estate sales | dual personalities

April 22, 2025

“I think of the stark and puritanical sky”*

by chuckofish

The Easter weekend was a blur of activity, but I do remember that something fun happened on Good Friday. I went over to daughter #1’s house for an impromptu lunch after which we hopped over to an estate sale nearby at a Clayton penthouse. Normally condos are not worth going to because the people living in them have already down-sized, but this one was listed by our favorite estate sale company and there were a lot of books.

We did, indeed, find a few books, but I also found an antique loveseat that had been recovered in a fab fabric. (Like the Madcaps, no beige for me!) I started to fill out a bid card, but Lamar called us over and looked at it and gave it to me for my asking price (60%)! Plus he threw in everything else for the Lamar discount of free.

One of their guys delivered it to my house and he and his son got it upstairs and into my office easy peasy. I am thrilled.

And I made it to church by 6 o’clock!

With all the excitement I almost forgot it was my birthday. I received many lovely birthday gifts over the weekend…

My children know me so well.

My daughters also gave me fancy beauty treatments which I very much appreciate, because they are “in the know” and I am not. They know too to put the effort into fancy wrapping and ribbons, which they learned from me and I learned from my mother. They also know to go to the Dollar Tree for fab decorations! This warms my mothers heart.

All the rain, of course, has resulted in lush growth everywhere. Look at Don’s beautiful creek bed–fresh rainwater runoff over bedrock behind his house…

…and I love his beautiful dogwoods…

And here’s a poem by Jorge Luis Borges*:

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March 19, 2025

“I met a traveler from an antique show/ His pockets empty, but his eyes aglow.”*

by chuckofish

The sun is out and the yard is cleaned up. One set of storms is behind us. But we are still feeling a bit disheveled.

Over the weekend we went to an estate sale in South County where the owners had been ~~great~~obsessive collectors. The wife collected dolls, which brings to mind those scary houses where the rooms are filled with those dolls you used to see ads for in women’s magazines–

but these were nice dolls from foreign countries and she had quite a good collection. I have a similar (much smaller) collection which is in the doll case at daughter #1’s house. We had fun looking at this huge collection which was housed in a lighted, built-in case, but did not consider actually buying any of the dolls. Until we saw these two:

Handmade in England, back in the 1950s (?), they are beautiful. They remind me of the huge collection of dolls which was on permanent display at the school I went to growing up. I’m sure they are from the same source. Anyway, I knew no one would want them, so I rescued them–for a song (minus Lamar’s generous discount). I’m not sure where I will put them, but for now they are safe at my house.

Oh, people and their collections! I do not really understand them. It takes a certain kind of addictive personality to really go all out; we see it not infrequently when estate-sale-ing. It is a good thing to remember that you can’t take it with you, and unless your children share your obsession, it will all end up in an estate sale. (Or else in the Saint Louis Art Museum if you are Morton May.)

Collecting is a curious art,
From treasures in a chest.
The value of what’s gathered there
Is in the one who’s blest.”

–Emily Dickinson

This was interesting: 100 years ago, on March 18, 1925, nearly 700 people died as a massive tornado raced across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana for several hours. Unlike most tornado outbreaks, this was a single, long-tracked twister, ripping primarily through southern Missouri and Illinois. Yikes!

From the I-don’t-ever-want-to-hear-the-word-‘misinformation’-ever-again department, here’s Anne on kooks and cranks, the MSM and the NYT: “For sure it backfired. But still, see, you’re still being judgemental, and you’re not in a position to do that. You can’t judge other people’s motives until you yourself have come clean. You weren’t right on the merits, and other people were, whom you shut down. Until you, the New York Times, breaks down and says sorry, there won’t be any possibility of institutions being rebuilt in a trustworthy manner.”

And as someone noted, due to park ranger cutbacks by DOGE, bears are now tasked with fixing fallen cones…

Have a good day!

*Ogden Nash

4 Comments

March 11, 2025

The thrill of the hunt

by chuckofish

Over the weekend daughter #1 bought a chair for $15 at an estate sale (second day, half off).

She got some nice old man to help her get it into her car and then managed, once home, to get it into her house by herself. I couldn’t have been prouder of her.

The weekend before daughter #2 persuaded her husband to make estate-sale-ing a family affair by going all together to the town down the road for a sale. DN bought a crowbar for $1 and she may live to regret his being hooked, but c’est la vie. Those prairie girls are learning early how to behave at a sale and how to have an eagle eye for that one thing you really can’t live without…and then tell Mamu all about it on the pretend phone!

Anyway, IYKYK how much fun hunting for treasures is.

This is a fun article by designer Emily Clark about replacing/upgrading chairs over the years in her house. (I love those last chairs–what a find!)

Choose joy!

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May 22, 2023

Let angels prostrate fall*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? We had glorious spring weather here in flyover land and it was a joy to revel in it. We went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro and sat outside under the wide blue sky with other like-minded individuals and listened to the 1970s playlist of the band–so, perfect.

Earlier in the day we also went to a couple of good estate sales including one at the home of an old friend from my work days. Bettye was a sweet lady from Arkansas who was a founding member of the St. Louis Chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America. In January she went to Australia to visit her daughter, went off hiking by herself and never returned. They found her body the next day. I was truly saddened by this turn of events. She had been one of my right hand lieutenants for many years. I deduced that one of the estate sales was at her house and I wanted to see her lovely century home in U. City and hopefully find a few books (which I did) so we went. Granted, it is always a little disconcerting to snoop through the home of someone you knew. Hers was just like I expected–lots of books and old furniture, good art, a lovely garden.

Daughter #1 went back to two of the estate sales the second day, when prices are 50% off, and came away with quite a haul. IYKYK how exciting this is. I know Bettye would be pleased that a few of her things are in my daughter’s home.

I must also mention the passing of Timothy Keller on Friday. He was a pillar of the PCA. I credit him with bringing me into the Presbyterian fold. Back in 2017 (or thereabouts) I used to ride my stationery bike for 30 minutes before breakfast every morning and I would listen to Tim Keller sermons. He preached the gospel and talked unironically about John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards. I have a notebook full of notes…Do not put yourself in the place of God, but become godly. He talked about sin, immersing yourself in the Bible, going to church. He knew what the harm was in blending worship of our triune God with the worship of our man-made idols. He knew God has no patience with this. Keller taught me about his intellectually stimulating denomination and that it is possible to spread the Word even in Babylon.

“Expository preaching should provide the main diet of preaching for a Christian community. . . . [It] is the best method for displaying and conveying your conviction that the whole Bible is true. This approach testifies that you believe every part of the Bible to be God’s Word, not just particular themes and not just the parts you feel comfortable agreeing with.”

And I love this last word from John Piper about Keller:

Also, rest in peace Jim Brown, who died last week. We all know he was an awesome athlete, but did you know that besides being a great football player at Syracuse University, he was a sensation on the lacrosse team? (He was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1984, 13 years after he made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

As you know, Brown retired at the height of his NFL career to be a movie actor and he made some good movies. “I had a great appreciation for Harry Belafonte and Sidney [Poitier] and Sammy Davis [Jr.] They were all great in their own way,” he said in A Football Life documentary from NFL Films that premiered in November 2016. “But I was a physical actor, I was a hero … We needed that as African-Americans.” He makes a good point. I think Woody Strode felt that way as well.

I recently watched 100 Rifles (1969) when Raquel Welsh died earlier this year, so I think I’ll opt for The Dirty Dozen (1966) or Ice Station Zebra (1968) or one of his other films.

Into paradise may the angels lead thee and at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem.

*Edward Perronet, 1779

4 Comments

July 25, 2022

This and that, here and there

by chuckofish

Every so often I just like to post this old Booth cartoon because it sums up my mood so well.

In other news, we continue to languish in our tropical flyover state where we have been tolerating/not tolerating super hot temperatures. On top of which, my allergies were terrible this weekend–the sneezing and the blowing–zut alors!

I did manage to go to one estate sale and I checked out my local antique mall where I found something I could not resist.

It’s a large lead soldier–a Cameron Highlander–in a nice case. It is very well painted.

You will say that I already have plenty of lead soldiers around my house, but I couldn’t help myself. He was on sale! It was a rescue job and I am not apologizing.

You may recall that our father was quite a hobbyist and one of his longterm hobbies was painting lead soldiers and collecting Britains. I do indeed have them all over my house.

So what’s one more soldier?

The OM and I went to church on Sunday where we heard a good sermon on Matthew 21: 33-46. We also sang some great old hymns lustily which is always a joy. The boy and his family were in KC this weekend so we ate brunch at our backup diner and then drove down to my favorite auction house to check out the preview of next weekend’s auction. I am keeping my eye on a few things and who knows, if there is no competition, I may win something.

And they say the intense heat will be vacating the area and we will be back to near normal temperatures and maybe some rain. That would be nice.

Did you watch Red River (1948) on Saturday? We did and it was great.

John Wayne is iconic and Montgomery Clift holds his own. And, boy, that is saying a lot.

And here’s a great rendition of a favorite hymn by Missouri’s own, the Petersens, to start your week off…

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March 7, 2022

What then shall we say to these things?

by chuckofish

This weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and ventured to an estate sale in a part of town that is terra incognita to me. Daughter #2 was in Jeff City so I had no trusty co-pilot…but I found the house without a problem. It was in Affton, a tiny house that would usually never tempt me, but the pictures on the estate sale website had led me to believe that it might be worthwhile because there were lots of Ehrman needlepoint pillows, finished, unfinished and unopened kits. A veritable treasure trove of the best kits from the U.K.! Even though I arrived within an hour of opening, a lot of the best pillows and all the kits were already gone. However, upon investigation, I soon discovered that the woman who had made all the pillows and sewed all the kits was not a very accomplished needlepointer. They were all trapezoidal, not square, and nothing had been blocked. Her stitching was terrible. What a shame!

I bought one that had not yet been made into a pillow in memory of the devoted needlepointer, but I am ~~uncertain~~ pretty sure it can’t be salvaged.

I also bought a good book…

…which happened to have the woman’s name in it. It sounded vaguely familiar and I was curious, so I googled her. It turns out she went to my old Episcopal church! Zut alors–the world is so small.

We had another great sermon in church on Sunday. It was on Romans 8:31-39, one of the greatest passages in scripture.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
³⁷Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As usual, I cried during every hymn. All these tears made me think of what Frederick Buechner wrote about tears…

Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.
–Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

Nevertheless, it is kind of embarrassing and I need to stop wearing mascara to church.

The boy and his wee family joined us at church and then came over for brunch. The sun wasn’t out, but it was warm enough to do a little exploring in the yard after our meal…

…and I put the wee babes to work picking up sticks after a very windy winter…

This is a game they enjoy. (Lottie made believe we were going to have a bonfire. Make-believe bonfires are the best.) I went out and bagged it up later.

How was your weekend?

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as now.
Elvina M. Hall, 1865

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February 8, 2021

What is your life?

by chuckofish

*Brigham Young University Museum of Art*

David Zahl used this Norman Rockwell painting “Lift Up Thine Eyes” (1957) as a sermon illustration this week and I thought I’d share it too. Rockwell depicts New Yorkers with hunched shoulders and downcast eyes passing St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. They are not looking up at the beauty around them or at the message on the church sign or at their fellow man. Nowadays he would no doubt illustrate people with eyes locked on their cell phones, oblivious to their surroundings and their fellow man. But the sign on the Episcopal Church wouldn’t quote scripture–it would probably say, “All are welcome here” and fly a rainbow flag. And the church would still be empty.

We didn’t get much snow, but the temperature plunged. It was 7 degrees when I checked on Sunday morning.

It was the kind of weekend where you were content to sit by the fire…

and/or cuddle under a blanket.

On Saturday I did venture out to an estate sale at a very modest house in my flyover town, a house which I would normally skip. However, the pictures online of the interior of the house revealed a lot of nice things, including a mysterious array of early 1960s high-end children’s clothing. There were Steiff animals, needlepoint canvases, worked and unworked, and other signs of cultural familiarity.

When I got there my interest was piqued…

and when I found these M.I. blazers, I knew the house had belonged to someone I knew long ago.

Indeed, it all came together and I remembered reading that this woman, who was in the class below me all during my growing up years at school, had died a month or so ago. Well, estate sales can become very creepy when you realize you knew the person(s) who lived there. This happens more than you might think, mostly because I know a lot of older people because of my work. However, a surprising number of my contemporaries have departed this mortal coil, and that does start one thinking.

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:13-14)

Well, I bought a book–I already have a copy, but I always pick up out-of-print treasures like this when I get the chance.

Sigh. All this has caused me to feel a certain nostalgia for the wretched 1970s!

In that spirit, I give you the Grateful Dead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-xy86mFF8ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-xy86mFF8g

P.S. While looking on Youtube for the GD version of this song, I found this cover by some talented youngsters–I love these guys! Jack-A-Roe (or Jack Monroe) is a traditional English folksong which has been recorded by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, among others. Time goes by, but things stay the same, right?

Have a great week, starting with today–Monday! Look up! Pray for the day ahead. Pray that you might bring glory to God, in thought, word and deed. Thank God that his mercies are new every morning. Thank God that his grace is sufficient for all situations that you may encounter.

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June 29, 2020

“I’ll keep the path open, the path in my mind.”*

by chuckofish

I had a quiet weekend. It was hot and sometimes rainy, so I stayed close to home. But I ventured out to a couple of estate sales and had some luck. I found an antique/vintage highchair, of which I am in need since we sometimes have wee twins to dine…

I also rescued a needlepoint brick!

Anyway, I was pleased.

I also did some closet rummaging/rearranging and finished reading A Glassful of Blessings by Barbara Pym. Practically nothing happens in her novels, but she is such a good writer and her descriptions of the smallest interactions are so on target, that I find her books very enjoyable.

In my rummaging I found this little doll from the Soviet Union, which my mother told me she had bought with her pennies in Woolworth’s in the 1930s. It may have been the first thing she bought herself. She is small–only about 5 ” tall.

It appealed to her and she had kept it all those years and now I have kept it all these years. How different she is from all of Lottiebelle’s Disney princesses!

I watched Destry Rides Again (1939) which stars James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.

Stewart is well cast as the initially misunderstood deputy who does not wear a gun. Dietrich, as usual, steals the show, and everyone is happy to let her. The supporting cast is strong. All in all, it is an excellent summer entertainment.

I fell asleep in the middle of most everything else I watched. Par for the course.

Now it is back to the salt mine of working remotely.

The lark is up to meet the sun,
The bee is on the wing,
The ant her labor has begun,
The woods with music ring.

Shall birds and bees and ants be wise,
While I my moments waste?
Oh, let me with the morning rise,
And to my duties haste. (Jane Taylor)

*Bob Dylan

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August 27, 2019

“They smiled at the good, and frowned at the bad, and sometimes they were very sad.”*

by chuckofish

On Sunday Lottie got busy and took all the books off one bookshelf and made two giant book towers. Thankfully her daddy put all the books back (and dusted too). One of the books–The Illustrated Treasury of Children’s Literature (1955)–I took upstairs later and perused at my leisure. What a treasury, indeed! I recommend checking out some of these childhood classics. We forget how really good they are!

“Later on, when they had all said “Good-bye” and “Thank-you” to Christopher Robin, Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting to-day?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

On another note, daughter #1 and I went to an estate sale last weekend where we hit the proverbial jackpot. We found 12 place settings of my mother’s Lenox china for $30!

No one wants fine bone china anymore! Noted. But some of us still do, and that is why we go to estate sales. Quelle score.

Meanwhile it keeps raining here in flyover country and flash flooding happens, causing school districts to close! Enough already.

Have a safe Tuesday! Stay dry.

*Ludwig Bemelmans

5 Comments

March 4, 2019

“Don’t cross the river if you can’t swim the tide”*

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2019-02-25 at 11.14.24 AM.png

I can relate.

I had a busy weekend. The OM and I went to dinner with our old friends on Friday night. We had lots of fun, but, of course, we were home by 9:00 pm.

On Saturday daughter #1 and I went to a couple of estate sales. One was in an old friends’ wonderful home, but it was so packed with people that we hardly could look around. There were literally thousands of books, but we couldn’t really look. It was very frustrating.

I rescued a counted cross stitch sampler…

…and daughter #1 got a great basket full of sewing projects and patterns. We would have gone back on Sunday but it snowed all Sunday morning so we stayed in.

I went out and shoveled.

The wee babes came over on Saturday night with daughter #3. The boy was working so he missed out on veggie burgers and tots.

Lottiebelle arranges the ladies around the Party kitchen for a tea party.

The wee laddie (with a mouthful of Gardetto’s) wrecks havoc. [Impossible to catch him in focus.]

Meanwhile the amaryllis continues to put on quite a show. As the wee babes say, “BIG flowers!”

And now it is Monday and it’s three degrees! Have a good week.

*America, “Don’t Cross the River”–a song that really got Lottiebelle shakin’ her bootie.

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