SQUIRREL FRIEND

MR LAMB OPENING THE HINGED DOOR OF HIS SQUIRREL FEEDER

Mr Lamb is a friend to wildlife especially birds and squirrels. But he found out that the two don't mix well when it comes to dinner time. So he devised a way to keep everyone satisfied. 


He set up a squirrel feeder that requires the squirrel to go through a small swinging door to get seeds. Once inside the box structure squirrels can find lots to eat. They can munch away in solitude -- no blue-jays or other bothersome birds to dive bomb them. No problem getting out of the box structure -- the door swings both ways. Like a doggie door.  


Along with the feeder Mr Lamb set up a housing unit for them. It is high in the adjacent sugar maple tree. He made it out of spare wood. Now the squirrels can go about their business and be content that they are in good hands.

WOOD SQUIRREL HOUSING UNIT IN MAPLE SUGAR TREE
SQUIRREL FEEDER AT THE BASE OF TREE

And the same goes for the birds. They have their own feeders and are content. Mr Lamb knows how to create good community relations.

CHARMING COUNTRY PICKET FENCE

Fences come in all sizes and shapes. Some are store-bought, some designed by general fencing contractors, and of course some by the home handy-person. 

My daughter designed and laid-out a lovely fence years ago. Together with her husband and boys they  installed the fence and had many stories to tell about its construction. Her family working together not only created stories to tell but provided lasting warm family memories. 

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a  homemade picket fence in Madison County. Although it was different than my daughters it had the hand of the maker's "signature" on it. Its  personal touch could be seen on the pickets and the picket gate. It was charming in its country setting.

I surmised that the fence had been in place a couple of  years at least. Its precut pickets appeared to be from a lumber store and stood about four feet high. Unpainted, they looked weathered and aged.   The gate had some blue paint applied on its upright gate posts which blended with the graying of the pickets.

One could say this is just another fence but I feel homemade anything brings life into the equation. Surely, you must have several homemade items that when viewed are more than just objects -- you may see, hear, and feel the objects almost as if they were living. 

AN ARTISAN MARKETPLACE

 FULL BODIED, HUMAN SIZED, SAINT NICK ARTWORK

Yesterday I visited the rather new Kentucky Artisan Center that is located a couple minutes off Interstate 75 an artery connecting  states between Michigan and Florida.   The Center, run by the state of Kentucky,  seems to serve highway travelers in several ways. It has a fine restaurant, restrooms, lots of benches and seating both indoors and outside and a marketplace for Kentucky made goods. One can find artwork, crafts, books, and gourmet food all with ties to the state and for sale.

 

CONTEMPORARY FOLK LIZARD SCULPTURE

Art work and crafts dominate the marketplace. Many beautiful and unusual pieces can be found -- all contemporary and for sale.  

The items cover a broad spectrum, some reflecting the early forms of Kentuckian folk design, while some others, the newly evolved Kentucky arts and crafts, are dynamic and fit well with the old folk forms.

WOVEN RUGS -- THROW RAG RUG TYPE

I took a few photos of pieces that I thought were good examples of the contemporary art work.

FULL BODIED DOG, FOLK ARTWORK

Books by many Kentucky authors such as Barbara Kingsolver or Wendell Berry line the shelves on one wall. I perused them and found a few that I was unfamiliar with. I wrote them down and will order them through my local library.

THE CENTER 'S WING WITH AN INTERPRETIVE APPEARANCE OF EARLY KENTUCKY STONE HOUSES

Overall it was a nice break to visit the Center and stroll through the for sale items made in Kentucky. It was a refreshing exposure to locally made and the idea of  local economies. 

UNADULTERATED OLD HOUSE IN SMALL TOWN

OLD ONE CAR GARAGE WITH NO TRESPASSING SIGN

A house in a very small town caught my  eye as I was driving down its main street. I instantly knew I wanted to find out more  about this place. I swung around and stopped in front of the house and noticed a sign attached to the  garage.  Sign said: NO TRESPASSING. Whoa, this stopped me dead in my tracks of going up to the door to introduce myself . I happened over to a nearby house and they told me the house was vacant --  and its owner was a lady in her eighties that was now living in a nursing home. 

FRONT OF THE HOUSE PORCH

With these few facts in hand I decided that I could take photos of the house from the street while searching  for clues about the the owner.

Initially, what attracted me to stop was the vernacular form of the house. But now I saw something else. -- it was the sitting porch standing as it probably stood when the elderly woman lived there. 

So, now I was looking at both the early architecture of the place and the front sitting porch. 


Based on the architecture, I put a date on the house as that of the early 1800s, It had not been restored, only preserved. It was an authentic example of a vernacular Federal/Greek Revival house.

So many questions swirled in my head:

--How long had she lived in the house?

--Was this a family home that had passed through several generations?

--Did she know who built the house or the garage or any of the outbuildings on the property?.

--Was it a large house because large families had lived in it?

Many other questions passed through my mind -- too many to write down here. 

OLD PORCH CHAIRS

Architecture aside, I turned to the sitting porch to seach for clues about the owner. It contained a little bit of interpretive material. 


The woman of eighty plus apparently liked plants as she had several planters sitting on the edge of the porch with remnants of former plants.

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She had some old metal chairs that appeared to be there for socializing.

OLD PORCH PLANT STANDS

Some old vintage plant stands stood empty on part of the porch. A chicken figure, that perhaps was a planter, sat on top of one of the stands. 

Together the architecture along with the materials on her porch seemed to tell me that over the years she made do with what she had. The house along with the porch artifacts  remained "as is" over the years.  "As is" meaning no changes. 

As an example of the remaining  "as is"  of the house architecture was the original weather-board siding, a few old outbuildings, old tin roof, original six over six  window panes (also called lights), column pilasters on the porch, and a fan light over the front door. 

My conclusion about the elderly lady was that she liked to socialize, loved plants, and liked things to remain as they were.

SIDE YARD WITH OUTBUILDINGS ON TOWN LOT

The over-all ambiance of the property gives one the ability to glance at a "real" historic setting -- not one that has been adulterated with the clean and sterile look of many museums.  The overall place is in context to its landscape -- a small town in Kentucky.

Its like an archaeological dig -- trying to interpret fragments into a viable story. Humans invariably leave debris when they have lived somewhere for any length of time.  The interpretation may not be entirely accurate but is usually fairly close to reality.

BEAUTIFUL IN AGING

Vernacular Romanesque Revival Arched window with dental molding over door on old bank
Found in Kirksville, Madison County, Kentucky
Unoccupied building with original exterior. 

Old architecture is beautiful in aging. John Ruskin (1819-1900), English art critic and social thinker gave his thoughts to this idea. He thought age was the most important aspect of historic preservation. He had a deep respect for old buildings in general:

"For, indeed, the greatest glory of a building is not in its stones, not in its gold. Its glory is in its Age, and in that deep sense of voicefulness, of stern watching, of mysterious sympathy, nay, even of approval or condemnation, which we feel in walls that have long been washed by the passing waves of humanity."

The photo above is an example of Romanesque Revival (1870-1900) architecture only on a vernacular scale. Ruskin's influence helped popularize this style. 

The above and below photos, of the old small Kirksville  bank building, at one time served the locals but now stands empty. The building borrowed some Romanesque features to dress up a rather plain facade. It stands untouched by restoration.

Restoration is insensitive renovation of historic buildings. Preservation seeks to conserve and protect them. To paraphrase Ruskin's words that advocates preservation, where one can feel . . . in the walls . . . the passing waves of humanity. Only when you preserve not restore will you have beauty in aging. 

Old Kirksville bank with some Romanesque windows and doors that reflect strength. 
Boarded windows and a locked door reflect its emptiness..

THE GREAT AMERICAN TREASURE HUNT -- THE GARAGE SALE

LOVELY WOMAN ON RIGHT, A NATIVE OF FRANCE,
WAS CONDUCTING THE YARD SALE

Yesterday was a glorious fall day and I had a few errands to run. As I traveled around I noticed many yard sale signs of all sizes beckoning buyers. On my way home I passed a sign that said YARD SALE -- CHEAP.. Cheap made me stop. Not that I am cheap but I only had $8.00 in my money pouch and usually one needs cash at a yard sale. Maybe, I thought, I could find a little treasure.

Yard sales go by several common names; tag sales, rummage sales attic sales, moving sales, garage sales, and others.. It appears to be a regional tradition as to what they are called. In central Kentucky I have noticed the name yard sale is popular. So when I use the term yard sale, I am talking about any of the common names for a yard sale. Overall, one can say that yard sales are a national tradition. 

Usually yard sales have signs posted near the place of the sale. I am not a yard saler ( new verb in our language) per se, but once in a while I will stop if the sale looks interesting  -- or its a nice day and and I have $8.00 in my pouch.

Across the country, yard sales perhaps reach the billion dollar mark each year in sales according to one source. They are a form of retailing that is decentralized, run by private individuals not companies. They are informal and social -- one can pick up the item, note any flaws if any, and talk to the owner about the item. Also, the items are fairly priced and  -- just maybe you will find a treasure.  

OLD FRENCH LACE CURTAIN PANEL WITH YARD SALE CANDLESTICK

As I approached the YARD SALE-CHEAP place, a friendly couple greeted me as I strolled toward the front yard where all the sale items were located. I could tell that much of what had been for sale for gone. I know that there are folks that get there first thing and buy all the good stuff. Yet, I felt it was my lucky day and began my search for a treasure. 


I asked the woman of the couple a question about some bottles that I thought were nice -- and I noticed her accent. She told me she was from Paris, France originally. We chatted a bit and then I went back to get the bottles -- but then noticed other items of interest. Not only was everything cheap it was first quality. 

I picked up some lace curtains -- two panels -- that were quite lovely. She told me that she had gotten them from her aunt's French summer cottage. 


Hmmm  -- I knew right where I could use these fine pieces.

SMALL SOAPSTONE CARVED ELEPHANT BOX  AND CANDLESTICK

Then I looked in the free box and found a nice brass candlestick that had lots of character marks. Wellll -- this can have a place at my home.

I do like little boxes. Sitting on one of the tables was a soapstone hinged box with an elephant carved into the lid. I like to use interesting boxes to wrap small presents in or use them for some of my small mundane things around the house -- like paper clips or stamps etc.  Somehow opening an unusual box for some paper clips and other mundanes appeals to me. 

Sooo -- I now have more items added to my purchases. 

OLD FOUR-PART MUFFIN TIN AND ENGLISH BON BON CONTAINER

Now I spotted two tin items. One, another small box emptied of its English bon- bons it once contained. It had a lovely impressionistic lithograph printed on its lid. The other tin was an old muffin baking tin -- I do appreciate old household items. 

The tins joined my growing stack of things to purchase. 

OLD BLUE MEDICINAL BOTTLES

So now back to the bottles I had first noticed when I arrived. Yep, Genuine Phillips Milk of Magnesia bottles, small enough to sit on my window sash -- filtering the sun's rays through their dark blue.


Stacked them with my pile.

OLD VASELINE EMBOSSED BOTTLE

Found another old bottle. This one an old embossed Vaseline (short and stout) bottle. I added this to the mound. 


Actually, going to yard sales or having a yard sale is a gender issue. I am a feminist so don't get me wrong. But traditionally, woman have been in charge of all things household. And, sorting out what to sell is usually household items -- so the task of a yard sale falls to the female of the house. Same goes for buying -- women historically are the household consumers. Not that men aren't involved -- they are -- but just in smaller numbers.  

GRANDMOTHERS PLATES FROM FRANCE

Oh such beautiful dinner plates but only two of them. No matter to me as I mix and match all my dinnerware. I don't have any that I bought new. There are stories to share about all the dinnerware I use. My most precious stories are about some soup bowls that used to belong to my youngest son who has since passed. 

The French lady told me that the above two plates were her grandmothers in France. I told her I like to eat from old plates and her face lit up and she said, "it's like having your grandmother there to share your meal!" I agreed. 

SHEFFIELD ENGLAND SILVER-PLATE SPOONS

The idea of yard sales began around the 1950s when the U.S. started their trek toward a consumeristic society. It was a grass roots movement. It provided an outlet for individually owned goods. By the 1970s it had reached its peak and has pretty much maintained that peak until the present day. 


The last items I would buy were some small serving spoons or perhaps they were some hearty sized soup spoons. They are heavy silver-plate and quite old. I know I will use them for soup. 


Final total of goods -- $6.20!


But aside from money, I like used items because they have been touched and cared for by folks. I know that they are not living things but the spirit in which they existed perhaps infuses a certain light into their present day reality. They are my treasures for now. 

SOURCES:
His and Hers: Gender and Garage Sales

Garage Sales Wikipedia

Garage Sales are a big part of retailing