My new OLD flat back china cabinet

When I was a kid I dreamed of moving to Lena Graham's farm on the outskirts of the little town where I grew up.  It was a scattering of outbuildings, white painted fenced paddocks and tons of room to play and pretend. The house was a three story towering brick thing-of-beauty.  It had multiple rooms, a grand staircase, and attic big enough to ride a bike in - that's what we thought when we were kids anyway! 

I remember visiting there with my Mom and playing on the swing hanging from the tree out front.  I did lots of sweet day-dreaming on that swing!  I would look around and see a huge mill stone used for decoration in the yard and wonder what it had been used for in the past.

Inside the house the kitchen was my favourite room. (Big surprise - huh?)  It was huge.  It had a massive wood cook stove, a separate pantry off to the side, a bench near the door so you could sit close to the wood stove and it was always filled with yummy foods and canning jars filled with unknown delights.  I'm sure it smelled heavenly too because Mrs. Graham was always baking something.

I remember seeing the boot scraper on the back step for the first time and thinking that was a really good idea.  I marvelled at the "rugs" in the parlour that were made of some kind of painted cardboard-cloth but very stiff.  It had pretty designs on it.  The house had a back stairs - that was also fascinating to my little child's mind.  It was filled with "antiques" that weren't antiques to the owners - they were wedding presents and hand-me-down furniture.  I was so in love...

So all of this life-that-I-live started as a dream a long time ago.  As I grew older and dreamed out loud of living in a house like theirs my dad would say:  ARE YOU CRAZY - DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT WOULD COST TO HEAT THAT PLACE?  Ha - of course he was right but it didn't stop the dreaming!!

Last weekend we met with some of our kids at a little breakfast place in a small town nearby to celebrate a birthday. After a noisy and fun breakfast of bacon and eggs (just think about that - we went OUT to eat eggs...) we crossed the street to visit an antique shop.  I knew it was dangerous!  I even said it out loud - but it didn't stop me.  I think the reason I like antique stores so much is the sense of history, the bits and pieces of peoples lives from a different time and a bit of insight into what they required to live and the things they thought were valuable.  I could spend hours just looking around - well maybe not JUST looking!

Since we moved to this house I have had a wall needing a specific piece of furniture.  I could see it in my mind but I couldn't find it in real life and I've looked at plenty of quaint little places with no luck.

Saturday was the day to find my treasure.  It was buried under a lot of other stuff but as soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect.  My DH took one look at my face and knew I really wanted it!!  He says I have a certain look and it's one he knows not to argue with!!  It was sitting in our dining room a few hours later...  It was interesting to hear the shop owner say that as soon as he cleared the shelves and moved the cabinet to the door for pick-up people started talking about it and how wonderful it was.  "It couldn't have been here long because it wasn't here LAST week," someone said.  In fact it had been there for months but no one could SEE it.  Another instance where It was not hidden FROM me but hidden FOR me...isn't it pretty??

I haven't been able to take a picture that truly does it justice so this will have to do.

I finally have a place for all my multiple sets of dishes to go and it's the first time in our whole married life that I have a place to put the crystal glassware that we received as a wedding present from Granny Irene.  They had been a wedding gift to her when she got married.  She passed away many years ago and they are a nice reminder of her part in my life.

We've had to play musical furniture since this arrived.  You know how that happens - we get one new thing and then the cabinet that was there made a pit-stop in the garage before I realised it would be perfect for a TV cabinet in the family room...so back into the house and up the stairs it went.  Everything is now in place... for a little while anyway until I sneak back into the antique store for another breath of history and another fermenting crock or a rolling pin with red handles or the beautiful spinning wheel that would look great in my living room (and be useful if I learned how to spin) - well - you get the idea.