Fantastic Finds Monday

Isn't this lamp fantastic?  I love the shape, the fiberglass shades, and the black metal frame.  When it's lit up the red fiberglass is amazing.  I was ecstatic to pick it up at an auction over the weekend.  The price was fair, but not a bargain.

This picture is older than mid-century, but the scene caught my eye.  It makes me think of my family's English heritage.  You can't really see it in the photo, but the glass is a bubble glass, it is convex.  The picture is painted directly onto the back of the glass.

My last thing to share today is this vintage Prak-T-Kal Vaporizer.  This was the best bargain of them all, as I found it in my grandma's garage while we were building her a deck and ramp inside her garage a week ago.  A deck inside a garage, you may ask?  Well, we built the deck so that she could walk outside her door from the house and still be at the same level as the house.  We made the deck large enough that her deep freeze is on it so that she doesn't have to go down to the level of the garage floor to get her food.  Then, we added a ramp so that she could navigate to ground level easier to go get her mail and her newspaper in the mornings.  The ramp is removable so that we can move it out of the way when we need to lower the stairs to the attic.  She was ecstatic about the whole thing, and I was excited to get the old vaporizer!

At the auction that I picked up the lamp and picture at this past Saturday, I also managed to pick up a few mid-century ceramic pieces.  I'll try to get photos of them to share tomorrow.

Have a great Monday!

My Backyard

Recently, ZootSuitMama asked her readers to share their backyards.  ZSM has a fun little travel trailer with it's own patio in her backyard.  Unfortunately, my backyard looks a little plain in comparison.  But, plain or not (especially at this time of year), here it is!

Looking out my back door, you can see my shed (I love the green paint that I picked out for it), the tree line that I have extensively cleaned up since moving into the house over 4 years ago, and the church and parking lot behind me.  Looks fairly normal and boring, don't you think?

Now we're looking at the house from the parking lot of the church, still nothing spectacular.  (Can you see my dogs Rosco and Chewy in the photo?  They were enjoying the unusually warm 67 degree temperature - they're calling for storms tonight!)  For some reason unknown to me, whoever installed the fence didn't take it clear back to the back property line.  They just started it at the edge of the house on each side and went part way back.  My guess would be that cost was a factor in this unusual set up.  However, I really like it because I can have yard space that is fenced in for the dogs and still have yard space on the sides and in the back that is dog free and can be adult space.

Rosco really wanted to say hi to all the followers!  (He was named after Rosco P. Coltrane from the Dukes of Hazzard)

Looking down the side of the house... I really need to get outside and cut down the butterfly bush and the hibiscus before they start greening up.

As a reminder that spring is coming, my red flowering quince is starting to bud out.

See?  Little leaves and flower buds!

The honeysuckle looks like it has survived another winter.  This one is white / yellow, my other one is pink.  I have planted them on this fence because it is really ugly.  A tree that used to be in the backyard dropped a few branches on the fence and bent it all up.  Replacing the fence wasn't an option, so I'm hiding it with flowering vines.

I love this picture.  When I finally got the fence row / tree row cleaned out after moving in (that was my first project to tackle - it was over run with wild blackberries, which I am still fighting almost 5 years later) I discovered that at some point, one of the renters had planted some flower bulbs back there.  Here are some daffodils that are coming out of their winter nap, but I also have several irises back there as well as three rose of sharon bushes.

My firepit is anxiously awaiting the day that I start using it again, sitting by the fire on a cool, crisp spring evening, and then, sitting in the chairs under the shade trees in the summer with a cool drink in one hand and a good book in the other.

My burn barrel is waiting for the limbs that will come down in the spring storms, as well as the two piles of pruning that I did last fall that never was burnt.

This isn't the backyard, it's the front, but I still wanted to share my antique park bench.  There used to be a bunch of these in the city park, but over the years they have been replaced.  The county had a surplus goods auction not too long after I moved into the Shack, and while the price I paid for it was a little steep for me at the time, I had to have it (I have a real passion for historical items from my town).  I paid $65 for the old girl with her cast iron frome.  She needs a good coat of paint this summer, but in the summer afternoons when there is no shade around the firepit, you will find me sitting on the bench with my cool drink and book.

I don't have a travel trailer of my own, but I do have access to and use my parent's travel trailer a time or two during the summer.  I usually take it to the lake for the opening weekend of camping in April.  It's too cool to do anything in the water (which is fine with me, because swimming is not high on my list of fun summer activities) so I take a stack of books with me.  I don't get cell phone reception at the lake, and it's an amazing weekend of being disconnected from the rest of the world.  Here you see the trailer hibernating in it's garage for the winter.

The trailer is 26 foot long, but it has this amazing slide in the rear, which contains a queen sized bed.  When the slide is pulled out, the trailer is somewhere in the area of 30 foot long.

Oh, That Wonderful Technicolor!

I love this ad for the 1955 Chevrolet.  The colors are so bright and distinct.  43 different interior styling choices!  WOW!  Can you imagine getting a car with an interior that colorful today?  Now you are lucky if you get a choice of gray, tan or black.  Sometimes any more you only get to choose between two.  Such dull, unimaginative colors.  I had a couple of cars in the past (around 10 years ago or so) that were early 1990s models and had red interior.  I loved it that it wasn't something just like everyone else had.  My current car?  Boring gray.  Oh well.

Check out this short ad for the 1955 Chevrolet, you'll be wishing that you car was a vibrant as the one in the ad for sure!

Have a great Monday!  I finally got to an auction over the weekend, and I've got a couple of new fun things to share.  I'll try to get pictures tonight so that I can share them tomorrow!

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

I hate Valentine's Day with a passion.  As such, this year I am celebrating Singles Awareness Day today.  If you are single like me, have a great day! 

If you do happen to have a special someone in your life, I hope that you have a great day as well!

Seeing as the snow is just now beginning to melt from the Great Blizzard, I haven't had a chance to do any junking lately, so, no new finds to share.  Sorry that the content on the blog has been kind of light lately.  When the nearest thrift shop is 45 minutes away, and the roads are a mess, I'm just going to stay home and save my money (hopefully eventually I will be able to build that house I am picturing in my mind!).

Have a great Monday!

What I Make

Want to know what teachers make? Watch this.

Happy Thursday!

Super Bowl Ads

Well, another Super Bowl has come and gone.  I don't watch the game, but I do enjoy the commercials.  This year, I believe that my favorite was the Miss Evelyn Chevy Camaro ad.  However, I will have to say that there were several winners this year (and a few that flat out stunk).  You can use this handy little widgit to view all of the ads from last night's game.  But first, here's my favorite:

Enjoy!  Have a great Monday! 

P.S.  I noticed that Hulu for some reason does not have all of the ads on their site.  I believe that YouTube has them all here.  They just don't have a nifty little widgit that I can put on the bog to share with you all.

Movie Friday: Snow Day

Considering the pretty much record amount of snow we received this week, I felt this movie was in order.

This movie was produced by Nickelodeon Studios in 2000, and has Chevy Chase in it, among others.  If you have had a snow day this week, I hope that you've enjoyed it!  Personally, being stuck inside all the time and realizing that state tests are coming up and will not be moved has me a little stressed out.  That just means that we have that much less time to prepare the students with everything that they need to know!  ACK!

Have a great Friday!

Did Someone Say "Snow"?

At last report last night, we had at least 20 inches of the white stuff.  The daylight pictures were taken yesterday around noon, the last picture was taken around 10:00pm.  I can't even open my front door!  Guess I'm stuck here for a while.

Have a safe and warm Wednesday!  I'm wondering if we'll be able to end this school year before we begin the next one?

Saying Goodbye

Our hospital in the town that I live in is a community-owned organization.  Governed by a board which is elected by the people of the county.  A few years ago, it was determined that the builing that it was currently housed in was inadequate and that it needed to be replaced.  As such, land was purchased and a new building constructed.  For over three years now, the old building has sat empty, looking for a new tenant.  Finally, the county commission had enough and is trying to force the hospital to make a decision as to the fate of the old structure.  It looks like the old building, which is just over a block from my house, will be demolished.  The building had many additions to it over the years, with the newest part being 20 years old this year.  However, the core of the building was dedicated in 1949.  The roof on the building is bad, and as it has sat empty without climate control for over 3 years, the floor tiles are coming up off the floors (cracking and curling) and there is mold and mildew growing up almost all of the walls.  The building was opened up to the public this past Friday and Saturday for a few hours so that the locals could see it and give any suggestions as to what it might be used for.  A public hearing / meeting to discuss the fate of the structure will be scheduled soon. 

Mom and I went up to walk through the maze-like building.  I got to go through parts that I have never seen before.  Parts of the building were roped off as the roof was leaking water and the floors were wet and unsafe to travel down.  I remembered to take my camera with me, and so today, I'd like to share some of the amazing mid-century features of this building that are still visible.  If nothing else, it serves as a way to document the time period before the building disappears forever.

My sister and I were both born in this building (my mother showed me the room) and three of my grandparents passed away in this building.  I needed to see it one more time.

First, let's take a look at the building when it was dedicated in 1949.

You may be wondering why the flag is at half mast.  The hospital was built and dedicated to the memory of the soldiers of the county that fell during WWII.

Now, let's take a look at the old girl today:

Isn't this light fixture great?  There is one on either side of the original entrance.

Take a look at these amazing tile floors that were in the maternity ward, and the operating rooms.  Love the dark brown and aqua combination.  And the simple pattern is great as well!

I love the look of this old sterilizer.  And don't overlook that great old aqua concrete block wall.  The wall matches the floor tile!

This window doesn't look out at anything except a mechanical room on the roof that was part of an addition, but I love the glass block in the window!

In the room with the glass block window, I noticed a space in the wall.  Apparently this room originally had this beautiful green tile on the walls, and at some point the ceiling was lowered and the walls were built out finished in drywall.  I know that I personally prefer the tile...

I love the curved wall here in the oldest part of the building.  And that door, a lot of the doors in the old part still have their original lettering on them.  This door leads to a janitor's closet.  Here's a look at the lettering on the door:

I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of this clock...it just tells seconds.  I'm sure that it was for timing pulse, etc. originally.

Isn't this wooden screen to the old waiting room great?  I'd love to be able to salvage it out of the building before they tear it down.  Although, I really have no use for it...I still hate to think of it being gone.  It's heavy and solid.

The last day the hospital was open - found inside the old nurse's station.

This is the room that my grandmother passed away in back in 1996.  This part of the building was built in the late 1980s.  There has been a little talk of saving this part of the building.  It is probably in the best shape out of the whole thing.  I personally would like to see an urgent care facility put in here.

It was a little creepy though.  The nurse's call light above the door was on and flashing, the only one in the building that was on, and it's above the door of the room Granny died in.  I had to get a picture of it.

The building also had some great colored mid-century bathrooms...blue, yellow, tan.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to get pictures of those.

So, there you have it.  Another mid-century building documented before it's destruction.  Please don't think that I am upset about losing this building though.  It has become an unkept eyesore, and after touring it and seeing the amount of damage it has suffered from not being maintained, from the water leaking through the roof for years, and from the hot and cold due to no temperature control, it's time for the old girl to be torn down.  It's going to be a big job, as the pipes embedded in the concrete walls are insulated with asbestos.

Have a great Wednesday.  We are currently at 14 + inches of snow and it's still coming down!  I have a feeling that I won't be going back to work anytime this week.  Stay safe!