Goodbye Junk, Hello Treasure

Day one of the weekend: remove years of junk from summer cabin and donate. Day two of the weekend: proceed to the flea market and continue junk-acquiring cycle.  I am sensing some irony here. While my family is not going to star on Hoarders any time soon, our relationship with stuff has always been a love-hate affair. Fairly standard I would say for a folks who love all things antique (and have trouble throwing anything away). My grandparents had their newspapers - need a Boston Globe from 1979? You got it. My mother has her boot collection and massive stash of gifts on hand, purchased when we lived in Japan. 
The problem is that unless your item of choice is classic cars or fancy stained glass lamps, chances are the item you are amassing is inexpensive - and inexpensive pretty much guarantees that your collecting habits can continue to infinity and beyond. From coins and stamps to jewelry and shoes, there is always something new to seek out. For my grandmother, it was simply a great bargain and her love for everyday objects that kept her coming back for more.  How else can I explain why the summer cabin alone contained a year's worth of linens and enough dishes to host a decent size wedding? I now know this for sure after helping clean out the cabin as we prepare to er, renovate (ie: knock down the existing, crumbling structure and rebuild anew). As much as I question the use of keeping all these items on hand, I must admit the cabin feels a bit lonely stripped of its possessions.  Luckily the elements I love the most were still intact - my grandma's bedroom, the chair where my grandpa always sat and our beloved croquet set and board games. Some of my best family memories live in this space so it was nice to take a step back and capture everything one last time.

 

PS: It would be silly of me not to share my weekend's bounty. I never thought I'd take a liking to patterned glass dishes but these babies will display as nicely as they will be great molds for some ceramics projects. I found half of these at the Salvation Army and half at the Todd Farm flea market I attended on the North Shore. And last but not least, the mermaid! She is made of cast iron and currently resides in the bathroom which seemed most appropriate, being a lady of the water.