After days of sweltering, yes I’d even call it miserable, August weather, (but remember, I’m not a summer gal) today there was a welcome change. It was practically perfect - a cool northerly breeze, low humidity, 70 degrees - Huzzah!
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| Source: Google |
I took advantage of this break in the weather and spent the morning outside, and for the first time in weeks I didn’t feel like I was moving in slow motion. I even tested bread recipes, so happy it wasn’t too hot to have the oven on!
And so here’s a little Tuesday chit-chat about this and that…
After a very late start thanks to tiller troubles, the garden is finally coming along…
Flowers are in bloom…
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| (I forgot about this geranium I’d overwintered in the basement - just discovered it - wow - are they tenacious or what?!) |
finally!
Gotta love a volunteer tomato plant! I’m thrilled because I loved this Black Cherry plant last summer, but couldn’t find any starts this year. I’ll be keeping seeds this time!
I stopped in to say goodbye to the ladies who ran the store, and I picked up some graniteware pie pans I’d had my eyes on. I also took one more look at the dough bowl/trencher I’ve been wishing would go on sale for a couple of years. No one knew its history, and while it had a very old looking metal patch, in this clever world with so many excellent reproductions, I couldn’t be sure if it was even old.
Well, since they were packing up it was now or never, so I decided to ask. The price was dropped 70% - one less thing to move I was told. So I decided it was coming with me.
Janice - you’ll be the expert - no one knew its backstory - did I get an antique? It looked and felt so dry that I gave it a coating of hemp oil - food safe, but with a matte finish. I didn’t want it to look shiny and new.
I want to be able to safely use it and keep it from drying out. Any old yellowware bowl, butter churn, oil lamp, even my reflector oven/tin kitchen gets used (oh, some of the best roast turkey!) I’m gentle with them, but I want to keep their history alive.
Here’s the before:
A close up of the patch:
And of some markings on the side:
Here it is after I oiled it:
Old? New? No worries - either way you’ll find me living out my Laura Ingalls dreams while making bread. It’ll be great for those recipes that make multiple loaves…quick, where’s my apron?!
So sorry to say it is a repo. Early trenchers would not have looked like yours. But you did bring some life into it by shining it up. Sometimes these are made of resin as well, but I cannot tell you that without feeling it. there was a vendor at a show we went to in Ohio that had hundreds of these in his booth years ago and I knew they were made in China because they were all similar. So sad that they do this and there are so many repos at Hobby Lobby that I once talked with a lady who was going to purchase a glass coffee jar for $45 dollars and told her we had original ones at our store at the time for $25 if she wanted to purchase the real McCoy. I even had one young girl tell me at my store that she loved getting her antiques from Hobby Lobby...WHAT??? No these are all repos I told her. I mix in repos with my antiques so no shame in displaying pumpkins or gourds for Fall in yours or whatever you like. Janice
ReplyDeleteit’s disappointing for sure-I’m glad I got such a huge discount! I’ll still use it for bread - it’s a shame because unless you’re an expert all items from wood to 19 century cooking tools to furniture - the knock offs are nearly impossible for the average person to distinguish from real. And it’s a shame that so many vendors are less than honest - and Hobby Lobby, never!!!
DeleteWhat a treasure you found! I can see how marvelous it will be to use that for bread making. The pictures of your vista are stunning. May your week be blessed!
ReplyDeleteHi Daisy, Lucky me that they were kind enough to discount it, I do feel sorry for all of them, though – it was such a big old building full of all kinds of wonderful vintage retro and antique treasures. I’m sure your gardens are bursting – I’m way behind! Do you ever make your own pizza sauce? Fingers crossed I’ll have tomatoes soon and I want to try that this year. Hope all is going well down south!
DeleteIt makes you wonder what will happen to all of their treasures. Maybe they'll open up somewhere else?
DeleteI'm unfortunately unable to eat tomatoes, so pizza sauce is off the menu. I used to make my mom's homemade gravy (we call tomato sauce gravy), and I do miss it so. It was one of my comfort foods.
Enjoy your harvest!
Yore a mind reader! I found out a couple of them got together and are fixing up a building at one of their homes - a pretty drive out in the country I stopped by and it was filled with the best things - I think they’ll have pop up sales I’m hoping they do great!
DeletePictures of your trip, please! ;0)
DeleteSure! I only took a couple, but it was packed with the best things! I’ll definitely post pictures from yesterday, my daughter and I went to a living history farm from 1810 - Oh, my, I could’ve moved in. I am absolutely certain I was born at the wrong time! (Then my daughter reminds me of childbirth, dentistry, and the possibility of dysentery - hmmm maybe I have to rethink that😀!)
DeleteWhat a lovely piece, even prettier after the hemp oil. Gotta love volunteer tomato plants!
ReplyDeleteThanks Laurie - I really am glad that tomato plant came back. They are so pretty, a bite-size cherry tomato that’s Burgundy in color and produced nonstop!
DeleteHa ha...love the Scarecrow meme... One of my all-time favorite movies. Your gardens and views are absolutely gorgeous! I'm so jealous of your double washtubs! and you have them planted perfectly - I have a soft spot for lime green plants and Creeping Jenny is always tucked in several of my planters. And, yes, you have to love those volunteers. I was so heartbroken this year when I could not find any of my beloved black petunias after I finally decided I would, indeed, plant some annuals again this year. So, I was ecstatic when some came up as volunteers. I've always had a multitude of petunias in a myriad of colors volunteer on my patio, but never my black ones for some reason. But they must have sensed my sadness and longing and one day, there they were. (Repeat Scarecrow meme...). Sad when the long-standing businesses close their doors. While I don' get out to eat much any more, one of my best go-to's will be closing next year for the same reason your shop closed. Beautiful trencher...and your oiling of it brought out its true beauty. Enjoy your cool temps! ~Robin~
ReplyDeleteHi Robin, thanks for the kind words, but in keeping it real, believe me – there are lots of places that need desperate weeding! Somehow, it always seems to be low on my to do list 😉. Ha ha - will trade washtubs for cornzebo! Actually, I found those in the barn. Always love looking for those hidden treasures. So glad your black petunias returned – isn’t it amazing annuals can survive the crazy cold winters and pop back up in the spring? It makes me smile--those small simple things like that that make our hearts happy. And yes, that Creeping Jenny – I love that! It returns every year like crazy as well, I actually saw some growing in the grass outside the chicken coop the other day – I need to scoop it up! Sad about the small shops-unique and handmade old long forgotten things can be found there – definitely for me, I’m an old soul.
DeleteI'm sure you will get a lot of enjoyment out of using that dough bowl, regardless of whether it is a real antique or not. Glad your tomato came through for you - yes, probably a good idea to save seed this time! :) xx
ReplyDeleteYou’re right Margaret - it’s so big it makes me think of those large pioneer families back then when more than one loaf was needed! And yes - I’ll be seed saving for sure 😉
DeleteWhat a shame about the store closing, especially after so many years of trading. Regardless of whether it is a genuine antique or not, it looks like a lovely dough bowl, although I've never seen one before.
ReplyDeleteNo such sweltering weather here, but at least I've hardly needed to water the garden. Xx
Hi Jules! I hate to see the small shops close - they’re filled with terrific one-of-a-kind treasures that aren’t mass produced. The dough bowl is a fairy common antique to find here (maybe less so there??) - used in Colonial times to hold rising bread dough before shaping and baking it. Now people fill them with decorative items for display mostly-but this bread baker and old soul will be using hers!
DeleteI'm trying and trying to not wish summer to be over but it's getting harder to not look forward to fall. That's too bad about the antique store. That dough bowl is beautiful though! I had never thought of using hemp oil on wood. It didn't stay sticky? It sure did make it look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I never want to wish time away, but it was so hot yesterday - we hit 99, that is just too much for me! I did a lot of reading, and so many of the finishes, even food safe, left wood with a shiny finish, and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want it to be dry and brittle, but I still wanted it to have a matte, old looking finish. Lots of people recommended hemp oil (I couldn’t find it anywhere, eventually, I went to Amazon to make sure I was getting the furniture kind not cooking kind !) and it was absolutely perfect – after about 24 hours It had worked its magic to a beautiful matte finish – no, not sticky at all. I’m going to use it on some other old woodwork in the house. It seems like it’s not an antique after all – oh well - I still love it. ha ha I couldn’t afford a real antique one anyway!
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