Spring in Walla Walla and the Whitman College Ducks…
Well the calendar says that it is Spring in the Valley of the Two Wallas! The weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating with the romantic idea of mild Spring temperatures. One day last week we had slushy snow in the morning and then sun in the afternoon.
Through all of the unpredictability of Spring, the Mallard ducks seem to be the constant. For years, Jill and I have taken a morning walk through the Whitman College campus. A small creek flows through campus and feeds a small pond. That pond has historically been a home for Mallard ducks. We have noticed that the ducks begin “pairing” off in early January.
Two males to one female...
“Pairing” off is not entirely accurate… one Hen seems to have a minimum of two and as many as four Drakes following her. This male/female ratio didn’t seem to be normal to us… so I did what anyone else would do in the year 2012. I did some Google research.
The unfortunate thing is that the only scientific research that I could find involved wild ducks. Research results indicated that in the wild, the ratio of male to female Mallards is about 55 to 45 percent. That ratio is no where close to what we have observed. Maybe there is a research opportunity to study urban ducks… in Walla Walla.
In any case, the ducklings should be appearing soon…
There always seems to be at least one male this close to every female...
Walla Walla in April… and the winery projects…
Well, it’s April here in the Valley of the Two Wallas. It snowed great huge snow flakes this morning – no they were really snow (flake) clumps. The snow flakes formed together and then fell to the ground as wet clumps that were one to two inches in diameter. The front of my jacket was totally coated with wet slushy snow by the time I had walked to Shady Lawn.
The snow flakes were actually bigger before I could get my camera out...
This afternoon it was sunny and tomorrow the high temperature is predicted to be 67 degrees…
It seems like I haven’t posted anything of great significance for several weeks. I have been struggling to come up with something that seems interesting and/or important to write about.
This morning I realized that this period of blogging inactivity directly correlated to a project that I have been working on for a local winery. I have been building a high backed bench and an industrial looking shelving unit out of reclaimed wood.
Repairing some cracks in the reclaimed barn wood that I am using for the winery project...
Shady Lawn Antiques is open for sales from Tuesday through Saturday. I have been putting in full days on Sundays and Mondays, as well as most mornings, into the construction of the winery pieces. So my weeks have been full… and I think my mind has been as well.
I have never built a bench or a shelving unit exactly like either of these before. So I have been continuously thinking about the best way to complete the next step in the construction.
Generally ideas for blog posts just sort of come to my mind – mostly written. Right now construction ideas and techniques are just coming to my mind – mostly uncompleted…
I’ve been taking pictures to document the winery project construction process and I will share them with you over the next several weeks… but first the construction and then the bragging blogging…
Right now, I just hope that it will be 67 degrees tomorrow…
here are some more Walla Walla Spring flowers…
Here is a Walla Walla Spring Photographic Bouquet to brighten your day:
While Walking to Shady Lawn Antiques this morning, I spotted this explosion of blossoms...
It was a good thing that the sidewalk was dry this morning because I had to lay on my stomach to take this picture:
Have a great day…
the real Spring in Walla Walla…
Well it is Spring here in the Valley of the Two Wallas… ‘they’ say if you don’t like the weather, wait an hour and it will change! Three weeks ago we had a high temperature of 68 degrees, but since then the highs have only been in the fifties.
This morning it was lightly raining
Buds and raindrops on the apple tree in our backyard.
and then we had two hours of sun. At noon we had a thunderstorm with hail and a couple of hours later we had sun and the pavement dried out.
Daffodils on the walk home...
The 50 degree temperatures are high enough to get things blooming… but not high enough to cause spring fever.
A tree in blossom...
I did get the short pants out and wear them, the day after we had 68 degrees but that turned out to be a bad mistake. It hasn’t been in the upper 60′s since.
Enjoy the blooms!
This is the second Shady Lawn Antiques take on restaurant appetizers. I call these visual appetizers: “Tapas for the Eye.” (The term Tapas is Spanish in origin and refers to small appetizers or snacks that are not a whole meal.) My “Tapas for the Eye” are pictures of a small portion or detail of a larger antique. My first Tapas post featured oak items.
“Hello, I’m Dave, and I would like to let you know that the daily Special of ‘Tapas for the Eye’ features ‘Small Bites’ of random antiques found at Shady Lawn Antiques…”
1930's World Globe...
Walla Walla seems to have been pointed at so many times that it has disappeared from this 1930′s World Globe… I didn’t even notice this until I took the close-up picture.
Red glass lantern globe...
A globe theme?… no, it is purely accidental that two different types of globes are pictured.
Toy steam roller wheel...
The Toy Manufacturer had a sense of pride when this steam roller wheel was crafted… a less detailed wheel would have functioned just as well but it certainly wouldn’t have been as attractive.
a wicker?...
This is the mystery picture…
I know what it is but if you can’t figure it out please come into Shady Lawn and I will show you… or respond in the comments and I will let you know…
introducing Taproot magazine…
Out of nowhere the first issue of the new Taproot magazine appeared in our mailbox. It was an unexpected event and we are not exactly sure how we were chosen to became recipients.
It is an interesting magazine that Jill and I have decided to subscribe to. This first issue of Taproot roughly focuses on Soil. Future editions will focus on Paths, then Retreat, and in late November – Wood. WOOD – I can hardly wait!
I’m going to let the website and the editor describe Taproot magazine to you. The following is from the Taproot magazine website:
A local farmer, Bill, came into Shady Lawn Antiquesand asked if I would like to go out to his farm to look at some antiques. This is the sort of thing that antique dealers have done for decades.
Bill (left) and his Farm-hand Matthew...
For three seasons, the widely acclaimed television series, the American Pickers, has documented this process. In this reality television series, Danielle finds leads for Mike and Frank who are out on the road looking for antiques and collectibles.
I have so many items that I now look for only the oldest, most unusual and unique items to add to the Shady Lawn Antiques inventory. My neighbors, Barry and Neva, have a love for antiques that led them to renting a space in a local antique mall. They tend to deal in different items than I do, so I invited them along.
If you watch cable television and you are in the antique business, then you can’t help but talk about “The Pickers.” So when we met in front of our houses to go ‘picking’, we decided that I should be “Mike” because I was the tallest.
That left Barry to be “Frank” – unless we decided to go and bid on Storage Lockers. Then Barry would have to be “Barry” but that’s a different show (Storage Wars). I don’t think that Neva has any tattoos but she still got to be Danielle.
Once that was settled we drove north out of Walla Walla on the Middle Waitsburg Road. It is a small two lane country road that is absolutely beautiful this time of the year. The not quite spring countryside is coming to life and it just seems fresh and clean. The rolling hills alternate between the yellow stubble of summer fallow and the bright green of winter wheat (it is planted in the fall and then it “winters” over).
Headed north on Middle Waitsburg road...
I can just picture Mike and Frank driving down some country back-road and saying ‘hey look at that… a farm that has been here so long that the farmers name and the road name are the same.’ Well that was where we were headed…
The ‘American Picker’s’ introduction: “Each item we pick has a history all its own and the people we meet are a breed all their own.” …
Bill showed us all around his farm – he was born, raised, and spent all but four of his nearly seventy years there. First we looked at items in and around a small storage building behind his house.
Then we walked a couple of hundred yards and looked at items in his bunk house. Back in the day, workers stayed in the bunk house during harvest. Room and board was the worker’s benefit… the farmers benefit was that every morning he knew where his crew was – no over-sleeping.
Dave’s note: The ‘Harvest Tables’ that I re-create out of reclaimed barn-wood were originally knocked together to feed similar harvest crews. When harvest was over they were knocked apart and that is why no originals exist…
Then we took a look inside an old one-room schoolhouse, that had been moved onto the farm in the late 1940′s or early 1950′s. Bill said that it took three days to move it twenty miles I’m thinking that the schoolhouse would be too big to be a legal load in this day and in this age.
Next we looked at a couple of huge racks of rusty old farm machinery parts. This stuff was exactly the kind of early 1900′s farm/industrial rusty iron stuff that is so popular right now. Bill could tell me exactly what piece of equipment each piece came off of.
only a part of the great pile of rusty iron...
Our picking was done but Bill showed us around inside his huge machine shop. As recently as the mid-1990′s Bill kept four men working all winter repairing farm equipment. Both the times and the economy have changed…
Mike and Frank often say something to the effect that ‘time is money’ and that ‘we need to be buying something or moving on’…
Well I bought a few things and then I hung around and took pictures of rusty old farm equipment for over an hour… some business and some pleasure. Bill, thanks for the opportunity to spend some time in the country with you.
sage brush hung up in an old hay rake...
Gear on an old piece of farm equipment...
Bill had never heard of the American Picker’s television show – they only get four channels on their antenna…
Anyone who has watched the Antiques Roadshow on television has heard… ‘it would have been worth a lot more if it hadn’t been refinished.‘ Well sometimes it would be worth a lot less if it hadn’t been refinished.
Take the case of the two China Cabinets that I am featuring in this post. I bought both of them at the same auction and they are very similar. They were both built between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. They are both oak, both have curved glass sides and doors, oak shelves and an interior mirror near the top.
Dark original finish Larkin China Cabinet, please note the beveled glass mirror... the blocks under the feet are due to the slope of the floor in the old Shady lawn Creamery building...
The dark finished cabinet has a paper label that indicates that it was built by the Larkin Furniture Company. It has significant curved columns at the front, on either side of the door. It has heavy carved ball and claw feet.
Heavy Ball and Claw Foot...
It had several minor issues that required attention. First, the glue blocks supporting the legs were loose and had to be re-glued. Second all of the glass was loose and needed to be re-installed. The original finish was in good condition but needed to be cleaned and waxed.
Lighter finished, completely restored, China Cabinet... both Cabinets feature curved glass sides as well as a curved glass door - the three curved glass pieces are the preferred option.
The lighter colored China Cabinet required a complete restoration – in that condition it was worth no more than what I paid for it. All of the glass was almost falling out, every glue joint had failed, and the finish was in poor condition. I took the entire cabinet apart, removed the finish, sanded each piece, and then re-glued every joint.
Lighter Oak China Cabinet totally disassembled...
I applied a new finish, waxed the cabinet and re-installed the glass. A cabinet that was in shaky condition, at best, should now easily last another 100 years. This time the refinishing actually increased the value of the piece.
This is a case where I purchased two similar cabinets at the same time. They were both in entirely different condition so one had minimal restoration while the other was completely restored.
The lighter oak Cabinet was completely restored which actually doubled the value of the piece. The dark Larkin Cabinet had minor structural repairs, was cleaned, and was waxed. This also increased the value of this piece.
Please visit Shady Lawn Antiques while both Cabinets are still in stock. I will be happy to show you the restorations and answer any questions you might have.
Remember in many cases ‘it would have been worth a lot more if it hadn’t been refinished’. Consult with a professional if you have any concerns before you restore an antique!
Leap Day… just an extra day to enjoy life in Walla Walla!
Time doesn’t seem to matter much to many of us in the Valley of the Two Wallas. I don’t have a time clock or a contracted work schedule, so every day is just another opportunity to enjoy life here…
We are just fortunate to live in Walla Walla – a place where people want to visit and want to vacation! Shady Lawn Antiques has become one of the MUST SEE places for people visiting WW. So each day I have the opportunity to visit with someone from a different state… today it was Alaska and yesterday it was Oregon, Idaho, and South Carolina.
Today is February 29th or Leap Day – it is kind of a bonus or an extra day every four years to sync up our calendar with the realities of our solar system. My watch is not as smart as it thinks it is – my watch thinks that today is March 1st. That was kind of a novelty today – but by about tomorrow I’m going to have to get smart enough to adjust my watch…
Since today is just kind of a “bonus day” I’m going to post a few bonus photos that haven’t yet fit into another Blog post:
A newer bronze plaque depicting Walla Walla in 1859, that my friend Doug Saturno helped fund and erect!
Graze Restaurant and Catering is housed in this building covered with Japanese “folded cranes”…
I think that it would be difficult to ever cover this wall with paint...
Here is a Walla Walla Pea can that was made into a bank by the WW Continental Can Company:
Canned peas were a big deal in the 1950s - 1960s - this can survived because it was made into a bank....
Here are three lanterns that have been recently hung in a window of the western/cabin room at Shady Lawn:
Three red glass lanterns in front of a window at Shady Lawn...
Top 10 Walla Walla Blogs… and Top 10 Antique Blogs…
I was searching for something witty to write for this my 100th blog post. Then I discovered this news release and thought that I would just share the good news with you:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO THE PRESS:
North Rose Street Business Association, Walla Walla, WA.
The North Rose Street Business Association (NRSBA)* has named Shady Lawn Antiques** owner Dave Emigh’s Blog, “Work, Play, Eat, Live Local”, “Living Local in Walla Walla”, as the best Blog in its’ category. Emigh’s Blog can be found at http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com .
The NRSBA also named “Work, Play, Eat, Live Local” as the best Blog in both its’ Top 10 Walla Walla Blogs and in its’ Top 10 Antique Blogs.
Emigh stated in his first Blog: “My intent is to write about life in a burgeoning wine region (Walla Walla) from a local point of view. My interests and passions revolve around all things local and especially saving antiques and building furniture from reclaimed materials.”
Emigh’s writing has accomplished this and more. His Blog Posts have been informative, interesting and insightful. The writing is enhanced by his exceptional photography. In fact the reader is left to wonder which came first – the writing or the photography…
It is clear that Emigh’s Blog reflects his take on the experiences that he has had in the Walla Walla Valley. His experiences are real, they are not just “Made for Blogging” events.
* “In the Spirit of Full disclosure, it should be noted that North Rose Street, in Walla Walla, is only one and a half blocks long.”
** “In the Spirit of Further Full disclosure, it should be noted that Shady Lawn Antiques & Art Gallery is the only business located on North Rose Street in Walla Walla.”
