When is a gate a cage?

When J was a baby, I painted up a crib that my great grandfather had made. I can remember my youngest brother sleeping in it, though not vividly.

This crib was made with a solid bottom and sides and top were simple frames with screening in them...no slats to get baby's head stuck between. I cleaned the screens and painted the frame light blue.

I have no recollection of where that crib went to after J outgrew it, which was pretty quickly, as it was a fairly small piece of furniture.

When my siblings were little, C and M at least, there was a wooden playpen for them (singly) to play inside the house. When Mom wanted to work in the yard, she had a wonderful folding fence that opened out scissors-like and was long enough to make a good-sized 'playpen' right on the grass. Mom joked that the neighbors must have thought of it as a cage for the children, but I think it was a terrific way for the children to start on their "peck of dirt" and be outside in the air without being in harm's way.

We had a folding playpen for J that had soft, padded top and fabric mesh on the sides. When she was very little, much to Grammy M's dismay we made J's bed in the closet in the trailer when we were in Florida that first winter. I liked the idea of using a drawer (kind of picturesque) for a bed, but I don't think we did that.

In addition to the crib, we had a piano bench from Great Grandfather, but we gave it up in the last move. We also have a castle from a train layout that we put Christmas lights in during December. It is presently sitting atop the bookcase that holds the architecture books. The child's chair and kindergarten table are in the (barn) garage, waiting for me to paint the chair and finish painting the table; they should go well on the patio when it gets "roomed".

To the auction house

Sleigh; Box with contents (Grammy Carter's hats...some of them...); Shelf and backsplash; Door knobs; Stack of old pictures in frames; 1875 box, handlettered but broken; Push sleigh (child's); Child's feather-back Windsor rocker; Wicker planter; Lap boards (drawing); Glass showcase.

Auction: http://www.auctionzip.com/Listings/1149788.html

Slowly, Very Slowly

If I have to reduce my household at the rate I have been doing the last several months, the household will have grown 5-fold at the end of the period. We have taken Jenn her bicycle and gave a drawing table to Molly McK, but gosh, we still have a house full.

Phil is in the back room, mending the webbing on the wing chair.

That chair started out as brown fuzzy horsehair. Mom had it reupholstered in a white and floral nylon in the 60s. Then I got it slipcovered in cotton in the 80s. I suppose it is time for another covering, but I'll just trim the threads where the cats have shredded it, and carry on. It's pretty comfortable when the webbing holds. Not when it doesn't.

Had a modicum of (mostly pro bono) work today; back to the packing tomorrow.

Paint and shine

Phil has finished fixing the ceiling in the yellow bedroom. It all looks gorgeous, and we moved Grammy Grammer's sleigh bed, my childhood maple desk, and Mom's antique chest of drawers in, to furnish it. The sleigh bed had been occupying the post office, so it's nice to gain more packing space in there, too.

Phil and I also moved the tall chest with the mirror into the front bedroom (the blue room), and that room is looking more settled. As things move around, we get closer and closer to actual packing of our own stuff.

Happily, we had company Friday night: Dawn, David, and Jon came through on their way further north. So we had nicely furnished space for them to sleep in.

So we move steadily onward. (Who knew we had so many sheets?! Some MUST have been from Mom's stash.)

How nice to see that box truck backing into the d'way

Sold a load of furniture last week; enough to furnish a small apartment. I think we owe them a couple of pieces, still, but they also took all our tropical plants. As Ren says, maybe the plants would have been happier in Texas. But I wasn't interested in finding out how to pack and ship; we can grow more.