This weekend I am off to Selma, North Carolina to go antiquing. I love to be surrounded by old furniture, books, linens, paintings, magazines (of course), in general, old pieces that remind me sometimes of my childhood. It may be the odor of old wood, old books or just seeing and touching, and sometimes buying plain old stuff. Old toys are among my favorites also. I am still in the pursue of a little red piano that may look like the one I used to have and played with so many times.
Ron and I were visiting an Antique Mall in Alexandria, Virginia in January, 1984. After going around pretty fast, because I couldn’t at the beginning understand why we would be in a place that would sell used and old stuff. In the Dominican Republic when I was growing up, old stuff was equivalent to trash. So I was questioning Ron’s wisdom in visiting a place like this. But I came across this chair. It did not look like this when I saw it. The fabric was old pale yellow and stained, torn, and the chair itself was wobbly. I walked away from it, but I kept on coming back. There was something about this chair that would not let me go away. When Ron caught up with me, I showed the chair to him. He said “but honey, this chair is in terrible shape, it will have to be glued, re-upholstered and…I don’t know.” I told him that the chair was only $58 and we could have it fixed for a few more dollars and I liked it very much. Grudgingly he agreed and that was our first antique purchase together. My pick.
Well…by the time we chose the fabric and were told how much it would be the cost of making it what it is today…$350. We gulped because we were just starting our marriage and money was extremely tight. Remember my painting? That was a few months after the chair. I am always getting in a tight spot. But I manage.
I am glad we had the chair done, because it is a sturdy, attractive and it blends easily with any other piece of decor we have had over the years. 25 years. I learned so much with Ron about estate sales, auctions, garage sales (many, many stories to be told about this), and even picking up pieces from OPG. Other people’s garbage. You would not believe what people discard in this the land of plenty. I don’t do it anymore because without my aggressive and assertive partner is not fun anymore.
On this note, please go in an adventurous garage sailing this weekend or any other weekend. It is a lot of fun, you meet so many people and learn so much. And there’s always a treasure to be found.
So it was today…12th May 2011…another day of pondering and looking forward to maybe finding a treasure at the antique mall or any garage sale.
Make it a happy and safe weekend. See you next Monday.
Your Happy Contessa
“It is better to ask some questions than to know all the answers.” James Thurber, American author and cartoonist. 8th December, 1894-2nd November, 1961
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