Something Old

When I started dating my husband, we visited his home quite a lot.  My first visit left me in awe.  I had never seen a house decorated with real antiques before.  Everywhere I looked there was something interesting to investigate.  I asked a lot of questions about everything.  His mother probably got tired of me asking so many questions.

There were spinning wheels, coffee grinders, pie cupboards, antique dishes, a grandfather clock and so much more.  She had a chopping block that she purchased from a local butcher that she always went to.  It stood in the center of her kitchen and many conversations took place over the chopping block.  Not to mention that it held food every holiday where we would stand in line to capture all the delicious recipes that she had procured over the years.  It just amazed me how all the antiques just fit in so well that you felt like you were transported into the 19th Century.  There were baskets of apples in the enclosed back porch area and crocks of every color in different rooms.

To make the house come alive even more is the fact that my husbands’ father was an artist and he painted designs on the kitchen cupboards and on the bathroom cupboard.  He decorated little antique lunch pails and different chests throughout the house.  In the dining room hung a large painting that he did of the Freeman farm that is located in Old Sturbridge Village.  The painting now hangs in our living room.  He painted so many canvases in his lifetime that we were even amazed when we browsed through the photo album that he used to catalog his work.

We started collecting antiques when we got out of high school and still collect small things because we really enjoy the history behind the pieces.   There was a huge store we would visit almost every weekend, just to see if anything new had come in.  The store had huge pickles, Amish bread and delicious cheese that we would purchase and have a picnic on the way home or just bring them home to savor.  Soon we would take trips to other states to find a hidden treasure.  We have even found antiques in small dumping areas around the property.   Believe it or not we found antique eye glasses, still in perfect condition and now lay on the old wooden washing machine that is in our living room. Luckily our daughter has now continued the tradition and going on antique hunts is a fun summer project.  We go to flee markets, antique malls and a few stores still left around to collect our little gems.  We now have our Christmas trees decorated with antique ornaments that I just love unpacking and hanging each holiday.

There is something to be said about hanging on to the old traditions and handing them down to the new generations.  So the next time you clear out your attic, your basement or even an old barn, keep an eye out for that rare antique that someone forgot about.  From our backyard to yours.  Go on a treasure hunt!