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.

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!