In less than three weeks I'm selling the last house that my late husband Rea & I renovated & lived in. Today was my first day devoted to cleaning out the garage, which I've been using as dead storage for years. I set up a few tables for sorting, surrounded myself with empty bins labeled "donate" "sell" and "save" plus a LARGE garbage can. With NPR on the radio & an ice cold drink I was ready to start. It was surprising how pleasurable the process was with my system in place. Emotions fluctuated between joy at discovering things I forgot I still had, and the bigger joy when I threw out irrelevant stuff. Desk drawers were emptied; boxes had their contents exposed & categorized and some familiar old sealed boxes were acknowledged without needing to be opened.
Many years, and a few houses ago, I packed up several sets of dishes. They're loved & wanted but aren't ready for prime time yet. One of these days I'll lovingly unwrap each piece but I'll probably spend more time reading the old newspapers protecting them. I've always loved the hand-painted Deruta dishes with turquoise roosters that my mother-in-law brought home from Italy, and my daughter will finally get to embrace her great-grandmother's fine white German china with the platinum snowflakes. Then those cardboard boxes can finally be put to rest.
There's a grand variety of items to deal with. Everything from the very practical upright freezer that has given up its load of
ripe Keitt mangoes, to the antique cigar lighter with references to General William Palmer and a famous hotel in Colorado Springs.
Rea's wonderful cherry desk, finished front & back, with legal file drawers holds so much yet it's only 19" deep & 6' long.
The other large piece is a hand refinished armoire with room on top for a TV & CD player, or clothes hanging from the pole, plus a ton of storage on the bottom three shelves.
I discovered a fabulous 1890's child's rocking horse in the basement of an old Vermont shop. Amazingly its brass arms could support me but I had to strip cracked goat hair off part of the body so my then two year old daughter could ride it comfortably. Personally I think exposing the beautiful hand carved wooden legs add to its charm.
My Dad had a wonderful neighborhood drugstore at Kings Highway & E 5th St in Brooklyn.
One of his treasures was this 1927 Hamilton Beach Malted Machine, in addition to a slew of old pharmacy things like mortar & pestles, apothecary glassware and packaged drugs going back to the thirties...that's 1930's.
Tomorrow it's back to the garage for me. I'll send you a copy of what I list for sale on Craig's List. If you're interested in anything, or have questions, let me know.
Hugs & sneezes (I'm allergic to dust) from the garage,
Bonni
BONNI BAKES
in the Village of the Arts
932 12th Street West
Bradenton, FL 34205
(941) 746-6647
bonnibakes@gmail.com
Many years, and a few houses ago, I packed up several sets of dishes. They're loved & wanted but aren't ready for prime time yet. One of these days I'll lovingly unwrap each piece but I'll probably spend more time reading the old newspapers protecting them. I've always loved the hand-painted Deruta dishes with turquoise roosters that my mother-in-law brought home from Italy, and my daughter will finally get to embrace her great-grandmother's fine white German china with the platinum snowflakes. Then those cardboard boxes can finally be put to rest.
There's a grand variety of items to deal with. Everything from the very practical upright freezer that has given up its load of
ripe Keitt mangoes, to the antique cigar lighter with references to General William Palmer and a famous hotel in Colorado Springs.
Rea's wonderful cherry desk, finished front & back, with legal file drawers holds so much yet it's only 19" deep & 6' long.
The other large piece is a hand refinished armoire with room on top for a TV & CD player, or clothes hanging from the pole, plus a ton of storage on the bottom three shelves.
I discovered a fabulous 1890's child's rocking horse in the basement of an old Vermont shop. Amazingly its brass arms could support me but I had to strip cracked goat hair off part of the body so my then two year old daughter could ride it comfortably. Personally I think exposing the beautiful hand carved wooden legs add to its charm.
My Dad had a wonderful neighborhood drugstore at Kings Highway & E 5th St in Brooklyn.
One of his treasures was this 1927 Hamilton Beach Malted Machine, in addition to a slew of old pharmacy things like mortar & pestles, apothecary glassware and packaged drugs going back to the thirties...that's 1930's.
Tomorrow it's back to the garage for me. I'll send you a copy of what I list for sale on Craig's List. If you're interested in anything, or have questions, let me know.
Hugs & sneezes (I'm allergic to dust) from the garage,
Bonni
BONNI BAKES
in the Village of the Arts
932 12th Street West
Bradenton, FL 34205
(941) 746-6647
bonnibakes@gmail.com
