Monday, September 13, 2010

Nearly older than me....!!!!

I have a story to tell 
of an auction

in a large a drafty shed
full of electrical gear,
office furniture.
tools,
gardening machines.

I don't know what we were doing there

I was standing next to 
a woman 
who must have been ninety if she was a day
thin as a whip,
straight as a ruler,
immaculately dressed,
not a hair out of place.


the lot we were watching was a desk
not unlike this one from google

'that was my desk'
she said

'the war was over he'd come home.....'

"do we have 20....yes.25...
do we have 30?"

'That's more than he paid...it was a long time ago'

the desk went for $35.

the Auctioneer moved on to the next lot
some chairs
some wastepaper baskets (metal)

The woman looked at me for the first time
'are you bidding?' she asked

'I don't think there's anything here for me'
I replied

'I remember when that filing cabinet arrived
He had it built just for me, you know,
it was so smart.'

I looked for a metal filing cabinet, nowhere.

'It matched the desk, they forgot to put a stop bar at the back
 so he made them come back then
 but they put it on the front instead'

I had just found the filing cabinet she was talking about

You know dear, it was 
quite good at the front,
it meant I had time to stop them before they could get the
files out....they made such a mess of those files
if I didn't supervise.'

That sale was 10 years ago
 and that filing cabinet has sat on my back verandah
all that time!

How could I not have bid on it?
such history,
such sadness
that lady had worked for
both Father and Son
from the age of 22
to 77

but there was no room in my house
I started to paint it
didn't finish.

it has held tins of paint
dog leads,
table legs,
tiles, old books etc, etc, etc!


Then I found the blog world
and was amazed at what
people were doing
the energy,
the style,
the beauty.


still it sat there
until a fortnight ago
when I needed to 
not think about food or other things
and so I painted
with Maggie sticking her nose in the roller tray

2 undercoats,
2 topcoats
1 litre of paint
and 3 small rollers later


excuse the paint tins behind

at 8 feet long this is
 just right size for magazines, cook books and
books on decorating!
 now it needs a new home
 and thanks to 'me bloggy mates'
who made me get up and do it, it will probably find one
thank you all

I am linking this to metamorphosis Monday

8 comments:

  1. Such a sweet story, glad the piece is getting used now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julienne,
    What a wonderful story and such a great filing cabinet. I don't believe that I have ever seen one like the one you have...while I was reading the story, I too was thinking a metal upright with drawers or even a wooden upright but certainly not what you have....I love it!! Yes, it looks as if it certainly will be a very useful piece of furniture.
    have a wonderful week.:o)
    Fondly,
    Ann
    @
    The Tattered Tassel

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is beautiful, Julienne, and will be so functional. I love that it came with a history.....Christine

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmm, didn't notice how gorgeous it was before, am thinking family should get first dibs on it?? xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. I should have also added what a beautiful story that is.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful story Julienne. You should put it in writing and attach it underneath - you never know how long that history can go on. I love what you have done with it, and so many uses. Well done. Hope Maggie is well.x Have a lovely week.
    Rebecca x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved the story and I hope you find a wonderful place to put it and it will be well used.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful job, and what a wonderful story behind it!

    ReplyDelete

I get such a kick out of your comments so please leave one. Its like finding that extra present under the Christmas tree!

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