(Bargain) Hunting Season

This is the time of year when area residents and cottagers alike take stock of what they have, what they want, and more specifically — what they don't want. The result is a plethora of barn sales, yard sales, auctions, and community hall markets.

If you follow the old adage that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", then you know this is really Treasure Hunting Season. Up here in cottage country, many of the properties have been in a family for decades, or even for generations. This means they've had a lot of time to collect an assortment of varied and interesting treasures. The price is right, and best of all, this is recycling in its purest form.

While Jim and I not garage sale junkies, we do like to foray out on occasion to a sale or auction we see advertised in the local paper. Sometimes we get lucky and make some neat finds, such as an old steamer trunk at a barn sale near Burk's Falls. It now doubles as a luggage rack in the Homestead Room.

Another time I was the winning bidder of an antique

Chautauqua Art Desk at an auction in Sprucedale (warning: auction fever is a very real condition!). We've never found a place to display this interesting contraption, but next time you're at the inn, ask us to bring it out to see for yourself.

Since neither of us are voracious shoppers, we usually come away empty handed. But we don't mind; we go more for the chance to get out and discover some of the side roads and neighbourhoods we otherwise would never see.

If you'd like to indulge yourself in some treasure hunting on your next visit, we can make it easy for you. You can peruse our local paper to find the where and when of yard sales. We'll even fix you an early breakfast if you want to be ahead of the crowd for the best pickings.

If you're not an early bird and you love an auction, there's good news for you. Northern Auction Sales is holding an auction at their Sundridge hall every Sunday afternoon throughout the summer until Labour Day. Sundridge is an easy drive north of us, straight up Highway 11. Visit their website and click on Auction Sales for a preview or more information.

Happy Hunting!

I choose to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
- Dawna Markova