estate sales | dual personalities

August 10, 2015

“The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.”*

by chuckofish

This past week I have happily returned to my usual work-and-home routine. Over the weekend it was hot, so I puttered around the air-conditioned house a lot. I did get outside, but ever-careful not to overdo it, my endeavors were minimal.

I did find a few estate sale “treasures”, including a small bookshelf which I snapped up. Bookshelves are a priority in this household!

For now it is in the living room, but who knows where it will end up? As you can see from my dual personality’s post on Saturday, daughter #2 has quite a few of my finds in her apartment.

I received a Couroc tray as a wedding present, and ever since then I have loved those mid-century modern designs and have collected them when they turn up at estate sales. This cowboy tray is too perfect.

I also got a chair back from the upholsterer. He had had it for quite some time, so it was a pleasant surprise to ~~finally~~ get it back. It is now back in my office by the window.

Don’t you love that arrow fabric?

I watched several movies over the weekend. I rather enjoyed Mixed Nuts (1994), which frequently appears on worst-movies-of-all-time lists. I was curious to see this “disaster” directed by Nora Ephron, starring Steve Martin, Madeleine Kahn, Rita Wilson and featuring in early appearances Parker Posey, Jon Stewart, Adam Sandler, and Liev Shreiber in a Caitlyn Jenner part. It wasn’t terrible and I thought Madeleine Kahn was hilarious.

I have seen many, many movies that were much, much worse. Why does this movie receive such over-the-top criticism? Perhaps everyone’s expectations were too high.

I also watched El Dorado (1966) in honor of Robert Mitchum’s birthday and, of course, enjoyed it immensely. I especially enjoyed James Caan this time around. He hit it big a few years later in The Godfather, but I bet he never forgot that early outing with the Duke. You can tell all the actors are enjoying themselves in this one.

Also here’s a PSA: August is TCM’s ‘Summer Under the Stars’ month where they feature the movies of a different actor or actress every day. Be sure to check out their schedule. For instance, Tuesday, August 12 is Robert Mitchum and August 19 is John Wayne. You’ll want to set your DVR!

Over the weekend I group-texted with my daughters who were together in New York City this weekend, daughter #2 visiting daughter #1.

Anyway, it was almost like being there with them (and Nate who was off engaged in bachelor party doings for some friend most of the time)!

And P.S. have you noticed that these guys are doing Awesomely? Well, they are. Awesome.

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Fox Sports

Have a great week!

*Samuel Beckett, “Murphy” (1938)

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June 23, 2014

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee*

by chuckofish

I was a reader this Sunday and the first lesson was a great one from Jeremiah.

O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering “Terror all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble.”Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take revenge on him.” But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail…Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he delivered the life of the needy from the hands of the evildoers. (Jeremiah 20:7-13)

Anyone who thinks the scripture does not speak to us today, think again. At least, it spoke to me.

The assisting priest who gave the sermon did not, of course, refer to the first lesson or to the second, which I also read, but preached on the Gospel. Jesus tells us “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” He says, don’t be afraid to take up the cross and follow.

But we are timid aren’t we? Especially in our current culture which delights in ridiculing believers. Perhaps I am especially aware of this working at a university. I know it is somewhat easier living in flyover country, but still. I do take heart knowing that old Jeremiah, writing over twenty-five centuries ago, encountered the same troubles.

Anyway, it was good to get up and read those words, even if I was preaching to the choir.

We were at church on Friday night as well–for a fundraiser for the Episcopal City Mission, an old and worthy outreach program to the juveniles in detention in our fair city.

We went for dinner and then wandered outside to see the activities for children, in particular the petting zoo.

Even the OM got into the act.

I went to a couple of good estate sales on Saturday. I bought a great chair which I’m sure will find its way into one of my kid’s homes. For now it is sitting in my “office”.

I went to a house that through some detective work on my part–I am getting really good at figuring out who lives in the houses I visit–I discovered was the former home of an Episcopal priest, and indeed, the late dean of the Episcopal cathedral here in town. Bingo! I got some good books and a framed picture of a holy land landscape.

We had a couple of nice thunder storms. It rained, but that only made it muggier here. It is summer at last in the midwest. Sigh.

How was your weekend?

*Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) hymn #707

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September 23, 2013

That old September feeling

by chuckofish

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

― George Eliot

How was your weekend? Mine was very low-key. The weather was lovely. I went estate sale-ing but actually found something at one of my favorite antique malls.

I have been looking for a small desk or work table for some time now. I found a nice old slant-top desk (and a chair) for a wonderful price and snatched them up. I had to go home and get our trusty Subaru to transport it and then asked the boy to come over and get it out of the Subaru and upstairs. He, as usual, was more than willing to do so. I sure do appreciate his man-strength and his good humor.

He also hung up a very large watercolor that I got at the Autumn Gallery Auction at our local auction house last week. It was their quarterly fancy auction as opposed to the monthly ones I usually go to. Sometimes I’ll just throw in a lowball silent bid to see what will happen and sometimes I win. Very exciting.

We moved some things around and that is always fun.

I went to church on Sunday (five weeks in a row!) and we celebrated St. Matthew’s Day and had our annual picnic. It was a beautiful sunny day–perfect for outdoor dining, bouncy houses and bar-b-que.

After doing some house cleaning and laundry, we wound down the day with these:

A perfect start to fall!

*The pictures from the church picnic are from the Grace church Facebook page.

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July 22, 2013

Scenes from my weekend

by chuckofish

“To know we are not alone, that our identity is not random but has a history and a meaning shared with others–that our existence has its own special kind of beauty–this is the great force of art to people moving against alienation.”

Adrienne Rich, “The Ink-Smudged Diaries of Adrienne Rich”

I bought this little tray table at an estate sale on Saturday and I put it by my reading chair by the window.

Because my husband was given NCIS: Season 1 and Miami Vice: Season 3 for his birthday, we watched a lot of these guys:

And I am not complaining. No siree. Some things just never get old.

I went through a lot of stuff in my office.

The recycling bin was full today!

I tried to work in the yard, but it was just too muggy. They said it was supposed to be rainy all weekend, but it was merely humid. We could use the rain!

I finished My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather–hardly a novella, more like a long short story–but very good as Willa always is. Such a good writer! Now I am reading The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, which the boy gave to me for my birthday back in April.

I also finished a needlepoint project that I have been working on.

All in all, a pleasant weekend. Life is good! What did you do this weekend?

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July 15, 2013

Allons enfants de la Patrie

by chuckofish

Yesterday was Bastille Day. Did you remember? While the date is the same as that of the storming of the Bastille, July 14 was chosen to commemorate the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, celebrating the uprising of the short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French Revolution.

I am no francophile, despite my French-Canadian great-great grandfather (the mysterious Fabian Blais) and an enduring admiration for Gerard Depardieu,

but I thought we would all enjoy this rousing scene from Casablanca.

Also I have been reading the latest novel by my favorite French mystery writer, Fred Vargas. (Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of the French historian, archaeologist and writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau.)

The Ghost Riders of Ordebec is really good! Her mysteries are character driven, not plot driven, which is the way I like them. They are not police procedurals. If you have not read any books by Fred Vargas, I suggest you start with her first Commissaire Adamsberg mystery– L’Homme aux cercles bleus (English title: The Chalk Circle Man). You are in for a treat!

My weekend was a pleasant one. My Episcopal Souffle was a success and dinner on Friday with my compadres was fun per usual.

I went to several estate sales and bought a few embroidered hand towels and a set of fabric napkins, which you can buy for a few dollars and are usually new, having been put away in a drawer somewhere and never used. They are out of fashion, but I love them–and I use them!

I worked in the yard, which was hot work, but satisfying. I always feel close to my mother when I toil in the yard, because she used to do so year after year. She frequently had dirty knees because she always wore skirts!

I watched the movie Quartet, directed by Dustin Hoffman, and starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connelly.

The movie takes place at a home for retired musicians, where the annual concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents. It was filmed at some beautiful house in Buckinghamshire. I enjoyed it and the setting was lovely. Good music too.

And now it is Monday and it’s back to the salt mines!

4 Comments

June 10, 2013

Weekend update

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Well, Saturday was the Ethical Society Book Sale and, as usual, I had a good time sorting through the books, choosing $20 worth of hardbacks and paperbacks ranging from beach reading to classics. What is better than loading up with $1 and $2 books? Not much.

I also went to a couple of estate sales and found a few things, including a $4 pair of new-with-tags Lilly Pulitzer swimming trunks for my old man to wear in Florida.

Oh, the joy of the hunt and finding things you really weren’t looking for but that you really need!

The boy came over on Sunday and we cleaned up the garage. I mean really cleaned it up. We threw away a lot of stuff–old sports equipment, broken folding chairs, a shelf of muddy athletic shoes, umbrellas without handles, half-filled bags of gardening stuff, general detritus. It was glorious.

By the way, I seem to have missed Walt Whitman’s birthday on May 31, and for this I apologize.

Here is James Earl Jones reading from “Song of Myself”. Scroll down a bit and then take a few minutes to listen to it. You’ll be glad you did. Wonderful.

Have a good week! I am hoping for Quiet and Uneventful.

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March 25, 2013

This and that

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? After an eventful and busy week at work, I was hoping for a quiet weekend, and due in large part to Mother Nature, I was successful.

On Saturday I went to a couple of estate sales and was able to pick up a few things which I will give as presents to daughters # 1 and 2 this year. I picked up a few Captain Alatriste books for myself.

After estate saling I got my hair cut and my hairdresser gave me spiritual advice about looking for another church after I confessed to her that I was unhappy with my church and, dare I say, my denomination. “Stay and pray,” she said, which I thought was very good advice and I will try to follow it.

All week we were warned by our various flyover weather pundits about a snow storm that was bound to hit on Sunday.

For once, they were spot on and I spent the day puttering around my house. As you know, there is nothing I like better. I also love to sit and watch it snow, so I did a lot of that.

I finished The Age of Doubt, a good mystery by Andrea Camilleri about my favorite Italian detective, Inspector Montalbano. I also received the April issue of Garden & Gun on Friday so I caught up on all things southern-hipster.

I also watched Time Bandits (1981), Terry Gilliam’s charming fantasy about a clever but “untidy” boy (Kevin) who joins a group of dwarves who have stolen a map from the Supreme Being. They jump from time period to time period looking for treasure to steal.

That’s God on the left.

This movie is a wonderful discourse about good and evil wherein we are reminded that “God does not care about technology” and that the existence of evil “has something to do with free will.” And Ralph Richardson in a three piece suit is and always shall be my perfect image of the Supreme Being.

…and more snow!

We ended up with 12.4″–our biggest snow since the huge snow of 1982! No school today.

3 Comments

March 11, 2013

Use it or lose it

by chuckofish

Today’s lesson is one I have learned over the years: stop saving things for later! Use them now. I learn this every weekend anew when I go to estate sales and there are linens galore that have been put away “for later” or for “company” and then never used.

I was reminded of this again when I received a vintage linen kitchen towel in the mail that I had won on eBay. (Yes, I also collect these.)

It had clearly never been used. It even sported the original Woodward and Lothrop price tag pinned to it. How long has it been since they pinned on price tags? Or, for that matter, since anything cost a dollar? Or since Woodward and Lothrop closed its doors?

I say, use the good china! Light the candles! Bring out the cloth napkins! When my kids were growing up, we always did. It gives meals a certain gravitas and everyday elegance which is lacking in our do-it-fast, throw-away world. There is no denying that even McDonalds hamburgers taste better on Wedgwood.

On another note, I went to the book fair at our local Unitarian Church this weekend. It is my experience that Unitarians and “ethical humanists” in general, have the best book sales, and once again I came away with two bulging bags of books. Some of them are duplicates and I will send them off to daughters #1 and #2.

But quite a few I bought for myself. Ah, such a satisfying (and cheap) indulgence!

It is, however, difficult to decide what to read after reading three novels by Willa Cather. I mean how do you follow that? I may have to resort to some mindless fun like this:

In other news, the boy, who is the head coach of the J.V. lacrosse team of one of our local public high schools–one known, let us say, more for its academic prowess than for its sports prowess–led his team to victory (in overtime) in their first game. (And the game was against a R.C. school, known conversely for being a sporting powerhouse.)

Way to go, Hounds! (Greyhounds, that is, not Hounds of Hell–that would be the other team. But now I am mixing up my religious orders. Mea culpa.)

What did you do this weekend?

7 Comments

October 18, 2012

Being green

by chuckofish

I think I’ve mentioned that one of my favorite blogs is Reggie Darling, written by Reggie Darling. Reggie and I are definitely on the same page. I was reminded of this once again when I read this the other day:

…Which brings to mind one of the reasons that I enjoy collecting antiques (or “previously owned” things): namely, that I appreciate owning objects that someone else (and, depending on the age of the object, possibly many people) owned and enjoyed before me, and which I shall pass on to someone else to own and enjoy in the future. We are but stewards of our possessions, Dear Reader, and it is up to us to appropriately care for them while enjoying them, so that those who come after us may do so as well. Collecting and living with antiques (whether they be objects or houses), is the original definition of being green in my book.

I concur. (And the stewardship view is so Episcopalian!) It’s the way we were brought up.

In addition to loving and living with the things I have inherited, I enjoy going to estate sales and looking at other people’s things and occasionally picking up nice vintage items for very little–like this mid-century Russel Wright green tray I got a few weeks ago. I have re-purposed it for use in my bathroom.

I also love to buy good old books for a dollar! I found the large 1892 Book of Common Prayer last weekend and the little handmade book holder a few weeks ago.

Sometimes I put absentee bids on items at our local auction house. And sometimes I win! I picked up a few nice 19th century lustreware pieces for less than a lunch out would cost.

Ah, the joy of hunting and gathering in the 21st century! I love being green and scoring a bargain makes it all the more sweet.

P.S. I can’t do a post on being green without this:

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May 1, 2012

Among the dust and cobwebs

by chuckofish

True to my routine, on Saturday I went to a couple of estate sales. One was in a lovely home on a street down by my old church, a neighborhood I am very familiar with and which is one of my favorites. It was the home of a former professor and his wife, the home they raised their three children in. The children are my age and went to the other private school (the co-educational one) in this flyover town.

(Not the house I visited, but similar)

It was a beautiful three-story house, probably built in the 1920s, with a wide front-to-back front hall, a lovely staircase, and back stairs from the basement to the third floor. The kitchen looked virtually untouched with an old-fashioned pantry. The basement, although not “finished” to today’s standard, had terrazzo floors and a fireplace. Such a wide and airy house, full of lovely things, and books, and evocative testaments to lives well lived–canoe paddles, skates, skiis, pictures taken out west. All I could think, however, was how the next family to buy this house would undoubtedly feel the need to gut-rehab it, ripping out walls to make a huge kitchen with granite counters, and all the rest. Sigh.

I also could not help wondering why the three children did not want all their parents’ stuff! No room for their childhood twin beds? Trunks from dad’s days at summer camp? Their mother’s St. John suits? Her sewing baskets? There were even some family pictures and engraved teaching awards! I suppose things are never what they seem.

I bought a couple of books. Mostly this outing made me very sad. It was a little too personal I guess. Much as I love estate sales, I hope my own children do not have one. The idea of people pawing through my things! Just give it away! Or throw it away! Have a big bonfire and burn it (probably not legal, but somehow preferable)!

Time marches on; obviously some people have a much easier time moving with it than I do. The past is prelude and all that. So true, Will Shakespeare, but for some of us, the past is always with us.

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