Article idea from yardsale purchase

[Donnalee]

I bought a tobacco basket at a yard sale Sunday afternoon. Paid $20 for it and some other items. I wanted it for wall art on my patio. So, I Googled to see what I could find out about these baskets. I found they sell from $100-325 on Ebay and are in high demand among decorators. Next I looked for history and learned they were made only in NC and one county in particular once had 6 factories churning them out. No longer used in the tobacco markets (their purpose was to keep the tobacco off the floor and clean in the warehouses) they are rare. Mm, maybe I could write an article about tobacco baskets. I sent a short query to a NC trade magazine I write for regularly and the editor said "yes." So, my already bargain purchase gave me an idea and led to a nice profit. And it looks great on my patio wall.

[ANother_Canuck]

Good for you, Donna.
It should also be easy to take pictures of your basket.
And I would read your article, since I have never heard of a tobacco basket. Still not sure how it would be used - sounds more decorative than functional.
Ears always to the ground, Donna. Good job.

AC

[Fern]

Good job! I love reading about how others generate ideas for articles.

[Donnalee]

I went to the Tobacco Farm Life Museum in another county and did research and took lots of photos (for this and other articles). It was functional, but now obsolete with new technology. So, it has become a hot item for wall art. After visiting the museum I am also writing a short piece about the museum, which is one of those little gems tucked away in a small town where you'd least expect to find it.

[Donnalee]

Link to Hub article about the Tobacco Life Museum. Pics of the baskets (another article not yet published) can be seen with tobacco in them in one of my photos and also in the ebay ads:

http://donnacsmith.hubpages.com/hub/Tobacc...ife-Museum?done

[theseedplanter]

Hi, Donnalee.

Whatever you do, you do it with style. I read your big cat article a while back. I don't remember if I commented or not, but it was a damn good article. A few years ago I saw a mountain lion cross the highway about 10 miles east of my home. Awesome cats. Swift,..so swift. I'm glad I had a passenger in the car who witnessed it or it would have been difficult getting people to believe me.

From shipyards to cats to baskets,...you do them all justice.

SP

[Donnalee]

I'm glad you enjoyed the cougar article. it was a lot of fun to write. Post your siting in the comments section if you don't mind. Are you in Canada? Are they acknowledged to live there?

http://donnacsmith.hubpages.com/hub/The-Ea...-North-Carolina


The basket article isn't published yet. (paid me for it, though, which is the important thing, LOL)

[theseedplanter]

Wow. Paid in advance. You have it all figured out, girl!

I'm about 200 miles south of the Canadian border, or Lake of the Woods, which seperates Minnesota (and the US) from Canada- and about 35 miles from the Headwaters of the Mississippi, -in an area where the conifer, deciduous, and prairie meet up. And lots of water. The land of 10,000 lakes. Perfect territory for the big cat.

And Big foot.

-chuckle- Didn't we have a big-foot discussion at one time. Maybe that was Ellie. (Hi, Ellie!)

SP

[Ellie]

Hi SP (Ellie waves)! Long time no hear from as they say.

Big Foot or big feet ? I wear size 10 so it could be at some point that we were discussing this subject.

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't you writing a book/articles focusing on plants? My gardening these days is restricted to balcony urns/hanging plants having gone condo. I'm as obsessive about these as I was with my gardening "babies." Twice per day, morning and early evening, I fill up three 2-litre empty soft-drink containers of water and make sure the plants have their fill to deal with the hot sun. We live near a river and there's always a constant wind, which dries them out. The plants also get daily checks to ensure that all the dead blooms and stalks are removed to encourage growth from below. Once a gardener - always a gardener. The area in which we live is beautiful - riverbank growth and beasties i.e. ducks, geese, beavers, etc. - you know all about this, right? The one thing that I really miss, though, are my roses.

Never mind me. What have you been up to?

[Donnalee]

I am spending a couple of days with my daughter in my home county hoping to photograph a bear. Everyone has been seeing them, even in town. So far I've photographed wild turkeys, deer, butterflies and some beautiful ancient old VWs overgrown with weeds (my best shot so far)

Going to a wild life refuge today. I even traveled the roads yesterday where the cougars have been sighted most often. I'm having fun and maybe if I am lucky I'll come home with some article ideas at least.