Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard

There is one more thing I need to add to my “things I really hate doing” list. It might even surpass the number one entry, going to the dentist. It definitely trumps ob/gyn visits, mammograms and shopping for bras.

It’s moving furniture.

I don’t mean moving the kitchen chairs so I can mop the floor. I mean heavy lifting of large and unwieldy pieces of furniture that have sat in one place for 45 years and do not want to be moved.

Flashback: A couple of years ago, we got new carpet in our bedroom, living room and dining room. The Farmer and I moved all of the furniture from those three rooms into the downstairs spare bedroom, the kitchen and porch. As doG as my witness, I will not do that again. Ever. Never. Ever. No. Period. Do NOT even think about it.

But we’re still married. Nineteen years last week.

Smile.

Flash forward: Yesterday’s furniture moving escapade was worse. Not only did it involve moving stuff, it involved moving stuff up and down stairs and in and out of a trailer. Antique heirloom stuff. With a lot of glass.

My aunt is cleaning out her house and wanted me to have some things that belonged to her and my grandparents. This is very wonderful and I am happy to have them. She was happy. I was happy. The Farmer took one look at the list of things that needed to be carried out of her house and into ours. I don’t think he was very happy.

The list included a china cabinet (lots of glass), two dressers (with mirrors, more glass), a rocking chair, a chest of drawers, a book case with a glass front, a Hoosier-style kitchen cupboard and a partridge in a pear tree.

My mother and aunt recruited a neighbor to help with the heavy lifting. Now we had two farmers on the job. This was excellent. I planned to do a lot of directing and very little actual lifting. I was very happy.

The problem with antique furniture is that it’s solid. No flimsy veneers or compressed particle board crap. It’s real wood. Solid wood. Very freaking heavy wood. With very fragile, antique glass. Did I mention it was 90 degrees yesterday? And humid? What FUN!

The men lifted and hauled and calculated and measured and sweated. I wrapped things in quilts and said helpful things like “Be careful!” and “Don’t hurt yourself!” And if anything got bumped or banged or dropped, I gave them The Look.

My aunt provided a bunch of old quilts for wrapping around things in the trailer. They were old and definitely worn but they were made of pretty colorful fabrics. She said she didn’t want them back and I could burn them when we got home. Then she said my grandmother made them out of old feed sacks in the 1930s. I don’t think I’ll be burning them.

When we got home, the Farmer called his bro-in-law who lives down the road to see if he could help unload the trailer. Why didn’t you call him earlier, I asked, what if he has plans and can’t help and we have to unload all this by ourselves and I have a heart attack?

The Farmer gave me The Look. The brother-in-law wasn’t doing anything and was happy to help. He’s a great guy.

The dressers went upstairs. The rocking chair went upstairs. The bookcase went upstairs. The china cabinet went into the dining room. The chest of drawers went into our bedroom, although it may come right back out because I plan to strip and refinish it. It’s been awhile since my 4-H furniture refinishing days but I think it will come back to me. The kitchen cabinet went on the back porch. It is a perfect fit and will be home to all the miscellaneous gardening and dog stuff that seems to collect on the porch and is always in the way.

I think this might be Old Mother Hubbard's original cupboard. My grandma and grandpa used it throughout their marriage. It has always been painted so I'm not feeling ambitious enough to strip it because I'm not sure the quality of wood underneath would be worth it. I'm very happy with the primitive look.

This is the flour canister inside the kitchen cupboard. You put the flour in at the top, then turned the handle at the bottom and voilá - all the sifted flour you could ask for. Important when you're baking all your bread, biscuits, cakes, etc. from scratch.

When my grandma was expecting her first child, she told my grandpa she needed something to put "baby things" in, so my grandpa bought this chest of drawers at a farm sale. So it was second-hand already in the 1930s. It's going to be my first major stripping and refinishing project later this fall.

The crystal knobs were on it when Grandpa Mills bought it but they're not original. There are double holes for handle-type drawer pulls so I'll probably end up buying some reproductions and taking the crystal knobs off. They are kind of delicate. I've had them on other pieces of furniture and if you have one break in your hand once, well, you won't want to do it again.

After they got married, my grandparents bought this china cupboard brand new. That was almost unheard of for them. It was during the Great Depression and they didn't have any money. Nobody had any money. But this was the one new thing they bought as they started out together. It has been moved from Colorado to Missouri and now to our house. And it's still in one piece. Thank doG!

Feed sack quilts. Still pretty after 80 years.

Closeup of the feed sack prints.