off to the mainland

The lovely and I are off to the mainland for the day/evening. News tomorrow…

Island Delivery

Not so long ago, as mentioned in the blog, I had purchased a vintage architectural rendering of the Syroco factory. And, today after a run around the island (not literally around, but we did put in a few miles) we returned to see a UPS slip next to the front door.

For those who can’t make it out, it reads CAR scrawled across the UPS note. We glanced over at the Xterra in the driveway, and there was ANOTHER! UPS sticker.

Okay… well, I guess one must do what one must do when delivering to an island. So… I open the door to the car, and…

I guess it pays living somewhere where you don’t have to lock your car.

After a little unpacking, the rendering was unveiled. A neat piece for the ongoing syroco collection, although if the right offer came along, it may head somewhere else!

Interestingly enough, the lovely received a package as well. This time, it arrived via fedex, and the driver didn’t even knock, just opened the door placed the item inside, and said, "package for you!" Quite the friendly place… : )

6 degrees of corkscrewing kevin bacon…

No Kevin Bacons were harmed during this blog

So… I get an email from Tommy the other day which shared a bit of information. In his email he explained that he had a sterling roundlet which RL was interested in, and he offered an American patent and perhaps a player to be named later.

Then, I got a voicemail from Mark, who explained that in his travels he found a really nice French direct pull corkscrew.

After that, I got a phone call from Robert, saying he was working a deal with Tommy, but was also after something Mark had found, that would help him solidify the aforemetioned deal with Tommy.

While, I am not directly part of the dealings, it seems that Tommy has a piece that Robert wants. Robert has a piece that Tommy wants. Mark has a piece that Robert can utilize in facilitating the deal with Tommy. And, surely Mark will be netting out something as well.

As for me, I am pleased with my recent score… Nothing spectacular, but it comes with a box. Actually, the box is more impressive the the corkscrews inside!!!

As far as news from the island goes, and our ongoing adventure there, today we got our Maine drivers licenses!!! Woo hoooo!

Duathlon, Rain, and a “ducky” corkscrew

The weather for the run/ride today was perfect; foggy and cool, and the rain held off until a little while ago. However, the rain is supposed to continue through tomorrow. Note to self: when moving to Maine, check how the weather patterns compare to Seattle.

On a corkscrew note, I did manage to pick up a German Duckbill corkscrew earlier today via eBay. It was a steal, and it will probably make its way to the CCCC/ICCA auction block.

Back to the race… The lovely did awesome, shaving 4 minutes off last years time.

I did pretty good too, but given I was the one carrying the camera shooting my finish was a little difficult…

London, Fairchild, Gundlach, and a Duathlon

Sue booked our flights for the London trip today. It looks like we will be flying in on the 20th, and leaving on the 3rd. So, we will have a few days before and after the meetings to tour around, look for corkscrews, and share a pint or two with CB and PB.

there have been some nice corkscrews online as of late. A 14K gold Fairchild with a 675 or best offer ended up going for 435, a rusty Gundlach (Frary corkscrew) went to RL for a sweet price of 250, and there is a nice Vallandingham patent listed (okay, that one is mine, but it is a good cork puller!).

Today we are laying relatively low–not hard to do in Vinalhaven–as tomorrow we are both running/riding in a duathlon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate, as it has gone from beautiful to pouring to beautiful to pouring over the last few days. We will hope for a nice morning…heck, it can rain AFTER the race.

News of the race, and any corkscrew scores tomorrow!

Adding to the Syroco Collection

I was contacted the other day by a person who bought a few items from the Syracuse Ornamental Company at the closing sale of the factory. And, he/she did have some nice items. A few salesman samples (heads missing the corkscrew), and more exciting to me, the artist rendering of the new factory when it was built. No, there isn’t a corkscrew pictured in the painting, but it is an interesting piece of Syroco history that will definitely make the webpage when it arrives; and the book, should I ever get around to publishing one.

It is a fairly large piece 33 X 21, and I don’t know if it will find itself hanging in the VH house, but how could I refuse!!! And, it did come with the aforementioned salesman samples…

I am also working on my ICCA auction listings for the upcoming meeting. I am only putting in 6 pieces for the auction at the meeting, but will also be bringing along a bunch of other stuff for the buy and sell (at both the CCCC and ICCA). The meetings are rapidly approaching, who all is going???

70 miles

On my way down to Brimfield last week, the mini stopped running! And, after a few phone calls, I came to find out that the closest shop that could replace a transmission/clutch on it was in Freeport, Maine–a mere 60 + miles from where the car had broken down.

A tow truck was called, and soon enough, I was indeed heading to Brimfield, but with an alternate mode of transportation!

After getting the car to the shop–and paying the tow truck guy–I arranged for a rental car and made it down for some corkscrewing at Brimfield.

The car got fixed, and we decided to go pick it up yesterday. And, the conversation kind of went like this:

Josef: So, why don’t I just hop on my bike, take it across on the boat, and ride down to pick up the car?

Sue: Sounds good, why don’t I ride down there with you?

And, so yesterday we grabbed the road bikes, and headed down the coast of Maine.

Coffee at mile 34.2 was mandatory!

Did I mention that there are some hills???

We did make it down to our destination, quickly dismantled the bikes and put them into the back of the mini, paid the bill, and started driving the opposite direction to catch the last boat to the island. 70 miles, beautiful scenery! No corkscrew finds, but a fantastic day!

no major corkscrew news

It has been a slow corkscrew news day, but other activities have been filling our time.

This morning we hopped on the bikes and pedaled out to the new wind turbine project on the island. With the three turbines in place and running by September, the island will be able to generate enough electricity for all the residents, and be able to sell the excess to the mainland. Very cool!

Following our return ride, we meandered out to Lane’s Island to hike around the rocks–and pick up some seawater–an important ingredient when steaming the 6 lobster which made their way into the pot, shortly after our return from the aforementioned meandering.

And, now we are preparing for our bike ride tomorrow; 70 miles down the coast!!! There will be some corkscrewteering involved!

On another note, there was an interesting twist to our most recent trip from the mainland. Word must have gotten out that there were corkscrews aboard, and ships suddenly came out of no where. Could these be the ships of the infamous Black Beard Borrett? We were fortunate to get away unscathed!

more lobsters

Jason-the-lobsterman parked in our driveway this afternoon and hauled out a 5-gallon bucket from the back of his truck. Inside the bucket? 6 lobsters! ! !

Today has been a fun-filled day on VH! We unpacked boxes over coffee, went for a run, hit the flea market (no corkscrews), went to a gallery opening, bought Sue a necklace from said gallery, picked up artwork from a previous gallery opening, had wine and apps with friends, discussed the renovation of the old bank building (which we close on in a few days), and then went to a concert!

Tomorrow we hop on our bikes and head for a meeting at the new wind turbine project on the island–they are sort of like giant corkscrews, except they aren’t corkscrew-like, but they do turn…and, wine will be served.

Back on the mainland Monday for a 85 mile bike ride with the lovely to pick up the mini cooper from the shop (little car, long story, BIG bill).

Heading back from Brimfield.

There were a couple hundred people anxiously awaiting the opening of May’s (its a field in Brimfield) yesterday, and as it turned 9:00, we all rushed in. And, there were antiques galore. Alas, there were few corkscrews.

So, for the three days, I walked away with 20 corkscrews, and one bottle opener. There are some nice pieces, but no major score. Still it was a great time to hang out with BT for three days, and dinner at the Student Prince was a great time. We didn’t try and buy any of the corkscrews off the wall, but there are at least a dozen that I would love to have.

The lovely flew in from L.A. last night (and boy are her arms tired), and this morning we head back home to VH.

Pictures of finds to follow, as well as news of upcoming events, travels, adventures, and a lobster or two…