Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Old Things and New Things......


Another project for me to do in the future. My grandmother Brooks' walnut dining room table  is moved and ready to be refinished. I received the table as a teenager from my grandmother as a gift for all the things that I did for her.  I painted her house and some rooms inside of her house. I really never thought of it  until later that she wanted me to have it for payment for the deeds.  My brother was moving to California and gave her a chrome kitchen set with chairs and she was so happy with that. The table was disassemble and hidden in an upstairs closet until I was ready to take it.  My grandmother had a brother that liked to beg her old stuff from her and she said I was to get it out of the house as soon as I could.

The special things of its history is that my grandmother got the table from an older neighbor.  The date would have been probably in the 1930's.  The rails at the bottom has the name of Woodbury, Iowa stamped on it.  The small town still exists today and is east of Osceola, Iowa. The patter of a burl on the one drop leaf is beyond amazing. The burl of a tree is the growth mound on the tree that shows up as a unique pattern in the grain.


The bottom of the table is quite weathered and helps to show its age. The hole is intended for a leg to be screwed into it.


As a kid, in the late 1950s, I remember this table being in the old, low ceiling of my grandma's house. It would be stretched out as far as it could go with many table boards added so all the family food items could be placed on it. I clearly remember seeing it covered with dishes of all sorts of good and desserts. I can still see my grandmother's red yellow with fruit and marshmallows. The middle hole held the middle leg to support the weight of all those table boards.


When I first moved into an apartment with this table, I removed the middle leg as it just looks unusual.  I know that it is the authentic original way it should be, but I am already thinking I will remove it again.  I did bring some table boards from another table that I might be able to use with it to make it into a long table for use. The white casters are also original with the table.


If you have ever grown the larger sunflowers you remember how fast they develop. I think there are 7 or 8 of them growing in a row.

The opposite view of the sunflowers shows the closeness of all the things growing there.  The zinnia rows are really close and have really grown large. The volunteer vines are creeping up on the opposite side. I am letting the vines grow out into the yard so far but if they get out of control I will have to redirect them or cut them off. I may put steel post next to the sunflower if they get to lean too much.

I still have a three things to get planted but my emphasis this week is to be at the old house.  As long they seem to be surviving in their pots I won't worry about them.



The dumpster that I am using at the old place is leaving the property tomorrow. I won't tell you how many of them that I have had but I have reached a point that Wednesday will be its removal date. Today I will do the last minute panic things that I can get into it before it leaves.  I still have my wonderful white truck that I can fill up and take things to the landfill, but I really won't need to do that for a while. It is suppose to get very hot today so I will leave early this morning and come home early.  I watered the flowers last night because of the forecast today.  I lost a row of petunias next to the house as no watering kept them alive during such high temps last week. I might replace them if there are still petunias out there anywhere to buy.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Stay safe and cool please.

1 comment:

Red said...

It's not often a teenager will appreciate the gift of a table. Good for you!