My hubby is the man who loved auctions and one who could never turn down a 'good' deal for 'good' stuff. Eventually I realized he was a 'collector'.
So often I'd come home from work and find him unloading his latest prizes.
Him: Hey Sweetie! Look what I got for you today at an auction!
Me [subdued voice]: Um, gee, just what I want. Used pots and pans? I don't even like to cook!
Another time.
He comes home and starts to pull boxes out of the truck bed chatting excitedly about the deals he got. I watch as he starts to pile them up in the garage next to our saddles and bridles. I realize there is not going to be room to park in the garage ever again.
Him: I got you another gift!
Me: Oh how wonderful a box of 30 white coffee cups! For $2!
One time he came home with a trailer full of metal pipes and another trailer. He was always going to scrap things out. He never has. But he still contends that those pipes and piles of other things are valuable. No amount of begging to have it removed or sold has ever worked.
Then something would break at the farm and he'd go scrounge in his piles of 'stuff' and come up with a way to fix that broken thing.
Him: See, that is why I have all this good stuff!
Me [cringing]: Of course dear.
Need a 5/16th wrench? There's a bucket of 10 in the shed!
Need hoses for watering? I have 100's of feet of them hanging in two sheds.
Need nails? I have buckets and smushed cardboard boxes of them.
Need barbed wire? Metal fence posts?
Tires for hay wagons?
Scrap metal to weld?
How about a lawn mower or toilet?
Parts to a hay wagon rack?
Darnit! Why do we only have one single hammer? How could that even be possible?
Him: Sweetie! Look what I got you at auction! Dish Towels!
Me[smacks forehead]: Oh thank you honey, what a prize that is!
I will have to admit though, I've never had to really buy dishtowels. They are ugly colored and mismatched but who cares? Though I have bought a few nice ones to put out when company comes.
Those coffee cups? I did take two into the house. They are the same type that are used in restaurants. They are a nice size and weight.
My husband was a very talented welder and manufacturer of things needed for a farm. He could make a hay loader for nearly any piece of equipment. He could fit an Olive loader on an Allis Tractor. At one time he could tear down a tractor engine and put it back together.
He once took apart 3 old manure spreaders and put them back together to make a working one.
I smile as I look out at all of his unfinished projects. Sometimes the 'stuff' really bothers me and then I realize I am looking at the history of my husband. All the projects he had in his head and ideas for things. His ideas were good. He just rarely completed them.
Many nights I think about how many auctions I'll need to have at the farm to clean it all up. Surely there is another fella just like my hubby who would marvel and drool over all the Good Stuff we have.
Those guys are out there! I might be married to one. My favorite story is coming home on Christmas Eve. Our neighbors were packing the wife and kids and blankets in the car to spend Christmas on her mom's couch while he stayed home to try to prevent pipes from freezing. The furnace went out and three companies did not have the part and couldn't order until after a four day weekend. Husband went in the garage (that we have never parked in) and found the part, fixed the furnace and saved Christmas. All he asked was they replace the part in his stash when they got a chance.
ReplyDeleteMy other story was when we built a 24 x 24 addition. I budgeted all the costs correctly except the tool budget. I thought we already owned every tool that was ever made. That was incorrect. There was a tool he thought he needed that was $300. We would have to go out of town to buy it so I asked some guys at work if anyone had one. And one did and would lend it to him. So when I got home I told him and it turned out he had been able to accomplish whatever he was doing without it. Thank goodness they weren't stocked in my town.
Oh yes!
DeleteI think there is enough wood around I could build me a Woman Cave if I knew how!
I threatened to fill an old manure spreader with dirt and plant flowers in it.
I have found some incredible treasures though. Old crates that I've cleaned up and other great things.
Maybe some great lawn art is in your future! There may be a picker out there for all the good stuff!
ReplyDeleteThere are guys that would come and pay you to clean up your junk and others that would just haul what they would want.
DeleteBut I'd hate to do that right at the moment as he still hangs onto the idea that he will do it some day.
You know what they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure. No doubt someone will love what Rich has stashed away!!
ReplyDeleteI suppose he would be upset if you start chipping away and rehoming things. Most treasure hunters would. I'm thinking those white mugs would make great art projects. Kiddo's could grow "crazy hair" in them, kinda like Chia Pets or decorate them for gifts. As for the metal stuff, I need to take you to Dr. Evermore art park (if you've never been).
I've read about Dr. Evermore art park and would love to go. Perhaps I should have Rich teach me to weld with that new welder he purchased a few years ago! LOL I coulda been an artist!
DeleteKidding, I doubt I'd do that but yet Hmmmm....
Yes, we met a man once that had 45 acres of machine parts. When Rich had to fix a tractor he just drove up to his place and off the went in an old truck to find the part in the fields of parts.
And yes, he'd be very upset if I started rehoming stuff. I've picked up a lot of broken stuff and whisked it off to the dump.
I love metal! Rust and patina are so colorful and unique to each piece. It fascinates me!! I've taken many photos of metal stuff.
DeleteI wish I knew how to weld.
I know a guy. My Dad! He had everything you just wrote and a bunch of leather punching tools. Even though he never played with anything leather. I felt bad unloading the clutter after Mom died, but he felt better having room once again. When he died, my brother unloaded all the rest of that junk. That must have been quite a feat! Ah well, Sometimes that "junk" does come in useful, I know I have those traits as well. Good hing Cheryl keeps me honest.
ReplyDeleteI guess it was his hobby of sorts and it got him off the farm and often he did used to sell some of it again. But one day I'll have fun selling the items in auctions.
DeleteFun. My father-in-law who eventually lived with us for seven years was always bring her boxes of good stuff. We use the one set of plates that are antique and quite nice. Staffordshire Indian Tree. Saw them at an old house museum in Denver one time. Valuable and could be sold one plate at a time for big bucks. Fun read. I like your husband and I know you do too.
ReplyDeleteI have found some really unique things that hubby purchased.
DeleteI collect stuff too, but I try and keep it to a minimum and enjoy passing on what I no longer use.
Nice to have neat plates! Mine are a collection of all sorts of plates which suites my character! Thanks for stopping in!
Oh I know that auction fever! We used to work for an auctioneer- my husband as a part time auctioneer and me as the clerk. We pretty much knew who would be buying all the junk boxes. We did manage to curb our own auction fever, largely in part because we learned long ago not to collect too much stuff as we moved so many times over the years.
ReplyDeleteTed has an eye for antiques and has found several treasures over the years. We try to keep our possessions to a minimum though- enjoy them for a few years and then pass them on to someone else.
Never take away a man's dreams, even if they don't seem reachable or practical to us wimmens. ;o)
That is good advice that I've gotten more than once. To get rid of it while he was here would be a crushing blow.
DeleteOur tiny house doesn't allow for much collection, unless one wants to rotate their collectables!