Back to the Paints

74 and humid. Some lightning and clouds but no rain all day. Reached about 90 degrees.

It was  a nice day despite the heat. Larry got on a roll with breakfast and made fried potatoes, eggs, sliced tomatoes and toast. What a feast. Our hens are laying very little now, and with the reduced flock that means that we have to actually think about how many eggs we use. Not something I'm used to doing. But the new biddies are thriving so far so in a few months we'll be back in the egg business, barring any more disasters.

A friend stopped by for a visit in the early afternoon. That means more than the simple statement implies because anyone who wants to visit us must travel 4 miles of single lane, rough road to get here. So when she called and said she was coming I got busy and made scones. I do believe these were the best I've ever made. I used vanilla yogurt instead of milk, and added dried cranberries and dried orange peel that I softened by heating it up in a little water on the stove, then letting it soak and adding it last. The scones were amazingly light. I'll have to remember to use the yogurt in the future. And now I also wonder about using fruited yogurt. Do you think that could work? I added a link to my recipe, above--it's much simpler than most that I see online, and we like them better than any we've had elsewhere.

I spent most of the day painting furniture. No canning today! Larry did bring in another huge bucket of squash, but I am so over squash at this point. So I cleaned house and painted. Here's what I worked on:

This one is still in progress, needs the wax to be buffed out. It's a bit odd with the offset drawer, but would make a nice entry table.

Remember this dresser, the one we found in the trash by the side of the road in Ohio?

It's all spiffied up now, just need two longer screws for the pulls on the center drawer. 

I actually painted this table white a while back, but a customer wanted a table in this color so it got a new coat or three, and the dark blue glaze that gives it a beachy look. Just needs wax and it will be ready to go. 

I enjoyed getting back to painting; it's oddly relaxing. I'll soon be back in the kitchen putting up tomatoes and apples so I need to make hay while the sun shines, so to speak.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 232: Hiatus

50, warm and bright this morning. We've had exceptionally warm weather this past week. Have to admit, I love it. 

I've been MIA for the past week, haven't I? For several reasons.

The election first, of course. To say I am pleased with the outcome would be putting it mildly. I'm elated. But I'm also realistic enough to know that it's not over yet, and that a Republican majority in the Senate will undoubtedly keep us gridlocked as far as anything getting accomplished. That said, I am so hoping for a return to civility, and an end to outright racism and general nasty behavior. As a "blue" living in a "red" state, it's been an uncomfortable and also at times unwelcoming four years. I would not wish this on anyone and my hope is that we can all move ahead and not keep looking back. However I might hope for this, my logical self doesn't see it happening. There is too much bitterness and division now. So, onward we go, come what may. I pray there will be no violence. 

Aside from that tumultuous election, I've been focused on painting furniture. The weather is perfect for the outside work that needs to be done to get pieces ready, like sanding and staining. Here's a look at few things I've been working on.

First, this dresser. It's ready to go, as soon as the wax dries. I am so pleased with this piece. 

After:

And before:

Then there's this table. It was a right mess, and needed a lot of loving care. The top had a bad place where it had been left out in the weather, with another table on top of it. So, we flipped the top boards, sanded and stained, then I filled the screw holes with little tacks. It gave a nice rustic touch.

Now look at it:

Up on blocks for painting, distressing, and waxing. And done.

I have four chairs in progress to put with it, painted white and distressed. The one on the right is one of them--needs distressing and wax. The other little chair is a stand alone, which I'll display in the booth with Christmas items.

Here's one of the chairs before painting--the only one I have left to do. It's in the workroom, with my begonia and rosemary plants behind it.

Three more projects in progress: I fell in love with this primitive "make-do" cabinet at a flea market. I'm sure I paid too much for it to make a decent profit. Larry put boards on the back as it didn't have a back at all, and I painted and sanded them to give them a rustic look. Then I sanded the whole cabinet, added some paint to the inside, and now I need to wax it. 

Has such character, I think.

This was a sewing machine cabinet. No machine in it when we bought it. So we adapted it to be just a stand. It was a rather terrible green; I painted it bright "Holiday Red" in hopes that someone will want it for Christmas. If not, I may just keep it as I really do love it.

This one is Larry's project right now. He's stripping the top, sanding and re-gluing--and then he'll have to repair the drawers too. Once all these repairs are done, it will come to me for finishing up: stain on the top, paint on the rest. It's a beautiful piece that has been badly treated, but some work and love will make it shine again.

This coat tree needs only some new hooks to replace the two broken ones. I have the replacements hanging on it. It's waiting for Larry to do that little job. He's been working on so many other things lately, but this one will get done today, I think.

And a cedar-lined blanket chest, which will be my next job. Since it has been painted with that awful 70's "antiquing" stuff that's almost impossible to remove, I'll sand and repaint, probably white and distressed. 

That's about all I've been doing, beside the usual housework, and of course ebay. More about that in my next post.

As for Larry, thank you all for your kind comments. He's doing better. He had a beer last week that once again had him woozy to the point that he very nearly fell. Fortunately I was right there and caught him. He is slowly accepting that he has to leave it alone. I really wanted to pop open some champagne to celebrate the election, but did not because I also have to remove alcohol from my life for him to be successful. His ribs are slowly healing, although he is a terrible patient--because he's so impatient to be better and get on with all the tasks he can't do right now. But he is getting better, and hopefully in a few more weeks will be back to his normal busy self.  

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 112: An Ordinary Day

72 this morning, not as humid so it was a pleasant day until later in the afternoon. Today's high was 88, much better than the 90's we've been seeing. Still no rain in sight.

We dug up the carrots today and put them in the freezer. Not many but a nice size so we had 6 baggies to freeze. I think tomorrow we'll cut the kale. Larry planted more beets and kale, and planted Tenderette beans where the onions were.

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When the beets come out...hmmm....what to plant? Maybe leave the space open until August and plant more lettuce then? I ordered some broccoli seeds and will try starting some plants to put in for fall broccoli. My sister suggested buying this agricultural fabric row cover to keep the cabbage moths off so I'm willing to try broccoli again if it works. Cannot stand those worms that get in it!

What else have we been doing? Well, Larry had to work on the freezeless hydrant because it was leaking down under the ground. That meant he had to turn off the water to the house, so we filled many buckets just in case the repairs took longer than expected. He had to make a trip to town for parts but still got it finished up by mid-afternoon. One more thing to check off the to-do list.

I'd planned to can more veggie soup today, as there were things in the freezer that we need to use, but without water that plan went out the window. So I finished up the end tables I was painting and worked on another cabinet.

This is one table, finished.

And the other, before paint. Both tables had burns on the tops that were too deep to sand out, so I opted to paint them. I liked them in their original finish but they would not sell with those marks on them. I'm happy with the way they look now.

I didn't like the way that cabinet came out when I painted it over the weekend, so I sanded it off and re-did some of it. Looks much better now, and just needs wax. No photo yet, maybe tomorrow. I listed several things on ebay too--three really good finds from the antique mall where I have booths.  Two are Early American Pattern Glass, and fairly rare. The little creamer is a pattern called Duchess, by King & Son, circa 1898 I believe.

Then this large water pitcher was made by US Glass, same year. It's called Aquarium. I really love this one, with the fish swimming around and seaweed floating.

And last, a pretty gravy boat in purple toile that is also apparently quite rare.

And then I worked on revisions to a couple of poems I wrote some years ago. The poetry group has gone back to in-person meetings but I do not want to do that with the virus spreading so fast right now. So I will have to work on my own. While taking a break I read Wendell Berry's book of poetry, The Peace of Wild Things. I've read it before, but it is just so, so good.

That was our day. Nothing spectacular, just the usual routine of staying-at-home. How have your days been going?

Food diary: breakfast--scrambled eggs, bacon, sliced tomatoes, toast, applesauce. Snack--sliced orange. Dinner--mostly leftovers since no water to cook with: meatloaf, baked beans, and sliced cucumber.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 43: Projects

51 and raining, windy. A gray day meant for inside work, so that's what we did.

We have been selling a surprising amount of furniture lately. One stand I never got a photo of--just moved it in the booth at Riverbend and it was gone the next day.

So here is what's in progress or finished now.

I've had this record stand for several years, waiting its turn in the workroom. Then a variety of changes in the living room made me look at it as a possibility for my own use. It was terribly ugly, I have to say--painted a dark shiny brown with many chips, drips, etc, but it was sturdy and basically sound. What a difference a bit of paint makes.

Here is the top, after sanding and in the process of being painted. It's the only before photo I remembered to take.

I almost tossed this little table when we were clearing out the workroom. It was just not attractive--another dark brown piece-- and I thought it was in bad condition. As it turned out it wasn't too bad, just needed a little love. And since I already had the right color paint out...

Larry did this porch swing. It needed some repair and general tightening up, and of course a new coat of paint. It will go to the booth this week.

This was one of my small projects. It was terribly dirty, and it is definitely not in working condition, but someone might want it as a repair project or just for decor. This was made sometime around 1914-1916, as best I can tell by the serial number, RC42974.

My bigger project right now is this desk--which again was a dark colored wood with a scratched-up, shiny finish and ugly wood handles. No before photo (again!) but the back gives an idea of the general look, although the desk was much darker on the other sides. It's almost finished, just the back to do and find a chair to go with it.

These are projects waiting their turn, along with several others I don't have photos of:

Larry has been working on this table, or maybe it's a desk. The veneer on top had come up, and had to be stripped off. Now he's in the process of gluing and tightening up the joints. He also had to repair and re-glue the drawers. Then it will be mine to paint.

I will be working on this corner cabinet next. New paint and new pulls. I think, should give it new life.

Another case of some bad veneer, with a broken drawer front to boot. Fortunately the missing piece of the drawer is inside. Paint and new pulls? I think so. The squash are what's left from last year's garden. The workroom proved to be a good place to store them--cool and dry.

So back to work I go, to finish up the desk and maybe start the corner cabinet today!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Booth Work

34 degrees at 8am, and overcast. No rain yesterday, just a few light snow flurries. Today promises more of the same. Seems like we're stuck in a weather rut. Literally--it's getting miserably muddy outdoors, no avoiding it these days.

I've been working on a few things in my Ravenswood booths this week. I generally only visit my booths every other week, but I have been in Ravenswood the past two days to paint the buffet that has sat for 3 years, and made a few other change-ups while I was there.

The Pyrex sales seem to have slowed a little, but certain patterns--like the pink "gooseberry"--are still hot items.

Anyone need a suitcase? I seem to have several right now! I really like those old brown ones. I often see them in the movies, and there are two things I can tell right off: first, those suitcases in the movies are empty! I know that because these are no lightweights, and full of clothes--those actors would not be nonchalantly swinging them around. Second, they are usually carrying them wrong. If you look closely, you can see that the handle is not in the center. That's to make carrying them easier. The side where the handle is should be the side closest to the body. See if they have it right next time you watch a movie and spot one of these old cases. The cases aren't usually square, although the one in the center of my stack actually is. They have a slight angle, again to make carrying easier.

The little blue case you see in the photos holds 45rpm records on a spindle inside. This one is full of gospel, some old country and early rock, as I recall.

I came upon a nice lot of Fire-King Sapphire Blue Philbe glass bakeware recently. I have several pieces that I use often. It doesn't show in the photo but these are a pale blue with a pretty design. I believe these were from the 1940's-50's.

Pretty Pyrex. Although I don't use or collect it, I am always looking for it!

Here is the buffet I am painting. I use bed risers to put pieces I'm working on "up on blocks" so to speak. Makes it a lot easier on my back.

And here is a "before' photo. We had absolutely zero bites on this one, so painting is the next option. I cringed putting the brush to it, but if it means getting it to a new home, then that's what I have to do. I ordered new crystal knobs for it, and we will drill holes to put them on the drawers as well. I had hoped that someone into mid-century modern style would like it as it was, but now it's time to go in a new direction with it. My goal is to give it a farmhouse look that is so popular these days.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Out with the Old, In with the New

The last week was a blur for me---how about you?

Christmas came, and was gone in a flash. We had a good one, no gifts for each other as we really have more than we will ever need. But lots of good food, family, and friends. Does it get any better than that?

Things started to get interesting a few days before Christmas, actually. On the 18th I was storytelling in two different towns, both Christmas presentations. The first was for the Salem (WV) garden club, a group I have told stories for at Christmas for the past 3 years. Lovely people, a fine meal, totally  pleasure.

Brought some fruitcake along :) and a pretty plate and server

We left there for my next gig in the small, beautiful town of Philippi, WV, which boasts a two-lane covered bridge. So cool. This time I was joined by musician David O'Dell, who has done this performance with me for the past 3 years. It was a wonderful time, especially seeing friends I've made in the area over years of performing there.

But on the way to Philippi, we stopped at a Goodwill since we had some extra time and lo and behold, I came out of there with a new couch! I mean, brand new, and a sofa-bed one at that! For $15.00! It was a tight fit getting it in the van but we managed. I am so happy with it. Our old brown couch was about 20 years old and just worn out. Getting the new couch in meant rearranging things a bit, and also finding neighbors to help move it because it is h-ea-v-y. It took half a day to get everything situated, but was time well spent.

We got home and got seriously to work on cleaning and finishing up decorations, etc. for Christmas. I baked cookies for the neighbors and also made a batch of homemade Kahlua as gifts. (It was mighty popular!). We knew we would be driving back across the state on Monday for our grandson Clayton's wedding--a wedding planned in two weeks as they had to figure out his schedule in the Navy and his bride-to-be's work and class schedule. We thought we'd be alone on Christmas but a granddaughter texted and asked, "Granny, are you making Christmas dinner again this year? Why yes! Yes, I sure could!

We left early Monday morning (Dec 23) for the wedding, getting there in plenty of time. It was lovely, small and just perfect.

We hated to leave but we needed to stop on the way home for Christmas dinner supplies so that I could start putting the dinner together the next day. So a ten-hour driving day, followed by a cooking day on Christmas Eve. Surprisingly neither of us felt worn out--it was nice to see a little snow here and there.

Christmas Day we started out slow, with a small breakfast and time by the fire. We had a few gifts from our sons to open, and that was nice. Then it was on to cooking. And since it was such a pretty day, I decided we'd eat on the deck. Something totally different for us, but with temperatures in the upper 60's and the sun was shining, why not?

The rest of the week was spent on painting furniture, cleaning off the back porch, and I had a nice long visit with a good friend in a new coffee shop in town. One resolution this year: make more time to visit friends.

Helen's is such a pretty place! Complete with a fireplace, and the best homemade pies.

This week we've worked at both antique malls, restocking booths.Sales have been very slow for several months at our Marietta location, so we're downsizing there by one booth. It's hard to know why sales have dried up, and it's not just here--everywhere antique malls are struggling with the same thing. Will they soon be a thing of the past? It's hard to say, but I hope not because I love visiting and shopping in them.Perhaps it's the swelling online sales, or the Facebook marketplace that causing the decline?

We spent New Year's Eve with neighbors a few miles away, and had a great time. Nice people, lots of laughs, great food. We came home in time to see the new year in here, just the two of us. There is something special about being at your own fireside as the old year drags its tattered skirt into the darkness and the new year dawns. I stayed up a while, writing a poem. Another resolution: commit more time to writing.

Yesterday, New Year's Day, we dropped off this little spinet desk to its new home,

Before--I had just put the first coat on the top before remembering to take a photo.

and drove out into the country to pick up another desk and an antique shelf. The lady had goats and it was just nice to be there, petting her goats, fending off the billy, petting her dogs and just chatting. I hope we see this young woman again.

And today, we worked at our Ravenswood booths again, and I got back to the paints. It's such a pleasure to have time to work on furniture again.

Finished this one yesterday

and this one is currently in progress.

Now that the excitement and busyness of the holidays is past, I need to catch up with all of your blogs, and get back to writing my own more often. January--it's made for re-grouping, isn't it?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.