Brimfield..... it's a family affair

July Brimfield has come and gone - fast and furious as usual!  It is always a different story at Brimfield - sales are up or down, shopping is great or sparse, the weather is hot or wet or cold. But this time was very special for us.... we brought our daughters for the first time since they were in strollers. They each had their own merchandise to sell and were responsible for packing it, setting it up and selling it.

The girls are 13 and 11 now and have grown up with the constant revolving decor of an antiques family. Always something new in the house to look at, but don't get too attached... it could be gone tomorrow. With kids, you are never sure how much about the family business is being absorbed, but hearing them negotiate prices, make deals and watching them drink fresh lemonade, play cards and display their treasures we are fairly certain they have caught the Brimfield bug. (Speaking of bugs... a huge hatching of gypsy moths made for another interesting show.)

Brimfield Girls

Steenburgh Auctions

June Auctions, What a Month!

Steenburgh Auction at the Costello Farm, Bath, New Hampshire

We had a wild month of auctions in June! You have to love the business to enjoy so much work  - from organizing merchandise, setting up tents, fielding phone-calls and conducting the sales - a successful auction is a satisfying accomplishment.

The Steenburgh family has been holding sales - both on-site estate auctions and off-site antiques sales for over 30 years and the fun continues....

Here are some photos of the crew and from the auctions this past spring in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Welcome to the HenHouse!

With summer here and the agreement that the time has come to turn this place into a working farmhouse... at least most of most of us agree ;)

We have decided to get chickens! The hatchlings for the breeds we decided on were all available for a June 10th delivery, so we have had plenty of time to make plans for their housing. Right now, they live in a dog crate stacked above Piper the dog's crate.. she has been a very accommodating host.

Our local Agway store has been awesome with advice and the chicks are beautiful and healthy... it has been a little bit difficult to tamper my enthusiasm as a first time farmer and not embarrass myself too much, but I did take few adoption photos at the store and engage a reserved customer into a chat about the ducklings he was getting when I was picking up the chicks. They all humored me.

We are now the proud owners of 2 Rhode Island Reds (they are supposed to be the best layers), 2 Buff Orpingtons (they are supposed to be the sweetest), 2 Bard Rocks (they are the cool black & white speckled variety) and 2 Ameraucanas (they lay the blue eggs!)

I am sure these babies will have a very awkward stage before they grow up, but now, they are my "puff-balls" as our sweet little neighbors have described them.