| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 2:12:18 PM
Ok, I just can't keep this to myself any more. At the farm we just bought, we've been cleaning a junk heap, planting, ...you know the routine.
Well! I found a 6 gallon red wing crock. Now, when your heart starts beating again, I'll temper the news. It was broken. But I've pieced it back together and most of it is there, including the wire and wood handles. I just love it!
What treasures have you found in your spring cleaning?
We make a difference. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 12:49:18 PM
Kathie-
It's amazing what some people throw away isn't it? I scavenged my drying rack from a dumpster. Perfect condition and pretty large too.
Alee |
| Kathie |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 10:42:01 AM
A couple nites ago i came home from work & went to put something comfy on just like I always do when i get home.... & there was a grocery bag on the bathroom Vanity.. tied up several times.. i was trying to untie it & my husband came in & said "You may want to do that outside.. because what's inside stinks like nothing else!" i went in the laundry room with the bag.. ready to toss it out the bag door if i had to.. My husband told me that my middle Son Josh had found it laying near the Trash Compactor at his work.. & pickied it up saying "Mom will love this!"
I untied the bag.. & inside was this really old.. cutest twin size quilt! Now i love Quilts!! i don't care what they look like or what shape they are in.. i don't thing you can ever have too many.. !! Ever!
( i even have a couple in my living room on either side of the wondow framing like shutters.. looks pretty neat..)
well.. the quilt is in fair shape.. But wow.. what a smell..
I have know i idea what the previous 'owner' had been using it for.. I'm guessing maybe a dogs bed.. but maybe he had decided he couldn't stand the funk anymore.. & dragged the old thing to the compactor to have someone throw it away for him!
& That's where Joshua found it..
Well.. it's in fair condition.. need some repair.. was really leary about washing it.. usually the old ones i just leave as they are...
But that STINK!! i had to risk it..
i figured i could do anything with it the way it was.. so.. i poured a couple capfuls of Downey right in the washer.. & 2 of the soap.. filled the washer.. once it filled i went ahead & put the stinking thing in.. & added more Downey for the rinse cycle..
Believe it or not.. It survived the washer!!
So.. I tossed it in the dryer.. & it made it through that as well!!!
Can you believe it??
So.. i folded my sweet little addition up & it's now laying on top of my Grandfather Clock!! Thank You Joshy!
That was my Treasure in the Scrap Heap this week!!
Kathie
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
| Alee |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 4:07:43 PM
One thing that was always tons of fun to see was my Great-Great Aunt Nora's Sun porch. She never threw anything that could be reused away and she had tons of bottles all lined up on her sun poarch. Many turned blue and purple in the sun so it was really pretty to see all the multi colors in the window like that.
Alee |
| mellaisbella |
Posted - May 07 2007 : 07:19:47 AM
I try to incorporate the old bottles that I find into my every day decorating. I clean them out really good and have one as a toothbrush holder. Of course they can be used to hold flowers, pens. If you find old jars that have character, use them to hold your kitchen utensils, hair brushes, buttons...etc.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 08:37:02 AM
What fun! I love finding old bottles. Most of the ones we've found so far have been victims of target shooting, but I do know quite a few places around here I could recommend, and the folks you could ask.
When I was growing up outside of Las Vegas, we used to go hiking in the desert, and always brought home neat old bottles...now that place has homes built over it. Once we even found a meteorite, but we didn't know what it was (being kids) and our father tossed it over the fence. Kinda wish I had that now...
We make a difference. |
| katmom |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 08:31:05 AM
Michell,
My DH use to go to No. Calif. w/a buddy to go Bottle digging. They would go to some of the old small towns,,, I kid you not,,,look for turn of the century old houses,,,knock on the door & ask if they could probe the owners back yard for old trash heaps long since buried. We have a collection of interesting bottles. I love the old ones that start bluepurpleing from age & having been in the trash heap which was often set afire to burn up much of the trash.
So,,,,don't be surprised when we get up there & a man in his mid 50's comes knocking on your door with a bottle probe!!!! lol!
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom. |
| mellaisbella |
Posted - May 01 2007 : 04:57:32 AM
Great that your children were able to sell the bottles. I have probably 75 that I have found and that is a conservative estimate. I have taken them to many flea markets to sell with no luck. I think the reason why is everyone on this island has a "dump" in their backyard so they don't need to buy from others as they have a lot of their own.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| akcowgirl |
Posted - Apr 30 2007 : 8:04:47 PM
Wow i wish i could find the kinds of thing you ladies find. the only thing we found when we excavated for the this house was a bunch of car parts, old oil and transmission fluid, and old commercial fishing gear. All in all it was a bunch of junk but i love hearing your stories.
Valerie
Yes, I live in my own little world. But that's ok they know me here.
Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
 |
| small graces |
Posted - Apr 30 2007 : 7:28:28 PM
Just a week ago my 8 year old son and 13 year old daughter found a heap at my sisters' house site. My Sis and BIL gave them permission to dig. They made $30.00 at the local auction with a tray lot of bottles! Talk about business people! Guess where my Sis headed two days later? LOL!!!
"And there they were all night long, Sound asleep. In the big red Barn. Only the mice were left to play, rustling and squeaking in the hay, While the moon sailed high. In the dark night sky" Margaret Wise Brown |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 25 2007 : 12:49:17 PM
That’s just a guess- but I bet a museum could date them more accurately due to fabric used, styles, and things like that. Most museums love this type of donation and it would be great to have them be preserved and on display for the community
Alee
|
| mellaisbella |
Posted - Apr 25 2007 : 12:13:51 PM
WOW!! 100 years old. I think I might "loan" the clothes to a museum so that they can display it properly and preserve it better.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| Kathie |
Posted - Apr 25 2007 : 11:12:32 AM
I really love old silver ware too!
windchimes are so terrific like Michelle says.. I made myself a set & inculded old enamelware in mine too..( you know.. pots & bowls etc..)
it's pretty loud.. but alot of fun!
the 'frame' - ing gave me an idea too.. use an old wooden picture frame them nail the silver ware all around the frames.. ( i love really old pictures of people eating !) & you just don't ordinaily find photos in the kitchen.. i have an old one of my father in law eating pie & smiling with that 1st bite.. it's a sweet picture..
OR! if the silver ware is just too nice to mess up just yet.. build a shadow box with it.. you know.. doillies & maybe an old page from a recipe book or something in the back ground..
Get digging girl!
More good stuff is still hiding where that came from!
In a World Where you Can Be Anything, Be Yourself.. |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 24 2007 : 6:32:03 PM
At least 100 years old?
Alee |
| mellaisbella |
Posted - Apr 24 2007 : 4:50:31 PM
the clothes are from at least 3 generations ago on my husbands fathers side (we think) so how old does that make them?
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 24 2007 : 10:52:52 AM
Melanie-
How old are the clothes? Are they from within that last 50 years or older than that? How fun to live in older houses and farmsteads where you can find that kind of thing! I thought I was pretty lucky when I found 2 abandoned china coffee cups in my cupboard in this apartment. They aren't extremely old- maybe from the 50's but I think they are pretty ;)
Alee
|
| mellaisbella |
Posted - Apr 24 2007 : 09:54:49 AM
WOW!!! great ideas ladies. The windchime one is a neat idea. The drawer pull one is great too!! I am getting the itch to get digging again. I do agree with Photobug about documenting things. I have 4 big steamer trunks full of clothes that belonged to people, family that lived in my house. but no one seems to know who they belong to. I asked my husbands aunt (she grew up in the house) if she knew who owned the clothes, but she doesn't. It's a shame because there are some gems in here. From formal gowns to baby bonnets. anyway......this si so much fun hearing about your treasures!!!
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| Photobugs |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 10:24:18 PM
On the spoons, if they are in pretty good shape I would have a hard time making something out of them. I would put them in a display/shadow box. You might want to add some of the other things you have found. You may even want to put all of the stuff together in a cabinet, like on a shelf of your china hutch (if you have one). Or do some treasure hunting at the thrift shops for a cabinet that they could all go in. You might want to type up a letter about where you found them and the circumstance or about the family they belonged to. I think we should do all we can to document these things. When I buy something at a yard sale I try to ask about it, then I have a journal where I write about the item. This is also a good way for my children to know where I got the things in my house, after I go to meet my maker. I also like to photograph the things and label what they are.
This is my two cents worth.
Pamela
http://homesteadmercantile.blogspot.com/ |
| OregonGal |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 4:37:54 PM
my dad would make windchimes out of the old silverware - he'd take the sledgehammer and flatten the spoons, then drill a little hole in the handle
end and used nylon fish line to hang them. He'd use an old fork, with four tines, bend each one different of four ways and hang the flattened spoons on the fork(make a little hook at the end of each tine so spoons don't fall off) - make a hole in the handle end of the fork and put in a hook or a little piece of fish line for a loop - and VOILA! A wind chime.
I like all your ideas Michelle....good things to keep in mind. |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 3:41:40 PM
Oh, what fun! Thanks for sharing about your treasures. What about a windchime out of the spoons? Or bend them into drawer pulls. Or frame them and hang them in the kitchen, with a bit of coordinated cloth background. Bend them into napkin rings? Send one each to distant relatives?
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 2:42:19 PM
Erin-
There are tons of old houses and barns in this area. I love that old weathered wood. I think it is a shame to see them wasting away and it always makes me happy when people either restore the old structures or recycle to materials!
Alee |
| Alee |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 2:18:03 PM
Melanie-
Those spoons sound like so much fun! Maybe you could make some sort of display with them? I have seen special display cabinets for spoons. I wonder what type of spoon they are. Could you post a picture of them? They sound really interesting! I wonder if they are a type of Egg spoon?
Penny- Oh my word! Milk bottles are so much fun! I have seen some vintage milk bottles go for over $50 on E-bay. It must be so much fun to have ones with such great history on your farm!
|
| Bluewrenn |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 12:54:09 PM
We have gotten the salvaging bug after salvaging our house this past fall. Now we're salvaging fencing, old decks, etc. to get materials for the new house. I'm not into collecting bottles or dishes yet, except for my MIL's funky retro stuff, but instead I'm fixated on doors, windows, old cabinets, fences, excess building materials, etc...
We just salvaged someone's privacy fencing and got a couple of truck loads of nice silvery grey wood. Not perfect, but it might make a nice chicken coop or a shelter for the goats. Or a privacy fence for the drying yard (since hubby doesn't want the neighbors to see our laundry hanging out... how silly!)
Since we are going solar, I love old manual tools and manual appliances... like treadle sewing machines, wood cook stoves, scyths, rotary push mowers, washboards, etc...
My Homesteading Journal http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com
|
| livelife |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 11:03:37 AM
Oh boy... you all are true kindred spirits, we first moved into our farm house 20 some yrs ago and are still discovering buried "treasure", the boys used to bring in dishes, milk bottles,and all sorts of odds and ends, which come to find out this place used to be a dairy farm in the 30's and the family name was printed on the milk bottles!!! Of course they all are on display and will stay with the place if we ever move.
In His presence |
| mellaisbella |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 07:22:15 AM
Oh ladies....what fun indeed. Or farm is well over 200 years old in my husbands family for that long. Before that a stage coach driver owned the farm. There is a "dump" in our woodst that I spend quie a lot of time in. In hte summer we put our pigs in the woods and they help me dig for things. I have found soooomany bottles, mason jars, peices of old crocks, broken dishes etc.... one day I found a spoon. It looked like a table spoon with a bit of the top worn down. I figured that is why they threw it out. BUT...over two summers of digging, I have uncoverd 6 of these spoons, all with the same "worn" top. The best part is, they are all monogramed with the letter M. the families name (ours included) is MacFArlane!!! Any ideas what I should do with these spoons? Keep on digging ladies.
"learn to watch snails" SARK |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Apr 19 2007 : 3:15:15 PM
Ah, I can always count on reading MJF postings to cheer me up when things aren't going the way I hoped. I'm really not very good with technology, but I will have to give posting pictures a try. I've read over how to do it...I'm better with simple tools. Shovel, pitchfork, blowtorch. :) Thanks for the encouragement. I guess I do have a thing for rusty modes of transportation done over to flowers. Hadn't noticed that before, but there it is. Hmm. |
