now THAT'S vintage

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."
--Baba Bioum, Senegalese Ecologist
(thanks, Deborah!)


We are a family that is not opposed to hand-me-downs, remember this post? About the only thing we've passed up so far was a used toilet and that just goes without saying. I wouldn't consider myself a packrat, when things are past their prime I can let them go, but I hate to throw something out too soon, even when it may not be so pretty anymore.


Enter vaccuum.





Yes, this little beauty is my husband's great uncle's old Electrolux cannister vaccuum, circa 1965. You heard me right. 1965. Do the math, that's a 43 year old vaccuum. I love it that it still works, but much more than that it's better than any other vaccuum I've ever used. It creates such a vortex when you turn it on that everything is fair game. Legos, Barbie shoes, crayons, it'll even drag a shoe if you want it to.


I found out how old it was a few years back when the hose developed some leaks and it needed replacing. I went to the Electrolux store and picked out my model based on their pictures and sure enough, it was from 1965. So, for $70 I got a new hose and a practically new vaccuum. A few years after that the motor began to make a funny (LOUD) whine when I turned it off. Kevin took it apart and assessed the problem; it needed a new motor. He said he could replace it, no problem, but was it wise to spend $200 on a new motor, or just go ahead and get a new vaccuum? I opted for the motor and haven't looked back since. Tell that to Dyson.


I've slowly been reclaiming the house today. It always amazes me how quickly things can go to pot and how much paper the kids come home with from school! It's a never-ending battle with clutter and this little treasure or that. Where can they all go? It's almost so bad that I need a major organizational piece of furniture (or two) in every room. And as that is not in my budget, I have to get creative. Part of that creativity involves a little deception when it comes to school papers. The kids expect me to save everything they come home with which isn't at all feasible. I keep a stack of the boring, rote stuff they bring home, and take out the keepers and put them in a stash of their own. As the boring pile grows I just lop off the bottom half from week to week and stash it with the "to-be-burned" items and the pile seems to stay at a nice level (for the kids anyway). We would drown in paper otherwise. So sad.


No, I haven't stopped knitting, in case you wondered. There are happy little bunnies and purses hopping off to new homes for Easter as we speak and more in the shop waiting for adoption. It seems the applique is liked, as well as those without it, so I'll keep making what feels right. I think it's working.


final mono report: 3 weeks. MUCH better.