As part of the cleanout of the stables, we actually found some useful things. First, a couple of table saws that we pulled out of one of the stalls. They are getting cleaned up so they can be used once again.
Then there were the might-be-useful-in-the-future items we found and are storing in the old office–an old heater, some sprayers, a 1950s barber chair, old wooden doors, sawhorses (now in the garage as they were handy during the kitchen table refinishing project), and a handful of other interesting things.
We converted the old tack room into a lumber storage room (pic 5). The old saddle racks are excellent for supporting boards, and as the room is relatively sound and has a concrete pad, it’s a not a terrible repurposing.
Thanks to a visiting guild mate, the sprayer we found how has a new axle and a new lease on life, as it can now be towed behind a tractor or the mini-truck (last pic).
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the huge quantity of solid brass knickknacks covered by a pile of bird guano and rotting cardboard. According the receipt book I found in the mess, someone once ran some sort of boutique, possibly from within the house. They had invested a significant amount of money to have this much stock on hand. We’re not sure yet what to do with this booty, but it took me about a day to get it all cleaned of bird crap and stored in a safer spot.
I have kept a few things for our use–a cute little sundial, a badly-corroded giraffe, a unicorn and three very interesting eggs, the largest of which is bigger than an American football. So while not a windfall that would pay off the great wall project, not a terrible end to the cleanup project. And should we choose to make use of all the brass booty, we now have tiny gifts to give visitors for years and years to come.
