Auction Day...SOLD!

I went to bed Friday night feeling anticipation and excitement. Saturday was just around the corner and the Amish Benefit Auction was going to be held up the lane and to the left at the neighboring Amish farm. Last year we went and enjoyed food, meeting up with old friends and seeing family. Not to mention the actual auction itself, which included farm machinery, antiques, furniture, collectibles, miscellaneous household items, quilts, baked goods, services, plants, shrubs and trees of a wide variety, outside furniture, horses, chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs, ducks and cows. (Lion and tigers and bears...oh my!) This year would be no different, I was sure.

So we got up to a misty morning and strolled up the lane, cutting across the muddy field through crookedly parked cars, crossing over a little wooden bridge into Auction Extravaganza. The smell of chicken barbecuing for lunch mingled with the tantalizing aroma of sizzling sausages. Rounding one of the many buildings and tents, we entered a large machine shop, now emptied of equipment and replaced with food stations, quilts, and people. Lots of people.

Dressed in varying shades of blue, green and purple, the Amish community was gathered, from near and far. Straw hats and bonnets, muddy shoes and even muddier bare feet were the fashion statement of the day. As for the rest of us, rain boots in a variety of polka-dots, stripes, flowers and solid colors were covering many feet, along with work boots and muck boots. Sweatshirts and jackets were worn in the morning, but as the day progressed, the gray clouds began to dissipate and as the blue began to seam together in bigger and bigger patches, the sun warmed the jackets away.

Awaiting their breakfast and catching up on the latest news...

Weaving through the mix of tables and people, we gathered our breakfast sandwiches, fresh doughnuts, orange juice and coffee. Sitting outside on wooden picnic tables, still damp from the rain, we ate, not caring too much that our backsides were now damp. Then it was time to stand in line to get our number.

The lines moved through fairly quick and soon I was next in line. Then I realized that my driver's license was needed. Oops. I had walked here and my license was at home. I kinda wondered why it was necessary as many of the folks around me in line don't drive and don't have a license to show. I wondered what they showed or was it on an honor system of some sort. Maybe I could just say that I was Leonard's wife. He knows many in the Amish community hereabouts and they know him. But then I just ducked out of line and found Leo, because he had his license with him. He stood in the long line, again.

Leo bought fence posts. Boring. I went to the plants, drawn there like a bee to honey. (You could say I made a beeline straight to the flowers.) I buzzed through the tent, checking out the prospects; the begonias and torenia caught my eye for some annual color. They were being sold on one wagon at one end of the tent. Then the perennials, trees and varying shrubs were on another wagon at the other end. I positioned myself at a strategic location in-between and tried to pay attention to both auctioneers.

I flashed No.123 a few times, bidding on a few tempting items, but letting them go in the end. I hoped they went to a good home. But then, I scored on two holly bushes, saving about $52 off the ticketed price tagged on them, some lupines, coneflowers, speedwell (of the "Red Fox" variety), and artemisia. Then when the multicolored begonias went up for bid, I dashed to the other wagon, leaping over plants and people in time to wave my number eagerly at the auctioneer. I thought I was bidding on a flat and thought $4.50 for 10 plants quite nice. Then I realized after I won the bid, that it was $4.50 per pot. And I got 20 of them. Oops. I cringed a little, but figured it was going for a good cause. Move on Dianne, move on. You shall bid again. After all, if you fall off the horse, you get back on, right?

Heather and Ryan joined me for a while. They got bored. Plants. Boring. Oh, if only they knew. So, Heather played a game on my cell phone and soon, I had no battery and therefore, no more pictures. But maybe, if you close your eyes, you can imagine what it was like...

Yes, that's my mom!

The people, mingling, eating, bidding, smiling...

The children, playing, pretending, walking through mud with bare feet...

The food, hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken, chips, soda, a salad bar, homemade pies & ice-cream...

The auctions, six at the same time with sing-song voices bidda-bodding all ending with "Sold!"

The items, too many to name but including old desks, antique scales, a vintage suitcase, glassware, tinware, picture frames, bed frames, dressers, wardrobes and trunks, dolls, trucks and snowshoes, books and bowls and bins, oh my.

Four o'clock rolled around and we headed home. The auction was still going on, the crowds were thinning somewhat, but No.123 knew her limits. Better to leave before her hand involuntarily slipped up to bid on that sweet writer's desk that had her name on it. Maybe next year.

Love,
Dianne