beautiful life again

Before

I find the greatest beauty and joy in bringing life back to something discarded and abandoned.

The Restoration

After searching for quite some time, I was finally able to locate the perfect vintage 1944 Arvin dinette set on the evening of December 23. Beneath its scratches, rust, tape, stickers, and years of neglect, I knew there was something there. With very little time before loading the sleigh, I had my work cut out for me. After lots of elbow grease, steel wool, oil, lemon juice, flip flops, late night secret hours, fresh paint, and lots of care and love, I managed to refinish one chair by the late hours of Christmas Eve.

It really is gorgeous and I’m looking forward to refinishing the rest of the set. Santa pulled it off for another year.

Quite a lot has happened and changed in the world since this 1944 set left its U.S.A. assembly line. Beautiful however still remains beautiful.

archiving goodness

the archive

The morning is quiet and everyone’s asleep except the critters and me.

I'm drinking coffee and typing my mother's recipe for her famed apple chocolate chip cake. She brought the cake and the recipe last night for Christmas. It's one of my absolute favorite things and has long been a staple at family gatherings. Mom's had the recipe for nearly 50 years, clipped it from the back of a C&H sugar bag, and keeps it safe in a zip lock sandwich baggie.

I'm archiving this pulp gem… today. It's time for another cup of coffee and maybe even a slice of cake. Merry Cakeday.

cadillacs and santa

Santa's Cadi

It may not be what he uses to make his runs on the 24th of December, but occasionally you know he's opting for some Skynyrd, cruise control, and horsepower over reindeer power.

Cruise on big man.