We didn't exactly go to an estate sale, rather, it came to us! My mother-in-law cleared out her mom's house so she can rent it out and had all the furniture and boxes of stuff sent to our house so we could go through it all. I thought there might be a few things, but I think I got caught up in the moment because we ended up with a lot of stuff!
We had so much fun on Friday and Saturday discovering trinkets, letters, coins and gadgets in each box. Gavin just sat and read through his grandfather's letters, journals and looked through a lot of old photos. His grandfather didn't talk much about his earlier years, but apparently he was quite the conservative Scottish rebel at Oxford - and quite handsome too!
This is Arthur's desk and chair. It has a bookcase on the other side if we wanted it to face out and the desktop is made of leather.
I was so happy to have a nice bookcase for storage.
I just love this sidetable that now sits in our bedroom. The tabletop is white marble.
This dresser was made in Sweden and is in excellent condition. I told Gavin I didn't know where to put it, but I'd find a place! Notice all the dishes I found on top of the dresser. There's a really nice cabinet with glass doors that I plan to use like a hutch. I will finally be able to display my grandmother's china!
This cute cabinet is for storing silver. I found several sets of silver (probably not complete) with interesting designs. We'll have a silver-polishing party sometime.
We also got a lot of art to put up. Most of it is very serene with muted colors. This is a large piece and will add interest to a plain wall.
Some of the styles I might not pick out if I were shopping in a store, but it's been fun getting all these eclectic additions for our home and adding character to each room.
There's another armoire we'll bring into the house when Gavin gets some help (not me!). It's pretty ugly in its current condition, but I'm planning on painting it and then distressing and antiquing it. Hope it works! But it'll be great storage for the kids' art supplies and gift wrapping materials. Ugly photo soon to come.
So yesterday while I was a 'blob' on the couch, Gavin worked with the kids in the vegetable garden. Today he's going to hookup the watering so we can put the soaker hose on a timer. There will be much less of a chance of plants dying because I forget to water or get lazy later in the summer! And I think the kids and I will plant some of our seeds (carrots, beans & flowers) in some egg cartons today too. I'm still hesitant to plant in the garden this early because, even though it's warm right now, it can still change pretty dramatically this time of year. I think we'll wait a few more weeks.
Here's a closer view. I really enjoy using pen and ink with the watercolor. I still think I need to push myself to add depth to each image.
This one is pretty fun. My parents are taking a trip to France in May and I've asked them to take lots of photos of "scenes" that I can paint in watercolor. This reminds me of something they'll see at some villa there.
I went to the nursery the other day and practiced A LOT of restraint! I did end up with these yellow bell peppers and Sweet 100 tomatoes - yum! And also lots of seeds - carrots, beans, sunflowers, morning glories - I hope my kids can keep up with the watering because I don't have such a good track record. I have a lot of gusto in the beginning of a project, but then I peter out or get too busy! Here's the beginning stages of our garden (we have to wait a few more weeks to plant):
