Abilene Trip

Its been years, and I mean several years, since I've found a decent corkscrew in an antique store. So many years that I've pretty much written off the possibility of finding any type of great corkscrew, but I'm happy to say that my streak of bad luck with antique finds has finally come to an end.

We recently took a little trip to nearby Abilene, TX. A fairly small town with a handful of antique stores. It became clear that there hadn't been a fellow corkscrew collector in town for some time because not only did I find some great corkscrews, but also some really great prices. My first find of the trip was a beautiful painted Syroco clown which I found within 2 minutes of walking into the store. The painted version of the clown is my favorite of all of the full-bodied Syroco corkscrews. How could I resist purchasing another one? and at only $50 it was a steal considering that I sold one of these clowns several years ago for $1,400. Although the market for Syroco corkscrews isn't as strong as it once was. At the next antique store I found a Napier bar shaker for a reasonable $15 and then a pewter gnome miner at another antique store for $8. If my fellow collectors are reading this, just know that there are still great finds out there. They may not be common, but it is nice when you finally find one.

Corkscrews weren't the only finds of the trip. I also bought an orange "Blendo" pitcher and drink set for the vacation home (not pictured) as well as these two girls at a feed store. Meet Olive Tapenade and Kalamata. These two chickens are Olive Eggers which will lay dark green eggs in a few months once they're mature enough. They are a welcome addition to my flock of chickens.