Everyone Needs a Hobby

The good thing about this tiny house I’ve moved into is that the cleaning is a slam-dunk. The bad thing is that it puts a serious cramp on my auction- going.

Even I have to admit that if anything bigger than a diamond bracelet comes into this house than something of equal size has to go. On the other hand, if a diamond bracelet appears I could probably up-size and there wouldn’t be a problem. Okay, forget the bracelet and let’s get serious—I am auction- addicted and I’ve run out of room for new finds.

There is something absolutely hypnotic about driving to some out-of-the-way spot, tingling with anticipation. I’ve been to all kinds but now I head for the country ones where the barns are bursting with old furniture and an amazing number of chipped enamel bedpans. The place I like best is a building in a nearby hamlet often rented out to local auctioneers and the building’s sign boasts, “Horseshoe capital of Canada.” Who knew?

I am devoted to a furnishing style best described as Interesting Junk and my budget is limited, to put it politely.

I felt so lucky to get the oriental style cabinet. It has a marble top that had broken in two at some point and had been badly glued back together, so serious buyers wouldn’t consider it worth their while. Eventually I will find the right person to carefully take it apart and restore it properly. That will be the moment one of my lottery tickets proves to be a winner.


One of my best auction finds ever is the gilt mirror with the carved wood frame. I slogged through terrible weather to a country auction find this gem. It’s meant for a house with twelve-foot ceilings and that hasn’t been my case since four homes back.

When I found this house I wondered what the builder had been thinking because the dining room was a long narrow space that led one to believe the living room was supposed to be at the opposite end.

To make this tiny area work would call for either superior planning or luck, take your pick. I squeezed in a couple of chairs and my mother’s large oval antique table but still, that meant only two people could sit in that space.

Then I drove through a fierce snowstorm one Saturday morning to an auction and there it was, the perfect loveseat. At the time two corpulent farmers were wedged together on it chatting about next year’s crops so I couldn’t get a good look. I would have knocked over any of the sweet Mennonite ladies in their black dresses if they had dared to make a bid. When I got it home I tried to gently scrub the upholstery and that left watermarks, so eventually it will go to the upholsterer. After many configurations, I found a way to ease it into place and the living area is complete and suitable for four to sit, as long as they don’t fidget.






At my very first auction I found the high chair that is now tucked into the dining room. It’s been with me through many, many moves. I got the doll at a yard sale and she took over the chair as her own.

We found the horse at a farm auction. It cost us $40 and was missing his legs so a woodworking artist friend gave him some. Unfortunately my friend didn’t have a grip on how a horse’s legs work so this poor little guy is showing signs of rickets.

If I keep this up I’ll have to lower the ceiling to make room for a loft and ladder in each room.

It doesn’t hurt to just go and look, though.