I had timed my return well as one auctioner was near the first item I was intertested in: a wood picture frame. Twenty minutes later it sold for more than I was willing to pay; especially since I wasn't positive it was the right size for my poster.
After another 30-40 minutes the auctioner reached the two metal farm gates I was interested in. They sold for $75 each - cheaper than for new gates, but again more than I was willing to pay for them as I didn't really need them (especially these heavy duty gates - although they would have been nice to have).
I wasn't having good luck here. I estimated the field fence would be among the last to sell - and that would be some time away. Should I wait? In another row I noticed another picture frame that looked to be the size I wanted - and it was a far nicer frame and nicely matted. The print in the frame wasn't bad. It was from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and was of two fencers (swords), one in white the other in black. Shouldn't take too long for the auctioner to reach the frame and print.
I checked out the other auctioners. I found a plastic roll up/down curtain that would be good for my garage window. As I waited the wind came up. Earlier that afternoon when the temperature was in the mid-50s and the sun occasionally peaked out I felt too warm and regretted wearing my relatively heavy coat. Now I buttoned all the coat's buttons and regretting not bringing my large windbreaker to wear over my coat. I adjusted my hat tighter so it wouldn't blow off my head. Brrr!!!
Suddenly the wind caught the canvas tent/covering used for the first aid station and blew it end-over-end and over a small chain link fence and then onto auction items in the first row before collasping. People cried and yelled and ran. No one got hurt but all the auctioners scattered throughout the grounds stopped and everyone watched the commotion. People here are not used to the wind and don't tie things down.
The tent had stopped near where the 10-20 metal statues were located. The two elk statues were taller than me. The buffalo was almost as tall. They were all one color: dark brown. I later heard that one statue sold for $1300. I saw a number of the smaller (statues where one person could carry by themselves) sold for $100 to $200.
The pines trees swaying in the wind made me even colder. I tired of shivering and "dancing in place" to keep warm and went to my pickup. I sat in the pickup and warmed up out of the wind. The picture frame was near the end of one row so I could watch the auctioner's wagon to see when he finally got close.
Time passed and the sun set. The fire department got out two (all?) of their fire trucks and ran their floodlights to illuminate the auction. They also got little portable generators for three of the auctioner wagons and hung little lights so people could see. The generators made it hard for the auctioners to heard comments from the crowd. Three of the wagons had a pair of auctioners. They switched off more frequently as they were getting tired. One auctioner who I had recognized from auctions I attended last year, Bobby Roshon, was now alone as the Memonite auctioner with him earlier had left. And on the auction went... This game was not to be called on account of darkness!
Finally the auctioner wagon was moved to the row with the picture frame. It was dark so I had to stand not to get blinded by the lights from the wagon. But try to position myself so the auctioner wagon would block some of the wind. It was getting confusing as no one really knew what was in the boxes of miscellaneous stuff. They sold for little to nothing, else got no bids and more items were added until it all sold.
The picture frame. The auctioner started bidding at $50. No one bid. Down and down went the starting bid. I bought it for $1. After I got the frame home I found it to be the right width but several inches too long.
After I bought the frame it started to rain lightly.
I went over to auctioner selling the plastic roll curtain. He sold it along with a very small portable greenhouse. One of the auctioner helpers bid $2.50 and the auctioner said sold. Now he sells at a quicker pace! Roshon had moved to another aisle at the very south end and I realized I had never looked that aisle over. How did I miss it? At the end of the aisle I found 6 folding banquet tables. Hmmmm.... I could use one or two of them. Since I am waiting for the field fence I'll keep an eye on the tables.
The rain was constant. The wind still blew but not with the earlier gusts. I went and paid for my picture. Warm yellow light came from the half dozen windows in the trailer with the cashiers. A small overhang protected the top few steps from the rain.
Naturally the line I chose was the slowest. The old guy in front of me had bought lots of items and it took the cashier a while to add them up. As the cashier added up the total the old man told me it was okay to crowd in near him under the overhang and out of the rain. Still my pants got wetter as the wind blew the rain towards me. The old man asked if the cashier got everything as he only had one check and the total seemed low. He had bought one of the metal statues for $100. They went through each item by name and re-added their prices. The cashier had added up the prices incorrectly and now arrived at a new higher total. The old man said with a smile he should have kept his mouth shut.
I took my picture frame back to my pickup and sat inside to warm up. The windows started to fog from my body heat trying to dry my clothes. In and out of the pickup I went to check on the auctioners' status. The ground was getting wet and a little slippery. Once when the auctioner was near a tent I and others stood against it out of the wind and rain. My jacket while water resistant was not water proof. I could no longer put my hands in my coat's pockets as the pockets were wet. Back to the pickup.
Finally Roshon got nearer the tables I wanted. As I waited the crowd got thinner and thinner in the wind and rain until Roshon asked "Where'd everyone go?" Other than me and a few other people the majority of people there were the auction helpers. Roshon switched the auction to "call out the lot number for what you want to bid on and we'll sell it". He didn't have a portable generator for lights so the only light was one helper holding a large flashlight else secondary light from one of the fire trucks. Another man said he was interested in the tables. He bid $5 each. Roshon turned to me and said he saw me looking at the tables so bid else he will sell them. I bought the tables for $7. I only bought three of them to Roshon's disappointment. But the other fellow bought the other three for $7.
Some of the other items sold, then Roshon called it quits and left the rest of the stuff in the row unsold. No buyers, so why bother?
I went to check on the auctioner near the field fence but he wasn't quite there yet. I went back and selected the three tables I wanted. It was a good thing I only bought three as I now found out that only three were good. The others had problems with a missing leg or loose legs, etc. I paid for (no line this time), then took the tables back to my pickup. At the exit gates the auction had people to check the your receipt against the item's tag number. In the dark, wind and rain I, and half the other people, didn't bother to stop and stand to show the receipts.
Then wait for the field fence. Come on, come on! The two rolls of fence were partial rolls: one new, the other slightly used. Wouldn't you know it - even though it was late, wet and cold two other buyers were determined to buy those rolls of fence! They sold for $22.50 each. $25 (next bid) was more than I was willing to pay for something I would like and could use, but didn't need. All this time of waiting in the cold and rain. 0 for 3. All three items I came back for, I didn't get. But I got other stuff so it wasn't a total loss.
The rain drops were getting bigger so I left. It was now 9:20 pm. The auction started at 9:30 am and I estimated they would finally finish a little before 10 pm. I had initally arrived at the auction a little after noon. Crazy!
The drive home was slower. The speed limit was 70 mph but due to the rain (the drops looked like sleet rushing towards the pickup window as I drove) I only drove 55 mph. Hardly any other vehicles were on the road as most people were sensible and were home nice and warm.
I cranked the pickup's heater all the way to try to warm up. At home I unloaded the picture frame but left the other stuff in the pickup and parked it in the pole shed. I was gone all day so the house was cold due to no fire in the wood stove. I hadn't eaten anything other than a banana since breakfast. But I was tired and cold so I snacked on some stuff while watching the weather report on the 10 o'clock news. Then I crawled into bed and slept long and hard and late.
Sunday was the vehicle part of the auction. When I woke up the ground was white with snow. *sigh* I estimated when the auctioner would make it to the row with the cattle squeeze chute and arrived several hours after the auction started. By now the snow melted from the ground. Creston is closer to the mountains, and as I drove towards them, I was treated to the view of their mass of pine trees frosted from the previous night's snow. The snowline is probably the top third of the mountains right now, but the new snow now covered the top two-thirds. Nice. The parking area in the field was different today - mud. Especially where the vehicles had driven. I slipped and spun and slid but I found a parking spot relatively close without getting stuck.
The auctioner still had a half row left before reaching the squeeze chute so I went to check the aftermath of Saturday's auction.
Stuff left behind was strung out here and there along each of the rows. People were scavanging for stuff they wanted before the payloader came and hauled it off to the three large garbage bins. Here and there people piled their "loot" and stood guard against other people and the payloader making its way around the grounds.
I checked out the row where Roshon had quit. I found a metal 3 drawer cabinet that would come in handy in the tool shed. As I looked the cabinet over a older heavy set (fat) woman ran over and said that was her son-in-law's cabinet. I knew he hadn't bought it the previous night, but shrugged, and continued down the row looking of other stuff.
I ended up with a 10-speed road bicycle in rough shape . One wheel was bent badly and the components were old as this was an 1980s model bicycle but the frame might have some life in it. What the heck! I'll add it to my pile of bicycle odd and ends. Some day when I have time and the inclination I may be able to make a bicycle out of them. Lots of old beat-up bicycles were left but this was the only one I took.
I found several boxes of old paperback books. The outer books were wet from the rain and snow but the inside books were dry. The paperbacks were .25 and .35 books from the 1930s and 40s. The were mainly dramas, crime dramas, and mysteries. I wasn't so much interested in the books themselves (although there may be some interesting books as I recognized some authors); instead I was interested in the covers as they had the lurid art indicative of that time. I rescued a number of them from going to the garbage - maybe I can find a use for the covers?
Also laying around here and there were some tarps and large sheets of plastic used to protect some items from the rain. I gathered them up as I could always use them to cover my garden come fall.
Some guy recognized me from Saturday so we chatted a bit before I returned to the vehicle auction. I noticed my neighbor Wyatt so I talked with him for a while. Like Dan he had covered his hay with tarps. Like Dan Wyatt lost some of his hay when the tarps blew and split. I guess most people don't think of wind out here as it usually isn't windy.
The cattle squeeze chute sold for more than I wanted to pay: $750. Maybe that is a reasonable price, but as I don't need a squeeze chute it was more than I was willing to pay. A cattle head gate on it's own sold for $200. There were 3 metal fence gates - none as nice as the two that sold Saturday. The two taller gates sold for $75 total. The shorter gate surprised me as it sold for $135. I still don't understand that.
Some other items I had a small interest in sold for more than I cared to pay. You know - maybe could use, but don't need. Besides I found that Saturday's bidding number was not valid for Sunday's auction. I only had a Saturday bidding number.
The day was nice as there was no wind and the sun came out now and them. The crowd was a decent size and was predominantly male unlike Saturday's even mix of male/female. The men looked like country folks and not city folks. A number of people were here just to socialize as they weren't interesting in buying anything.
A teenager couple holding hands looked to be with one of the teen's parents - who looked to be "city folk". The boy seemed to have one thing on his mind - you know!
He held the girl's hand and would stand close and ocassionally try to give her a kiss. Otherwise they said nothing and she seemed slightly indifferent. He didn't seem to know what to do. Poor kid - love (lust) made him brainless.I hung around till they sold the old swather and the very old tractor. The tractor was an IH and was so small it could fit in a pickup bed. It had a button to start (no key) else one could use a hand crank in the front of the tractor to start it. I think garden tractors today have more power. The tractor sold for $1850. Some people buy old rakes and plows for lawn decorations. This tractor fits in as that.
Then off to home before supper. A little more relaxed and reasonable this day.
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