

Inside is 16x16, and it has a cute little porch. Any ideas on what color to paint it? Right now I'm thinking red or a grey/blue...Help?

My parents and I love going to auctions. Have you ever been to one? We have a blast. Have you ever been to http://www.auctionzip.com/? It gives you a list of upcoming auctions in your area. I found an auction that I thought I could pick up some inventory and displays. It was an estate auction of a couple who had a wood working shop. I hit the jackpot. Midway through the auction, we were in a storage building. One wall was lined with shelves that were loaded with boxes and wood pieces. They wanted to sell everything but the shelves. I said I'd give them $15, and nobody raised my bid. It didn't look like much until we started loading it. I'll have more pictures later, but here is a start. This all was on that wall..

I bought the wall of junk because I could see some boards that I could use to make shelves. So it was fun opening up all the boxes and seeing what was inside. I like some of these house shapes (this is box 1 of 5 of these houses).

At this point I think only about a 1/4 of the trailer is emptied. I got overwhelmed and forgot to take picture of the rest.

I also got another trailer load of displays and lumber. I'm unloaded that one tonight. Just wait until you see my future checkout counter.....