One man's junk

"I saw it and thought you could use it to make jewelry on," he said. "They were taking it to the dump so I put it in the back of the truck. It came out of an old church parsonage."

This from the man who has been known to tell me he doesn't like a house full of "hodge podge" furniture.

I just kept quiet, doing little leaps up and down inside where no one could see. This is the stuff that belongs in a farmhouse after all, and being the family that rescues old buildings, animals and even a soul or two, I'm sure it will have no trouble fitting right in with the rest of the hodge and the podge.

It has an enamel top that pulls out, was obviously used in the kitchen and is even on casters and the wheels are made of wood. I wonder what Country Living Magazine could tell me about it if I sent them pictures? I'm sure there would be some great story and they'd tell me it was really old but that it was worth $50 due to it's few structural issues.

Oh well, I'm sure we can salvage it, the man can do the structural repairs and I can do a whole lot of scraping, cleaning and painting before we bring it in. Trouble is it's too big for my office, it'll probably end up in a hallway somewhere, or the mudroom, who knows.

But I leave you with the takeaway message in all of this, that lies in the fact that people that you think you know really well will still surprise you from time to time. Be happy when they do and thankful too. And, sometimes the most thoughtful gifts don't come pre-planned or in pretty packages wrapped up with bows. At times they're disguised beneath decades old peeling paint, on wooden wheels and just a little bit broken.

Rearranging

My husband loves a good purge, and today it was the TV's turn. We are a hand-me-down kind of family, complete with clothes, computers, furniture, kitchen cabinets, appliances and TV's to name a few. So the used TV in our bedroom that likes to turn itself off randomly without warning has been evoking alot of negative energy in a room that's supposed to be restful. Today he nabbed his chance to get rid of it. The TV the kids watch (the only other one in the house) also turns itself on and then immediately off. So out it went and in it's place the one from our bedroom. If he has his way they'll all be gone when the last one finally breaks.

This prompted a complete upheaval of our already dismantled and disorganized bedroom. I sit here now with the computer on my lap, the second hand ancient one out in the hallway hopefully for the kids to use, the printer's on the floor, the ugly, old computer table is blocking the bedroom door, stuff for Goodwill piled in a corner, weights, stacks of paper and magazines along with random knitting stuff here there and everywhere. A real Martha Stewart nightmare!

In the midst of it all he started his usual rant about moving to Bali and living in a shack and fishing 24 hrs a day. Simplify! He says. But I'm not so sure he knows where Bali is.

I just smile and go along. Following behind him with a paper towel or dustrag, happy to scoop up all the old dust bunnies that lurk under heavy objects that never get moved. The change will be nice, refreshing even. Music perhaps a more enjoyable alternative.

I feel like we've rearranged a surprising number of times in our 9 1/2 years in this house. It is an old farmhouse built in the 1930's that needed a huge amount of work done. We gutted it (and I do mean WE) and renovated for a year and a half while living in one bedroom that moved around alot. We then restored it with only minor cosmetic changes, keeping it's original character but bringing it up to date in terms of water, heat/air, useable kitchen, CLOSETS, etc. It looks big, with big rooms but there is little to no extra storage, with 3 bedrooms and 5 people and a cat. We love it and use every square inch of it with no room to grow. Perfect for my "get rid of this junk" husband--if you don't include his 90 foot pole barn where he conveniently stashes every leftover bit and gadget he finds. I love you, honey!

The real treat to this old place is the 7 acres it sits on. A true luxury in my mind. Room to play, room to dream, room to run. So while Bali may sound nice, I think I'll stay right here and watch the fields grow, the deer graze and the groundhogs dash under the house, even though they aggravate the skunk that wanders under there too, but THAT is another story!