Autumn Antique Market - Black Oak Antiques

Fall came to Florida this weekend and it was gorgeous.  Little to no humidity, lower temps at night, clear blue skies and other than the pesky "love bugs" we couldn't have asked for a more lovely weekend.  One of my favorite "true" antique shops, Black Oak Antiques, Weeki Wachee, was having their annual Fall Antique Market and it is always filled with sales, antiques, repurposed pieces and home baked goods.

Antiques and tables filled with vintage items were inside and out.

Father and son played live music through out the day.  It was marvelous and added to the already terrific vibe of the event.

A basket filled with vintage copper molds shouts fall decorating.

The barn was filled with treasure from top to bottom.  You can easily get lost in all of this goodness and forget there is still a shop just off from the barn to visit as well.

Charming vintage baby carrier basket was filled with bits and bobs of fun.

This was probably the most unique offering inside the shop.  An original, radio controlled Godzilla. Oh how I wanted to see it in action.

I couldn't resist these vintage bank bags from New Jersey.  It was like Tony Soprano was channeling me to obtain them. Yeah, they came home with me.

This tobacco lathe star followed me home as well.

My most favorite item at Black Oak Antiques, this amazing sperm whale weather vane. Oh, if I ever win the lottery in a big way, this will be the first item I splurge on.  I just adore this in every way but it is so far from my budget I just have to dream.  Ahhh, but it is good to dream.  From here I moved on to my usual haunts for treasure hunting and I found some goodness to bring home.

I don't usually pick up dolls as this is not my area of expertise, but when you come across a vintage Madame Alexander doll in the limited run Peter Pan you buy it.  This little charmer is in marvelous condition.

Everyone likes to pull out mom's or grandma's cook books when the holiday seasons arrive.  This Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, from 1901 is filled with marvelous recipes.  

Creamed baked macaroni is just one of the many tasty recipes in this great cookbook.

...and now, the find of the season...a stunning, late Victorian, lidded beer stein.  Porcelain lithophane with lovely pewter lid, the hand applied transfer commemorating the German Workmans Association. 

 Detailed transferware of commerce and cherubs with hand painted details.  

Gorgeous lithophane is the portrait of a German woman in traditional garb.  

Nice, small serving platter designed by Clarice Cliff for Royal Staffordshire.  Pattern is "Rural Scenes".  Circa 1940s

Matching square serving bowl.  Both pieces are perfect for a Thanksgiving table.

Vintage Rolling Rock thermometer sign has weathered to that coveted seafoam color.  Thermometer still gives accurate temps and is perfect for an outdoor living space.

Love antique medicine bottles and this pretty set of small to even smaller are perfect for Halloween decorating.

I hit the mother lode at my local thrift store with these five, antique miniature oil lamps.  I'm head over teakettle in love with the Goofus cabbage roses base.  The gold and red, cold paint is long gone and the glass has turned that lovely sun purple.  The small milk glass one also has my heart...what to do, what to do?  Oh, the struggle is real.

I truly hated to see the weekend end, it was so perfect in weather, chatting with friends, finding treasure to both keep and to sell.  My life may seem small to many but it is a gentle one and I am a happy girl so with that I wish blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

In Plain Site

It's been a while since I posted, dear friends.  My day job is killer and takes up way too much of my times these days but I am grateful that I have one. Still, I do miss road tripping and finding nifty little shops.  I was doing some shopping in Spring Hill/Weeki Wachee as there is a great Hobby Lobby and Marshall's in the area.  As I was waiting in line to check out, I was doing a google search when a message popped up about an antiques in my area.  My kind of click bait so a quick click and Black Oak Antiques shows up and it is " behind" the Marshall's.  Holy gotta go there now, Batman.  Sometimes the most amazing little shops are hiding in plain site.  So a quick 2 minutes trip out of the shopping center and into the Black Oak Antiques parking area.

13168 Jacqueline Rd 
Weeki Wachee, Florida 34613

They were also having an outside yard sale with lots of treasure to be found.  Black Oak Antiques is housed in a small home with the rooms filled to the brim with goodness.  When I entered the shop, this magnificent, copper weather vane of a sperm whale greeted me.  

 Oh, be still my heart, my favorite whale species and a weather vane.  If I had been the big lottery winner last week, this beauty would have come home with me.

Antique nautical lighting, another passion offered here.  Black Oak Antiques is an antique store in the truest sense and the rooms are filled with great vintage pieces and genuine antiques.

Antique crocks, treanware, and American primitives.

Sweet antique teddy bear nested on a vintage shelf.

 Gorgeous wooden fireplace mantle, oak desks and shelving units.

The kitchen room was filled with vintage kitchen pieces and this nice, soft pine, mid century dry sink.

Not only are their "Honeymooner" type frigidaires but they also have a genuine "ice box". 

Sun yellow coffee tin.

Stacks of wood boxes and lots of unique lighting.

Steampunk lovers, this is one of few of the coolest lighting pieces I have seen in a long time.  Hand crafted by an artisan, each piece is different.  

A hallway shelf was filled with antique and vintage glass, sterling and silverplate.

Next to the house is a detached garage that is filled with rusty, crusty, chippy, painty and just cool pieces.  From spindles, metal bed frames, machinery and whatever, this is a place for ones creative juices to see found objects and transform them into something different.

A stunning genuine coca Cola cooler in amazing condition.

A Sun Tune up Tester with dials and cords and wouldn't this be fun to turn into sometime of lighting fixture?  

I am so delighted to have found this lovely antique shop and I will be back again soon.  Oh, and did walk away with some treasure...a bag full of vintage tea towels and a newspaper dated January 17, 1849.  Yup, pre civil war...once I carefully open it up I will snap photos and post as I love the style of language used in the articles.

Wishing blessings to you and those you love. Sea Witch.