Maine Living

Two activities I love to do in Maine are puzzles and going to Auctions. I am almost done with this Agatha Christie puzzle which has been lots of fun and not too hard. I don’t always have the best light to puzzle here so I appreciate an easy puzzle. When I finish it tomorrow I will donate it to the house like I did last years. There are a number of puzzles here and I will pick one of theirs to work on next.

My second big activity today was going to Bruce Gamage’s August Auction. Warren and I went to the preview yesterday. Warren had to work today so he left bids on his items. I was able to go to the auction and stayed through the whole thing.

I had my eye on a number of items, but I have a good eye because the things I was interested in were the same things lots of people were interested in and they bid higher than I was willing to go.

But many things had little interest so I did pick up two things, one a small boat for Russ. Not a boat he can ride in, but a salesman’s sample of a wooden canoe. It’s about two feet long and very pretty.

I got a small oil painting for Carter. It was a hunting scene with dogs and a horse and rider. If she doesn’t want it I will bring it home for me.

I have been to enough of Bruce’s Auctions now so that I recognize a lot of the regular bidders and characters who attend. It never fails that I have fun with the people who sit next to me. I also love some of the commentary Bruce writes in the catalogue. My neighbor and I got a kick out of one oil painting of a sheep’s head being described as a “Portrait of a sheep.” Another description of an odd lot, was two pewter World War I canteens, made into lamps (with floral shades no less), and the description in the catalog said, perfect for your gun room. I asked my seat neighbor if she had a gun room. She did not. I told her I did not as well, so we decided to not to bid on those lamps.

Apparently I missed the auction of the century on Thursday not far from my house. There was a painting that might have been a Rembrandt. The estimate on it was in the $100,000 range, which could have been a big sale. Well, more than one person figured out it was a Rembrandt and it went for over $1,100,000. That’s big news it little ‘ole Maine. I wonder if they will display that Rembrandt in their gun room.