When I hefted my lovely new (old) cupboard, I began to wonder it hanging it on the wall would result in a large chunk of wall falling off with the cupboard . . . It is solid oak. Armed with a suitable bribe (Chocolate Apple Cake) I went to see Sam. . . He came and had a look and we reckoned that perhaps configuring current furniture and moving the dairy table to the other end of the long kitchen table, and sifting the oak settle along a bit might do the trick. Then we could sit the cupboard on the dairy table. I would have to move the two lovely old Windsor chairs which had formerly sat either end, but we would manage things somehow. I've moved a chair round in my bedroom and popped one up there for the time being.
So I have had a shift around and a giant vacuuming bits that haven't been reached properly for . . . a while! . . . and have been going through boxes and bags of family history folders and research, old mail, scribbled notes, postcards, a pile of books I mean to read but stacked under the dairy table, everything stacked on the dairy table . . . Oh my goodness, I did not enjoy that. I have deep cleaned the hall too, taken out the little Secessionist chair by Adolph Loos in Vienna in 1930 - ready to polish up and take to the Unit this week. I've just put leather balm on the seat and back and it looks lovely.
In the middle of all this frantic sorting out, I had to make jam as I had put the Jumbleberry jam ingredients in the pan to thaw out overnight and it needed cooking sooner rather than later. That gave me another 5 jars to add to the Christmas hamper shelf in the cupboard.
Now I'm back later with a photo of the shifting around. My Dorset friend D would call this "the moveits". She has a PhD in this . . . Everything went back to the same place :)
You can blame Keith for all the upheaval ... after all he was at your elbow telling you to buy the new/old cupboard. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIndeed! He wouldn't have even waited a week to buy it - 'twould have come home when we first saw it :)
DeleteChanging furniture round is good, its like moving house without the hassle. I can't do that in this house, so I move ornaments and pictures instead and have a box in the cupboard I can 'shop' from. We've re-laid 2 paving slabs today, levelling them up, putting some slablayer underneath. It was like making mud pies. They were blimming heavy, but not bad going for OH who will be 79 in October. It would have been my Dad's 97th birthday today, 4 years since he died and I still miss him. A fabulous Dad and Grandad. Xx
ReplyDeleteHah - but it all ended up back where it started! Only polished . . . Well done with the paving slabs - they must be pretty hefty. . . Good you were both still up to the work. I now have upper body strength again after carrying washing up bowls full of spent water out to the garden.
DeleteYour dad made a very good age - and yes, of course you will still miss him. I still miss my dad, who died too young at 63, in 1980 . . . It was him who first got me interested in antiques.
All sounds exciting, and it made you tidy up. A win-win situation.
ReplyDeleteThe tidy-up was, indeed, long overdue!
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ReplyDeleteLike my grandmother said. when in her 90s..."if you can't move, move the furniture"!! She did, too!!
It is good to have a second pair of hands to move things around.
Gosh, your grandmother must have been tough stuff, able to move furniture in her 90s.
DeleteShe had the knack of finding the balance point.. And yes, she'd had to be.
DeleteHaven't moved some of the furniture in years and now I figure I should so at least to get a good cleaning under it and the wall washed a bit better. The cupboard does look lovely there though.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
The settle was definitely a two-man jo as that too is solid oak. There was a lot of grimey dust from drilling the breeze block wall but the vacuum was up to it.
DeleteYes, just the spot for the cupboard.
It's bigger than I thought - but looks good there.
ReplyDeleteI used to move furniture at the smallholding, now I can't be bothered!
The gret aunt of a once-friend of mine used to move her furniture (wardrobes and all) into her 90s! On the principle that their might be bitey things lurking . . .
DeleteIt's deeper than I thought. This is very similar to an aumbry and they were fitted into church walls to contain the church plate, service books, holy oils etc.
I hate changing furniture around but am always pleased afterwards plus although a deep clean is a pain it is so wonderful once done. Your cupboard looks lovely. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteI will admit to being more comfortable to having it all back where it was. The clean was needed though - ropes of dusty cobwebs came down from inside the radiator there.
Deleteoh, it looks so lovely! I also have an advanced degree in the moveits....as does my mum. One of our favourite things to do when I was still living at home was shift the furniture around...it used to drive my dad batty :). And the bonus of having a good clean, very much a win-win situation! ~ melanie
ReplyDeleteI am going to do a small move-it with a side table in the living room, but need a bit of a hand shifting the somewhat heavy recliner chair which needs to take its place.
DeleteIt looks quite nice, as if it belongs right where it is. I will tell you a secret. I am living in a new house. You know this. I am trying my hardest to keep the clutter away. After just one year, I can tell you I see signs that I am failing...
ReplyDeleteWell, I think a new house needs some . . . embellishments!
DeleteThe small cabinet is lovely. Are those metal feet or brackets underneath supporting it? They look so mid0century modern? Were ''dole cupboards'' used to store bread or cakes, like what we call pie safes here? THo pie safes were usually large. Originally held bread for the poor, in churches? I looked it up but was unclear.
ReplyDeleteYes, did a belt and braces job and put up a pair of brackets. Not aesthetically ideal but practical. DOle cupboards were bread and cheese cupboards - doled out to the deserving poor on occasion.
DeleteIt's always good to have a nice sort-out of things we've kept for many years, it's amazing what we accumulate, have a nice week.
ReplyDeleteGosh yes, but I still can't have a burn up of the old paperwork with the current fire risk.
DeleteOh I do love that sweet cupboard. I used to move things around on a regular basis & my husband would always say to me "its a good thing I'm Not a blind man!!!" so I am pleased to read that you are just like me. And your jam looks so delicious. xx
ReplyDeleteMy furniture is largely too hefty to move around much at all - my goodness, the Settle weighs a ton! Chairs sometimes move a bit, and I am planning to relocate a picture when Tam is here this weekend. Everything that got shifted earlier in the week ended up being able to go back where it was because we managed to get the dole cupboard on the wall. Had to smile at your husband's comment!
ReplyDeleteHome made jam is AMAZING. It tastes of fruit and NOT sugar.