Newburyport is one of the prettiest New England seaside locaations because it has the most beautiful old homes that survive along the boulevard which enters town. It reminded me of the huge houses along St. Charles Ave in New Orleans.

My 2 girlfriends and I spent the day going through each of the little boutiques helping the economy wherever we could. There is a number of old mills which have been renovated into hip retail spaces. Christmas cheer abounded everywhere with live bands, a farmers market selling wreaths and kissing ballls a lively mix of shoppers and Christmas gifts waiting for new homes.

Alas, I could only tempt myself with 1 $10 pair of paints from the used clothing store. My girlfriend more then made up for my lack of shopping. We love to live vicariously through her. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch which featured a Bloody Mary buffet a rustic resturant called 10 at Ten. Later in the day we found a Tavern named Grog which called us inside for more late afternoon indulgances.

The day was fun but the far more important part is we're antique dealers first so one of us had to be out there working and Frank gladly offered to chase down an auction of airplane models in Connecticut. This was a typical day in the day of an antiques dealer.

Up at 5:00 am and on the road by 6:00 Frank arrived in Winstead CT just in time for the beginning of the preview at 10:00. The auction had been advertised on http://www.auctionzip.com/ to be within 150 miles of our home base in NH. Check out these cool photos for the auction and you'll easily see how Frank got sucked right in.

The auction was the lifetime collection of a OCD model maker who was now 80 years old and pretty well crippled up although he had been in the Korea War. The auction was presented by Tim's Inc. Check out this awesome line-up of goods as it appeared pre-sale. http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=752008&category=0&zip=03894&kwd=

Since we sell a tremendous number of books on eBay we like to pick up big lots of one interesting catagory or another because once you develop the clientele for a particular product it's easier to sell to them the second time and a repeat customer always takes less energy then it takes to create a new customer. So Frank was successful in his attempts to buy the library of this fellow and came home with lots and lots of books on airplane model making. Now we just have to gear up our eBay listing robots.

So the auction started at Noon and ended at dark and then Frank had to drive home 4 1/2 hours which turned into 6 by the time he took a couple of naps, grabbed a burger, gas etc. So there it is 6:00 am to 12:30 the next am - a typical day in a dealer's life.

But so too was today. Frank got an afternoon nap in after he unloaded all the boxes of books. As Frank was heading upstairs to the bedroom at 2:30 this afternoon he reminded me of a saying Irene Stella always told us. "It's a weekend. We work on weekends! You can sleep on Tuesday." and with that she'd accept no excuses for anything resembling tiredness on the weekends. She wasn't a slave driver but just knew how to effectively motivate and manage large groups of people.

I spent Sunday evening look at an auction on the Heritage Internet Auction website and then spent today still learning the new computer and making beef stew. Life is good in New Hampshire - until the next time I remain . . . Dragonfly

Aaaah - The First Snow and Christmas Shopping

Aaaah - daybreak the morning of the first snow. It's such a magical time. This is the view from my office window. It's a small tree on the lawn of Carpenter School here in Wolfeboro.

Funny thing is my mother called from New Mexico this week where she

Off to Newburyport to do some Christmas Shopping today.

A quiet day in the home office. . . .

It was a quiet day in my home office. Frank left to go look at an old soap factory mill building outside Concord that's for sale and I stayed home to capture the peace and quiet of my home with my faithful companion Oscar.

Part of flowing with new technology all the time is learning it. Between my new computer, my new website, and my new blogspot there is plenty of reading and learning to be done lately. Of course every website I go to I need to stop and update my new email address.

I started marketing my new blogspot only to find out the address I had put out there wasn't correct. The URL www.DragonfliesAntiques.Blogspot.com/ ends in a forward slash not a period. Such details are the curse of the devil.

In addition my web domain www.antiquebug.com had expired so a bunch of emails were getting bounced back to people who have known me as Dragonfly for years - I've had that address for a wicked long time. Needless to say it took me the better part of the day sort it all out and I'm still waiting for Network Solutions to fix my publish button so I can update the new website. All things in time.

So what started out to be a day with a blank canvas for me to work on some overdue appraisal work got sucked up by technology that's supposed to benefit my life....or complicate it - I'm not sure which.

Frank got home from his Real Estate search and spent some time repairing the feet on the Duck I bought yesterday. The label on the piece reads: Happy Land Playthings Delphos Bending Company which does indeed lead me to the good side of the internet. Historical information at the touch of a few buttons. It's great! http://www.delphos-ohio.com/bending.htm

This lead to a discussion in our house about whether this should be called Americana or Folk Art. We decided on Americana because it was mass produced in the early 20th century. We tend to save the words Folk Art for more special one of a kind items.

Guess I'll be spending my Saturday working on the appraisal. Sunday is Auction day for Frank and Christmas Shopping with the Girlfriends in Newburyport for me. Until next time . . . I remain Cathy@DragonfliesAntiques.com

Traveled down to Manchester - Stopped at Log Cabin Antiques

I had to go down to Manchester NH today which is approximately 1 and 1/2 hours away from where we live in Wolfeboro, NH. It's an enjoyable trip because I get to stop at the Log Cabin Antiques Group Shop (they call them Malls in the south and west).

Anyways, Log Cabin Antiques Shop is a conglomerate of mid to lower end dealers - 150 in all who rent booths or cases and display their wares. When the shop first started it was better quality but seems to have leveled out to it's current level of dealers as evidenced by the ones who are still selling and able to pay their booth rents. Vintage jewelry and clothes were among the strong suits (no pun intended). The quality of furniture was lower then in the past but the quality of collectibles was up (if that's what you search for). It also tells me the high end country and Americana market is slow right now because they can't hold on enough to pay booth rent.

My father-in-law was an antiquarian book dealer for 35 years one of the most important things he taught me was that it pays to know your place in the food-chain and I often think of that line when I go into places like this that are great picking. There's one dealer at the Log Cabin who definately knows her place because I've bought from her 3 times now and am able to advance my purchases by a little profit to at least pay for the gas to get to Manchester and back. Plus the little duck brings a smile to my face. It'll be perfect to display when we open again in the Spring.

I don't usually deal in this type of thing but it had a lot going for it. It was 3-dimensional, sculptural if you want to call it that, it was affordable, the paint was crackeled and dry just as it should be, it looked like the whimsical rocking animals that came out of Brattleboro VT in the early 20th century, it is whimsical and it represents fun. Asking price $225. Perfect for a Christmas present too.

My Office Corner - 1823 Sampler - Heino Pottery - Batik Soft Sculpture

So often people ask me "Where do you get all this stuff?" Well today was pretty typical in that a youngish couple with a 1 year old boy came by the house today and offered to sell us a pair of Victorian portraits on porcelain; a Royal Doulton plate that the transfer had been misprinted on and it had a hairline crack and the third item which was a sampler.

The sampler was circa 1823 and had a delightful as well as insightful motto on it which reads:

Virtue and wit with science joind

Refine the manners improve the mind

And when with industry they meet

The female character is complete

Wrought by Lucy Work in the 10 year of her age 1823

As far as samplers go this one is a simple design featuring a lower and upper case alphahet, numbers 1-10 and the motto. It felt it was reasonably priced for an original piece of folk art which is nearly 200 years old and so it'll now be for sale in my shop for $350.

I'm always totally astonished when I look at the beautiful hand-work of these young children and compare it to a 10 year old of today. These pieces were such an integral part of an upbringing of a young women. Creating these works of art taught girls how to read, write, spell, understand numbers, poetry and the all important skill for an 1800's girl - stitching and it was all done in this one frugal project.

People like this fellow Robert are known as pickers. They watch auctions, antique shows and flea markets trying to catch a deal on one or two pieces and then peddle them for a short profit. I love having pickers come over and bring me things. It makes my job so much easier. I showed Robert around our shop so he could get a feel for the type of things we like to offer for sale in our shop and directed him to the town playground for his son Owen. I hope I see them again!

The extra large bulbous pot by Otto & Vivaka Heino is from the 1960's and is signed by both Artists. Fresh from an artists estate in his Goffstown NH geodesic dome home - asking price $3,450.

Night shot of Barn

Well this is what I had Frank do with the board from the dump. He's so wonderful to still be able to execute my vision so well after all these years. I see things and he makes it happen.

This year, I worked with Spider Web Gardens in Tuftonboro to help me create the wreaths. I love their products, their attitudes and service and I love keeping it local. http://www.spiderwebgardens.com/ . Next year I'll have the giant wreath forms which I plan to recycle with new greenery.

So my most recent thoughts jump between thinking if I should keep things CLASSIC or should I embrace all my craziness with whimsical folk art - it's a constant dilima for me. This probably is the closet thing to recognizing both sides of me. A classic crazy case.

Anyone have any thoughts about what's needed for spring landscaping - Classic or Crazy?