Ice Storm and my $30 Vintage Fur

Day three of the great Midwesterm ice storm. Our cars have an inch thick layer of ice on them, my kids have made the house an obstacle course for indoor winter wipeout, and I have been outside bringing in firewood and snapping a few photos of the silvery ice on the trees.

Rewind to hot sunny Labor Day weekend, 2010. This is the weekend every year that my little town celebrates Old Fashion Days. This three day event includes the county's largest parade featuring hundreds of antique tractors. You can also shop antique booths, buy handmade crafts and Watkins Vanilla, eat crispy battered tenderloin sandwiches and drink lemon shake ups.

My entire family flocks to our ranch to take part in all the festivities. It's especially fun because we are only 2.2 miles from town and we can drive the Ranger for easy parking. The kids get a thrill sitting in back on a quilt while the wind whips through their hair.

This past Labor Day weekend was especially fun. My sister, step mom, and I were up there with the kids getting fake tattoos and listening to a bluegrass band called The New Old Timers. Thankfully my mom was back at home watching the little ones and the grandpas.

Helen my stepmother, told me to come see something in a little antique booth. I went over and she showed me a long dark chocolate brown fur coat. It was a little dusty and tattered but it had the prettiest vintage buttons. She told me to buy it.  I offered the guy $30 for the coat and a couple stuffed toys for the kids. He took it. We laughed all the way home in the Ranger and I modeled it for everyone back at the ranch as I dripped with sweat. I have never had a fur coat before but Helen insisted I needed one for warmth with all the outdoor winter things I do. The price was certainly right.

Helen had the coat cleaned and the lining repaired for me. We then forgot about it and I picked it up in December. Irene -the fur cleaner- told me it was rabbit and very old. I don't think she was too impressed.

Fast forward to today. Out in the cold, windy, slick ice storm bringing in firewood, I am totally loving my super warm vintage fur coat. My kids are too as little Scout calls it my big bear coat and they are using it as a blanket for a fun nap. My big dog Buck grabbed a hunk of the fur as he thought I was a live animal. It's OK though, this coat will be happily worn on days like this for many years to come.