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!!!

learning to smile

My little Claire is such a sweetie, but shy towards strangers. She normally would stare at them without smiling and people tend to think she is grumpy. This past week she really learned how to smile when we asked, and then she learned that she got a lot of attention when she smiled. Her smile is a cute almost grimace, and her eyes disappear just like her Daddy's when he smiles.

Here are some pictures of her smiling goodness:

seth:thailand

This month's ministry post is very special to me as I am featuring my brother who just returned from three months in Thailand. He was able to share about his mission at church yesterday, and I again was very impressed with his dedication to what the Lord has called him to do. He will be returning to Thailand and Burma next year for full time ministry.....so he will be spending until the end of the year preparing for this journey. As his sister, it is hard for me to see him go, but I know with all my heart that the Lord has called him and I am so proud of him for being obedient.

Seth made good friendships with the local people, and he received an invitation to come back to teach the Bible and help with local ministries in both Thailand and Burma. Seth would FaceTime us while he was there, and we were able to "meet" a few of his friends, especially Deng. Seth worked with an organization that helped ethnic groups receive medical aid, dental exams, Bible teaching, and education.

Seth started studying Thai a year before he left.
While in Thailand he took formal lessons with a tutor.

Seth assisting with dental exams.

Teaching the kids about the camera.
They had never seen a camera before.

Teaching from the Wah Bible in the evening.

Teaching at the church.

Reading from the Wah Bible when he first learned to read Wah.
The kids helped him learn. Very neat.

The hut his group was given to start a dental clinic.
I should say they were given the land the hut is on....

Friends Deng (left) and Chatree (right)

Playing with the tigers. (He always has liked cats)

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.

earth day

What a beautiful Earth Day. It is so wonderfully warm and sunny, and we all enjoyed working outside today. We fixed the kids play area, edged around some trees, graded the driveway, weeded the garden....perfect weather.  My children have a habit of ditching their shoes, and off they came today. Even Claire discarded her rubber boots after learning how to go down a slide for the first time. I gave up trying to keep them on and decided I could wash everything later. We found creepy crawlies under a board and the kids enjoyed learning their names and even held a few (without squashing them).  Here are a few pictures from the day.

my tiny helper

she's smiling :-)

grape hyacinth

yellow daffodil

red tulips

playing in the sun

Frederick holding a tiny snail

big worm

centipede

the tiny snail up close

mr. armadillo bug

going retro

Jeremy and I have a few outfits from when we were kids, and we let the kids wear them if they want to. Elauna has been taken with my little "sailor" dress from when I was her age, and she really enjoys wearing it. The hat is one my uncle brought back from Japan for me, and my mom recently brought it to my house and Elauna was elated that she could now match my picture. It was her idea to get matching pictures.

I found one of Jeremy's shirts for Frederick to wear, but I couldn't bring myself to put him in the knee-high red socks and short white shorts. (So 70s though). Wasn't my hubby a cute little boy? :-) I did not have a picture of me in the green dress with the white eyelet bodice that Claire is wearing. I added leggings and a white sweater since it was a little chilly that day.

Elauna in my outfit

me age 4 1/2

Frederick in Jeremy's shirt

Jeremy age 2

Claire in my dress. I didn't have a picture of me in this.