Surviving Thanksgiving - by going to Germany...!

So I made it past Thanksgiving.  Typically my favorite holiday (no gifts to buy or wrap, no candy to gorge upon!), celebrating Thanksgiving this year was not something to which I was looking forward. It was about a year ago when I went to Texas to bring back my elderly Mom to stay with us over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. While I drove back with her, chattering about everything under the sun on the long drive in our rental car, I had utterly no idea that this would be the beginning of the end. That she would never again return to that house. That in a short span of 6 weeks I would become a "motherless daughter", not to mention someone with no parents.

Thanksgiving Day last year is when I finally realized that things were not going as great for Mom physically as I had originally thought. I knew she'd been slowing down and having a few minor issues, but that day stands out in my mind as finally cementing that things were becoming different. Without delving into more depressing details, suffice it to say that I did not relish the idea of reliving my mother's last Thanksgiving. I just was not in the mood for turkeys, football or black Friday shopping. I needed something to take my mind off it all. That something came in the form of my 14 year old son remarking that he would love to go to Frankfurt, Germany to see a Vermeer painting they had at a museum there. Please remember that due to working for the airlines, we can fly for free - on a space available basis, that is.  I started to remark that considering Thanksgiving is supposed to be the most heavily traveled holiday of the year, it wouldn't be possible - when hubby piped up by saying that actually, it *would* be something we could technically do, as he'd already checked the loads for international flights and they all looked wide open. Who knew Americans prefer to celebrate their American Thanksgiving holiday in the states?! So traveling across the pond at that time would not actually be impossible. Well, that's all it took. My son began to badger me. And badger me. And badger me. He is like a dog with a bone when he gets an idea into his head. He convinced me that we could leave on a Tuesday and get back that same week on Black Friday. Hubby could stay home with my daughter, who had a school event she couldn't get out of, and *I* could spend my Thanksgiving in Frankfurt - guaranteed not to jog any melancholy memories of mom and last year.  Hmmm.... seriously?? Could I really do this? Well, I'm nothing if not spontaneous, so after verifying once again that the loads still looked good (and that we probably would even end up getting first class!) - and checking to see if there were any decent and relatively inexpensive hotels available in Germany over those days, I actually bit the bullet and pulled the trigger!  Yes - you may officially call me insane!

And amazingly, it all went smooth as clockwork. We got first class. We landed. Went to the museums. Slept! Walked all over the downtown, toured the famous Christmas Markets - (with me enjoying a few glasses of gluewein in the process!) and ate some incredibly delicious German meals.

 

Enjoying a nice hot  mug of "Gluhwein" 

Christmas Market downtown Frankfurt

Mother and Son in front of the Christmas Market 

Our "Thanksgiving Meal"!

Crazy as it was - I'm totally glad we did it!  And lest you worry about hubby and darling daughter not getting a Thanksgiving dinner - never fear. I cooked the entire traditional meal for them upon our return!

So now I'm back home, rested and ready to tackle the upcoming holidays. My next post should have me in full Christmas mode, decorating the Retro Ranch Retreat with some of Mom's retro Christmas decorations which I inherited - AND the *new* vintage Christmas tree will hopefully be up and displayed in all it's glory, as well  Until then.... "Auf Wiedersehen"!

It's Curtain Time

Well, things are starting to come together - slowly, but surely. I'm not a super organized person, so I don't have a big-picture plan of when I should be doing what. I tend to work with things that just happen to pop up. Case in point.... our curtains.

The house came with one set of drapes for the front window. Nothing special, but neutral enough that they will work for the time being - until I find the spectacular ones I want. I *thought* that had occurred when I came across an awesome set of vintage atomic style pinch pleat drapes at an estate sale I went to recently. For $6 the lady sold me the entire set - including the accompanying rod and hardware. They were OLD - pretty sure from the mid 1950s. But they had a great pattern complete with triangular shaped swooshes and speckles of flecked gold

  . Unfortunately, they were also dusty. I don't think they had ever been washed or drycleaned. So, taking the saleswoman's advice, I decided to soak them in a bathtub with a few scoops of oxyclean to help get rid of some of their dingy look. Oh My Goodness - it was amazing how you  filthy the water in that bathtub looked!  I began having second thoughts after the third soak of the day and they were still emitting horrible, black streams of basically mud into the tub.

But I pressed on. Finally I dragged them out of the tub and put them out on the balcony railing of our other house to dry.

If you look toward the bottom you'll see some of the areas
 where the curtain ripped due to dry rot

Only to discover that they were going to pretty much be unsalvageable. Due to dry rot from their age, the weight of the wet drapes had started to rip the drapes in several areas. I was heartbroken. These were some awesome drapes and would have looked great in that front window. But alas - such was not to be. So we are still stuck with the original boring set the house came with for the time being. And maybe I can make some awesome throw pillows or something from the remnants of my drapes fiasco.

Fast forward to drape episode #2... a much better overall experience, thankfully!

So... always on the lookout for vintage drapes for the house, I finally spied a set at the local thrift store.  Ok - so not as "cool" as the other set, but really not bad. They were definitely vintage - probably 1960s - and were of a gold damask type material - coincidentally the same material as our vintage sofa - and also the same color as the walls in our living/dining room. They were the type with the insulated backing, and looked almost brand new. I spied a faded tag on the back of one set - yep, just as I suspected. These were made by JCPenny's. They sold a LOT of drapes back in the day.  I remember as a kid seeing many homes with something similar to these hanging in the formal living or dining room.  Hmmm... maybe I could put these on the sliding glass door that goes to the family room addition? The former owners never took the original outside sliding glass door down. I hate the way it looks, but hubby like how they help "soundproof" the two areas so well, so we decided to keep it like that. At least for the time being. They looked to be long enough. Unfortunately, however, there were only 2 panels, so I didn't think they'd be wide enough to cover the entire width of the door. I was about to walk away when I suddenly noticed the price tag. $2.99.....total!  For both panels? I'd have to be a total idiot not to scarf these up and at least see what I could do with them.  So I did!  And here are the results:

Hoping the wrinkles fall out!

Darn, but the flash on my cell phone doesn't really do this color justice.

Dear hubby putting them up for me - it's nice to be tall!

SCORE.... 1 Vintage Pom Pom Christmas Tree!

With the approach of the holidays rapidly creeping upon us, my search for the ever elusive vintage silver christmas tree has been escalating. I've been busy scouring estate sales and local antique shops for the past couple of months to no avail. Everyone has the green ones.  The silver? Not so much. Been hoping to avoid Ebay - prices are already jacked up, and then there's the shipping. Our local craigslist has had diddly squat. That is.... until a couple of days ago!

A few mornings back while enjoying my morning coffee, I once again decided to check craigslist. I knew it would probably be another fruitless search, but what they hey - what did I have to lose? I'd already checked every search term I could think of : "silver" Christmas tree, "aluminum" Christmas tree, "artificial" Christmas tree, "fake" Christmas tree, "Faux" Christmas tree, "vintage" Christmas tree, "old" Christmas tree to no avail. I even substituted "Xmas" for Christmas. Then, for some weird reason the term "tinsel" popped into my head. Ok - why not try "tinsel tree" just for the heck of it? So I plugged it in, and... Ta-Dah! THIS is what popped up:

  

OKAY!  But... how tall is the tree? What brand is the tree? Does it have all it's branches? How about the original box? So... after a quick communication with the seller, I ascertained that the tree is 6ft. tall. It is a "Sparkler Pom Pom" with all 94 branches complete with the original box. Oh - and by the way - it also includes a color wheel, too! Was I still interested? Umm... YEAH!  The town was an hour drive away - so I hopped in my car the next day, met the seller, plopped down the cash so now I am am the proud owner of the above vintage Christmas tree! :-) 

At the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki bar...!

I'll fast forward since it's been a few weeks since last I posted.  Ok - so now that I went and found all that incredible retro patio furniture, guess what happened? Yep - I was at an estate sale and found a great deal on a set of vintage rattan/bamboo furniture, even including a rocking chair with footrest version. Well, ok ...so the cushions are pretty beat up and need to be replaced/recovered, but still!... These are definitely mid-century, and once cleaned up will look great on our porch. Especially now that it is finally officially screened in - another project we were busy with the past few weeks.

Update: After some recent research online at tikicentral, I discovered this interesting little tidbit regarding the new furniture..."pseudo rattan was manufactured during WWII when Japanese cut off the rattan supply to the West.  It is most likely Ashcraft brand and made of ASH or possibly hickory.  This is why there are hardly any curved pieces.  To get the curved pieces they would steam the wood until it was pliable". Hmmm... bamboo/rattan or not - still very cool!

A few weeks ago hubby and I were sitting on the porch (on the two chairs that still had half way decent cushions left!) staring into the old utility room at the back of our garage, trying to figure out just what to do with it. It opens up onto the newly screened back porch with a huge wide door  (no idea why the door is so wide, but it is).

One of it's walls isn't really a wall at all, actually - it's made of those vintage decorative concrete blocks you used to see everywhere back in the day.  Well after enjoying a few cocktails it suddenly came to me in a flash. A tiki bar!  YES!  Why not make it into a little tiki bar?? We already had an old white wicker looking bar which was never used that we could put in there - cover it with some bamboo, add some tiki looking masks and polynesian paraphernalia and VOILA - a "tiki bar"! That would be a natural segue' from our newly purchased bamboo furniture.  And while we're at it.... (now the old wheels in my brain were really spinning!).... why don't we throw in some of hubby's old military aviation stuff that's never really "fit" into our current home's decor anyway, and turn it into a combo "Tiki/Aviation" bar - or would "Tiki-Ation" bar be more appropriate ;-) ? Regardless.... what a perfect way to finally get rid of that lovely military "I Love Me" wall and the crazy F-14 tailhook - and still give hubby a place to go relive his youth! And so.... we're off and running!

This is turning out to be so much fun! There's still a LONG way to go, but here's a peek so you can see the direction we are headed:

Trying to decide what kind of fabric to recover the cushions.  Hubby also plans to stain the cement floor.... eventually!

A new beaded curtain with hula dancer  should be here in the near future
- as will some wall coverings and more paraphernalia

Lawn photo pics

Ok - as promised.... I finally got a chance to snap some pics of my aluminum lawn furniture score.  So.... here ya go!

There were 2 of these, too bad I only grabbed the one...

The chair on the right is the only one with any problem - the webbing on the back is torn.

                  Glider lawn chair

Two rocking chairs in perfect condition!

Delving through the past...

I was at the "retro" house most of last week going through boxes of my Mom's things. When we'd cleared out her house, it was so overwhelming (mom saved EVERYTHING!) that I eventually got to the point where we just packed some boxes without even opening them. The "unveil" has been intriguing. So many interesting and historical things and mementoes. 1941 Miami of Ohio football homecoming program. TONS of postcards from mom's travels all over the world.... and many from her aunts who traveled all over the US during the 20's and 30's. Old photographs. Some of which mom actually labeled - many of which are not. Old letters. Old historical newspapers and clippings.  Dozens of travel brochures and itineraries from the 1950s. You name it - mom kept it. And I'm glad she did. It's been so much fun delving into the past and seeing the world and that era through my mom's eyes from back then. What a treasure trove! Now I've just got to figure out what to do with all this stuff and how to somehow organize it all.... I'll try to take some pics and post later ....

So... I stumbled across a great new thrift store while putzing about in town. I am in search of a "silver" aluminum Christmas tree. So far, no luck. However... Upon inquiring at this new store I popped into on the spur of the moment, I was told that I could go back and check the warehouse with them if I wanted. If I wanted??! Um... yeah!  And wow - that place was overflowing with mid century goodness of all kinds! No silver Christmas tree (although I did spy a purple one - go figure!).  I found a great vintage folding aluminum porch furniture set - you know, the kind with the webbing? There was a glider chair, 2 rockers, two stationary chairs and a long lounge chair. The guy quoted me a price of $26 for all of it. How on earth I was going to fit all that into my tiny car was the least of my problems. I was too busy trying to figure out if I should also grab the vintage GE vacuum that still worked, or the swivel vintage dining room chairs - even though I already have dining room chairs! I finally decided that I didn't want to appear too greedy (not to mention the tiny car size situation) so will just have to make another trip back there soon - maybe with hubby and the trailer! ;-)  Pictures will be coming soon..

Until then - here is a photo of a vintage Gunlocke/Paoli type chair I also picked up there at the time and somehow managed to squeeze into the car.  Haven't identified it definitely - but it does have the remnants of an old label on it that says "in Romania".  Hmmm... what mid century chairs were made there, I wonder? Regardless, the chair matches my room perfectly!

 

The Great Living Room/Dining Room Reveal....

Saturday morning and oh, how I am itching to head out to some estate and yard sales. Can't do it, tho. Hubby is physically out of commission with a badly inflamed foot and is now comfortably ensconced in front of the t.v. with a whole schedule of upcoming football games on his plate. Darn the luck. Now there is NO way I'll be able to get him to come with me to help lift or carry - or give his "valuable" input on something. And I'm thinking it probably wouldn't be very nice of me to leave him on his own with no one around to step and fetch for him.... bummer. Oh well, on the bright side - at least I'll be saving money today!

Well.... Mom's furniture is now here at the house and set up. Here is the china hutch, complete with all her china and knick knacks - and the dining room table, which sorely needs to be refinished. Note Mom's beautiful turquoise blue Wedgewood China which she bought when she was teaching in London during the 1950's:

And here is her brass table- purchased Christmas day, 1958 in Delhi, India - beautifully highlighted on my vintage shag rug find:

And now, here is the whole look put together. The marble topped end tables are my mom's, lamps are thrift store finds. I'm starting to not feel the need so much for a room divider anymore...

Looking from front entry door near built-in planter:

Posters still need to be framed. Note vintage sixties lava lamp (!) on mantle.

"Dino" presiding over his retro-kingdom. Mirrored console from TJ Maxx on clearance.  Blue vase - thrift store find. Vintage ashtray - a $7 thrift store find. The hat rack and bowler hat were Grandpa's.

View looking toward kitchen - The diamond pattern is what hubby taped up to give us an idea of what it would look like if we painted something like that there.... I do think I like it.

Looking toward the front picture window with my $20 thrift store recliner!

Those footstools need to be re-vinyled - the little one was my grandmother's. As was the  1907 table in front of the window (I may be moving that elsewhere).  The lamp?? Yeah, crazy, isn't it!  One of those 4 estate sale lamps they practically paid me to take - says "Fujimato" on the base.  Sort of "so ugly, it's cool", if you know what I mean! Still have to figure what kind of drapes to get for here.

Here is the built-in kitchen hutch - holding some Salem North Star china I found at Goodwill, along with some mid-century embossed cocktail glasses and melmac plates/cups:

Here is a shot of the kitchen with craigslist counter bar stools -

I'm seriously thinking of painting those kitchen cabinets a turquoise blue - a 'la the following gorgeous inspiration pic I found at Retrorenovation.com, thanks to submitter, "Ann" there: Retrorenovation.com painted kitchen cabinets . What do ya' think?

 So... Now you have at least some idea of how my living/dining room will hopefully look when all this is said and done. Still lot's more to do - but at least I'm starting to make some headway in all of this - that is if I don't get a wild hair and decide to change everything all up some day before it's all said and done!  

Now... I still need to concentrate on the kitchen, family room addition - and think about how I'm going to decorate those super cute pink and blue vintage bathrooms :-)  Fun, Fun, Fun - Stay tuned!