SHORT WINTERS AND ANTIQUES....
By Olivene Godfrey
I don't know if it is a regional thing or not, but here in northwest Georgia, we have several brief cold spells in the spring which are referred to as "Dogwood winter", "Easter Winter," "Blackberry winter." and so forth. The weather this spring has really been like a roller coaster with lovely warm days and then cold and winter days and I am getting tired of it and am ready for warm weather to stay for a while. It is usually about May 1 before the "winters" are over and I can safely put my plants outside for the summer.
Son Barry and I have been doing a little spring cleaning and have plans for more soon. My home office needs a good working over to put it mildly. And, Barry is going to haul off some furniture that I don't really need to the land field soon. While discussing this project, Barry lifted up a tablecloth I had covered a table that held my reading lamp and various books and magazines and was next to my reading chair. "This table looks too good to be covered," he said.
I remembered the hot, summer day 26 years ago when I bought the table for a pittance at a used furniture store. It was very dirty and looked sort of pitiful but was well made and sturdy and I cleaned it up and covered it with the tablecloth. Over the years I would give it a lick and a promise when I dusted and would periodically wash the tablecloth. Now as I looked at the table, I could see possibilities with it. So, one recent day, I cleaned it up and gave it a final shining with Pledge and am leaving the cloth off it and it is a pretty piece of furniture.
That episode reminded me of the day that same summer when I bought the china cabinet that has been in our dining room since the first summer we lived here. I found it at a used furniture store and it seemed to be in good condition but was very dirty. My late husband, Ralph, brought it home in his pickup truck. I was working fulltime for a newspaper at that time and didn't have much spare time. But, as I could, I cleaned the cabinet and finally let it dry out and gave it a final glow with Pledge and it looked then and still does like it must have looked when it was new. I have no idea how old it or the other old furniture and bric a brac in my house is as I am ignorant about antiques. The bric a brac are sentimental pieces I keep because I love them.
Years ago, my mother gave me a small round topped table that she had when she and my dad married 77 years ago. It had been covered with various kinds of varnish, etc... and a good friend, Julia Bowers, re-finished the table for me, leaving the little scratches my sisters and I had made on the table as Julia said, "They give the table character."
Julia also gave me a number of years ago, an old sewing machine cover she had re-finished and I use it as a magazine rack. Julia and I have been friends for many years and are the same age and have always been soul mates. She was a postmaster at a small town hear here for years but her love has always been for the country music songs she wrote and performed.
Now Julia is ill and can't get out much and she misses "making music". Before she became ill, I knew that if I ever needed a friend that I could call on her and there have been times when I have and she helped me.
See you next week.
By Olivene Godfrey
I don't know if it is a regional thing or not, but here in northwest Georgia, we have several brief cold spells in the spring which are referred to as "Dogwood winter", "Easter Winter," "Blackberry winter." and so forth. The weather this spring has really been like a roller coaster with lovely warm days and then cold and winter days and I am getting tired of it and am ready for warm weather to stay for a while. It is usually about May 1 before the "winters" are over and I can safely put my plants outside for the summer.
Son Barry and I have been doing a little spring cleaning and have plans for more soon. My home office needs a good working over to put it mildly. And, Barry is going to haul off some furniture that I don't really need to the land field soon. While discussing this project, Barry lifted up a tablecloth I had covered a table that held my reading lamp and various books and magazines and was next to my reading chair. "This table looks too good to be covered," he said.
I remembered the hot, summer day 26 years ago when I bought the table for a pittance at a used furniture store. It was very dirty and looked sort of pitiful but was well made and sturdy and I cleaned it up and covered it with the tablecloth. Over the years I would give it a lick and a promise when I dusted and would periodically wash the tablecloth. Now as I looked at the table, I could see possibilities with it. So, one recent day, I cleaned it up and gave it a final shining with Pledge and am leaving the cloth off it and it is a pretty piece of furniture.
That episode reminded me of the day that same summer when I bought the china cabinet that has been in our dining room since the first summer we lived here. I found it at a used furniture store and it seemed to be in good condition but was very dirty. My late husband, Ralph, brought it home in his pickup truck. I was working fulltime for a newspaper at that time and didn't have much spare time. But, as I could, I cleaned the cabinet and finally let it dry out and gave it a final glow with Pledge and it looked then and still does like it must have looked when it was new. I have no idea how old it or the other old furniture and bric a brac in my house is as I am ignorant about antiques. The bric a brac are sentimental pieces I keep because I love them.
Years ago, my mother gave me a small round topped table that she had when she and my dad married 77 years ago. It had been covered with various kinds of varnish, etc... and a good friend, Julia Bowers, re-finished the table for me, leaving the little scratches my sisters and I had made on the table as Julia said, "They give the table character."
Julia also gave me a number of years ago, an old sewing machine cover she had re-finished and I use it as a magazine rack. Julia and I have been friends for many years and are the same age and have always been soul mates. She was a postmaster at a small town hear here for years but her love has always been for the country music songs she wrote and performed.
Now Julia is ill and can't get out much and she misses "making music". Before she became ill, I knew that if I ever needed a friend that I could call on her and there have been times when I have and she helped me.
See you next week.
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