13 days to Brimfield (and our kitchen counters are in)!

Well, it is almost May, which means that Brimfield will be starting soon. And, so far two corkscrew collectors have claimed a room in our humble abode for the happenings that week (including getting up at 3 in the morning on opening day).

I actually hadn’t told them that yet, so just know that there will be coffee ready early!

And, our kitchen counters arrived yesterday. They are beautiful, and we are now only a couple of days from being done with construction (this phase that is).

a difficult round…

Yesterday a large group of us played reflection bay golf course in lake las vegas. it is a beautiful location with water on 9 of the 18 holes. and, while the 30 mile an hour winds did come into play for me, the water didn’t. I actually made it through the entire round without losing a ball in the water–losing them out of bounds was another problem however.

there were some highlights to the round however. my playing partner on a 198 yard par three landed his ball on the front of the green only to have it roll into the cup, bounce off the flag stick, and end up a foot away. yes, he almost aced the hole! And, on the 15th, I followed a 300+ yard drive with a 200+ yard second shot that put me on the fringe of the green on a difficult par 5 that spanned two desert canyons. Note to self; when playing target golf feel free to shoot over the first target and land on the next.

My score however, was huge! A good 15 strokes higher than normal. So, to ease my pain, I placed a snipe bid on the corkscrew pictured below and this morning won the little guy.

We are off to the airport this morning to head back to Boston!

swank/syroco towel bar

I got a voice mail, from Mark yesterday, so I dropped him a line to see what was up. I knew he and TC were at the Renninger’s show in Kutztown (birthplace of Keith Haring) and they would be on the hunt for corkscrews.

When we talked he mentioned that he picked up a cool item for me. While it wasn’t a corkscrew, it was Syroco–and in its original box. However on the side of the box, there was not a Syroco sticker, but one for "Swank." Now, I have run across other products with the Swank name; cufflinks, a corkscrew, bar set, and other items, but I was wondering if any one of you that read this have ever run across a catalog for Swank, and/or do you have any information on the company?

We are in Lake Las Vegas, and our room overlooks the Reflection Bay Golf Course. I have an 8:30 tee time tomorrow, and hopefully will have a good round. I am sure there will be some side bets going with the other guys playing. I wonder if any of them have corkscrews in their bag…

Until then, I will be pool-side, drinking sauvignon blanc and working on my dissertation whilst soaking up the sun.

Off to Lake Las Vegas for couple of days…

I hop a flight in the morning to Las Vegas to meet up with the lovely for a little rest, relaxation, spa-ing, and golf. I am leaving my laptop at home, so I will be ebay-less for 4 days. Enjoying pillaging the corkscrews!!!!

4 pars, 1 Birdie, and an Austrian Man

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon, and whilst others were running, I stole away to play 9 holes. Stealing away did prove to be difficult however, as the main road that separates our house to the golf course was the marathon route. After several twists and turns, two highways, one toll, and a bit of traffic, I figured out away to get there.

And, it wasn’t a bad 9. The first two were doubles–not great, the next two were pars–much better! These were followed by a triple (ouch); par, double, bogey, par. 10 over for the 9, and I was starting to get into the groove. Perhaps I should play the back 9 as well. I bogeyed the 10th, doubled the 11th, and on a short (129 yard) par three, put it 2 feet from the hole. A tap in later, I decided to celebrate the birdie with a walk back to my car and headed home enjoying the twists, turns, highways, tolls, and traffic.

I know I could have kept on playing, but I had somewhere I needed to be, and it seemed like a good idea to end on a high note.

Speaking of high notes, I managed to score this interesting Hagenauer/Baller Austrian (not Australian) figural corkscrew the other day, and am anxious for his arrival. It will make for a interesting addition to the collection.

trip home

I left the hotel early yesterday, and made my way to the airport. Oddly enough, there was only one delayed flight–mine!

I bumped into a friend from Chicago–who ended up being on the same delayed fight, and it helped the time pass quickly. Then, I flew on to Providence (and boy are my arms tired); followed by a short drive to Newton Highlands.

The house looks great, the stove and fridge are in place, and the lovely has dolled up the joint–she is pretty amazing!

pictures as promised…

For the most part, the pictures are relatively self explanatory. For the one that isn’t, that is a glass of sauvignon blanc and a captain morgan and diet coke–I just finished the sauv blanc. Tommy is 2/3’s done with the capt and coke.

I found the camera!!!!! And, a 6 tool German Bow!

Finding the camera this afternoon is a great relief… so, to celebrate, Tommy and I went antiquing and I found a faceted 6 tool German bow (marked Germany) with little leather pouch. When the dealer said 24 dollars, I almost fainted.

And, pictures will definitely be added tonight after T and I go and grab some food.

still no camera, but still jfo-ing

well, eventually the camera will turn up–I hope. but until it does, we were making trades and deals today as this morning was "the show" portion of the festivities. i sold a few pieces and made some trades, including a block buster trade with Tommy, where I got his gottfried-kruger advertising corkscrew and a black ross pig. He got lots and lots of stuff from me, as i really wanted the advertising piece.

I also made a deal with JS, and ended up with two advertising waiters. one a davis for minneapolis brewing, the other a puddefoot also with brewery advertising. with the deal made for the folding lady and knudsen, it has been a great event–with the exception of the camera thing.

pictures to follow, if I ever recover my camera

even more jfo-ing

it is nearing 10:30, and the hospitality room is still going strong. Tommy and I are about to head upstairs for one last tour of the happenings, but we had a great adventure today touring various antique stores. Tommy bought a couple of items, and I scored a ladies manicure set with a marked birmingham sterling corkscrew. I still haven’t recovered my digital camera, but hopefully tomorrow someone will say they found it.

I have a glass of sauv blanc, and word from home is the appliances arrived and are installed. suddenly there is a certain balance in the universe.