flea market finds

i was thinking about how dependent on the location the items in a second hand store are. this bowl, which i saw at one of those flea market places, where individuals rent a shelf and put whatever they want there. it was in herning, which is arguably the middle of denmark. the tag on the bowl claimed it was french and it's true that it didn't look danish. if it hadn't had a big crack in it (not visible in this photo), i would have bought it, as i definitely felt it sparked joy.

i spotted this clarinet in the wonderful antique trove in scottsdale, az. i feel like i see a lot more instruments at antique places in the us. other than old pianos and organs, i just don't see that many musical instruments in the shops in denmark. i don't know if this is because less people play an instrument or because they keep them.

this red tray could easily have been denmark, but it was actually also at the antique trove in scottsdale. i'm kicking myself for not having bought it. it would have been awesome in my red kitchen.

this was definitely in the us. not that people didn't quilt in denmark, but patchwork quilts are also quite rare at the antique places here. you often see knitted and crocheted afghans, but very seldom do you run across any patchwork quilts. and especially not a yoyo quilt like this. that seems like it was very much an american style. i didn't buy this one, but i have one very similar that my great grandmother made. i hope it stays in the family and never finds its way into an antique place.

obviously, that lunchbox was spotted in the us. i ended up taking that tin toy bug home with me, so someday someone will probably find it in an antique place here in denmark and wonder how the heck that happened.

that yellow bowl is at an antique place in my hometown in south dakota. i love it so much, i've actually photographed it a couple of times. but it's $49, which isn't really so bad, but i always think it will take up too much space in my luggage or get broken along the journey, so i leave it behind, even if it definitely sparks joy in me.

this one is obviously very mid-mod danish. it was in the flea market in kolding. i am drawn to these designs, but i didn't buy this one. but it got me thinking about the whole question of the selection of goods available in a particular location. i'm definitely going to see what's in the second hand and antique shops of barcelona next week. i'll bet it's something completely different!

travel and driving and thinking and antiquing

we drove for eight hours today along stretches of not-very-busy interstate highways. and tho' we had three kids in the backseat, they were pretty content with iPhones, a DVD player and a nintendo DS or two, so it wasn't a bad trip, aside from the begging to stop at all of the snack villages (courtesy of my youngest nephew, our family name for those well-stocked truckstops). but there were quiet moments and they enabled a lot of thinking and some crocheting (when it wasn't my turn to drive).

i can feel on this trip that i was in need of the change of scenery that travel brings - new impulses, new impressions, new thoughts. it just realigns you in a way that staying at home can't do (even if you've just moved, apparently). all of the new input brings fresh inspiration and new configurations in the way you think about things.

there's something about being on the prairie that makes me feel nostalgic. it's partially going back home (which will be covered in another post), it's partially telling stories to sabin, and partially the purposeful nostalgia that is wandering around antique shops, plus a little bit of laura ingalls wilder. it's the winds blowing summer grass and seeing as far as your eyes will allow and the golden light of a prairie sunset.

so during those moments in the car when i had time to think, i found myself mulling over the textiles i had seen in the antique shop, the care that had gone into the stitches and the care that had gone into displaying them - they were washed and bright and charmingly displayed. little bits and pieces of lives gone before, lives lived on these prairies - handmade lives. pieces of a time both gone by and one which we find ourselves yearning for to the point where we scribble notes about them in the notes app on our iPhones. so i was thinking of how to marry that nostalgia with the present. how to live with a foot in both worlds. and whether it's even possible....

i'm in love

despite the fact that he cut off our internet cable at its source, with a wire clippers, two weeks ago, which momentarily left us calling him the husband formerly known as a keeper, husband is securely back at keeper status. because today, when he finally took that trash that we've been hauling around in the trunk of our car for two weeks to the dump, he came back with this beauty, which someone callously left sitting right there beside the "metal trash" container (our dump is VERY organized - one day i will go there with a camera and show you...we take recycling very seriously here)...anyway, here's the beauty he rescued:

i love this, i don't know whether it's the shop that sold it, or the person who owned it. i've got to do some research into that. i'm glad it's threaded, so i can see how that's done. i'm going to see if it still works. and i'll betcha anything it does.

we talked over dinner about such beautiful, classic pieces of machinery. beautiful and ingenius in their simultaneous simplicity and complexity. imagine how much easier they made things when they were invented. husband thinks that the sewing machine and the bicycle are two examples of perfect simple genius. and when i see this beautiful old classic sewing machine, i'm inclined to agree.

p.s. i apologize for the crap pictures, it was a really cloudy, grey, dark day today and i refuse to use flash...or drag out my tripod.

what i did this weekend

we realized this weekend that we now have more than 200m2 of house to use, but we spent most of it huddled together inside of about 6 of those square meters, which happen not to have electricity yet (electrician coming on thursday), making stuff by candlelight. paintings, a christmas banner (not finished yet, as my fellow crafters sort of drifted away on me), several pillows and a christmas french press cozy (for which i say a heartfelt thank you to melissa at tiny happy for her awesome tutorial).

i also spent quite a lot of time looking for my card reader so i could download pictures, but finally found it in the Wiimote basket (it has a cord on it after all, so someone threw it in there) after looking for it for 24 hours and putting all of the swear words i know together in refreshing new ways. husband said it was good for me to have delayed gratification. that made him very popular, as you might imagine.

i spent all of sunday in my pajamas, which felt like mad luxury. i love days like that.

on saturday, i scored an old kodak six-20 brownie D at the flea market for under $10. then i spent more than an hour researching ways of using 120 film in it. it did come with one old 620 film spool inside of it, so it just might be possible. fun! and more importantly, it prompted me to start my drawings of the stuff i buy already now:

saturday's fajita dinner was made entirely of things we had in the house (except for some avocados (which is what that bottom picture above is supposed to be--i don't have the drawing thing down entirely quite yet), which were essential for the guacamole)--including leftover chicken from a chicken i baked the night before. i was rather proud of myself for this, tho' we still throw away far too much food in this house. i've been thinking about it since reading about the high costs of wasting food in mankind mag.

i made the painting above. did you do anything fun this weekend?

on interviews and antiques and other random thoughts

maybe because i am myself now an antique of sorts, it feels entirely different to go to an interview today than it was when i got a part-time job at a gannett paper during college. i've just got so much more experience now. and a network that means something. i just speak about myself and my experience in an entirely different way. with authority, even. after all these years of feeling i was faking it (they actually taught us how to do that at the U of C), i actually know what i'm talking about now. that said, i feel really good about the interview, even if i don't get the job, it was a good conversation that gave me a lot of much-needed energy.

and afterward, i hit all the antique stores on ravnsborggade in nørrebro, which was wonderful and just what i needed to clear out yesterday's case of SAD. i never did ask the price of the old ship above, but we know how much i love ships, so i'm going to print out this picture and place it around the house with the address of the shop where i saw it, as a hint to husband. although we agreed not to do christmas presents, maybe he could make an exception since it's effectively recycling and doesn't represent the manufacture of new goods, which should fit nicely with his inner thomas friedman.

* * *

a couple of notes regarding the danish news...lots of fuss over the death of jørn utzon, danish architect most famous for the sydney opera house. i find the fuss a bit much since he was never really accepted in denmark, which was why he had to go to sydney. it's always the way that when someone does well, they're suddenly accepted and loved and claimed by their homeland.

the other news of note in denmark is the collapse of something called IT Factory in a huge swindle by its director, who has absconded with 500 million danish kroner ($90 million USD) and disappeared without a trace. they've actually got interpol on the case. who knew they were real? there is much whining and expression of surprise, especially by the banks and investors who were involved, but i find it difficult to feel sorry for any of them. there are just so many people out there doing so many dodgy things these days, who can keep track?

and one more thing...on monday, the front page headline of berlingske, which is denmark's answer to the NYT, concerned the fact that danish actors have started to use agents. yes, i realize it's a small market and that perhaps it's business news that they weren't really using agents before, but seriously, is that worthy of the front page? aren't there people darfur being slaughtered or starved or something?

* * *

and i leave you with a teaser...tomorrow, i'm going to have a meeting with two of my favorite people. they also happen to be two of the most creative people that i know. and hilarious. one of them was accused by three children in first class on a gulf air flight last year of being mr. bean, so that should give you some idea of the level of funny here. more stories about them tomorrow.

laughter really is the best medicine

this morning, husband and i watched BBC World over a cup of tea. there must not be that much newsworthy going on in the world because they had a long piece on the queen's opening of parliament speech (which i think happens later today or tomorrow). they talked about the traditions and the myths and in general the whys and wherefores of the whole ceremony. but the most hilarious tradition is that they actually hold an MP hostage at buckingham palace during the speech in order to ensure the safe return of the monarch. for some reason that struck me as very, very funny and i laughed and laughed and it seemed to go a long ways towards dispelling my case of SAD, which could well have simply continued due to the fact that it's again dark, grey and there's not even a hint of sunshine in the sky. it seems that laughter is indeed the best medicine.

and now i am preparing to go into the big city of copenhagen for the day. i have my second interview at 1 p.m. and i'm going to do a bit of antiquing before that. we're on the lookout for a fireplace set--one of those little sets with a broom, a poker and whatever the other thing is (aren't there usually 3 things)..a little shovel, perhaps? i want an antique one, rather than an over-designed brushed steel typical modern one. there must be some around in the antique stores because at one time every apartment in copenhagen had at least one wood-burning stove in it. funny how having a mission also chases SAD away.

the fact that sabin went to school dressed like this this morning also helped:

i fear she's going to insist on wearing that nisse costume every day for the rest of the month. i'll have to sneak in a wash when she takes it off at night. because she won't try to sleep in it, will she?

thanks for all of the good advice yesterday on fighting off SAD, i'll definitely bake something soon and will try to get out there in that rainy weather and get some exercise. as the danes say, there's no bad weather, just being badly dressed for the weather. so it's a matter of having the right waterproof gear on if you want some fresh air.

"heavier than a dead preacher"

enough of the oak floor is now in to bring in the centerpiece of our kitchen.

that would be this "købmandsdisk"

we bought it from the long-haired gentleman at the other end.

i wrote about him previously. 

it took quite an effort getting it in (hence the title of this posting).

and here it is standing in its place in the kitchen.

the bit where the wire is sticking up out of the floor on the left

is where the smeg stove is going to stand.

hopefully within the next few days.

the view from the other side.

21 drawers.

we had an oak countertop put on top.

and i will paint it creamy white over the next week.

we were so happy to stumble across this beauty, which once stood in a shop somewhere (we unfortunately do not know where). we had looked in all of the kitchen stores and were not pleased with what you could get for your money there..prefab cupboards that cost a fortune and aren't even solid wood. 

so we decided to make this the centerpiece of the room. there'll be plenty of room for lots of people to roll out and make cookies at once. or chop veggies for fajitas. and lots of storage in all of those drawers. 

i'm certain this will be worth all of the effort! i intend to survive it!

what IS that thing?

does anyone have any idea what this is?

you can almost, but not quite, get your finger under the blade (as husband demonstrates here)

the little guy on top looks decidedly devilish, so we thought it might have something to do with tobacco. does anyone recognize it and know its purpose?

an encounter with the authentic

on saturday, we went out to an antique place on the edge of a tiny village nearby where we hadn't been in about 5 years. it had been so long, we weren't sure it was still there. it had always been more of a furniture repair workshop than an antique place anyway, so we drove on in, despite the lack of signs on the road. it was still there and the same man with the same attachment for each piece of furniture was still the owner. he is a very special character. tall, unkempt hair, a bit stooped in the shoulders, with bits of varnish on his rough, workman's hands. it's clear from the bits of drawers held together with clamps and small wood shavings here and there, that he is a real craftsman. we were after a chest of drawers for a strange, nearly unusable space at the top of the stairs. as he showed us the various chests he had, he lovingly stroked their wood surfaces, seeing their characters with his hands. i had a sense that he could, with a stroke of his hand, call forth the stories of what they'd seen in the homes they'd stood in. there was one that was the perfect size and height for our space and we asked him a price. it took him nearly 5 minutes to respond, during which he waxed philosophical on how well-made furniture was in the 1920s. i wasn't sure he was ever going to name a price, it was clear that it would be like selling his baby to him. he did finally name a price and we immediately agreed. but we couldn't take the chest immediately, he wanted to give the top of it one more sanding and a coat of wax. so he will deliver it to us this week.

in a world where people today often seem to only skim the surface and to never show their real selves, it felt like an enounter with a very real, authentic person. one comfortable in his obsessions and unafraid to show them and to lose himself in them, right there, in front of others. a person with a real feel for his craft and a love for the objects he works on. it was so clear that he could feel the life in the wood, although the trees had been cut down years before and fashioned into desks and tables and chests of drawers. it made buying the chest from him something special and it will be special object in our home, rather than a simple storage unit, because of his ability to show us that there are stories there within the wood. he did it all with a touch of a loving hand, rather than actually telling any stories. but thanks to that caress, we are able to hear the whispers of the stories that are there within the object. his authenticity lent an authenticity to the chest of drawers that makes it worth much more than the price we paid.

he has another old set of drawers from a shop--12 big, deep drawers and 9 small ones--that we want to buy for our kitchen, to use as an island, rather than buying some soulless thing from a kitchen shop. we came home and measured and want to make it work, no matter what. i think we both feel that such an object, full of stories and lovingly restored by the authentic furniture man will create just the atmosphere we're looking for....one where the stories of the past are there, within the object and we layer on our own stories, as we live our lives with the furniture in our midst.