Monthly Archives: August 2014

Grandmother’s Antique Hatbox

I walked into my garage this week to find a new project waiting for me: an oak antique hatbox that had been Leigh Ann’s grandmother’s. It had once sat atop an oak dresser, but we don’t know what happened to it. The hatbox has a few issues: the glass knob is not original and the finish
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Our Johnson Family Reunion

Each summer my family, now scattered across the country, converges on a small town in Illinois for our annual family reunion. We hold it in conjunction with a local fair and rodeo. There we enjoy three days of small town life, complete with a parade, a horse show, bull riding, clowns,
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An Antique Shop Bargain

I was in an antiques shop in Galesburg, Illinois, a few weeks ago where I found this circa 1901 Arts and Crafts oak footstool. The leather seat was missing and it was marked $65, but the dealer agreed to take $50 cash. I plan to stain the new leather shown here beside it for a new
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Percy Protection

This is Percy, our older, neutered, outside-only, male cat, who would be a perfect cat if it were not for just one minor problem….

Percy has an uncontrollable urge to “mark” anything we bring into his territory, and while his spray on this old copper kettle Leigh Ann turned into
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