Treasures
Our vet stopped Doug at work one day, a couple of weeks ago; to tell him he had ordered chickens for us. He was ordering some for himself, thought of us, and ordered some for us too. How nice is that! I really love our vet. He’s such a great person.
Of course that meant the little building out back was to be cleaned out completely because it will serve as temporary housing for goats and chickens until the barn is restored. We only got to clean the one side out because the other is full of bees and we ran out of spray. But the chicken side took all afternoon and we don’t have goats yet anyway, so no big on that one.
We were amazed at the things the women who lived here before kept. Newspapers dating back to 1958 were found tucked in a box. Shame they had been left sitting on the dirt floor and were ruined. We did manage to salvage a section of funny pages that were in perfect condition. Snuffy Smith was running in the funny pages way back then. Amazing! It also included Uncle Remus. Won't find that running anywhere now. We’re going to take the page to the printers and see if we can have it preserved. We thought it would add a nice touch to the antique Coke theme of the kitchen (which it will have once I get around to redoing it). We also found two small tabletop fans that we’re going to restore and use just to sit in the kitchen.
As we unloaded each item from the building I wondered why the elders are so often likely to save every little thing. Those ladies never ate a jar of pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, or pancake syrup that they didn’t save the jar for. Apparently once it was empty it became reusable. I know it makes sense to reuse a lot of those things, but the hoarding doesn’t stop with jars that would be useful for canning. An old standing wreath from someone’s grave stood leaning against the wall in the corner. Magazines had been boxed up and stored away from the 50s – obviously read and finished with, now ruined and disintegrating on the dirt floor of the building.
Most everything inside the building was trash. We did find several half-bushel baskets that, while not suitable for picking any longer, will make good nests for laying hens. There was even a full bushel basket that is in perfect shape…handy for the picking of the pears next year (and muscadines if they produce again like they are this year – our first round of picking the vines yielded enough to make a gallon and a half of the best smelling juice for jelly YUM). We also managed to salvage a couple of old Pet milk bottles that weren’t broken, and a 36-ounce glass Coke bottle. The kids were amazed when we told them Coke used to come in big glass bottles. Now we rarely find coke in a bottle and if we do, we’re happy about it because it just doesn’t get as cold in a plastic bottle for some unknown reason.
We also found a picture of the sisters taken at the Christian Booksellers Convention in 1958. It is in perfect condition and the kids thought it was so cool to have a picture of the ladies who once lived here. We’re going to contact the family and ask if they will identify the ladies for us and ask if we can keep them.
The other side of the building (where the goats will bed down) we have an old icebox. As soon as we can get the bees out I’m taking it to be restored. It is so cool! And in perfect shape except for a dent on the top and a bent leg; which I think can be straightened at a sheet metal shop with no problem. I hope so.
So today is a day of errands and fun kind of running around since the kids are out of school. We’re going to stop by the vet’s office to visit the chicks and spend some time playing with the animals in the adoption program if they are open today. And we’ll make a long trip to the library, of course. We end up at the library several times a week since we moved here. It is on the way to the restaurant so we end up going there a lot. Amazingly enough I still manage to forget to turn things in on time. How do I do that?
Today I will finish emptying the building and get the rest of the bees out so I can put on the new roof before the chicks come. I will clean up the things we are keeping and wonder again why it amazed me to see what the ladies were compelled to keep and yet I managed to find some treasures of my own out there.
Of course that meant the little building out back was to be cleaned out completely because it will serve as temporary housing for goats and chickens until the barn is restored. We only got to clean the one side out because the other is full of bees and we ran out of spray. But the chicken side took all afternoon and we don’t have goats yet anyway, so no big on that one.
We were amazed at the things the women who lived here before kept. Newspapers dating back to 1958 were found tucked in a box. Shame they had been left sitting on the dirt floor and were ruined. We did manage to salvage a section of funny pages that were in perfect condition. Snuffy Smith was running in the funny pages way back then. Amazing! It also included Uncle Remus. Won't find that running anywhere now. We’re going to take the page to the printers and see if we can have it preserved. We thought it would add a nice touch to the antique Coke theme of the kitchen (which it will have once I get around to redoing it). We also found two small tabletop fans that we’re going to restore and use just to sit in the kitchen.
As we unloaded each item from the building I wondered why the elders are so often likely to save every little thing. Those ladies never ate a jar of pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, or pancake syrup that they didn’t save the jar for. Apparently once it was empty it became reusable. I know it makes sense to reuse a lot of those things, but the hoarding doesn’t stop with jars that would be useful for canning. An old standing wreath from someone’s grave stood leaning against the wall in the corner. Magazines had been boxed up and stored away from the 50s – obviously read and finished with, now ruined and disintegrating on the dirt floor of the building.
Most everything inside the building was trash. We did find several half-bushel baskets that, while not suitable for picking any longer, will make good nests for laying hens. There was even a full bushel basket that is in perfect shape…handy for the picking of the pears next year (and muscadines if they produce again like they are this year – our first round of picking the vines yielded enough to make a gallon and a half of the best smelling juice for jelly YUM). We also managed to salvage a couple of old Pet milk bottles that weren’t broken, and a 36-ounce glass Coke bottle. The kids were amazed when we told them Coke used to come in big glass bottles. Now we rarely find coke in a bottle and if we do, we’re happy about it because it just doesn’t get as cold in a plastic bottle for some unknown reason.
We also found a picture of the sisters taken at the Christian Booksellers Convention in 1958. It is in perfect condition and the kids thought it was so cool to have a picture of the ladies who once lived here. We’re going to contact the family and ask if they will identify the ladies for us and ask if we can keep them.
The other side of the building (where the goats will bed down) we have an old icebox. As soon as we can get the bees out I’m taking it to be restored. It is so cool! And in perfect shape except for a dent on the top and a bent leg; which I think can be straightened at a sheet metal shop with no problem. I hope so.
So today is a day of errands and fun kind of running around since the kids are out of school. We’re going to stop by the vet’s office to visit the chicks and spend some time playing with the animals in the adoption program if they are open today. And we’ll make a long trip to the library, of course. We end up at the library several times a week since we moved here. It is on the way to the restaurant so we end up going there a lot. Amazingly enough I still manage to forget to turn things in on time. How do I do that?
Today I will finish emptying the building and get the rest of the bees out so I can put on the new roof before the chicks come. I will clean up the things we are keeping and wonder again why it amazed me to see what the ladies were compelled to keep and yet I managed to find some treasures of my own out there.
2 Comments:
Having dealt with people who keep everything, there are usually two explanations. They are either obsessive/compulsive which usually is younger folk, or they were raised during the depression, where everything was worth something and everything had to be used until it fell apart. I would imagine they fall into the latter category. I think it's interesting to go through old stuff like that.
How cool! My Dad kept everything too. He was raised during the depression and there wasn't much he didn't think he could reuse.
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