Old Standby

One of the items I received from my mother's recent destashing spell is my father's harmonica.  

And with the box too.  And the box is red and green !!!

I was a little surprised that both my husband and my son were thrilled about it.  My son even found a tutorial on the internet and played a tune.

This past weekend was my son's nineteenth birthday.  He says he feels silly having his picture taken (and I completely understand that) but I did coax him into a couple.  

Both without the harmonica, but, hey, anything is better than nothing.

Oh, and, there is a good one of his senior year down there too.

He wanted chocolate cheesecake for his birthday.

Getting clean laundry for back to campus.

And my handsome son his senior year in high school.

Amy

I Finished Something

Here's how it works with me.

1. Think of a project - done this hundreds of times

2. Get equipment and supplies for project - done this several times

3. Start on project - done this a few times

4. Finish project - this is rare for me

5. Throw away project because I don't like it - the number of times I've done this is about equal to number of times for #4 above.

But, I finished something today and it seems to be a success.  So, maybe I won't get to #5 this time!

And, it's probably a little too junky for some of you, but --- it's my house.

I didn't think of this on my own.  The last time I saw something like this was at Cahoots in Hartselle.  This table there really made me determined to do this project at home.

I found the perfect doors about a month ago at New Moon Antiques in Lawrenceburg, TN.  They are shorter and more narrow than a full size door, and there were two of them.  A single door was just too narrow for a dining table.

I have an old 1930s dining room suite and I haven't used the table in many years.  I planned to use the base for my project.  Here's how we started.  (yes, construction in my foyer)

The plan was to attach plywood to the table legs and just lay the doors on top so not to put screw holes in the doors unless we really had to for stability.

Looks good, right?  Well, those legs are just too wobbly - old, and poor design.

So I decided to just place the doors on top of the dining table we are currently using.  It had casters and we removed them to make up for the extra height the doors and glass added.

The glare prevents a great photo, but here it is.

I know, it's very busy.  But, you can't say there is nothing to look at in my house.

One day I will edit out some of the small things and add more photos.

For anyone thinking of doing something similar, it is important to NOT use original photos or photos that you do not have additional copies of.  I expect the sun to fade these so all of these are copies.  Some of them I just printed on regular printer paper for the time being.

Before you judge --- the bottom photo is from Halloween.  We really aren't like that.   Those were really great costumes for both of us because I DO NOT watch football, and my husband is the Tennessee Vols fan, not me.

Anyway, moving on.

These are some photos I took before the glass.

My father is player #6 in this high school football photo.  And, I don't mean anything by putting pearls with a football photo.  It just happened this way.

Above photo is my grandparents at school before they were married.

Above is one of my favorite old photos.  Those are two of my great-uncles with their dog, Old Jack.

Above is a copy of the Civil War discharge papers for my husband's great-great-grandfather.  (I think that's the correct number of greats).

That's all.  And, that's enough, I'm sure.

Amy

Sisters of the Wild West - Sister Sunday Link Party

Just Passing Through

An email from an unknown person is usually bogus, spam, deleted.

One email I received brought this Bible into my possession temporarily.

The lady explained that her hair dresser purchased a Bible at a flea market about ten years ago.  Since the email lady worked in genealogy she was asked to research the handwritten family information inside the book.  The research led her to some of my records on the internet.

Long story short, we arranged a meeting (in a public place) for me to get the Bible in order for it to get into the hands of relatives of mine who are also descendants of the family documented in the Bible. 

I have never seen drawings like this in a Bible.  But then, I've never seen a Bible this old.

Do you see the copyright of 1891?

Beautiful drawings.  I am not sure about the process, but it may be relief printing.

And a listing of Bible names and their meaning.

So having scanned and photographed (without inflicting further damage) to my heart's content, I will soon turn the Bible over to the owner's family.

Linking with:

Sneak Peek Friday

Yes, it's vintage . . .

This barn is 50-100 yards outside my front door.  In fact, these photos were taken from my front porch.

You might recognize it in other photos I've posted on the other blog or on my sidebar here.

I like it.

My father and grandfather built it in the 1950s (or 40s?).  It is a nice barn with character, not in good shape, has some new wood holding up a corner, been used for high school senior casual photographs.  

Residents include barn kitties, gophers, and weasels.  Yes, weasels.

I need a spring photo with the buttercups that are blooming on the hill immediately behind it.  However, to get the flowers, I would need to get closer than the front porch, and today the wind was blowing so hard I was afraid a piece of roof tin would blow off and kill me.

So, maybe tomorrow.

Vintage photography genes

What have I done?
Do I post so often that I've run out of vintage things to photograph and post?

(Does a blog have an end?  Is this another thing I have started but will never finish?  Will I just stop one day and leave it hanging there out in blogland?  Is this too deep for my retired carefree mind?  
Yes.  Move on Amy.)

I have a feeling that blogs start as something and evolve into many other things through their life,
but I'm going to try hard to stay on topic.
I have way too many things and a couple of friends with too many things for me to post about for me to stray.

The truth is since I am actually vintage myself, I am forgetful of what photos have been posted.

If  you've seen these, sorry.

I was really, really happy to find this pulley for $6.00 at an antique mall.  Usually, they are around $25 in a store or even a flea market around this area.  Yes, I could find one in a barn, but I am not Mike and Frank and I do NOT like spiders.  And, yes, that is an iron wheel - probably a valve wheel.  

Husband:  "What are you going to do with it?"
Me:  "Look at it."

And, yes, these are on my coffee table.

I am vintage and maybe this exemplifies the "twist"ed aspect.

What can I say . . . I like metal and wood.

These are photos hanging in my computer room.  They are of my Father.

He was a photographer in the Army Air Corp in WWII.

He passed away in 1961 from a heart condition when I was nine months old.

My Mother tells people that I take after him since I love photography.  

Is there a gene for photography?

Top to bottom:  (I should hang them in chronological order)

Army photography class

High School Philomathean Society

High School football team

Army Advanced photography class.

To the right is him in camp during the war (in Tunisia, I think)

Billiard balls, but I don't know what the blue ball with the "J" is.  

I'll buy anything for a dollar or two.  

Including a bent up tray from an old tool box.  

Especially if it is red.

I mostly like C-O-L-O-R but definitely go for vintage yellowed paper too.

Until next time . . . if I can find something vintage . . .

Ancestors

Have you wondered why so many old photographs end up for sale in antique stores?  They are everywhere.  How did so many of them get away from the family?   Hopefully, most of them came from a photographer's own stash of copies of his work and were not tossed away by unappreciative descendants.  Many of them are tattered and have handwriting on the back with names and dates so that is not the case with all of them.  I wish I could purchase each one to save from destruction.

I remember a time when I was not a bit interested in long dead family members and their photos.  However, things have changed over the last 15 or 20 years for me.  I'm so glad I have these.  I hope my son keeps them long enough until he gets to the age to care about having them.  If the originals get away, I have them all scanned, high quality, backed up, electronic copy in bank safe deposit box - the works.

For those who are lucky enough to have these precious photos, please make the time to protect them (and your newer photos) from the worst.  One fire, tornado, flood, crashed hard drive can take them from us in a split second.  Get a scanner, learn how to use it, back up your hard drive, or pay someone to do it for you.  Think about it.  Enough preaching.  Please enjoy my ancestors.