As part of the clean out of the stables, we actually did find some useful things.
First a couple of table saws that we pulled out of one of the stalls. They are slowly 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, saw horses (which are now in the garage as they were useful during the kitchen table refinishing project), and a handful of other interesting things.
We have converted the old tack room into a lumber storage room (fifth pic). 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 under 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 what will 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 chose to make use of all the brass booty, we now tiny gifts to give visitors for years and years to come.
