What I did yesterday.

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It would be nice to be born in the year 2000 so that life would have nowhere to go but up. It's bad when you have to eat a frog each morning just to make the rest of your day seem brighter. :-)

I went to a flea market yesterday and saw:

One steel clindrical wood burning stove/heater. $35.00.

One square and squat, cast iron 4 plate wood burning kitchen stove. $50.00.

Two kero-sun kerosene heaters. $40.00 each.

Couple of hand cranked gearbox grinders. $25.00 and $15.00. Bought the cheaper one. It seemed more suitable for grain milling.

Piles of about 1000 used tires. Thought about the fact that each one contains about 1 gallon of oil.

Lots of basic hand tools. Bought a pick ax for $10.00.

Bought eight hardcover books. Averaged less than a dollar apiece. I bought Candle making, Soap making, Rice Recipes, one on how to recognize and deal with fear and anger in others, another cook book, a chemistry book, one on storage batteries for future ? reference and few similar types that I can't remember now.

I asked for Lucifer's Hammer. Fellow said I was second one that day.

Next week I'll go again. With more money and hope that 60 minutes hasn't done me in.

Also gave the Millennium Bug book to a neighbor for a few days and made a few other misc. efforts at enlightening others.

How was your day??

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), November 29, 1998

Answers

Floyd,

About to check out the local Farmer's Market again. Already talked to the organizer on how she started it seven years ago. Still researching the issue. Will post suggestions on "how to" start one when I've covered the issue throughly enough.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 29, 1998.


You must be in a small town. In L.A., the "garage sale" books are all last year's "Your Inner Child Deserves Love" types. The tools for sale are old computers, stereos, broken furniture, and toaster ovens. Looks like I'll have to get all my stuff new. And books. Another book recommendation -- but probably out of print -- "No Blade of Grass." See also Loompanics (www.Loompanics.com) for list of "unusual" books.

-- undecided (one@stuckinthecity.com), November 29, 1998.

Not an L.A. by any means but Buffalo and suburbs is about 400,000 I think. We have a couple of on-going farmers markets.

The place yesterday was not exactly a farmers market but they were there anyway, with bushels of apples and oranges, honey, bags of Hickory nuts, (Are they something to pick up, BTW?) and a bunch of other food things.

This is more like a year round indoor flea market including lots of outdoor tables in the nicer weather. Narrow aisles and piled bizarr type enclosures piled with tons of junk/treasure. There has to be a half million books and I spent about 2 hours looking through the titles that I could get to.

Also seen another copy of The Last Whole Earth Catalog for $5.00. The original price. BTW; my son brought over a newer one that I wasn't aware of. Printed in 1994 with a white cover instead of black, it is very much the same idea. Lots of more recent stuff. I'll pass on anything I see that looks interesting or useful.

Going on 7 p.m. Gotta go set up the vcr for 60 min.

Me.

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), November 29, 1998.


Last week-end I went to a farm auction and bought a complete daizy butter churn, several flat iron with handle, brace and bits, foot powered stone for sharpening, and a hand operated corn sheller for about $100. I tried for some of the horse drawn equipment but it went too high to antique collectors that take the parts with the manufacturer name on it off and sell those to silly city people that think it is "country".

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), November 29, 1998.

Floyd, I was born in the 1920's and my earliest recollections were of the depression, so had no place to go but up. Only problem was that it took so long and ww2 to get out. I anticipate that I might have to do it all over again if I live that long. At the time I didn't know we were poor but now the only way to go is back down. I can live without the conveniences, but it will be tough. Herb

-- Herbert Johnson (HERB87@JUNO.COM), December 01, 1998.


A good day. Yesterday at the flea/farmer market I bought:

Two *early* coleman lamps for 2.50 each. They need work but are certainly repairable. Had one going but I had to keep pumping hard. The biggest problem is the leaks but I can solder. They do not have glass enclosure but rather lamp shades of some sort attach on top. Not so equipped but could they have been the cut, leaded glass type perhaps? The tank bottoms appear to hold a couple of quarts of fuel and they have a tire valve connector for pressurizing. Now we need a tire pump or two.

Got a used coleman two burner cooker for $5.00. As I was looking it over, pretending indiference and trying for $4.00 for the fun of it, I heard someone behind me ask the price. Shill or not; I said "sold" very quickly. Also bought a meat grinder for $3.00 which we will use for the 12 lbs of suet fat we bought for $4.00. So what $.33 a lb is high...; I can afford it. :-)

The suet is called for in the twenty some dollar soap and candle making books we bought last week for $.80 each. You can make better soap, with glycerin and other qualities, than what's available in the stores.

Y2K should have gotten here sooner.

There weren't any kerosene heaters or wood burning stoves for sale this week.

Me.

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), December 06, 1998.


Yesterday I bought a coal stove for 150.00. Couldn't believe it when I saw it. Looked like a large old fashioned floor model radio complete with wood grained finish. About 20" x 32" x 48".

We think we will add a wall at the end of the family room in the basement, about three feet in, to hold the coal. Have to calculate the capacity/time coverage, more accurately. The coal will be dumped in through the cellar window. I'm sure we can hook it up to the present chimney. Its a class A and there is no creosote problem with coal. The stove is a radiant type with no plenum or blowers but I am thinking of building a small enclosure to house it. Using fireproof material, the enclosure itself would act as a plenum and connect directly to the existing ductwork. Air intakes at the bottom of the walls of the enclosure would allow for cold air return. Or; we might put a grate in the floor directly above the stove and allow the heat to go directly to the center of the living area above. The existing ductwork or the cellar stairs would then be the cold air return.

The day before that, I emailed a company on the web asking about a grain mill and its availablity. I wondered if they had a backlog on the orders. They answered immediately (New Years Day no less) and said no backorders. They in fact were getting a shipment in this coming Thursday. I asked about C.O.D. They said yes. What's the total? $205 for a Country Living mill and flaker on a manual base. Will be delivered on or about the 16th. Now I gotta get the grain, I guess. What good's a coloring book without crayons?

Me

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), January 04, 1999.


Floyd, Country Baker ( on internet) has good grain. Went there and picked mine up.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), January 04, 1999.

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