SUMMER AT THE SALMAGUNDI HOUSEHOLD

This week August will begin. I'm ready as summer is not my favorite time of the year. Bring on Fall and the Holidays!

In the meantime, we need to finish up the summer projects.

We're getting a new roof - the shingles have been delivered and placed on the roof. Hopefully, the crew will be here this week to do the dirty work; and we will have a new 'onyx black' roof. The change in roof color, of course, will probably mean a complete paint job on the house. I'm already looking at paint samples.

Our house is 26 years old, and the fence was showing its age. Bob has decided to replace it in stages. Our son came home for a few days to help with the sides and gates. When you get two highly educated mathematicians/engineers together, things are checked for level over and over!

And, if you are 10 years old, wet concrete just calls for getting your hands dirty.

And, what have I been doing -- lots of cooking to keep the troops fed. Real men DO eat quiche!

This cutie and I have some major shopping plans week after next before school starts. That's the best part of summer for a soon-to-be high school sophomore. She's been pretty busy this summer training for the cross-country season plus she goes to church camp next week for some serious volunteer labor. As she gets older, 'grammy time' gets shortened; but we plan to make up for it on our shopping trip.

I'm taking a blogging break for a couple of weeks to finish up the summer and recharge my batteries. See you then!

LITTLE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

A LITTLE BEAUTY!

Bob came home recently from an auction with this little school desk.

BEFORE

 Some may think its chippy goodness is perfect, but that's rarely an option with Bob.  The fun for him is disassembling an item; and restoring everything back to working condition and restoring the wood back to an original finish. 

 The desk portion tilts and can be adjusted up and down.

AFTER

 The drawer has a pencil tray, and the drawer pull has a patent date of March 25, 1910 on it.

Sometimes, I have a hard time giving up things that Bob restores. This is one of them, but it is off to the consignment store -- hopefully, someone will buy it that loves it as much as I do!

AND THE BEAST!

Bob found this in a barn cheap.  It was full of hay and mouse droppings.  After a thorough scrubbing and disassembling, he stripped the wood.

BEFORE

This thing is huge and heavy -- much bigger than the average cedar chest. The top hinges for lots of storage and would be perfect in a mudroom.  After Bob finished doing his thing, it turned out pretty neat.

AFTER

You never know if something like this will sell -- it takes just the right person with the right space.  It sold within two days!

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Once again, our state is in mourning.  Please pray for the families of the victims of the horrific massacre at the movie theater in the Aurora suburb of Denver last night.

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I'm joining the following parties.  Please check them out for a plethora of inspiration.

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasure Monday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Restore Interiors for Restored It Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

"NO ES BUENO"

I don't know what it is -- I don't know where it came from --

 I don't know what it is doing balancing on a steel rod out in the corner of our vegetable garden --

 I do know that every morning when I look out my bedroom window, I dream that maybe it could become a cloche; and just possibly become the star of Marty's Cloche Party on July 24.

 "Put anything of IMPORTANCE under a cloche, and it becomes a thing of beauty."

 I think I read that wrong -- it must have said, "Put anything of BEAUTY under a cloche, and it becomes more important."

Oh, well --- whatever --- dream on ---

or as my granddaughter says, "No es bueno -- epic fail!"  I think  I read too many decorating blogs.

Sorry, Marty, maybe next time.

Be sure to stop by Marty's blog, A Stroll Thru Life for the party on July 24th.  There really are clever and creative people out there that do magical things with a cloche.

As I continue to spread my lack of creative clocheness, I'm joining these other parties -- please, also, check them out.

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday

Jann Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

FAMILY OF SAVERS

People are often amazed at the amount of family stuff we have.  Well, I come from a long line of savers, and being the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family; I inherited a lot of stuff.  Some of it was wonderful like great dishes and furniture; but a lot of it we are still wondering what on earth we are supposed to do with it!!!  Among the questionable items are 17 World War II ammunition boxes full of papers from the paternal side of my family; and that are now stored in our shed.

 That's right - 17 of these huge things.  They are about 12" wide, 18" tall, and 40" deep, and they are full of cancelled checks; receipts; birth, confirmation, and death certificates; bill of sales; and lists of this and that dating from the 1880s up through the 1960s.  If you need to know how much it cost to ship a load of sheep on the railroad in 1927, I probably can find a piece of paper that tells you.

 As an example of what we are up against, we recently found this envelope with this note in my great-grandmother's handwriting.  We laughed at how ridiculous this was.  Not only was she NOT going to get rid of these useless papers; BUT my family has kept them since her death in 1951.

 By the time this had filtered down to me, all that was in the envelope was this 1937 receipt.

Now, pray tell, what am I suppose to do?  Do I destroy something that has been kept all of these years?  Of course, we'll keep the birth, etc. certificates -- some of them have lovely graphics and are important family history.

But, some of this stuff is meaningless -- just old.

I've about come to the conclusion just to keep it out in the shed in the waterproof World War II ammunition boxes; and leave it to my kid's discretion after I'm gone.  Sounds like a solution to me -- after all that's what my ancestors did.

RECEIPT THING-A-MA-JIG

Guess I didn't need to go junk hunting this week. Bob seems to be clearing out his garage, so he keeps bringing things into the house wanting to know if I want to keep this or that; and, if so, where can it go IN the house.

I don't know where this came from, but it is a part of store receipt board. In his family's grocery store, they had one where they kept charged receipts. When a customer (my family included) came into the store, bought their groceries on credit, the receipts were filed in this type of apparatus. Then, at the end of the month, they would total up the receipts and mail the statements out hoping the customers would pay. I know that Bob's dad carried a lot of customers on the books during rough times.

It has these double clips on both sides.

For now, I've clipped some old family pictures on it. See that man on the horse in the top cowboy picture -- that's the grandson of President Monroe, a friend of my grandfather. Both my Dad and our son are named after him.

And, that's your history lesson from the Salmagundi household for the week. Does anyone have other ideas that I could use for this thing-a-ma-jig?

I'll be joining the following blogs this week -- please check them out for a plethora of inspiration:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

Jann Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

PATRIOTIC TABLESCAPE AND THE FRENCH JAR REVISITED

As a child, the Fourth of July was a favorite holiday -- it ranked right up there with Christmas.  My step-grandfather in Kansas was born on July 4, so we often traveled to Kansas from Colorado in the heat of summer to celebrate with a picnic and lots of fireworks.  Even with the heat, the humidity, and the chiggers; it was always fun!  And because of World War II at the time, always a very patriotic and emotional holiday for the adults.

For my tablescape centerpiece, I gathered a few things to remind me of that time.  You can't think of Kansas without a sunflower.  

 That picture hiding behind the leaf is of me taken during 
World War II holding a flag.  There's an antique postcard of Betsy Ross and an old George Washington bank holding a flag.

 In front of the old drawer, I've assembled three generations of selective service cards from my family starting with 1918 (WW I), 1945 (WW II), and 1956 (Vietnam War).  Also, are Bob's and my War Ration Books.  Both of our mothers thought these important enough to save all of these years.

  The tablescape includes my Mikasa Italian Countryside white dishes - a bargain at a thrift store of 6 place settings for $27.

 The red Fostoria glasses, plates, and bowls were gifts from my mother in the late 1960s.  I have three sizes of glasses, the plates, and the bowls - service for 12 -- always perfect for Christmas, Valentine's Day and any patriotic holiday.

 At each place is an antique patriotic postcard.

 I just found this set of eight place mats at an antique/gift store.  They are locally hand-woven.  

I'll be joining the following parties this week in celebration of our nation's Independence Day.  Please stop by these blogs and tell them hello!
Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

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What did I do with my French jar that I posted about here?  I filled it with memorobilia from trips to France -- boarding passes, museum passes, business cards, maps, and every tourist's purchase - a miniature Eiffel Tower

In doing a little research, I believe the jar is just an ordinary French canning jar and fairly new.

FRENCH JAR

One of the things that Bob found on his yard sale travels this week was this jar for $2.  It is quite tall and has various embossed writings on it including "VMS - REIMS" which I assume that it came from the Reims area in France.  On the front and top it says, "Bocal" & "Le Parfait -Super".  I think that means 'The great, perfect jar'.

 The top also says, "Ouverture instantanee" meaning 'instant opening'.

 On the rim it says, "Niveau de remplissage", which I think that means 'filling level'.  In addition, in English, it says, "Made in France" --  making me think that it was made for the tourist market.  The size and shape indicates that it could have held pasta.  It isn't old, but interesting nevertheless.  What do you think? And, have I translated correctly?
On my next post, I'll show you what I'm going to do with it.  


I'm joining the following for their weekly parties.  Please stop by these blogs and say hello.
Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures Monday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

FINISHING UP THE PORCH

We've been working on the porch a little this spring and summer - spiffing it up and finishing some projects.  This week we painted our resin wicker furniture.  Over the years, it had become sun-faded and was starting to look pretty tacky.

You can see in the picture below how faded it was getting.

We chose Krylon Fusion spray paint in Black Satin.  We're pleased with the look - time will tell how well it holds up.

As I mentioned in a previous post here that the porch has become the depository for all of the industrial and farming stuff that we have accumulated over the years.  Here's some farm trivia -- do you know what this triangle apparatus is?

It is an acreage measuring device.  From tip to tip it is 6.6 feet. If you pivot from point to point l00 times that is 660'; and 660' by 660' is equal to 10 acres.  This particular one was manufactured by a small company in the Colorado farming community that we grew up in; and we found it in my Dad's workshop.

The circular window on the left was in the house that Bob grew up in, and the etched glass window was in the house where my Dad was born in 1913.  Below is a chimmey cupboard for storing the cushions, my mother's wooden ironing board from 1937 (which we use when we set up a drink station on the porch), and my Dad's workshop tractor seat.

This is the first year that we have grown sunflowers, and they are putting on quite a show for us, as we can see them from the porch!

Some of you have inquired if we are in the path of the Colorado Springs wildfire.  We live about 20 miles southwest from Pikes Peak (as the crow flies).  So far we have had only one little fire a week ago which was quickly extinguished.  Because of the current wind patterns, we are not even experiencing any smoke problems.  You can see in the above sunflower pictures how blue our skies were this morning.    BUT, in Colorado Springs this is a horrific fire of epic proportions -- at least 32,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.  Our local TV comes from Colorado Springs, and it was just terrible watching the houses burn last night.  The weather is not cooperating at all - it is dry, hot and windy.  They are saying it will take a long time to contain this fire.  These people will be in danger for awhile - please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.


I'm linking with the following:
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House Party
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday 
Please check these blogs out, and tell them thank you for hosting.

RECORD CABINET TRANSFORMATION

We bought this little record cabinet cheap at a junk store recently.  The bottom was natural wood, but we thought it would look more up-to-date with a painted finish.  We hoped to take it out of its l970s misery.  Sorry, no 'before' picture.

 Bob refinished the cherry top, and gave the bottom a painted and glazed finish.

 It turned out nice, we think.

Evidently, someone else did, too.  It sold within 15 minutes of being delivered to the consignment store!


OK, it's the first day of summer - now can we have Fall & Winter?  In arid Colorado, it is hot, dry, buggy, windy and the forest fires are raging.  So many homes have been lost; please pray for those people in harm's way.


I'm joining the following parties -- please go by these blogs for inspiration galore.
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Restore Interiors for Restored It Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

HICKS FROM THE STICKS OFF TO THE CITY

We took a couple of fun days off from just hanging around the house, and went to the big city -- Denver!  

The first day we met our son and went to the new History Colorado Center.  It has only been open a short time in its new facility, a block south of the old Colorado History Museum on Broadway.  It was enjoyable, but a little slick and high tech for our tastes.  We missed the old museum that was packed so full of artifacts that you could actually FEEL the history.  We will go back, however, when more of the new exhibits are open.  One of the temporary exhibits was Colorado - past, present and future; - all done in Legos.  Fun, fun - my favorite was the row of the tiny, blue porta-potties done in Legos, but all of the Colorado landmarks executed by the Lego artists were great!

We then hit our favorite antique mall on South Broadway, had Colorado Hacienda Mexican food, and checked into our hotel to find we had been upgraded to a suite at no extra cost - a nice surprise.  It doesn't take much to please us hicks!

  On our second day, we went to the Old Glory Antique Fair in Clement Park.  Clement Park is right next to the infamous Columbine High School - always a sobering moment when you remember what took place there.

But on this day, it was all about junking and antiquing.

After 50 years of antiquing, we don't buy much anymore (sorry, dealers); but we love checking everything out for trends and seeing what people are buying.

 We saw several industrial carts -- all in the $500-600 range, which makes our $20 cart from a yard sale a REAL bargain.  Read about that score here.

 This was a great seed box, and I've always wanted one; but way out of our price range.

 Lots of industrial and farmstead goods.

 We laughed about this chicken coop - another winter on the farm and it would have been a pile of splinters.  And, in our opinion, was pretty pricey at $65 for that kind of patina!

 After a morning of sun, we headed south and stopped at our favorite antique mall in Colorado Springs; then home.  In my childhood, we would go to Denver from the farm 3-4 times a year to shop, eat, and observe.  It's still a thrill for me!

So, what did I buy?

 I keep saying I'm going to quit buying brown transferware, but I can't seem to pass up a nice specimen like this tureen for $12.  It has a hairline crack in the lid, but still pretty on the shelf at that price.

In my continuing search for items with the number 15, I found a cue ball, a bingo card, and a cash register indicator.  Part of my discipline is that I will not spend more than $10 and preferably under $5 for these things.  Don't ask what I'm going to do with them -- I'm getting quite an assortment, but the fun is in the search.


Please check out the following blogs that I'm linking to this week, and thank them for their efforts.
Southern Hospitality for Monday Thrifty Treasures
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday