Recent Antique Acquisitions

My husband and I love searching for antiques and cool vintage items for our home. We try to make the purchases together, but most of the time we're alone and cross our fingers that the other will like it equally.

The other day Drew called me from his cell phone and I could tell something was up. Our conversation went like this:

Drew: Hi!

Me: Hi! Where are you calling me from?

Drew: I'm driving from Upper Jay to Jay

Me: Oh, where did you go?

Drew: Red Barn Antiques

Me: Did you find anything?

Drew: Um, yeah you're going to kill me.

Me: What did you get?

Drew: I bought some lawn furniture.

Me: Oh yeah?

Drew: I got us a ski lift chair from the old Pale Face ski area.

Me: Hmmm.... okay? How are you getting it home and how much did you pay?

Drew: I'll borrow a truck from someone. It was cheap.

Me: Okay, that's not so bad. I'll assess when I get home.

When I pulled in the driveway he had already borrowed the neighbor's truck and was in the middle of hanging it in our Maple tree.

He was so proud of his purchase and I approved.

Earlier in the summer, Drew had mentioned that he thought it might be nice to buy an old trunk to store blankets in. We found some beautiful antique trunks in Gabriels, but weren't ready to part with the amount of money the dealer was asking. So we held off and I found a trunk at a yard sale in Lake Placid for much less. I tried calling Drew at work to describe the trunk and tell him the price, but he wasn't there yet. His coworker convinced me it was a deal and so it came home with me.

When Drew carried it in the house, he approved. The only problem is, it smells like mothballs. I can't stand the smell of mothballs and refuse to put anything in it until the disgusting scent of old lady is gone!

Our most recent purchase we found together. Drew and I discovered it at Twigs in Lake Placid. Having just renovated another room in the house, we were on the hunt for a desk. There it sat in all it's glory, the old mail sorting desk from the Keene Valley post office. We fell in love with it. The desk still had all the old labels on it where mail would be sent. We took measurements, pictures, and decided to think about it.

We generally don't spend more than $30 on items and so we had to justify the purchase. I looked up prices of new desks and the costs were about the same, we spent nearly nothing on our anniversary and Drew just sold many items on Ebay. Also, the dealer had taken 15 % off and we couldn't stop thinking about it. Our decision didn't take long and Drew called to have them hold the desk for us.

Now the only problem is the newly painted Louisville Mint Julep floor and the Adirondack Green desk don't really match.

So my fellow readers, I'm asking if you have any suggestions on how to bring the two greens together and how to get rid of nasty mothball smells? I never thought a chair lift in my tree would be the least of my worries.

Anniversary in a Lean-To

If you know me at all, you know there is one thing I fear. Mice. When my husband suggested we spend our wedding anniversary in a lean-to, I was nervous. A city mouse I am not. I love camping and think there's nothing more cozy than being in a sleeping bag. Well, in a sleeping bag inside a tent with no chance of a mouse coming in. Drew assured me there would be no mice and so I agreed to spending our anniversary tent-less. I thought since it was our second anniversary I would do two new things: 1) sleep in a lean-to and 2) eat a dehydrated meal of some sort.

We headed off to Lost Pond in hopes that no one else decided to sleep in the Biesmeyer lean-to for the night. We hiked just over two miles into Lost Pond on the side of Hurricane Mountain.

When we arrived, we found the lean-to empty and no signs of mice. Happy hour was upon us and so we enjoyed a tall Labatt Blue and appetizers that consisted of pepperoni, Swiss Army sliced cheddar cheese and peanuts.

Drew gathered some wood so we could enjoy our romantic, gourmet dinner of sandwiches and soup with the soft glow of a fire.

I was careful about sandwich crumbs tempting mice and put any food that had fallen onto the forest floor in the fire.

Being without television and a computer, we were forced to interact and so we found ourselves playing cards while we let our lovely dehydrated strawberry cheesecake set. I also brought some "Bear Poop" a friend gave us and thought it would compliment the cheesecake nicely.

That bright yellow caterpillar to the left was curious of our dessert and turned out to be the only critter that was interested in our food. I could only eat a few bites of the cheesecake and left the rest for Drew. After my first experience with dehydrated food, I wasn't surprised that critters stayed away from our bear canister. Even the mice stayed away and I was actually able to sleep a bit! If I had a pillow, I probably would have slept more, but overall it was a great anniversary!

Unique Mailboxes

As a kid, I frequently asked my parents to take me to see one particular mailbox in the town we lived.  This mailbox had the body of a tuba and when you opened the door it played music. People from all over came to see this postal creation in Norwood, New York.  I imagine that the mail person that delivered mail here secretly liked it more than all the other boring mailboxes on their route.  

We moved to Jay in a February when the ground was as hard as rock and left us with no option, but to have our mail be delivered to a post office box since there was no existing mailbox on our property.  We have one of those addresses that businesses comment on when I give them our physical address opposed to our dull PO box address.  Of course I can't tell you our address because if you came and stalked me you would probably be eaten alive by our ferocious hunting cat, Monty and our security system would go off and you would be surrounded by police.  But, they say things like, "That sounds nice" or "Wow, that's a great address." 

 

A frozen ground is just around the corner and I've been pondering if we should finally have our mail delivered to our quaint little address.  This leaves me with thoughts of what kind of mailbox?  There doesn't seem to be anything as interesting as the Tuba, but there are a few unique mailboxes along the Au Sable that caught my eye.

I have noticed a few Adirondack style ones made out of cedar and birch bark and a couple of painted ones.  This one compliments the blue house that it's letters are read in. 

There is this dog mailbox that doesn't bark, chase, or bite postal workers.  Probably a mail person's dream come true.  

I also found this fish mailbox that stood out from the neighbor's boxes.  I hope for the mail man's sake it isn't too stinky. 

Then there was the headless horse mailbox.  

I'm hoping that the horse originally had a head and has since fallen off due to weather or a no good teenager with a baseball bat.  

If we do decide to have a mailbox on our property, we need to make a decision soon on what type it will be.  After being obsessed with the tuba mailbox as a child, I don't think I could live up to having something as great as that, but I don't want to just settle for a plain black one either.  Hmmmm...decisions, decisions.

Free Stuff Along the Ausable

This seemed to be the weekend to score some free stuff.   

For instance, if you know the exact dimensions of the windows in your home and carry a tape measure in your vehicle, you might be lucky enough to snag these metal window frames and screens. 

Perhaps you are shopping for a new bathtub or maybe a high chair without legs, look no further than Springfield Road in Wilmington.  If you take the tub, you can enjoy a cold six pack in your new cooler while you wash up, but don't think about installing that light fixture while taking a bath because you could get electrocuted.  

Maybe your child has outgrown the crib and it is now time for a twin bed?  Wes Valley Road in Lake Placid is the place to get one for free.  The first time I drove by the free mattress site there were four "like new" mattresses.  By the time I arrived to photograph these free beds, there was only one left!  

I took a clay pot out of this pile of items on Stickney Bridge Road in Jay and contemplated taking the covered litter box for my friends new cat, Pancake, but left it for someone else.

Not to offend any previous owners and their "free" stuff, but the best items were found in Lake Placid.  

There was a television stand, stool that could be nice reupholstered and painted, a red desk lamp, and brown planter.  This pile also had a toaster and iron, perfect for a new dorm room or apartment.  Whether they worked or not was questionable since there was no sign telling curbside shoppers if they were still any good.  

Do you think that's why the air conditioner that we've had at the bottom of our driveway for two weeks now is still sitting there?  

Maybe if we had a "Free" sign that didn't keep blowing away and clearly stated, "Works" that someone would take it.  Who wouldn't want a perfectly good air conditioner in the middle of September in the Adirondacks?  

Gargoyles with Backpacks

Looks like the Gargoyles splurged and bought some new backpacks for the school year.  

 I hope they enjoyed their first week back to school!

Working Gargoyles

After months of the Gargoyles suffering from depression, it looks like they are "building" their confidence back up and are ready for some physical labor.  

Interesting timing on their part, since most of the country is enjoying the extra time off from work this Labor Day weekend.   If they want to work while everyone rests, I know I could find a project for them to tackle at my house! 

P.S. That adoption offer still stands.