what attic?

I was so excited today to start our remodel that I began pulling the aluminum siding off and setting it aside to take to the scrap yard. I was making good time too, until I was almost to the top and came across a window. Mind you, we have lived in this house for nearly 8 years, and my husbands family has known the people who lived here before us even longer...so you would think I would know about a window.  We have this cellar off the back of the house and it was always cool because it sets lower than ground level. I never thought about the low ceiling or that the roof was in line with our porch....that has at least a 13' wall.

My diligent work and the found window.

When I peeked in the window I found an attic. Not much of an attic, but I was still very surprised and the attic was just the beginning of my surprises this afternoon. This is what I found:

Does this look enticing or what?  

Yes, I decided to climb through the window and find out what was in our unkown attic. It was probably 3 feet tall and covered with 1900's insulation - wood chips. No wonder old homes burnt like kindling when they caught fire! Elauna was my helper on the ground, and she would collect my "treasures" as I dropped them out the window.  I had been told that there used to be an old general store at our location, and much of what I found would be from at turn-of-the-century store as some of the items were for bulk or merchants.

Some of my treasures.

My helper with more of our finds.

Amazing colors and preservation.  Love this piece!!! 

From Cinci - old bucket tin.

This tin is from around 1900. One on Ebay selling for $325. I think I'll keep mine!

Love this paper sign. The colors are like new. Wow!

Native Purity maple syrup. Found several without labels - this one OK.

Found two. I will try to salvage. Very old Piqua Milling Co paper bag.

Apricots

Seal Rock Apricots

It is a good thing I have a roast on for dinner because I'm going back outside to work more on the siding. At least now this distraction is past and I can move on.....until this old house throws another curve my way and I get to salvage some more. How exciting!!!

hay trolley lights

I love to restore and repurpose vintage items, and I was especially taken with two hay trolleys I found in my barn. They were from a manufacturer here in Ohio: The F.E. Myers & Bro. Company from Ashland, Ohio. One of the trolleys still had the original metal tag with the manufacturer information - very neat. 

I cleaned them of the dust and dirt and we sent them to Skinners Powder Coating in Piqua. They did a great job of prepping them for me, even though they had never done trolleys before. Next, I painted them a vintage bronze with Rustoleum 2x spray paint. (I love this paint for projects....coated well and dried quickly) We found vintage-looking glass pendants from Home Depot to hang from each trolley. The bulbs are the old filament style. 

Jeremy hung them for me, as they are very heavy. He had to rig them a special way to hold the weight and not take away from the look of the trolley. We are very happy with the final product. They fit right in our southwest-themed conference room with local antiques.

barn dirt and all

after initial cleaning - not bad patina

original tag

fresh from Skinners and ready to paint

both units side by side

painted and hung

nice patina without the rust

with lights on in the room

I will post more on this room as we continue to work on it. It is a special labor of love as we try to salvage as much as possible from our farm, family, and local history.

in the library

We love books at our house. We blame it on our parents because they wanted us to read for some reason. Truly though, when you find the joy in reading you can teach yourself to do anything, and your imagination can take you so many places. The mind is so fascinating. So if you haven't read a good book lately, pick one up and snuggle by the fireplace (and if you don't have a fireplace at home, head to your local Panera). As much as I love technology, there is still something about holding a book in your hands and flipping the pages that feels so down to earth.

Books everywhere....I love the hues of old books

the library

Claire with her book

Yes, he is reading Cinderella

I love history, especially local history, and I have a gem of a book in my library. My mother bought me this book, History of Miami County Ohio 1880 by W. H. Beers. I love reading it because is recalls the everyday life of men and women of another era, and they were the pioneers of the very county where I live. The stories are true accounts. Some of the stories are hilarious (Rival Lovers, Corn Husking, Temperance Talk...because corn husking was always done with whisky). Other stories make me appreciate the time in which I live (Capture of the Moffit Boys, Killing of Dilbone and his Wife, Scalping of Mrs. Martin). Why is history important? A better question: why is it important that history is not rewritten to suit our culture today? Because people who gave their lives for faith, family and country deserve to have the truth remembered. I'm a little passionate about this. I live in America, but American history is being rewritten to exclude the Christian foundation upon which our country was built. Twelve stones in the Jordan.....remember the truth!

Ma'am, please don't smile.

garden shed

My garden is a pleasant place

Of moon glory and wind grace.

O friend, wherever you may be,

Will you not come to visit me?

Over fields and streams and hills,

I'll pipe like yellow daffodils,

And every little wind that blows

Shall take my message as it goes.

A heart may travel very far

To come where its desires are,

Oh, may some power touch my ear,

And grant me grace, and make you hear!

- excerpt from My Garden is a Pleasant Place, by Louise Driscoll

My garden is a pleasant place, as is the garden shed my hubby has worked so hard on. We had a very old garage on our property that we were tearing down, and as we were doing so we found the roof to be made from old saplings (the shed was probably over 100 years old). We decided to keep this piece of history and turn it into my garden shed. It is a working shed, but also a peaceful retreat. I have decorated it with the burlap bags I collect, as well as old tools. I "repurpose" things quite often, using old freezer baskets as places to store chemicals. The shelves also are very old, probably used when there was an old general store run out of our house - also 100 years ago. The hutch was a piece my mom found....not a 100 years ago....and it is perfect. My dad restored the old barn light on the outside. Inside, there are little bits of me, my family, and now my kids. So fun! I made my own light fixtures out of clay pots (I will do a post on that another time).

Corner of my workbench

a local seed bag

letterholder for seedpackets



my bottle collection

the tools and hutch...and a good place for a nap

the shelves live on

my light fixture

the sapling roof we found (used white to accent)

Not quite finished, but sure fun already



Frederick's bed

I decided I wanted to restore a piece of furniture for each of my children that they can take with them when they are older. I look for inexpensive pieces that need restored, fully or partially, and I get to work. We found Frederick's bed in Northeastern Ohio a couple years ago and I refinished it this winter. I like to refinish with scrapers, chisels, hand tools, etc instead of chemicals.  It is old school and I find it relaxing to work with my hands. Typically, I will use sand paper on the raw wood, but as I was not taking this piece to the wood I used steel wool to rough the original finish so the new finish would adhere. The detail areas I did scrape clean for a sharper edge. After I had the bed smooth and ready to "shoot" with clear, Jeremy and my dad put the finish on for me. We use sanding sealer, which gives it a nice sheen, but not too glossy.

Frederick was SO excited when we set up his bed and he was able to sleep in it for the very first time. He took his little stuffed horse and his cherished blankie and jumped into bed.

The headboard

the victorian bed

I like to look for good deals at garage sales, and this particular item I had driven past the entire Memorial Day weekend...trying to convince myself to stop. Finally, on the last day they were closing up and it was still there. A bed. It needed refinished and needed siderails, but I loved the way it looked. Victorian design, black walnut, double book-matched veneers, beautiful carvings...I had convinced myself to stop and make them an offer. And so I bought a bed for $150.00. I had thought it would be nice to give each of my children something that I had refinished with my own two hands; something they could appreciate and take with them later in life. This bed I chose for Elauna as it looked more feminine.

It sat in the garage for a year and a half (mostly because I was pregnant, then raising an infant and toddler) so the dedication wasn't there that I needed. Last fall I decided to tackle the job. I used blades and scrapers and stripped the bed...hours of handwork, then getting the small details ready before I sanded. My dad gave invaluable advice while I worked on the bed. (He is a Master patternmaker, and an extremely skilled woodworker. He makes using a chisel look so effortless.) I learned so much while I restored this project, and am pretty pleased with the results.

Jeremy sprayed each piece; the intial coat required another sanding, then two more top coats. He did a beautiful job! The bed is now in Elauna's room and she feels like such a big girl!