Special – befriended
No no. I have not lost my marbles…. Colleen makes new friends wherever we go. And she finds great adventure as well. Exciting? Who knew?
I did not expect… much. …old spinning wheel. Then we met the owner in the restaurant. He sat right down and told us a tale. Wow! He had a background in theater. He had been given and collected thousands of costumes and dresses, enough to mount period fashion shows one after the other. Museum? Yes! Enough that the national government supported his efforts. And then farm memorabilia – rooms upon rooms of things pertaining to farm life and so forth. He has filled three floors of a 1640’s mill and the out buildings beyond.
It was fascinating. We saw the storage building where thousands of dresses were carefully stored and catalogued. I have had many a discussion about hoarding and keeping “things.” I could see the advantages and disadvantages of “stuff” accumulating. Don’t laugh. You cannot save everything. There were stories he told us of things he did not keep and let go. Trashed and lost. Dress? Or marbles? You cannot – you do not – have room for everything.
The legacy? Who will keep, carry on, and catalog after he is gone. He’s 87 and still working without a plan. Ah! Familiar!
Meanwhile, Colleen made a new friend. And… I suppose we will return again someday to visit with our new friend.
Antiques
Plural, because we got two. ?? no, I do not know what they are. Why? Why get them? Why two? Nuts. … the price was right. Two? …at different times, because they were unusual enough to catch our eye (twice).
Screw top lids. Holes in the lids. Religious? Holy water? Salt? Salt cellars? Who knows?
I put them on the new bookcase. Colleen arranged things and dusted. The lid – both containers fell. One lid went missing. There are a lot of nooks and crannies… oh boy! We could not find the lid! Colleen questioned whether we ever had both lids. Ha! I searched for a couple days – high and low. No luck. Then… I searched once more. Success. I simply screwed the lid into place and waited. Colleen saw the lid once more and asked where it had been found? I was coy. And then I removed the lid to hide it away (again). Colleen questioned me again and asked whether I was teasing her? Too be continued…
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim’s mind.
…hardly.
Aside: Antique store, Cromarty, Scotland. The proprietress said that the shakers were for ?? sand. You spread it on a document to absorb ink and prevent smudging. Or, you could use the shaker for – salt and pepper?The sand suggestion is a new one.
Long… shot
What are the odds? We saw something in an antique store just after Christmas. It is now past Valentine’s day and almost St. Patrick’s day. The antique in question was a joke. It was a representation of Partridge in a Pear Tree ala the Twelve Days of Christmas. Good joke. I thought about it occasionally after we visited the store in January. What were the odds it might still be there? No, nope, nada. And besides the Christmas stuff was all put away till December. Right?
We wandered through the store. Colleen found collectible things. No Partridge in a Pear Tree. Alas! Sad! Too late!
And then… there it was on a shelf. It was not where I remembered it to be. Another? Nope. Same. There it was. I have previously posted a picture of this object. Good joke then. Even better now. I did not buy it then. Too many $$. Now? No brainer. It’s a good joke. And fate called to me. We snatched it up. To be sure there was much we passed by and left behind in the store. I will not be dreaming of an autoharp tonight… or another Singer.
Not so long ago
Antique – defined as an object greater than 100 yrs old. Vintage – less. Hey! I’m not an antique yet! It’s old camera week. I have taken out the old digital cameras – off the shelf, out of the closet – old and dusty. Dust?! Ha ha! It was the paranoid bugaboo of my early film experience. Dirty lens, dust, film, dust on your gear or film – all forbidden. In the end I am hardly one to point and criticize. I just use my stuff. Practical over nutty behavior.
This old camera was last used in 2017… not so long ago. In that time since I last used it, I have taken nearly 500k images. Whoa! No film. Film is dead. And I am not about to get back into a darkroom. I offloaded my $$$ enlarger to Colleen’s youngest daughter. Meanwhile I am busy making old things new again. I shall push the limits to see how limited I was back when my gear was “new” compared to now. Time flies. We don’t look older? Right?
Leap year, once every four years. I have only abandoned this camera for less than two cycles.
Post Christmas
After Christmas we hit the Christmas sales. Sale? Sale in an antique store? Well, yes, sort of. We found a ring cushion. ? Eh? … for wedding ceremony. We did not buy it the first time around, so, back we went. It was a mission to acquire it for Jen’s grandson and wife to be. Other things sprang up and were snagged along the way too. It is the season of silly politics. I daresay the last place I expected a fashion show….
Waning
August. Summer is waning. The sun comes up later. The mornings are cooler now. Time is passing. Flowers begin to fade. Barbie?? Things that are old become new again. It adds up. Discovery. What do you do when you have a terrible fight? Go shopping. Ha ha. We discovered things. Bombay tea pot. The company was from China and is now out of business. The sewing machine? I sold it. Yes, a buyer was asking about a mini Singer and I led him right to it. He and his wife were ecstatic to run away with it. $$$. I knew a time when there were four Beatles. And… to finish… to the beach. Kids, yes! The surfer… had a beard. … it’s time to dress for fall (song: yes, old too). It was but a day.
Fuzzy
… refers to… memory… mine… ours. We got a pre wedding email asking for our address in advance of getting a formal invitation to the wedding. …. months ago. after getting the invitation a week ago, we racked our brain for a proper wedding present. Aha! Antique store! An antique tea set wrapped up in an antique basket… perfect.
Colleen was cleaning up in advance of summer guests arriving next week… voila!! There were the Waterford crystal glasses we found in another antique store months ago when we were warned by the email I got from the bride.
Two presents, one wedding, anyone else getting married in our future? Fuzzy? Wool is. And me (memory), too.
Owner’s dog
Random shots in an antique store. The owner’s dog! It was not for sale. Washington, Bogart, Gable? Does anyone remember them? Washington, I suppose, because they named the city after him…
Out of business
Since we’ve been coming here, the store has had a prominent going out of business sign. The owners tell me each time.. they don’t remember us from visit to visit. Colleen wanted a jade ring. Green. Small.
Short of Chinatown in NYC… there is lots of gold bling in NYC under shiny bright lights and with $$$ tags…
This was the only candidate of a shop in our area that I could think of from the top of my head. Sure enough the owners – now a bit older – told us they were going out of business. Discounts! No price too low to consider…. A ring! Yes! We found a small green gemstone. Perfect. ….no trip to Chinatown. Far Eastern art is in great supply. But, we have no room at our house.
I hate when they change things. Since the pandemic, the Enchanted Tea Room and the antique store neighbor have gone out of business. It all looks different. Memory, age, and the pandemic wreaked their havoc upon this charming town.
Antique scene
Once upon a time I accused Colleen of sitting around all day eating bon bons… She took GREAT umbrage…
Bon bons? I ate them (as a kid) when I had spare change to buy them at the counter in the movies. No, I have never officially eaten one. I don’t even know the official definition of what a bon bon would be. No I did not bother to consult the internet….
Meanwhile, at the antique store there was this (antique) dish labeled: plate for bon bons. I let her examine it and read the price tag. As you can see she has forgiven me. She knows better than to have me ever! question how hard she works. We both had a good laugh.
So little time
We were in two royal residencies and – no photographs allowed. Eh? Old furniture and paintings of ancestors I will not remember. No bother. But my hand twitched on my camera in every room full of old stuff.
We found antiques in the gift shop. Don’t ask! I bought the gramophone. Cheap! It cost twice the price to ship it home. …still a bargain. Ha ha. Spring. It’s spring about a month behind our weather at home. So the flowers are in bloom. Rapeseed, brilliant yellow and for rapeseed oil… we don’t see this at all at home. Gorse, something else new to us, and here. It could have been broom, but no. It was colorful and most insistent that we get a picture along the roadside. Lambs. Dare I say cute!
Spring is definitely Colleen’s favorite season. I can see why.
Old typewriters
I shoot old typewriters and Republicans too. Oops! Did I just type that? No no no, I say, I did not type that. I get three views of a typewriter now: top down, keys, and logo view. I shoot sewing machines and adding machines. I shoot Republicans too, if you would count Ginny… with a camera! Duh! Telephones? Not so much. Who has one any more? – roatary, touch dial, and no key. I once had a 4 digit phone number when we lived in Elkins. And the operator came on the line to connect you whenever you picked up the receiver. My my, that’s old. None of our kids currently has a hard line phone. We ditched ours years back when we got rid of the cable TV company for poor service. It’s all iPhone nowadays. Wow! Suddenly, it is unusual for anyone we talk with to not have an Apple phone. Yes, there are plenty, but they must mostly be Republican.
Drama
We’ve been indoors and isolated for about a week. The new Covid variant…. Clouds from my window… dramatic! Antique store, yes we were bored. Who collected empty tins? And, there was even stuff in some of them! Poor, goy, he could not decide and got his money’s worth in the stained glass sign. Yeah, I gotta say, we do have fun times. One more time to the “Ag (griculture)” museum. Oh my!!
Not done
Sign – in 14 languages. Are there universal signs? You know, signs that will start a fight in any country? What’s with the glass skulls? – healing, psychic abilities, and power over death. Oh. Aha! Old phone, old clock, gotta have one. Got one?!
And, Ruth Lyons? Never heard of her…the owner of the booth gave Colleen a long rundown on her career. Longgg…explanation. Who’s Ruth? The group album – in the middle – duh! But I found another album with just her a few booths later. Hmmm, popular in her time, so quickly forgotten.
Old stuff
Patience. If you are patient and wait antiques will present themselves at a “right” price. Old camera? Argus C3, my mother had one. It was the first camera I used when I won the Golden Horseshoe in West Virginia and took utterly bad BxW photos at the event. I had no clue how to use the camera. So old, the camera is not worth much, hence it must be bargain priced to consider purchasing.
Just about anything old can be found. A gas pump? Thank goodness we never collected rolling pins. Old violin. Our granddaughter has begun playing… Tea pots, beer steins, Santa, old European phone…?
Typewriter?…looks like elephant ears. I have to admit I like a bargain. I like the thrill of the find. And I am thoroughly bemused that one might wake up in the morning and say, “Let’s go out and buy an old gas pump today!” No no, Budweiser steins are not particularly collectable. West German steins are more commonly admired. Everything has an audience and a buy it would seem. Yes, there was a booth with many empty beer cans. Ugh!
Typewriter? I have never seen one the likes of this one. Ebay? Internet? Sure, probably easy to find. Ha ha. They are called “bat wing” style – two, right now, on Ebay. Don’t miss out!?
Indulge
Antique stores are indulgence. You don’t need anything. And heavens knows we do not! We are not minimalists as our kids are. It’s embarrassing. Beer steins? We collect them. We adhere to a price point. A low price point ensures that we go home with few steins. And yet, we still have to many on the shelves. Typewriter? No! I got the one that I typed my college term papers; it’s enough! Nope, room for one more… A clock…how quaint. It works! Empty or full, no Coke bottles. Nope! Perhaps it’s better if we do not walk into an antique store. It’s sport. There is an element of gambling. There is the thrill of the “find!” Sometimes you win. Often you don’t. It’s nostalgia. There is no admission and no cost to “look.” And then…be careful of indulging a whim.
Friendship cake
Colleen recalled an old recipe that she had had a lot of fun with many years ago. It is called 30 day cake on the internet. It takes 50 if you have to make the starter. And so we embarked on a 50 day cake after our trip to Maine. We bought a crock. It was the container that triggered Colleen’s memory recipe. The mashed fruit was stirred once a day for…and finally we had a starter and two cakes worth of fruit. Fruit cake? Nope! Different! Good?! Hmmm, emphasis on good!!
And, of course, ya gotta have a friend. Friendship? After 50 days you have the fruit ingredients plus starter for future cakes. You share the starter and hence the term friendship. Lovely. It’s good to have friends.
Antique
Antique – older than 100 years old. Vintage – older than 1999. Antique – anything old…
Hey, we are old! Antiques?!
Ladies Home Journal 1898 issue, that would be old, vintage, and antique. I’m impressed that it sold for as little as we paid. But, then again, who’s heard of the magazine, much less who wants an old copy?
I remember mine. Colleen remembers hers. Each other’s parents. They were born after 1900. 10, 20’s? It’s a number. It is abstract. And we approach the same relative to our grandchildren. Sadly, my brother has not yet seen his grandchild. Life is never simple. Age is not just a number. Hug the one you’re with.
Scene at the antique store
What is it? Seen it? Need one?
I had an early Kodak instamatic camera back in 1965? It was the “100” model and shot 126 film. I got it and we went to the NY World’s Fair in Flushing, NY. Old soda? Can you drink it? At these prices? How about a sewing box? Need one? Dirty or clean? I guess the clean ones sold out. It’s a winder. Wind what? For what? Elephant pottery. Use? Dunno. New! In the box! Food mill. It’s a bargain, you don’t see them around nowadays?
Nostalgia? Memories? We go to the antique store and find more stuff we don’t need and didn’t know we wanted and didn’t know we missed. Fun. But, no.
Ummm, ok
Useless facts they point out on tours… The table top is from a single tree trunk and the edge was carved of that same trunk. The gilt on the porcelain ware is platinum. It maintains its shine better that way. The room was altered to accommodate the size of the rare wallpaper. The upholstery of the setee was cut from a woman’s fancy dress – the ultimate in re-purposing. George Washington slept here: how about he ate here? It’s dishes from his home. Thanks for the info. I also discovered that antique silver was polished every 20 years. More polish and the metal wears away so much that the silver weight is less. Once every 20 years… Umm, ok!
Road trip II
I made a new best friend. Wrong. I became a new best friend. The last time I saw Rory she was not quite aware of me. She could not remember me before our recent visit. Now, I am her best friend. Nice. I am touched and flattered. Because of covid we have not traveled much. It was sure nice to see the kids and get to know them, again.
We always seem to find things in little side trips – rolling pin, cheap gas, hungry relatives… There are always animals to be see and be seen with. I think we agreed it was a successful trip. We saw the relatives, the sights, antique shops, and photo ops.
A day out
After a week of rain, fog, and wind, we ventured out into the world again. Stir crazy! Low and behold the beach was severely eroded. Wind and tides. I would say we lost 6 feet of sand. Well, as they say, I know where it went. Insanity! The police and beach people say they do not know when the government will be by to replenish the sand. Why? Would you? Should you? Meanwhile, Mother Nature sure is powerful!
After a week… we hit our usual antique stores. Strictly browsing. We still got stuff I/we did not need! But not this. Elvis? Fewer and fewer people remember. I carry a replica license. His pic and mine are similar. Retro hats? We still plan to attend another high tea. One simply must be properly attired! Yes, nuts. Us. But, fun!
Downsizing
When I said to my wife – no names please – “We need another loom, like a hole in the head.” I meant it; and, I am, indeed capable (of drilling holes in your/mine head, as a retired neurosurgeon! Later that day a large heavy box arrived. A cat tower! It’s taller than my (same, present, nut) wife. What?! Wut?!! W#$hat#$!! The cats paid no attention. We had to put them on it. No, nope, never! Yup! Since then, they have been all over it! Darn! Another piece of furniture that I have no space for! (Would this be the proverbial “dangling preposition?”
No more!? Stuff!? No more stuff? No, more stuff! What a difference a comma makes. “,” one little punctuation point. No more cats?! Another loom? They were giving it away at the Thrift Store. Yeah, $550. Ok! Price reduced! We bargained down – way way down (under $100) – the provenance? It was made in Marblehead MA. It was a therapy loom – Devereaux, for insane people in recovery rehab. Oh! How appropriate! Bookstores?! No more! We just went through our bookcases…. A ton of books lie on the floor waiting to go to donation. Go!? No!? I don’t know. Magazines find us. And, books leap into Colleen’s arms. And magazines!! Still!? Yeah, it is a cute antique loom made centuries ago. A real antique. I have no room! It’ sitting in the hall landing. Help!?
Fork in the road
Remember Yogi (Berra)? He said, “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.” Nikon D70. The price was expensive but reasonable. Heretofore, digital SLR cameras cost upwards of $10k. Yikes! I got home from work and opened the box. Yes, I work late, really! And, I took pictures of the living room and kitchen. … and the family dog. I tried the built-in flash. The cow was a porcelain replica of large cows painted and distributed around public spaces in NYC. The ivory figure was a gift. It was used by women to point at areas of their body which were ailing. Modesty must be served. That figure was lost to me in the divorce. But, I can visit it.
How things changed! I timed the D70 purchase to use it for David’s graduation. It turns out that I never shot another frame of film from that point. Clean break! Complete. It was so abrupt. Done.
photobackstory 