Another wardrobe finished!

Well we did it again. Yep, bought another wardrobe, This one we found on Craigslist in a near by town last fall. 

It is an oak knockdown. Meaning it is made to come apart easily and is held together with steel wedges. It was in  good condition considering it's probably about a 100 years old. I love the grain of the quarter sawn oak. The big mirror is in better shape than the small one. Nevertheless we will keep them both.

When we went to take it apart we discovered the drawers were already numbered. I love their numbering system. 

The blacksmith had to do some gluing.

I believe we had it in 14 pieces. After using denatured alcohol to clean it, we sealed all the wood, inside and out with polyurethane, 3 coats!

 Look at those chunky feet!  I love those. 

See the knobs?  Yep same ones; just a little steel wool and a buffing wheel brought the brass back to life. 

Now #8 is finished. Will there be more?  Not until I find more room for one. Or one I just can't live without.  I blogged about the others before, but I'll review them briefly again. 

#1 We got this in 1993 from a local church convent. It holds my collection of Noah's ark collectibles. We never refinished it. It is made mostly of pine.  When the blacksmith was in school, the nuns sold candy from it during recess. 

#3 I bought this one in Fulton, Missouri October 2009. It is dated October 1918 on the back!

 #4 Craigslist,  purchased September 2009 in Columbia Missouri. Nothing fancy, oak wood. However it serves it purpose well and holds many quilts. 

#2   We drove a long way to Cape Girardeau, Missouri for this one. We bought it in pieces and it was black. The blacksmith made the bonnet for it. It was a real complete makeover. 

#5  This one I bought locally, and brought it home just in this condition. Beautiful oak with a written history card included!

#6 This one lived just about 3 miles down the road from us. We knew the owner and bought it at her estate sale. This is the before shot.

This is the after shot.

#7  This one is beautiful oak again!  Love that wood and those massive feet too! It came from nearby our house, maybe 10 miles away.  It was another Craigslist buy. Since this picture, I found a mirror that looks probably identical to what was originally on it. A resell it shop find for $10.  We also replaced the drawer pulls and door pull with white ceramic knobs.

Well that's all 8 of our wardrobes. Until next time . . . 

M I A

It's been almost 2 months since I blogged. It wasn't like there was nothing going on around here. To be honest, I just didn't take the time to blog. 

So let me briefly fill you in on what we've been doing.

November 11th, we hosted 14 members of the Missouri Community Scholars Network. The quilter and the blacksmith each gave a presentation on our craft. The group was broken into two parts, and half way we switched groups. We talked about the love for our crafts, not only blacksmith and quilting, but canning, food preservation, gardening and life.

 It wasn't required but I made a little dessert for them. 

Almost all 17 sewing machines were on display for them. I gave a small presentation of paper piecing. 

 The blacksmith opened his shop and gave a walking tour. He also did some forging for them. 

 Deer season  was good. We filled the freezer with 2. 

We flew to Florida the first week of December. We needed to get our baby fix. Aren't these the most adorable thighs??

Our grand son C turned 3, of which he was not happy about at all. Grandpa told him, there would be days like that.

 Things got better after the crowd left. These two brothers love each other so much. 

One evening our church hosted this group of singers. Their outfits were amazing. I might of paid more attention to the clothing then the singing. Oh the seamstress in me!

Christmas came . . . . our only grand daughter got her first gun!  I love this picture, dress and pink gun!

 Shorts on Christmas day in Missouri?  Yep, that would be "A" man. 

 . . . . where as in Florida, it was flannel pajamas.

After Christmas the flood of 2015 hit. In our area over 10 inches of rain was received in a 3-4 day period. This is the Osage river behind out house (we are high on a bluff). In the top picture you can see just part of the conservation sign showing.  A few hours later it was completely under water. This river is monitored by USGS and the normal level is usually 2-4 feet. On this day the level rose to 29.49 FEET.

Our neighborhood lake couldn't handle all the water. Eventually the lake rose, the river rose and it became one unit. 

While running up and down the road watching the river levels, the grand kids spotted ice flowers. 

 My Mother turned 92, I mean 29 the day before New Year's eve. 

This  quilt I completed for a new great niece or nephew due in February. I machine quilted it. 

 I had a small piece leftover, so why not decorate the back?!

This one is for a special almost-son and wife. They are expecting their first baby in February also. The horse and the horseshoes are paper pieced. Needless to say they are horse lovers and have several. It was a hit too!

 It's always fun to see the back.

We had a lot of company during school break. This was snack day, the last day of school vacation. 

 My kitchen helper will be missed. We were making brown sugar shortbread cookies.

The blacksmith was busy too. There were lots of Christmas orders, including one from Alaska! This is a cross candle holder for a BAM (Blacksmith Association of Missouri) meeting tomorrow. 

There it is in a nutshell. Of course a lot more went on . . . just not blog worthy.

Happy New Year 2016. I hope I get back to a little more regular blogging.

LIG