Surviving Irene

Although I have to say, compared what other people have gone through at the mercy of Irene, we didn't have all that much to challenge us. Power was down for 36 hours, and we had a moment of panic when the giant oak tree out front lost three of it's big top branches:



And one of them missed our roof by two feet, while another got hooked on the power line running from the street to our house! Thankfully the line held, otherwise I'd certainly be one of the unlucky ones waiting for power through the weekend.
Other than a few dramatic hours, mostly the day was just very dark and blustery, but I refused to let Hubby do anything outside for an extended period of time, and he was getting antsy. I figured since it was too dark and gloomy in the whole house anyway, why not bring some candles into the basement and clean down there?



Hubby toils away...
Thanks to my sister for that fantastic candle-lier- it came in really handy during the black-out! Hubby used to ridicule me for the number of candles and holders I always have on stand-by (any good sale!), but not anymore!
Another home decor item that was very useful during foul weather was an old, tiny brass fondue pot.



When Hubby was desperate for a cup of tea I thought of that stand and some leftover Sterno, and the top half of our Turkish teapot! Worked like a charm! A very slow, 30 minutes to boil 2 cups of water charm...
Hope everyone else is recovering well!

Enamel Kitchen Table

Hey All!
I just got back from a great week up in Maine at the family camp. Actually, it was a very chilly, damp week, but that just gave us more time for thrifting and antiquing! Today I want to share with you the most exciting find of the week:


My beautiful, new (to me) enamel top kitchen table!
I'm afraid I wasn't a terribly good blogger and didn't even think to take a picture of the table all buried in the antique store (if you're wondering, it came from Big Chicken Barn Antiques in Ellsworth.) Suffice to say she was buried enough that we needed help to dig her out, and more than a little dirty and rusty!


There I am, all decked out in my fancy cleaning gloves, scrubbing the rust off her chrome legs with Bar Keepers Friend.


See how much better they look after a liberal application of elbow grease? (That would be the top one in that picture...)

The biggest chip is proudly displayed on the front of the table- no look-alikes here! After I scrubbed the top with a sponge, followed by magic eraser, my Mom's husband went at it with some car polish and BOY did that make her shine! See the chair reflection on there?!

She looks right at home with my iron trivet on the wall and apron collection hanging on my DIY display board. The only question left is whether to paint the apron a nice high-gloss to match the cabinets in the room, or to let it be. The household is divided. Okay, I'm the only holdout for letting it be! (Hubby, though, has yet to get past the head scratching point at all!)

So what say you all? Should I paint the apron a high gloss greenish-blue to match the curtain on the right (which matches the cabinet interiors?) Or leave it be?
Incidentally, the cute painting over the table is also a new find, I'll share more about the rest later!