My dad...he knows everything...

This is me sitting next to my dad...at "Nellie's" house!

Dick Stiffler...my dad. He's the reason I'm in this business. If you've read my profile you know that he took me one day to an auction. I think I was around 11 or 12 years old. Can't remember where it was or if we bought anything...but I was hooked. I do remember one auction where we sat in bleachers of sorts, and he bought me a horse statue (one of my first collections). Since then he and I have auctioned many times together, and he has purchased an entire Fiesta collection for me, and a perfume bottle collection--both are treasures. He's a great guy...people love to talk to him...I love having him help me fix the furniture before I sell it...he's a tinkerer, knows what every bizzare item is that I come across, grew up in downtown Rockford and knows the city by heart, ran the Gulf gas station for a hundred years at the corner of Central and Auburn in Rockford then the Sinnissippi Sunoco on N. 2nd Street...he knows everyone! He loves coming to my barn sales and wandering the yard seeing what everyone has...he'll be 84 this year and he's never been on any medication and never gets sick. He loves pie, Model A's and women in hats and aprons! He's an old-fashioned guy who grew up during the depression, married my mom and had eight kids. I have a great family--you might have met my sister Patty, the cashier at the barn sale over the weekend. I have two other great sisters and four wonderful brothers...who I love and they love me! My mom rocks...and is the pillar of our family. My son is lucky to have such great grandparents who live just a hop, skip and jump from my house...my dad spends hours with him in the summer while I'm working my part-time job, and teaches him how to use power tools, run a band saw, build birdhouses, fix a lamp, put oil in the car and all those great things that grandpas do.

Happy Father's Day, dad. I love you.

My dad last fall shelling walnuts! Another pastime of his!

Prepping for the sale...

Getting ready for a barn sale is a lot of work! It's a good thing that from year to year I don't really remember how much work it is! Or my husband for that matter! I do most of the actual furniture part for the barn sale itself...buying the furniture, sanding the furniture, cleaning the furniture, painting the furniture, waxing the furniture, washing all the smalls and pricing everything, carting it all down to the barn, cleaning out and de-mousing the barn, setting up the vignettes in the barn, putting out all the signs, yada yada yada! But, I have to give all the credit to my husband for the way the yard looks when you get here!  He mows and trims, puts in plants, then moves those plants around a few times, then plants some more, then creates a new flower bed or two, you get the picture. And this year we had two skids of sod put in in the lower backyard. He's been busy keeping it watered every night, and he's planted all flowers in what used to be our veggie garden (which we both gave up on...too shady).

 

I'd like to share with you what it looks like so far...because when you get here for the sale, it will be packed with so many vintage goodies, you may miss all the lovely work he's done...

The mild winter gave a needed boost to this lonely rose bush. The corner of my front sidewalk is the only sun we get!

These babies smell like grapefruit...they are gorgeous.

Barn garden...newly planted Shasta Daisies...and Nasturtiam in the bike basket. Old fashioned blue Morning Glories on trellis' on either side of the barn door.

This cool door came out of a farm house up north near our cottage...and retro-fitted it to the barn entrance.

This is a brand new garden bed...just left of the barn...hostas, Annabelles, Minarda, and ferns.

Still a few bare spots for more...

Bought this pump at a garage sale 8 years ago...I use it in the house during the winter!

My poor butterfly house has been taken over by mice...which my Westie has discovered and since trashed the house trying to get at the mouse!

Not everything needs to be perfect! I don't know about yours, but my Minarda is almost as tall as me this year! Unheard of!

My husband is a Clematis freak...we have at least ten of them growing around the yard!

Here's two more...but one didn't make it over the winter! And look in the background at my Climbing Hydrangea...it's taking over the entire oak tree! By the way, anyone who comes to the barn who'd like a piece of it can have some! Just let me know while you're there.

My Annabelle Hydrangea is way huge...and already has full blooms! Crazy!

Yes, he's also a Hosta freak!

This is my Climbing Hydrangea...it gets lace cap type flowers and will cling to any rough surface like a tree, wall, stones, brick, etc.

Many of our hostas have come from our yard where we lived two houses ago! We can't bear to leave them behind!

Doris even got a new "old" fence today...she's filled and ready for your shopping pleasure.

So, that's the yard our of Nellie's Barn Sale...see you next week...June 15 & 16...you can find details on the "Next Barn Sale" page of this site.