The Shorebird Decoys

Temperatures in New Hampshire have been brutal the past few days but then we do live in the great Northeast!  Finished up my first two fish decoys-see pictures, looking for some wood to make up some new ones but right now looking to finish up some of the shorebirds that I cut out this summer.  They are  patterns out of the Hillman & Shourds Shore Bird Pattern book that I got a year ago; the book is autographed, one of the few that I have in my possession-but then collecting books is a whole new issue!

Autographed front page

 My goal is to go look for some bargains -decoys or books) as we get closer to spring-probably head over toward the coast-there is a road that has antique shops for 50 miles, maybe up into Maine on some back roads.  I have yet to see any trace of a fish decoy but surely  up in Maine there might be some to be found.

But I also want to mention about the passing of Stan Musial
in St. Louis; he was my hero growing up and made me learn
to bat from the left side and even try to adopt his stance but then I
could never learn to hit the curve ball so my career ended early!  Beyond baseball if there were ever a finer man to pattern my or any other kid's life after he was "the Man".  I remember at  Boy Scout camp getting sent to the sick bay so I could listen to the All Star game where Musial hit the home run to win the game.  I would recommend that you read the St. Louis Post Dispatch for some great memories about how he played and the number of people that he brought into his life.  He has set the standard for all of us, that go outside the rules of the game.


 I think when one starts talking about collecting there needs to be some thought put in before one starts even thinking about filling shelves and mantles with "stuff".  Probably need to know that permission has been granted before one starts or there is a "man cave" that is totally decorated by you!  I have talked about knowing the history of anything old that comes into my home and I think that knowing what that decoy did, where it was done, who did it and when, make it more valuable-but then the same thing can apply to any piece of wood that you sit in or eat on!  Here are a couple of pictures of the Santa carvings.

Santa with a tree in his beard

If we take the time to find out what we are buying or building we can provide the folks that follow us down the road.  I hope that the things that I create can be passed on to those who might want them; if you look at some of the prices of those decoys 100+ years ago, maybe I am leaving a "legacy" to someone!

Rainbow Trout

Minnesota Decoy

Cardinal Ready for Finish

The "Box" in the Closet

Trim the Bill and Finish

So here are the pictures of the unfinished decoys, some hiding in the closet in a box, so as you can see I have my work cut out for me over the next couple of months.  I threw is a picture of a Cardinal that I need to detail and paint and get out of the closet.  So need to get down the road, have a busy week and time is wasting (actually the bed is calling).  Much peace to everyone, hope you are safe and your world is at peace.  Remember to "Measure Twice and Cut Once" or if you have a line threw the ice some place.... "keep a tight line"!  Until next time.

Nelson

Papa R