Friday, September 4, 2015

My First Time Pickin' For Old Doors and Windows


I hope you all have had a good week.
Productive and peaceful. 
Mine has been good. 
I'm looking forward to
the weekend and hoping to gather
several times with our kids and grandkids.

It's been raining so much and we
have been enjoying it.

I've had these pictures for awhile now.
Waiting to share this little story about my
first "Pickin" experience.

It takes a lot of courage for me
to think of approaching
people to ask them about stuff
that's laying in their yard!

But at least I was in friendly territory!
It was in the little town of Antrim, Ohio 
where I grew up. I recently shared some photos about the area, when I was
visiting family and friends.

Now that we have a little get-away there and 
we always drive our 15 passenger van across
country, it provides opportunities
to pick up things for projects to make and sell
and for decor around the house.

While driving through this quaint little,
country town, I spotted a charming, 
old door laying out in a yard.

And, gathering my courage,
I knocked on the door and
asked some questions.
I found that I went to school
with the family that owned
the little house. When his sister
arrived, we talked schooldays for a 
few minutes and she offered to let me
see some other doors in her shed that 
she had tried to give away but
folks never came and picked them up..

At this point, I was very excited!
 Here are some of the doors.. 
They were old cupboard doors
from an original house in Antrim. 
She even knew the family's name. 
And by now, I am super-excited 
because, as many of you know,
 I love connecting with my past! 
Above are the pantry doors.
This door came with a bonus window!
I love those old glass door knobs.
 The other white, paneled door came
  from the same stop. 
Those lovely spindles and pedestal 
were bought at a Nursery down the road for
a very good price.
 And this old door came from 
the old country store called "Rusty's".
 I use to walk the two miles from my home
to this store to buy candy and chips.
It's about 8 feet tall and very heavy!
It now sits on the porch behind a 
little wicker love-seat. 
I just love all that chipping paint!

I asked her how much she would be 
willing to sell them for and she said that
I could have them!
I couldn't believe it. 
And so she and her brother
helped me load them in my van. 
I gave them a little something for their 
help and was on my way.

I was excited to have found some treasures and visited with old school mates!

The next stop was at a childhood
 neighbor of mine.
I had driven past where I knew 
she had lived with her father but 
didn't know if she was still there.
But I had seen some old windows 
leaned against the side of a shed when
I drove by just 
"takin' the backroads."

Well, since you see the windows,
you can guess what happened.
The story was that she now lived there
with her husband and children and
they were doing some re-modeling. 
They had tried to salvage the windows 
because the house had been 
built in the mid-1800s!
Wow
But they couldn't keep the cold,
Ohio, winter winds from creeping into that
two-story farm house and so they had
to be replaced.

They just wanted to get rid of them..
and it was the same story as with the doors.
People had stopped and asked but
no one ever came back to pick them up.
We had a nice long visit and they helped 
me load them up and my daughter and 
I took them back to Sugartree and
unloaded. I felt blessed.
 Here they are after being hosed down.
 Aren't the arched ones just gorgeous?!
Some of the frames are falling apart and I wondered about taking them but am glad I did.
And I'm currently working 
on a little fall project that is made from 
two of the small salvaged pieces.
I'm almost finished with it and 
will be sharing it this next week. 

I did share some of them with my younger
sister and I gave her the glass-paneled door.
It seems the love of old junk 
runs in the family!

It's so rewarding to find these old things and 
love them into something new.
It always makes me sad when old houses
and buildings are torn down and bull-
dozed into large piles and burned!

Wait.. 
the history and memories..
the craftmanship...

Isn't it satisfying to re-claim 
re-use.. re-make.. re-love?
or whatever one wants to call it..
And the treasure-hunting part is fun, too.
I'm looking forward to
doing some more of that!

I'd love to hear any stories that
you have about special pieces 
that you've found
or experiences that you've had.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting. 
Have a wonderful weekend.

Tamara xo





2 comments:

Audrey said...

You should be so glad that you approached these people ... not only were you blessed with making connections to your past, but the doors and windows are treasures. The cupboard, pantry doors and the arched windows are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures

Lace Age Girl said...

Tamara, your worn old doors and windows are gorgeous! What fun you will have re-using them!