Theme: Antique | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I thought I would have to sit this one out, because I don’t have anything antique. I like the idea of having something with a history….but nothing has been passed down through the family and I haven’t really gotten into antique shopping. I don’t know enough about it (and don’t need a new obsession! 🙂 ) and wouldn’t want to spend a lot of money. So if I went, it would just be a matter of finding things that appealed to me that weren’t expensive.

I do like the look of antique things in good condition. I wouldn’t want furniture that looks like it has been sitting in someone’s barn for 100 years.

I do have a couple of things that look kind of antique-ish, though, and decided to use those.

First is what’s called a dry sink:

It’s supposedly a reproduction of a type of furniture that used to be made. I think it was the first piece of furniture we bought. We got it from an unfinished furniture store and my husband stained it. I haven’t researched the history, but I am wondering if a dry sink is something they had when they started having running water indoors, as opposed to the ‘wet sink.” Or, maybe the modern manufacturer just called it that. 🙂 Either way, it increased our storage space. Some of the little tins there look like antiques as well.

Next are some brooches I have. These are some of my favorite pieces of jewelry:

The two on the left are from a company called 1928, which makes old-fashioned-looking jewelry. The dresser scarf came from Michael’s.

Next are buttons I use in some of my button crafts. They aren’t antique, either — got most of them at Michael’s. But I love the way they look.

Finally, if a building can be called an antique, this one fits the bill:

The Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. We’ve visited there a couple of times. The house, of course, is full of antiques, but they don’t let you take pictures inside. I love visiting but can’t imagine living there, especially with children — you could lose them any number of places!

Updated to add:

I forgot all about these until I saw the picture for today from Christina about old phonographic equipment.

When I was a child, I bought these for my grandmother. I don’t remember where on earth I found them. When she passed away somehow I they were sent back to me. I don’t see anything with a date on them, but the artist is “Frank Munn and orchestra.” From what I can tell with a little bit of searching, Frank Munn sang in the 1920-40s or so. Unfortunately our record player doesn’t play this type, but I keep them for sentimental value, and hope to hear them one day.

Theme: Broken | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I’ve used this picture once before for a Wordless Wednesday, but it was the first one I thought of for today’s theme because it fit so well.

My son and a friend had been playing with a bouncy ball in the living room (ahem!!) The ball didn’t hit Papa Bear, but it fell on the floor under the shelf. When my son’s friend retrieved it, he somehow accidentally ran into Papa Bear, and the bear’s leg broke off.

You might be able to see other scars of the poor bear family. Something about hanging their legs over the side like that causes them to get accidentally bumped into and knocked off, even though I have put them into a corner where there is no traffic — except for retrieving stray bouncy balls and dusting. Some time ago my husband ago my husband attached them to the shelf (with sticky tac, I think), so they don’t fall off any more. But they do still get bumped into.

Theme: Gross | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I’ve been pondering this week’s theme for days, because I didn’t want to post something really, you know, gross. Then I remembered this picture my middle son took a few years ago of a game during youth group. That’s raw egg in a clear plastic tube and two guys are trying to blow it to each other. And if it reaches you first, well, that would be gross. Makes me glad I’m not in youth group any more. 🙂 But they seem to like this stuff.

Theme: Silver | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

Theme: Wild | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I wrestled with today’s theme. I had pictures of zoo animals and dolphins and whales from Sea World — but I guess since they are domesticated you couldn’t really call them “wild.” I thought of plants, like wildflowers or kudzu, but I didn’t have any good pictures of them, and they are not growing now. I looked up the definition of “wild” in Dictionary.com for inspiration, and the first definition was “living in a state of nature; not tamed or domesticated.” I was going through an old photo album today and came across this picture my husband took at the Butterfly Conservatory at Calloway Gardens a few years ago.

We don’t think of butterflies as “wild,” but even though they are in a “captive” setting, you cannot really tame or domesticate a butterfly.

After I posted that picture, then I remembered a time several years ago when we had a family reunion at Lake Almanor in California and a deer ventured near the cabin we were in:

Theme: Technology | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

I am glad we live in the age of technology that we do, and I am glad for the neat gadgets we have. But sometimes one little glitch can make all of our cool technology inoperable. This little part on my son’s computer wasn’t working and he couldn’t access his laptop for two days.

It’s the part where the power cord is plugged in. Something was blocking the opening, the computer couldn’t be recharged, and once the battery ran out — that was it. It was a non-standard part, so he couldn’t just walk into any electronics store and buy a new one. He found one online for $20, but it would take a few days to get here. Time was of the essence since he uses his laptop for work and needed the data there. He called a friend of my middle son who has a great knack with computers, and he offered to change the part from this nonstandard one to a standard one. The laptop was no longer under warranty or service contract, so they were okay with taking it apart. He got it fixed in one day, and it works fine now.

“It’s the little things” is still true. 🙂

(My son posted more about it for his photo hunt here.)