Gathering the Moments | October 2022

As I have gathered the moments of last month, I am newly aware of how much life is lived in even one short month. Changes. Endings. Struggles. Victories. Joy. Sorrow. Growth. All of that and more. And while I cannot show all of that in a few photos (nor do I wish to), I can share some sweet moments that are a part of the story. 

We had such fun recreating this 2012 photo of aunt/nieces/nephews! 

Original photo, taken by Kati in 2012

Recreated TEN years later!

Also ten years later, but in order of current heights.

We celebrated a couple of birthdays this month. Ben turned 14. 

Daddy turned 85 . . . another milestone birthday! 

Ryan and family have been exploring (and loving) their new area. 

They came "home" on a long weekend . . . to visit, to pick up one of their vehicles that had been at our house since their August move, and to take the cousins on their annual camping adventure!

Planting a weeping willow tree to replace a large maple that had to be cut down.

Ryan and Sarah always plan a series of games and challenges for the campers. This year, Ben won the championship! 

Ron, Bekah, and I joined the campers for an evening meal around the campfire. 

Kati sent me this photo of her own family enjoying some autumn goodness. She and Andrew are so good about sending us snippets of their days and we are grateful for that! 

We enjoyed our first October in the new sunroom. We had a front row seat to some beautiful foliage! (But I think we'll love this room in every season!)

Also loving that pumpkin stem! Do you buy pumpkins for the stems?

This cluster of turning leaves is on one of my favorite trees, the Japanese maple tree in my parents' front yard. 

Manz soaks up the sunlight on my bed in the afternoon.

The table was set for October's book club.

In the struggles and the victories, in the beginnings and the endings, in the joys and the sorrows, our God is always good.

He Wants To Fill With Himself

Life has been busy and full here, and I have needed time to be still and ponder. I came across these words which were such an encouragement to me, and I hope they will be to you too.

ANTIQUING: In Which We Discover and Buy A Piece Of History

Some of our plans had unexpectedly changed, so Bekah and I went on an impromptu road trip/antiquing adventure. We had meandered through a lovely store, oohing and aahing, and even asking about a paint color in a certain booth.  (Because I am still in search of the "perfect" color for my kitchen and I have. not. found. it.)  I was looking through one last booth when Bekah asked me if I had seen the booth with the beautiful desk. I had somehow missed that space and she said, "You're going to want to see it!"

So I followed Bekah down the aisle to the booth with the desk . . . and she was right! 

Here was a simply beautiful plantation desk. It had this note taped to the side:

Bekah and I stood there and bemoaned the fact that Alfred Hicks had just died the previous year, that this desk had been in his family since 1810 . . . and that now it was here in an antique store! Why didn't anyone in Alfred's family want this piece of family history?! Did Alfred not have any descendants, or did they not value their family's history? Or were there many other items that they loved more and so they chose to let this desk go to another home? 

Regardless of the reasons, it made us a little sad to think of Alfred and his homeless desk. But I certainly had not come on this antiquing adventure with plans to spend $500.00! Besides, where in the world would I put a desk in my house? I had no empty spaces or blank walls. 

However . . . there were a few baskets in the booth that were also a part of Alfred Hicks's estate. It was a small way for me to validate Alfred's place in history, so I chose this wonderful basket with the family name inscribed in the handle. 

We left the antique store, me feeling good about my purchase, Bekah still drooling over the desk. 

As we drove to lunch, Bekah started searching for any information about the Isaac Hicks family. Much to our surprise, she discovered that Isaac Hicks was a successful Quaker merchant from Westbury, New York, who dealt in both dry goods and the shipping industry from 1790 to 1807. (You can read more ~here~.) 

And I have his basket! 

Bekah read on. 

And then: "Mom! Isaac Hicks was a cousin of Edward Hicks!" 

I have long admired the art of Edward Hicks. As a matter of fact, I have a framed print of Hicks's Noah's Ark hanging above my living room mantel. (The same print also hung in the living room of The Farmhouse.) 

Noah's Ark over the mantel at Pineapple House

Noah's Ark in The Farmhouse living room

A few years ago, we purchased another Hicks print, Peaceable Kingdom, for our dining room. We had it matted and Ron made the frame. 

To say that we were thrilled with the connection between Isaac Hicks and "our" artist Edward Hicks would be an understatement! 

By the time we had eaten lunch, Bekah had decided to return to the antique store to purchase a smaller basket that had belonged to Isaac Hicks. We both went home with treasures and we felt that we had preserved a bit of history.

As the weeks passed, we still talked about the desk and how beautiful it was and how we hoped that someone who really appreciated it would buy it. But one night, it dawned on me that I could actually move something that I already had to make a space for Alfred's desk (which had been Sara's desk) that I loved. Of course! And then I hatched a plan to ask Ron if the desk could be my birthday/Christmas gift for several years. (My wheels were spinning!) He said yes!   

So Bekah and I made a plan to return to the antique store. Before we went, I called ahead to be sure that the desk was still there. It was . . . and it was now 20% off!  

Off we went on another road trip, this time with a definite purpose! 

As one of the men at the store prepared the desk to be loaded into my van, I chatted with one of the proprietors at the front counter. He mentioned how lovely the desk was, and how it was such a great size as many plantation desks are so large. And then he said, "It was the history that got you, wasn't it?" 

Yes! He was absolutely right. It was the history, and the way that an unknown man and his desk had pulled on my heart strings. 

Bekah and I headed for home a little giddy. We couldn't believe that we actually had Alfred's desk in the back of our van . . . and it was ours! 

Here is the desk that was in the Hicks family for 211 years. And now it is our family's turn! 

I had several ideas of where to put the desk. This is the first place that I tried it, here in the living room, across from the front door . . . and this is where it will stay. It will be the most visible in this spot and I love it here.

I think it looks quite at home! 

ANTIQUING: Top Finds of the Summer

In spite of the whirlwind pace of our summer, I was able to squeeze in several antiquing adventures . . . some with my good friend and antiquing partner Barbara, and some with Bekah who also enjoys antiquing and has a great eye! 

Today, I'll tell you about two fantastic bargains that I found this summer. (I'm saving my favorite find for a separate post. ~ swoon ~)

BARGAIN #1

In an upstairs cranny of an antique store, there lay a white matelassé coverlet. It had a lovely pattern, so I peeked at the price. The tag said full/queen matelassé with four shams . . . for $18.00! What?

There were only two shams with the coverlet (I asked at the register, but no one knew about the other two), but no worries! I really only needed two and the price was amazing, so I gladly paid and brought the set home with me. It washed up beautifully and I put it on the pineapple post bed in the guest room. 

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BARGAIN #2

Inspired by the stone fruit collections that I had seen on Instagram, I purchased my first piece a couple of years ago and began my own collection. Although I have seen some that cost far more, I had paid fifteen or twenty dollars for the pieces that I bought.

In fact, I had bought a stone apple for $15 that very morning in July. Barbara and I had visited one store and were waiting for another to open, when she suggested that we go to a thrift store that she had seen but had never been to. We needed to use some time, so we decided to give it a try. 

As we browsed, my eye caught sight of a basket of fruit. It looked like stone fruit, but it couldn't be, could it? 

I picked up a piece . . . and it was stone! And then I looked at the price and each piece was ONE dollar! And (can you believe this?) . . . it was half-price day at the thrift store that day, so each piece was actually fifty cents! 

I chose six pieces of fruit, including an apricot and a fig, neither of which I had ever seen for sale, and more than doubled my collection! 

I am so happy with my bargains! Which reminds me of a cRaZy autocorrected text I once sent to Kati . . . 

Because doesn't everyone love a good Bahrain? 😂