Strange Attraction

For years I kept a large Alex Blum print of a bookstore. In and out of storage it acquired a small tear. With its noticeable flaw I decided it was time to part with it and sold that framed print from my booth. Well, as you know from an earlier post I was gifted a smaller Alex Blum print of an antiques shop from a dear friend. I started to regret letting my other print go. So I put Alex Blum prints on my eBay watch list. After many months one turned up. The starting bid was one dollar, and to my utter surprise I won it at that price. Shipping was six dollars so my seven dollar purchase arrived today. For now I'm displaying the two prints on the den mantel.

I really don't like the man figure in the prints, but do love the bookstore and antique settings.

I have them placed on the mantel to hide the awful vents I've talked about before. I'm already pondering how can I decorate this mantel for Christmas. 

Are you Christmas decorating before or after Thanksgiving this year? I am making myself wait, but I do understand why others want an early start on the beauty and sparkle of holiday decorating. 

And a story goes with each belonging...

Do you ever wonder what will become of treasured possessions that are  important pieces of your life? Who will know the stories that go with each one? I have no idea if anything I own will be kept... much less treasured. All I can do is keep enjoying them myself plus writing and sharing and hoping that my children or grandchildren will appreciate the stories.

And a story goes with each belonging...

This is very true of almost every item I own. The school bell was a Christmas gift from TK in the early years of our marriage. The books were used in my classrooms. After lunch I would read from chapter books, trying to instill a love of reading in my third and fourth graders. Ellen Tebbits was definitely a favorite, and Caddie Woodlawn managed to touch the hearts of girls and boys.

I bought the schoolhouse when I first started teaching. It's a windup and the door opens and a teacher comes out as it plays "School Days."

This basket is coming apart due to age. When I bought it at an antique store in Dyersburg named The Odds and Ends Shop, there was a typed note that explained how it was an early basket used by schoolchildren to carry their lunches. Whether true or not, I always liked that idea. From this shop I also obtained two other special items - a long wood piece with a carved design and 

a tall wooden clothes rack. Sadly I would learn that the nice, attractive owner of the shop later committed suicide.

When my college friend Carla and I were apartment renters and young beginning teachers, we decorated our walls with posters and art prints.  Recently Carla bestowed upon me the Antiques print by Alex Blum because she knew I always liked it. The Edward Hopper print has been a personal favorite all through the years. So now they hang together in my house like they once did in the apartment.

The  painting of the man in the chair was a Goodwill find I found not long ago. If you remember it has a painting on the other side, too. Whoever painted it was very talented in my opinion. The billiards are special because of the numbers - 4 when TK, Ryan, Lauren, and I were a family; 3 for when it was only me, Ryan, and Lauren; 7 for the blended family of Joseph, Jason, Ryan, Lester, Lauren, Corkey and me. 

Well, I need to come to a stopping point this Wednesday afternoon. Until next time...

Sincerely,

Sandy

Little changes, great pleasure

I remembered to pick up some Brasso the other day and have begun to clean a few brass items. I'm starting small and will build up to the bigger objects. The tiny brass bird and dog are gleaming in their new locations. You know by now that I'm forever shifting things around. The bookstore scene picture came out of closet storage. I've had it since the 70's. My friend Carla has the companion Blum print of an antique store scene. If I have a free afternoon, I usually end up in a bookstore or antique shop. My kind of happy hour(s)!