Where To Start?

 Hi Dear Folk,

I seem to have succumbed, morphed over to Instagram.  I'm not going to berate myself I'm too old for that.      2021, where to start?  What to say?  A word that comes to my mind is "Endurance", we've just got to keep on keeping on.

2020 was a year of change.  Mr. B. lost his one and only job contract, then when COVID hit lost his little part time job, we both opted to get our Social Security, now being income less, and we had that option.  Thank goodness for options, when so many fellow Americans do not.  Our son moved out in the Autumn and thus we did an internal decorating and switching of bedrooms.  We're happy for him and for us, because so many children are moving back in and not out in this time of pandemic.  He went in with some friends and found a house.  The Boy is picky, had to have a basement for his sound system, a garage for his Miata.  I said did he leave anything for the other two boys?  He has the smallest bedroom, well so he should.  

I do like to have a project in mind, just the thinking about it, I find can give joy.  We got an awful lot done around the house last year, both outside and inside;  which I've posted over the months on Instagram.  My next project is the one hundred year old bathroom, which still has the original bath, open on two sides and not so bad, the original tile work.  Actually for its age it could look worse.  It has that old white brick tile and black edging, so black and white.  I'm going to keep that colour scheme.  

Needs new plumbing for the bath and shower, new tile, I'm going with white brick tiles again, but I'm thinking of black grout, not set on that.  Refinish the bath, I cannot imagine trying to get it out, you'd probably need a crane. An oval shower rail to enclose you completely, and keep the water off the tile.  It is in need of a new floor and tile, maybe black and white, similar to what's there now and a new toilet, one that really works.  Keep the carrara marble sink top, but I do not like the base, so want the builder to come up with some kind of stand, and have open plumbing underneath.

Over the sink will be a nice large mirror, right down to the sink, because for the past twenty years, I have only been able to see from my eyes upwards in the original medicine cabinet mirror.  Obviously a six foot man put it in, as it's just the right height for my husband.  To replace the under sink storage, we just found an Eastlake hanging wall cupboard and shelves on FBM, so that will go up over the toilet.

I do love wallpaper, so I'm thinking a black and white forest scene with animals, I'll know it when I see it, and of course that may change.  Well that's my next project, we'll see if it comes to fruition.  2021 here I come, one hundred year old bathroom.

I do have a project that should be finished by next week, which involves the basement.  I view my basement as the many headed hydra that keeps rearing up and has to be slain.  Why?  However many times I sort and get rid of things, there is still more.

I want just a nice open flat service to be able to do projects on, spread out and have room.  I have two old desks down there, so I'm going to use those, to define the space and behind them I'm thinking of hanging fabric murals so I have something to look at, rather than a basement full of basement things.  I need to do some wall and floor painting.  I've almost finished the crochet red rug, which I've decided to use in the basement.  My that took some yarn, a good project for left overs, but I think I'm up to fourteen hanks, and I wouldn't consider the rug huge, fortunately I had all that old yarn, that belonged to my friend's mum, had to be from the seventies.

I got to sit down at my new vanity the other evening, in my new bedroom, feeling like the lady of the manor.  I was getting ready for a Zoom Meeting where I was giving a five minute discourse, so felt I had to try my best.  I bought my lighted German design vanity mirror on FBM, where a lady said she was getting rid of hers, because it showed up every wrinkle, I know the feeling.  

Of course a hope is that at some point we can travel, but I'm not counting on it.  I could see possibly taking the trip we had planned for this year, which was a cottage all on it's own up in Maine.  As to a trip to family in England, if at all it would be the end of the year, and there're so many factors that weigh in on that.

I count my blessings, and you know I sometimes don't like using that word or phrase, I wish there was another one in the English language, because if you're doing better than someone else it kind of denotes that they weren't blessed and you were, and I don't think that at all.  

2020 the lost year, the lost generation, who knows, time will tell.  Moving onwards.

Take care, 

Christine

A Tale About A Clock and FBM

 Hi Dear Folk,

I am taking a cosmopolitan respite or my neurons will go into meltdown.  So I'm going to tell you a tale about a clock and FBM (Facebook Marketplace.)  

Once upon a time a lady saw a very pretty clock on FBM and decided that it might be a nice addition to her clock collection that had languished for many a year.  A price was negotiated and an agreed price set.  The clock in question that caught her attention was a Citizen clock, a good make, battery run but quite eye catching.  See said clock in question.

Pendulum, etched glass and quite appealing.

I could see that the person selling the clock was quite young, early twenties and I thought maybe she was selling it for her grandfather, possibly it had been a retirement clock, it seemed the type of clock you'd receive as a retirement clock, in the day.

We get the address give a time of arrival, I Google the address, I know it's in a pretty upscale area, Mr. B. drives and off we go, said cash in pocketbook (handbag.)  It's almost an hours drive but with the help of that wonderful technology GPS we find it quite easily.  Not a big thing these days, it's an event to go out.

Sharp little turn into the drive out in the country, but with houses around.  Typical old Pennsylvania stone house, with a big deep front porch.  Some barn buildings at the end of the drive and just a very nice house.  We go up on the porch and I see a package about the right size, but it turns out to be an old pair of sneakers in a box.  Nothing on the porch.  In this time of Covid, most things are contactless pickup and leave the money under the doormat.  

I walk up onto the porch and knock on the front door.  Big old heavy door knocker, where you know you will be heard.  A few minutes go by and a man comes to the door, he looks at me like who in the earth are you?  I said the address and the name of the contact person and he said, "Yes that's right." I said "I'm here to pick the clock up."

He turns shuts the door and I'm left standing there, wandering what to do.  A few minutes later a lady comes to the door, the man and woman were approximately both in their mid fifties and I guessed were probably the girl's parents.  She has the clock in her hands, hands me the clock, not packaged or anything, I give her the cash, she closes the door.

Mr. B. had been standing on the path between the front door and the car.  He said well we need to take the pendulum off and that's when I notice the clock had not been running because it was set to the same time as the photos on FBM, so I thought let me check the batteries and they were absolutely corroded, so I knew the clock had not been running for a while.

We got in the car and I said to Mr. B.  I don't want the clock if it's not running, because the girl said it had been running.  I get out of the car with the clock, knock on the front door, Bang, Bang, Bang, it was a very rewarding door knocker.  The man comes to the door again.  I say, the batteries are all corroded and I would like my money back please.  He takes the clock, shuts the door and I am left there for an age.  Back comes the woman with my money and the clock.

"Here," she says "Take the money and take the clock."  I said no "I just want the money."  She said you wanted the clock didn't you?"  I said "Yes"  "Then take the clock, I don't want the clock, take the clock."  So I took the clock.

It was all most bizarre, I was trying to work out a number of scenarios as to how the daughter came to be selling the clock, which I feel was her parent's clock.  None of them were a totally satisfying answer.  

When we got home Mr. B. took out the old batteries cleaned the area and put in new batteries and it's been running like a top ever since and I do like it.

Unbelievably the clock is still up for sale on FBM, they have never taken it off.  I never sent any messages to the girl, she never sent any to me and that's where I left it, the least said the better.

And that's my peculiar tale.

I have another FBM tale, but it is not to do with the purchase just the journey.

My concluding remarks to you all are breath deeply, have a lovely cup of tea and stay calm, as we Brits say.

Christine

PS:  Thank you for all the lovely comments left about my Mum's cookbook.  I will be revisiting that.

Colours of The Twenties and Danish Oiled Table

Hi Dear Folk,

What a beautiful day, 87F with low humidity, my perfect summer day, blue skies to boot.

Why does honeysuckle always smell more fragrant at night?  It does you know!

I baked some little cakes and added some older blueberries that needed using.  Also made some larger ones wrapped and ready for lunches.

We sold our first house to a friend and one of the things he said he liked about the house was the colour of the trim.  It reminded him of his families farm house in northern Vermont, Island Pond.  It was a trim colour we had painted in one of the rooms.  But in having lived in a couple of 1920's houses and having found this paint colour under other layers of paint, I think it was a very popular colour in the twenties and thirties.  Also it might have influenced me in buying this china muffin pan.  The green was often set off with cream.

 

Not sure if these little garden side tables are from the twenties or thirties, but I think they could be.

Lovely slow morning on the kitchen patio, coffee, reading and communing with Miss Tupp.

I have at last sanded the top of this table I want to put out on the Oak Tree Patio.  It's a nice piece of solid wood.  Mr.B.  must have found this table in the trash, it's been in the garage for ever.

I have added three coats of Danish Oil in medium walnut, now need to fine sand it and add three more coats and do this yet another time, so nine coats altogether and should be good, I hope to withstand water.

I'm not going to bother about the base for now, maybe another year.

Christine

PS:  My son made me laugh this evening.  Every so often we will hear these crazy cries and sentences from our next door neighbors son, Rob said "Mum they remind me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Every time you hear him think of that and you will laugh"  Sure enough he sounds just like Jack Nicholson in that movie.

These are the neighbors with Kruger the senile pitbull, who never stops barking.  Who is well past his time of when he should pop his clogs.

Glutton for Punishment or Mad Dog's An English Woman

Hi Dear Folk,

Yes I am a glutton for punishment or you could say mad dog's an English woman who goes out in the mid day sun.  Well you know how hot it has been here almost 100F and what am I doing?  Laying a patio, at least it was under the oak tree.

After my changes on the Oak Tree Patio, my circular glass table was just sitting on dirt and that didn't hold well with me, and I came up with the idea of disassembling the seats I made from the breeze blocks and laying them down as a patio.  Yes I know it's not a professional job but I'm pretty pleased with it.  It's quite stable.

I had these old louvre doors up against the garage, pulled them out and just placed them on the corners, just to see what they would look like.  I will clean them up, they are a bit of a mess at the moment and they need securing.

You have to step up so the whole patio sits just that much higher.

So while Mr. B. was out running around taking things to the thrift and shopping I was doing this.  Was all accomplished by the time he got back.  Sometimes you just have to get on with things, action! action!

I think I would have been one of those crazy intrepid Edwardian ladies who travelled to hot places.  Maybe!

Being higher when you are on the breeze block patio, it gives you a lovely view back across the garden.  The Boy said he liked that too.

So the rest of the day I was hunting around pulling in pots and planters.  Such as the old cast iron long planters that came with the house, I think they are great to define the edge.  They need holes drilled in them to drain the water.

My other idea is to use this piece of marble to make a bar/drinks top. I asked my boss for this when we closed up the old office.  It had been on a credenza way back and had sat in the closet for years, so he said I could have it, it's super heavy.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm going to go out and buy more breeze blocks to make two columns to place this on, then I can make it just the height I want on the edge of the patio and it won't cost that much.

The old brass chandelier did not sell in the yard sale so I have put that aside and hope to hang it over a branch of the oak tree, above the table.  I will need Mr. B. to help with that.  Wire it up and get it up there.

Late last night I took a drink out there, lit some lamps and candles and just sat and enjoyed all my hard work.  It felt good, just listening to a hot summers night.

How much have all my patio changes cost me?  Zero.  No, not quite true, I did buy a new base for the one umbrella.  $29.00.  Now I have no more resources because they've all gone.  But that's OK, you never know what will come along shopping in the trash.

Today is meant to be even hotter, think I may just go out buy those breeze blocks and get the Danish Oil and the paint I need to paint the garage door.

Christine

What a Scorcher

Hi Dear Folks,

What a scorcher Sunday was 98F.  This was a set I found in the trash probably about ten years ago.  I actually crammed it all into my PT Cruiser and got it home, that's why I like a hatchback, and not so thrilled with the car I have now.  But I guess it will stop me filling up the garage again.

I would think it's from the sixties, and these are the original seats, the cushions were from Ikea.

I used to have a garden tent sit in this position, but after several years it fell to bits, and Mr. B. laid the patio.  I did enjoy the tent while I had it.  The problem with being outside is that the cushions need to come in when it rains.

I do like the sofas in the corner here with the Ikea table, all out of the garage.

Along with this octagonal table which I want to sand and put Danish oil on it.  Also this candle chandelier was in there too.

Plus these little oil lamps.

As you can see Tupp is totally done in with the hot weather, and even she couldn't take it outside any longer, came in the house and flopped on the stool and we don't even have AC, but it is ten degrees cooler in the house.

Christine

My Last Hurrah! At the NSH Yard Sale - Wheel It Out

Hi Dear Folk,

A couple of Saturdays ago was my last hurrah at the NSH Yard Sale.  The yard sale is housed in an old building at the Norristown State Hospital which is soon to be demolished.  The funds raised are used for the patients.

I only started going in the last few years and then as they changed to just a Friday instead of Friday and Saturday I did not always get to go.  One more is scheduled for this year in August the final one, but sadly I will not be able to attend, as happily I will be in the UK.

My friend Maria and I had a long standing appointment as this year they changed it to a Saturday.  It is fun to go with a friend, it was a marathon.  We got there just before it opened at 9:00 am.  Each room is dedicated to certain items, we always head first to the jewelry room which is right inside the door.

Then we headed over to shoes and bags, linens, from there to clothes, back to china, craft items, books and looking at what is in the central room area.  Last of all we hit appliances because the wonderful ninety year old lady who is lovely to talk with keeps us for so long that we would miss all the bargains if we went there first.  So of course we never get a bargain in appliances because they are all gone by the time we get there.

She is ninety and looks a spry seventies.  She has traveled all over the world with her photographer husband and still flies out to see family in California, Colorado and Mexico.  She gave us a travel trip always ask for a wheel chair at the airport it is complimentary and they will wheel you through customs, over to baggage and out.  I may very well do this, she positively told me I should.

Her daughter is Jill Bond who produced this film for PBS We Served Too - The Story of Women Airforce Pilots in WWII.  She is now in Mexico making another movie for PBS about vineyards in Mexico.  The oldest wine-growing region in the Americas.

There is also a coffee, soda, baked goods and hot dog section to take a break, which we needed.

So what was my haul:

Shannon crystal vase, old china biscuit barrel, which I love $1.00, old sugar bowl, I would think from Austro-Hungary era.  Victorian crystal and silver cruet set.

Isn't the design delightful?

I walked past the cruet set and then saw someone else taking a look at it and I thought that is so nice if she doesn't get it I will, and I did.  I have tried cleaning it, but think I need some silver dip so will have to go out and get some.  A Victorian cruet set would be about $80.00 to go out and buy.

I walked by this jug, but by the afternoon they were marking down what ever had not sold, and my friend Maria bought this for me.

Eight glasses for martinis?  I'm not good on knowing what glass is meant for what drink.  $0.25 each, how can you pass that by.

Cottage eggcup.

Hand made handkerchief holder?  I'm not sure but the work is lovely.

Glass necklace.

24 carrot gold plated necklace and matching bracelet $3.00

Amethyst broach and I can't remember the name of the green stones.

Brighton necklace and matching bracelet.

Bracelet watch brand new in it's box, I just bought a new battery and it works perfectly.

Zebra broach it looks like a Cinar, but can't see a mark, so maybe not, still I like it.

Butterfly broach, hard to get an in focus photo on this.  Cleaned up nice and sparkly.

Coldwater Creek Jewelry Necklace.

Should have put this in with my Australian post, maybe from the same person.  I would call this a Happy Hankie.

A stash of hankies, can never have too many.  Look at the work on this one.

Evening top, may take this along on my cruise.

Summer hat.

Oval table cloth for BB.

Serviettes/Napkins I especially could not pass by the daisy ones, very 60s/70s.

Brand new set of linen placements and serviettes, hand printed.

Little clay rounds to keep your sugar from getting rock hard.

And last but not least my piece de la resistance, brand new, The Capri Bag from the Capri Watch Company.  this design is called Majolica Sun.  It is made from Neoprene, they sell a whole line of these bags in different designs and it originally sold for 109 Euros.  It is very lightweight, may use it on my travels, only thing is does not zip up, only a snap.  Still could pack it and use when there.

Maybe someone bought this while on vacation.  You must watch their Capri Watch Commercial, selling a life style. Here.  The scenery is beautiful and of course so are the people.

Well that's it, ah! I forgot to say that nothing was more than $5.00, and most was much less.  You can see why we love to go to this sale.

Christine