Home Again, Home Again!

By Becky Striepe On June 16, 2008 · 1 Comment · In News

Jiggity jig!

We went to Mississippi this weekend to help clean out Dave’s gramfolks’ house. They’ve moved into an independent living place, and the new space is so cute! They have a back patio with lots of plants, and there’s a super-rad swing out there that I wish I’d gotten a picture of. The apartment is already looking really cute. I can’t wait to see it all done up!

So we didn’t actually get to see their place on Saturday. We basically got right to work when we showed up. It also became clear pretty quickly that we were not just there to help but to choose things from the house we wanted. It felt a little weird and creepy at first: like some kind of scavenger or something. I was telling Dave’s aunt Mary Jane how I was feeling about it, and she said, “Better you take these things than some stranger.” Whatever was left unclaimed was going to be sold in an estate sale. I felt a bit better after that, though it still was a little strange asking if anyone had claimed things.

I did not get a picture of the amazing antique hutch, but that should be arriving at Cattington Acres tonight! Thank goodness for Dave’s sister, Liz, and the U-Haul she rented! This hutch is amazing. The top doors are glass, and there is a little bar area. There are solid wood doors at the bottom and there are lovely details in the wood throughout. Dave’s grampa painstakingly restored this thing. When he got it, it was painted white and the shelves were all warped on one side. We also snagged this beautiful orange pegboard! It’s going to hang in the kitchen over the stove and house lots of pots and pans and utensils. Here it is leaned up against the black metal file cabinet that we also found. The grey metal leaning on it is metal shelves for our shed out back:

So I was in the garage cleaning off those grey shelves when Dave came out holding a bunch of tools. He put them into a box and then told me about this hammer his Grampa Darryl had given him. Years ago, Darryl and Jane were married and then Darryl went into the service. When he got back, they were living with her parents. “Welp!” Darryl thought to himself, “I guess we need to have a house, don’t we?” So he bought this hammer. To build them a house and start their life together. And now it’s Dave’s hammer. I just got all misty even typing that.