Underneath the chipped paint and tarnished, dated hardware, was the desk still a piece of furniture worth saving? I had no experience in furniture restoration, but I decided to find out. My sister bought the wooden desk many years ago at a yard sale. After a few years in her house, Brenda freshened it up with coat of blue gray paint, which eventually chipped. When she and my brother-in-law remodeled their house recently, they decided the desk would have to go. "Anyone want it?" Brenda posted … [Read more...] about First Furniture Restoration Project
Thrifty Shopping
The Lucky Dog might sound like a place where Blackbeard or Frodo would pop in for a bite of meat pie and a mug of ale, but instead it's New Holland's most cluttered thrift store— where the fine line between antique and junk is thinner than usual. My friend Melissa and I were out for a day of thrift store shopping, and Lucky Dog was our first stop. Decisions started as soon as we entered the thrift store from a side street— the double doors inside the entrance were plastered with numerous … [Read more...] about Thrifty Shopping
My One Hundred Books List
"Want to do a hundred book challenge with me next year?" said one of my friends in late 2021. I couldn't refuse a goal like that, so throughout the year I was reading and listening to books every chance I got. My friend dropped out, but I did make it to a hundred. Most of them were normal length books (I read a few children's books and gift books when I saw I was falling behind schedule). Here's the list, with short summaries and my favorite books in boldface. (No links, I was too lazy for … [Read more...] about My One Hundred Books List
Shopping AmericasMart in Atlanta
"You should go to the Atlanta gift show in January," a sales rep told me. "You'll find brands there you've never heard of". "I'm too busy with other things in January," I said. "I can't go." "You have to go the Atlanta market," a friend from church told me. "When I had a store, I did all my Christmas buying there." "It sounds good. But I don't think I can go this year." "Let's go the Atlanta market," my co-worker Jen said late last year. "I want to go." "Umm... ask Harlan." Jen … [Read more...] about Shopping AmericasMart in Atlanta
Angkor Wat: Cambodia Part II
Meeting a monkey for the first time was not a peaceful encounter. He was on his own turf; I was many latitude and longitude away from home, in a place called Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is an ancient temple complex located in the northern half of Cambodia. It was built nearly nine hundred years ago and is the kingdom's shining star and biggest tourist attraction. (Officially, Cambodia is a kingdom.) After my friend Ada and I had been in Phnom Penh with our friend Emily for four days, we purchased … [Read more...] about Angkor Wat: Cambodia Part II