Went to another auction...

There are usually 3-4 consignment auctions I like to attend in the late winter. Two of them are now over! The one I went to yesterday was a really large one that has been held annually for just the past 7 years. It was actually the first time I have ever been to this one, but it was really interesting. There were a LOT of items there.

The weather STARTED OUT nice - 55°, a little breezy at 11:00. By 1:00 it was down into the lower 30's with a down right nippy north wind blowing at around 30 mph, and threatening rain. I saw a few people there who came in shorts and a T shirt. Not to bright to forgo the weather report before you go somewhere....
By 2:30 it has begun to drizzle and by 3:00, rain started to fail - thunder and lightning included.

I watched things for awhile, but didn't bid on much. There were a few items I was interested in, but let them go. There were a lot of buyers from the western part of the state and from other states. Most of them were here to buy the Hedge fence posts that were advertised. It was incredible to see some of the hedge posts going for nearly $25 per post! These were 10" corners. I saw a man buy over 1000 metal "T" posts for $3 each and 50 used rolls of barb wire for $25 each! Hope he has fun putting up fence this year!

Some of the "bargains" were a hay stacker that went for $125, a John Deere 4010 that sold for $3600 and lots of hay that went for cheap. I'm sure there were more, but it was mostly stuff I wasn't interested in.

The lone purchase I made was for two Trojan Stock tank heaters. I paid $5 for them, so I'm happy. They even came with a book and regulator. I'll find out if they work this spring and then use them next winter.

On the way back from the auction, I managed to run across a wire "rabbit hutch". It is the kind with 4 cages in a line - each cage being about 30" square. I haven't even taken them off the pickup yet. I plan on using them for "broody" hens. I have one single cage that I used last year, and it worked well.

Last evening about 7:00, or so, it started to snow. At first the weather gypsies told us that we were in for 2" to 4". Then they upped it to 3" to 5". By 9:00 pm they "revised" it back down to 1". We ended up with about 1". Someone needs to install a window in the NOAA office.....

This morning, I butchered a chicken. Nothing unusual about that, but the bird was a bit different from the others. I couldn't believe how much FAT was on the beast! I pulled off a large section of pure chicken fat from her "rump" that was 3/4" thick and about half the size of my hand! Her back also had a hefty covering of the stuff. She was a meaty bird, but very fat, too. We will find out tonight how tasty she is....

Every time I butcher a chicken, I do the skinning and gutting outside, then bring the "carcass" in to the sink to finish. It never fails. As soon as they spot the bird heading for the sink, our two Dachshunds run to "camp out" within easy "scrap tossing distance" of said bird. It also never fails that one of them leaves after the first tidbit is tossed her way. She will sniff it, snort, and walk away in disgust. It's really odd, she LOVES fruit and will eat the scraps from store-bought chicken, but not from home grown. Makes you wonder what they feed the store bought ones. She even turns her nose up at home grown veggies.....

Oh well, more for the boy...