Second Floor Do-Over / Spring Brick Swap

I’m so far behind in my journal. In a way this is good as it is evidence that I have so many things to do the time to leisurely write is not there!

I have been going full speed ahead to get the worst of the upstairs done. There is a lot of fine tuning that is in the future, but I think I’m safe to say over 50% of this years redo is complete.

Last week I finished up the window rebuilding, drywall work and painting in the dormer. It was hot which made for uncomfortable working conditions. The space is so cramped I had to wear my kneepads pretty much the entire time. The sweating caused friction between my kneecaps and the gell pads. All I could say was “Ouch!” to the chaffed, raw skin. As I was washing up the floor I tried to remember the last time did up such a cleaning…. My mind was a blank! The one dark board is where I had to rip up a board from the floor to run the gas line across to the dining room!

Early Friday morning I took off for the brick swap in Emory, VA. I remembered it being a lot closer than it actually was. I kept reminding myself, “It’s just the other side of Knoxville, TN” just north of Bristol. Well, it was some 137 miles “north of Knoxville”!! 
Arrived at John’s open house right at 3:00. It was like old home week seeing all my friends from all over. In no time I was blocked in parking wise. There went my plans of getting to the Comfort Inn to get cleaned up before supper.

I’m always amazed when I see how other collectors display their bricks. John’s display collection is done pretty much by states of manufacture shelved under his front porch. This gave me some ideas for the next real brick project when I decide to rebuild the fence at the end of the driveway.

Driving to Macado’s Restaurant for our super I noticed a Norfolk Western Whistle sign on the right of way. This is identical to the sign I acquired last September. I had to run down the Railroad Tracks to get a picture of it in use!

I was able to get a seat on the patio with Alan and Jackie. What great people. Alan’s dad was one of the original founding members of the club who recently passed away. Alan’s dad loved hearing my crazy stories about bricks and fire hydrants. I have him to thank for many rare bricks I treasure.

Alan was saying how at my swap last year he was amazed to be able to find store brand raspberry Kool Aid at Winn-Dixie. That rang a bell and I brought up “Rootin-Tooting Raspberry” from the “Funny Face Drinks” of my childhood. That got us going!!! I have a brick he would like to have. I’m lucky in I have a few left from last years “patio step reconfiguration”. Will get him some special drink mix and get a flat rate box out next week.

It was just a few weeks after my swap last year I acquired a hoard of bricks from a guy in Knoxville. The "fancy circle" bricks were picked up on my last trip. He only had some 30 of these which was just enough for the two steps with a couple left over.

Saturday morning was the actual brick swap. I brought some 45 bricks to the swap and I vowed to return with less than I arrived with. My “toe brick” was a Pyro-Granite brick; I picked up a Big Four block at the same time. I have a boundary marker for the “Big Four Railroad” the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St Louis. I’m hoping this Big Four street paver might have a similar history! The Terre Haute Bricks I wanted were gone when I passed by that spot. I pretty much slowed down and just did sporadic brick picking up. I honestly have enough bricks for the future projects I have on hand and don’t want to deprive the newer collectors. Well into the swap as things were slowing down I was still able to get some good bricks without depriving anyone of their first choice bricks. There were also bricks added to my hoard from other members who did not want to carry the weight back! It has become a custom to put orphan bricks into my truck!! LOL!!!

There were a lot of great donations to the auction. It is amazing to get two people fighting over a rare/special brick and see the price get into the hundreds of dollars. I’ve got a real soft spot for the old ornamental terra cotta that used to adorn buildings. A great piece was here. It was the white fancy piece on the table behind the auctioneer and runner. It was one of the last things auctioned off. I was standing in the back and just held my bidding paddle up and nodded my head to the auction runner! That was the one piece I really wanted and I did get it!!

I also got a new crafted brick made by one of our talented members with a banjo engraved into the frog! It goes perfect with the encore Banjo!

Banjo Brick:With the Encore:

A member who gets into lots of scrap iron donated a wonderful cast iron water valve cover and ring. I threw up a bid to get the ball rolling and ended up being the lone bidder! I plan on putting this in my front yard to really annoy people!!! Here is my Toe Brick, Big Four Block and water ring and cover. Stumpy was investigating as I snapped this picture!

As usual it was a really fun time. I wish I had more time to spend in the area…but I have to be on the road Wednesday for the phonograph show in Union, Illinois. There is a chance to pick up a hundred or so bricks along the way…….