Yard Sale Treasures...And Something New...

The Peaches to Beaches sale was this past weekend.  I wasn't sure I was up to it but thank goodness for promises made to a friend.  She held me to the promise I'd made two weeks before and we went off after synagogue to see what we could see. 

I held tight to my little bit of money, some saved and some given to me by my husband who knew I wanted to find treasure.  And I did find treasure, truly. 

Remember I've been trying to declutter my home by NOT cluttering it in the first place.  So it's important that I find things I can use, that are truly beautiful or much needed.  Here's what I found:

I know this looks a little careworn in the photo but in reality it looks pretty good.  It's a metal kitchen paper dispenser.  This holds three rolls and you can see the lettering for the first two rolls.  The bottom section has the same lettering but it doesn't show up in the photo.  Aluminum foil, waxed paper, and paper towel.  Kay was so excited about it when I showed it to her that she tried a roll of our modern day paper towel in it and yep, it will hold it!  I'm going to be rearranging my kitchen walls...I mean the things I have on my walls.  I'll hang this paper dispenser when I do the new arrangement.  Having this lovely piece on the wall will give me a bit more room in a rather cramped drawer where I've been keeping waxed paper and aluminum foil.

I love to know a bit of history about the pieces when I buy them and this one came with a short history.  The woman selling it told me she'd had it in her home in Blue Ridge, Georgia.  She had just made up her mind she'd keep it since the end of the day was fast approaching and then I came along.  I promised I'd love it and use it well.

I didn't intend to buy another cookbook.  Truth be told, I'm getting a bit cookbook crazy all over again and I probably ought to sell some of them.  I really only ever use the one cookbook and I've yet to replace it with a complete copy.  However, this book caught my eye and I can't say just why.  It was just perched on the corner of a table in the furniture section and the cover appeared old.  1925 is the copyright date...and it was seeking that fact that brought to light the handwritten recipes in the front and back covers and on the blank pages there.  As well there are any number of clipped recipes from Ladies Home Journal, Atlanta Home Journal, and one written out on a piece of stationary from a Mississippi hotel...The owner's name is inscribed on the center of this page.

You'd think, wouldn't you, that it would be impossible to capture a second bit of history about this lovely old cookbook?  That there was enough history in my hands, with a name, scraps of paper and handwritten recipes.  But it wasn't enough.  As I went to pay for the book the man who took my money asked if there were a name inside and when I told him there was and what the inscription read, he began to cry.  "That was our governess when we were children," he said.  "She cooked for us from that book and a finer woman there hasn't been since." 

I bought one more book about Queen Elizabeth I.  It's not an especially old book, just something that caught my eye and since I was reading about her mother at the moment, I thought it would be a nice book to read as a follow-up.

Now for the 'something new' portion.   Back at Christmastime we discussed getting a flat screen television and one of the issues we came up against was the size Chance wanted.  What he wanted wouldn't fit our entertainment center and we couldn't afford both a tv and a new cabinet.  We finally agreed to wait, but I had an idea that I thought was a good one...

We got our new tv yesterday.  And Alan agreed to come set it up.  I'd explained to him how I thought we could fix the problem of the cabinet and he did just what I asked.  This is what we had...Not the best picture but you can see it to the left in the photo I took at Christmas:

and this is the cabinet now:

My vision was to cut down the sides and drop the top onto the surface of it. I think Alan did a grand job of creating my vision, don't you?  There was a glitch or two but nothing the eye can see without looking hard and I am so impressed at how well this worked, even if I did 'see' it before it ever was made.  I daresay he did a very good job and no one would ever guess we'd made the cabinet from our old one.  I guess I could even say this one looks as good as new.