Monday Musing . . .

I like old things.

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I think I always have. I remember the first old thing I bought. It was a small, rusty old metal plant stand. I was between 10 and 12. I begged my mom to advance my allowance so I could buy it at a kind-of-a flea market at Whitefish Bay in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. My mom probably thought I was crazy! I took it home from vacation and spray-painted it . . . GOLD. Okay, I was 12 {at the oldest}! It was pretty gaudy. But I loved it! And I used it as a nightstand, a catch-all, a display tower, and it is now currently serving in the bathroom as a clothes-catcher while we bathe. It is no longer gold, but a much more pleasant and calm white.

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Good thing I like old things! Our house is over 100 years old. Whenever something breaks, I head first, not to the local superstore, but just down the road to Allen, Michigan {the self-proclaimed antique capital of Michigan}. There, several buildings, crammed with all things old, antique and dusty, hold treasures galore! If I still come up short, I hit the thrift stores {not necessarily in that order}. I also can't drive by a yard sale without slowing down considerably, and most of the time, stopping!! I really need one of those bumper stickers that say: "I brake for junk" . . . really and truly, I should warn the poor, unsuspecting drivers who happen to get stuck behind me on a lovely, sunny summer day!! I also love free items. I'm drawn to old doors {not quite sure at this moment how many I actually have in my garage}. I also have WAY TOO MANY linens and old china pieces {my poor, straining china cabinet! If it could talk, it would probably just wheeze (it's old too!) under the burdensome weight of my mis-matched collection of teacups, plates, soup tureens and salt cellars.

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I love things with a history. I like to muse about where items have been, who has loved them, what their story is, and occasionally, what in the world they were used for {I've seen some pretty funky things in all my thrifting days!}

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We buy most of our clothes used too. I am in love with the idea of reusing things, giving them a new life, becoming a less throw-away family; and I truly ascribe to the adage coined in the Depression: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

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Well, spring is coming and that means that any day, I'll see those beloved signs, dotting the city, scrawled by hands too excited to clean out their nests and maybe, if they're like me, make room for more treasures. The signs that read "YARD SALE -->".

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Sigh . . . old things! :)

Fondly, Kate