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A Farm of My Own:  treasures in scrap heap  |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 2:12:18 PM
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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. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 3:41:25 PM
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yay!!! I love to find things like that!! Even if it isn't waterproof or perfect it will still be a beautiful planter. We found some really fun old stuff when we first moved into this house and continue to find little things even now..odd little bits of this and that. The family before us lived here more than 50 years and were tinkerers for sure..lots of funny fix it stuff and things most folks would have thrown out.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 3:49:32 PM
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How cool! Jenny is right - it does not have to be perfect to be enjoyed. I wonder what else you will find!
Karin
Wherever you go, there you are. |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4179 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4179 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 3:55:04 PM
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| Ahhh it is the little simple things that get us girls excited. Hope you find more treasures, that goes for all of us. Michele |
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Luzy
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Luanne
Pueblo
Colorado
USA
922 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 4:05:38 PM
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Oh what fun! One of my favorite things to do is to find old dump/home sites. Let us know what you find...I'm drooling! Lu
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May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 4:31:36 PM
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Michelle,
That was a pretty good find, lets see 6 gallons, I'am trying to think how big that would be, maybe for mittens etc. by the back door, or set a big plant in there, or yarn, magazines. Let us know what you end up doing with it.
NANCY JO
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 09:59:08 AM
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Thanks gals! I appreciate the ideas. Right now it's being held together with some belts while the glue sets. Only 3 palm-sized bits missing. I think I'll use it as a planter/vase. Strawberries? Tulips? Pussywillows? I'll tinker with posting photos and see what happens, but I can't promise it'll work. Technology is allergic to me. I may take the truck and tow rope out today and get to work on placing the 1930's car carcasses for my wildflower garden. Do you know how good it feels to chat about these "crazy" ideas with other women who encourage it? I love this. Thank you thank you thank you.
We make a difference. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2007 : 5:15:45 PM
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I love going through old junk heaps to find treasures! My family used to go to a ghost town not too far from my home town. There were about 20 abandoned houses from the old mining town and you could find all sorts of wonderful “trash” around. A summer or so ago I was out a family friend’s ranch and found an abandoned saw with a beautiful wooden handle. I was worried about getting that one home since I had to fly.
Have you found any more treasures, Michelle?
Ciao
Alee
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2007 : 6:43:06 PM
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Michelle, Nice find - very quaint looking I'll bet. I found some old glass canning lids in a barn that was going to be torn down. And I've taken alot of
old hardware off wrecked and ruined barn buildings, like old hooks, square nails, the wooden slot paddles for grain schutes, just misc. metal
"junk" and I fastened them all on an old piece of barn board as a decoration in my house. I also found a pinky ring digging in the garden -
its sterling silver and has three little red stones in it....probably not expensive, but a sweet and unlikely find. It's fun to find stuff and fun to
try to think of what to do with it. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2007 : 7:14:29 PM
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OregonGal-
Finds like your ring make me want to get one of those metal detectors that you always see being sold on late night TV! :) I found lots of stuff when I was digging up my garden- but it was junk in the truest sense. Congrats on your great find!
Alee
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 06:28:32 AM
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One summer, when my family was camping in a state park, I spent most of my time playing down by the side of a creek in the woods. I found a shard of pottery in the mud, and then another, and another...I bought a bottle of elmer's glue in town and hid my collection of shards under the roots of a tree. Every day, I worked at piecing together my archaeological treasure. When my family packed up to go home at the end of the week, I had a complete....chamberpot!
I've got it in my attic to this day. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 08:34:45 AM
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Amie-
Oh my! I wonder what a ceramic chamber pot was doing way out there in the state park! It must have an interesting story attached to it!
Alee |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 11:16:17 AM
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My theory was that someone's old trash pile had gotten washed downstream in the spring. There are numerous small communities around the edges of the park, and living conditions were still pretty primitive in the recent past (my aunt and uncle lived for a few years in an abandoned farmhouse with no indoor plumbing and a wood cookstove).
BTW, my husband and I are cleaning out his mom's house so she can move into a retirement home. We opened a box labeled "bottles", and it is indeed filled with bottles. Many of them still have dirt clinging to the inside. I think my husband's family must have dug them up in the woods years ago. The funny thing is that my mil's current house is already downsized from the old family home. When they moved five years ago, it looks like my fil found these things in the attic and just packed them up and took them along. We're finding other boxes filled with canned goods, paper plates, junk mail, etc. It's pretty hilarious. I keep expecting to find dirty dishes and a half-eaten sandwich. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 12:47:21 PM
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Amie-
*lol* I hope I don't pass away today because people would find boxes like that in my house (not dirty dishes or sandwiches). My fiance and I have moved around a lot so not all of our papers are organized. Sometimes it is easy to just close up those boxes and put them in the back of the closet-
The funny thing is that it drives me crazy that my stuff isn't organized! I have a goal of organizing one closet a week!
I hope you find some more treasures!
Alee |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 4:00:00 PM
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I stick to my own property when finding treasures. Never salvage without permission. Too many people see an old place, no one around, and then bits go missing.
Just yesterday I "rescued" an old Schwinn bicycle from the town's annual clean up...and I asked permission first, even though it was just waiting to be lifted into the giant dumpster. I'm going to weld some cans on to hold flowers, like one I saw in a Moscow antique shop the other day.
I don't know the circumstances of everyone's treasure-from-trash, but it is absolutely critical to get permission, or leave it alone no matter how tempting.
We make a difference. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2007 : 6:22:57 PM
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Michelle-
I sincerely agree with you. Trespassing and stealing- even stealing "trash" is never a good idea. Luckily most people are very happy to have us creative thinker take away their unwanted items. I have never had any problems getting permission to take away something that I thought had potential.
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Aunt George
True Blue Farmgirl
1476 Posts
Georgann
Midlothian
VA
1476 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2007 : 03:05:22 AM
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From trash to treasure! What a find. And hauling old cars for a flower garden? Great idea!! Farmgirls are so creative and full of energy!! Please get that camera going and photbucket is easy!! You will have to try it
Love the chamber pot story too!! What a great treasure hunt! That is really one for the books. Oh, my Amie C. how old were you when you glued the chamber pot together? Did you wait until nobody else was around? What did your parents say when you hauled up a glued together chamber pot? I would love to write a little mystery story about this....and it is in your attic to this day? So, so fun.
http://auntgeorgeshouse.blogspot.com/index.html
Thanks for checking out my apron and sewing musings! |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2007 : 08:00:15 AM
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| Hi, Aunt George. I think I was about 14 that summer. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing off in the woods every day, and I hid my work in the hollow under the roots of a big tree on the creek bank. Keeping it secret added to the adventure, which I was desperate for at that age. It probably would make a good story, and I probably did it because it was the kind of thing that would happen in a story! I was a little mortified to see what it turned out to be, which stole away some of the glory of my triumph. But I was proud enough to keep it. It is back in pieces, so one of these days I'll have to put it back together. Go ahead and write the story, if you want to. But you have to promise not to sue me for plagiarism if I ever write about too! |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2007 : 3:15:15 PM
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| 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. |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 07:22:15 AM
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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 |
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livelife
Farmgirl in Training
45 Posts
Penny
Michigan
USA
45 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 11:03:37 AM
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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 |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 12:54:09 PM
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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
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 2:18:03 PM
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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!
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 2:42:19 PM
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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 |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 3:41:40 PM
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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. |
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OregonGal
True Blue Farmgirl
511 Posts
Chris
No. IL
USA
511 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2007 : 4:37:54 PM
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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. |
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A Farm of My Own: treasures in scrap heap |
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treasures in scrap heap
