A - Anticipation and Auctions

And...we're off! Today is the beginning of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I'm a little nervous that I may not be successful in this endeavor, but, I'm giving it a shot.


There has been much anticipation since about February, which resulted in a panic attack from time to time. And, now April has arrived, and I'm no more prepared than I was in February.


Since we are now living on a "farm", which consists of roughly five acres, Hubby is in need of certain pieces of farm equipment.  He has his red tractor, a plow and a disc. (Actually, I need to check with him to make sure I'm giving out the correct information. Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure what we have or what we need.)


The best place to find these needed items are at the Kidron Auction, where every Amishman and his brother take items to the auction. I was not overly thrilled to attend the auction, but, I knew Hubby was looking forward to it, so I decided to brave the weather and go with him. Were we having beautiful, unseasonably warm weather at the time of this auction? No, of course not. The unseasonably warm weather was the week before and the week after, but not the week of the auction. The weather we endured was cold, blowy, snowy, yucky, freezing, yucky weather.


We bundled up.  I was wearing: 3 pairs of socks, long johns, a pair of Hubby's pajama bottoms, jeans, three shirts, two sweatshirts, and was still freezing!

 Doesn't this look soooo interesting??

 The thing that Hubby wanted was that thing there in the middle. I am going to have to learn the names of farm equipment. (It's called a two bottom plow.) We did not take it home with us. 

The reason we did not take it home with us is because someone else wanted it  a lot more than we did. We go to an auction with the intention of getting a good deal, aware that these items are USED. Other people go to auctions with their checkbooks, but they leave their brains at home.(Quote from Hubby) If we are fortunate to get the first bid, we never, ever give the auctioneer what he's asking, because they always start out high. We always start lower. It's so annoying when people start out high. We were told by Hubby's farmer brother, that it wasn't worth going more than $250-$300. The auctioneer started out at $500, but got a bid for $250. Then something so strange happened. The auctioneer was trying to get the next bid for $300, when someone in the crowd shouted out "$500"! Huh? See what we mean about leaving their brains at home? People get goofy at auctions.  

 This is how I looked most of the time. It was stinkin' cold! 

 Need a good washing machine? There's lots to be had. I think they went for about $200.

 You know you're in "Amish Country" when you see a sign like this:

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I'm a Geek and a Glutton

Now, when I say that I'm a geek, you may picture me as looking like this:

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Or possibly, this image came to mind...sans the moustache:

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(However, if you have read more than one blog, I'm sure neither of those images came to mind.)  But, it was a clever "hook" was it not? 


And, when I say I'm a glutton, you may think I look like this:

Well, when it comes to chocolate, there may be a lot of truth to that one.


However, I am really a geek for vegetables and a glutton for punishment. This is how I came to that recent conclusion.


Even though I have a garden, it only produces enough for one meal at a time, so Hubby and I usually find ourselves at the local farmers auction in order to get enough food to can.


When I arrived at the auction, and saw all the beautiful vegetables, my mouth started salivating. The colors were so vibrant, the aromas so sweet. Well, not all of the aromas are sweet. Most of the suppliers are Amish, so mixed in with the sweet aromas of fruit and freshly baked bread, is horse manure and sweat. (Most Amish do not use deodorant.) I just wandered around saying, "Oh! Look at those beautiful beans!We need those!"   "Try to get those gorgeous peaches. We need those, too!" What I didn't come up with, Hubby did.

Lovely veggies and fruit

Vibrant colors

Freshly baked bread and goodies! YUM!

Amish don't like having their pictures taken. I try
to honor that, but sometimes, I can't help myself.
So, I have to take a shot on the sly.
I try not to get their faces.

One of the good aromas - onion rings!
One moment while I wipe up my slobber.

A quiet moment

Hubby in action! Total concentration!

Here's a little snippet of the sounds...

So, that is a short explanation of my geekiness. And, now about my gluttony. 


I could be called a glutton for vegetables. but you may decide that I am a glutton for punishment.


Are you sitting down? Well, believe it or not, this is what we brought home from the auction. I warn you, the sight may be quite shocking!

The last of the tomatoes, waiting patiently to be loaded.

This is how the pick-up looked.
There's another layer underneath.

Contrary to what you might think, this is not a produce shop.
This is our basement when everything was unloaded.

Aren't the colors beautiful??

Purple beans.
I was very disappointed to see the purple disappear
as the beans were processed.

Lovely peaches for Peach Cobbler this winter.

Beautiful carrots!

So pretty! So lovely!

Are you a vegetable geek??

I was just a little busy last month!

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Sold to the highest bidder

Hubby and I went to an auction today. We used to go a lot more frequently, but lately, we've only managed to go to one or two a year. It's a great way to spend the day, if you have nothing to do, and the weather is nice. (Neither was the case this weekend!)

Actually, I had never been to an auction until  I met Hubby. It is yet another way that he has broadened my horizons. After we were married, most of our furnishings came from auctions.

It took me many years to have the courage to bid on something for myself.  I discovered that it is very exciting to be in the middle of a bidding war. The danger is in claiming something and becoming emotionally attached to it before you've actually won it. I almost always claim MY item, and am disappointed when someone else leaves with it. The second danger is not setting a pre-determined amount in your head, a price you will not go over.  Giving in to those two things may mean that you find yourself the proud owner of a treasure that cost a lot more than it is worth.

There's always a wonderful feeling of success to have the winning bid, but it's an ever better feeling to get your prize below your budgeted amount. It's a rare moment to come "under budget", but it has been known to happen

We have two pet peeves when going to an auction. The first one is when someone runs the price up to equal or above what the item would cost new. Why would you pay a "new" price for a "used" item? I don't know, but it happens alot. (Probably due to the dangers mentioned earlier!)  Our second pet peeve is when someone accepts the opening bid of the auctioneer. NEVER do that!! The trick is to make him keep lowering the opening bid to a ridiculous amount, and then jump in.

I'll share a funny story. One time we took my mother-in-law with us to an auction. She found something, and was busy bidding away.  Suddenly, we were aware of exactly HOW she was bidding. To my dear mother-in-law, all fingers are created equal. We were mortified to realize that she was using her middle finger to bid. Yes, she was flipping off the auctioneer with every bid, and was completely oblivious to what  she was doing. Naturally, she found several things to bid on, and used the same finger every time!

Today's auction was not very exciting. There was way too much stuff, and most of it was junk not worth waiting around for one or two things. This particular auction was at the fairgrounds and in two separate buildings, one heated, one unheated. Of course, the few items hubby was interested in were in the unheated building. Brrrrr. We stayed for about an hour, and by then it was clear that we would be waiting many hours to get to the items, and we really didn't want to stay that long.  Another unwritten rule is that no matter where the item is that you want, they will always start auctioning from the opposite direction!

Now, if it was summer, and outside, this story would have had an entirely different ending.

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