Another antique spool cabinet.
Seeing as how I just bought an antique spool cabinet… And seeing as how there may (?) be a limit to the number of these things that any one person needs… I said to myself— I don’t need that.
But Self was like – what? No. Erroneous.
NOW WE CAN HAVE A COLLECTION.
It was Friday night. And I’d had a REALLY LONG WEEK. And traffic would be MADNESS… So I went and asked Paul to talk me out of it.
(Thank you for your concern. Obviously I am unwell.)
I said to him – please talk me out of this.
Paul said – that seems like a good price?
I was like – this is the part when you say things like: didn’t we JUST get a spool cabinet?
Paul said – should I look forward to a new era where you only show me things we are not getting? Should I revise my expectations of you in such a way that I will not expect you to get all of the spool cabinets in the entire world?
So then I had to trudge out.
I also got an EXTRA extra-useless item: a fancy antique towel bar.
I paid $15. Which is a total bargain if you are willing to overlook the lack of brackets and also my general having-no-actual-use-for-it… aside, (obviously) as Scepter of Magnificence, (with which to knight Paul.)
And also as Pointer of Seriousness, with which to emphasize diagrams and charts illustrating the mathematical impossibility of me telling my husband something 17 TIMES and him STILL NOT REMEMBERING.
The really thick glass rods with large glass/ball ends are SUPER hard to find!
Mine is missing the brackets for mounting… you can see what they should look like on this pair on eBay (shockingly, that is considered a GOOD price for a pair!)
(Also horrifyingly expensive and covetable is this one with faceted ends and brass hardware.)
These are the towel bars I really wanted to use in our bathroom remodels.
But:
finding a vintage set
in the varying sizes we needed
with all hardware accounted for
in a time frame not measured in years
that did not require me to get a second job working nightshift to fund my exciting towel odyssey.
Sounds awesome and like something I could really excel at questionable.
Back when we were doing the bathrooms, I was resistant to reproductions partly because they are expensive! (And have about zero variety. Especially if you want THICK glass.) And I couldn’t wrap my brain around spending so much money for something not old, and decidedly not a GFT.
Plus, I couldn’t even find any with glass ball ends. Except these which were disappointingly puny. And also stupidly expensive.
But I ended up buying hardware at an RH outlet sale… they had all the sizes I needed, for both baths, and were surprisingly well-priced.
At the time, I figured I could always swap them out when I found something vintage… (which is why we didn’t mount through the subway tile) but I have never given it any more thought ever again; so I guess my towel bar principles are not quite as stringent as I’d like to believe.
The End.
New topic:
My last week has put me in a hole of sadness… not only is the circus in town, (necessitating that I spend every free moment doing my best to raise awareness/please read the second part of this post!) I also took the foster kittens to the adoption center.
And every day since have second-guessed myself with the kind of paralyzed uncertainty that comes with knowing there is no good solution.
I am sad that the wild-herd-of-monkey-babies are gone… especially the one who was so sick and was my special favorite.
When I took them to the adoption center, they reached their little paws through the cage and cried at me. Just typing this I feel crushed.
But then I remember that today, and tomorrow, and everyday after that, I will get emails, asking for foster homes for OTHER BABIES who are sick and scared and need a home to get well in.
But then I remember this face: MOM! HELP!!! WHAT’S HAPPENING?
What kind of monster am I?
Then the adoption center called me last night to say that two of them were going home together… which on one hand, wonderful. But I couldn’t feel good about it because my heart hurt for the one they didn’t want… she is a sweetheart and I know she will get adopted too, but she won’t have her sisters.
Paul really enjoyed my lengthy dissertation on:
hysteria,
I’ve done the wrong thing,
what if the kitten’s new mom doesn’t understand she has to be their mom. FOREVER?
I miss Elvis,
but what about poor left-behind-cat,
maybe I should go get her,
I should have kept them ALL,
maybe I should just go get new fosters tomorrow,
maybe I should find out who adopted the first two and try to get them back, and also get their sister back.
I’ve lost control of this narrative and I don’t have the energy to fix it so I’m signing off.
Please enjoy this video of a cat raised in a horse barn.
November 16, 2016 @ 12:39 pm
Now I WANT a spool cabinet collection. I really want to show you the one I had restored with the base made for it. WOuld you like me to send you a photo?
November 16, 2016 @ 12:55 pm
for sure! (if you have an instagram or facebook picture/link, pasting the embed code here should make it show up!)
November 16, 2016 @ 1:00 pm
Hello from South Africa. I cant remember how I happened upon your blog but my daughter and I have read every one in the archive. You are a delight and so lucky to have all these GFTs on Craigslist. Alas we don’t have CL. Or that many GFTs looking for homes (alas). We do however have BIG cats. In abundance. And yes, shared on FB. Always. Immediately.
November 16, 2016 @ 1:01 pm
I understand where your heart is in kittyland. The babies are hard to let go… but they will go first in the adoption center. When the stars align, and you come upon just the right kitty to join your family, s/he will be there, and your heart will go ZING! In the meantime, keep giving those little kitty’s a chance by offering them the best and most loving base you have. In Elvis’ name…
Wowzer, Cool Spool Chest!! Such awesomeness in a couple drawers!!
November 16, 2016 @ 1:09 pm
I am 76 so I have my page enlarged and a larger font and the ads stay to the side and are generally well behaved..I wonder..could that make a difference? I wonder if -when you are ready-you might consider a cuddle companion that bears NO resemblance to Dear Elvis…Snow White and female-or just really really different. I can’t help wondering if choosing so like Elvis is like rubbing Salt in a very raw wound? Any Hoo Post is side splitting as usual and since I have been in a deep blue funk with the recent developments in our election results-I thank you for the smiles and guffaws. From an absolute stranger and destined to remain so…I really positively love you and Sir Paul.
November 16, 2016 @ 1:19 pm
i think you should go get the little kitty girl who didn’t get adopted………..you can still continue to foster……plus kitties like having companions to play with. You are stronger than i am, i wouldn’t have been able to let any of them go im afraid, i get too attached! (but hats off to you for being one of the many who foster any animal, either an individual or a bunch……….you are an angel for the voiceless who can’t help themselves)
And the spool cabinet? total score, i am always amazed at the incredible finds that are out there for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time! Great piece!!
November 16, 2016 @ 1:21 pm
You can’t keep moving the goal like this. First, I discovered that I needed a card catalogue, then a campaign bed, now I need a spool cabinet collection (and I was having enough trouble finding just one, thankyouverymuch) and I’m still looking for a square piano that isn’t a jillion dollars and hidious and missing three legs.
And now? Now I need glass towel rods/scepters of magnificence.
You’re literally killing me.
November 19, 2016 @ 6:19 am
That is awesome.
November 16, 2016 @ 1:29 pm
You are wonderful for going through the joy and heartache of fostering. I got water running down my face (as my young nieces would say) just reading your post. Bless you and bless you for working on behalf of circus creatures.
November 16, 2016 @ 1:36 pm
Omg…your post made me cry. I can’t bring myself to foster or volunteer because I cannot handle going into a shelter. My first experience with bringing home needy animals was in high school when I found four abandon kittens that were only days old in an alley. I stayed up all night feeding them with eyedroppers and they followed me around like I was their momma. I was only 18 and fostered them until a local rescue group found homes for them when they were old enough. I refused to be home when they got picked up because I could not handle it and my mom took take of the pick up for me. I have rescued baby geese in the middle of a busy highway with no momma in site (thought they were ducks). They were dropped off at a wild animal sanctuary, oh and there was the robin that flew into my picture window and did not move for hours and just looked at me no matter how close I got to it. I could not leave it there to die so I took it to the animal sanctuary and they confirmed he broke a bone that did not allow for flight but he healed and was released. These stories could go on and on ….oh and so could my husband with the many animal “adventures” I have taken him on in 25 years of marriage. I want to save them all but I am a big baby and I am not strong enough to handle letting them go. I admire you and I so enjoy your posts about animal awareness and fostering and adoption. So glad the video made me laugh out loud!!! I think I will watch it again.
OH AND DESPISE THE CIRCUS!!!! How could anyone enjoy the circus?
November 16, 2016 @ 1:42 pm
Well, this is just great. Now I need an antique spool cabinet AND a kitten. All joking aside (okay I wasn’t really joking, especially about the kitten), I adore your blog and I’m a Craigslist fanatic and I want to go GFT-hunting with you!
Your husband (like mine) is a saint, and I think you should reward him by getting him a rescued circus tiger. That would be the GFT to end all GFT’s, plus you fulfill your wish to adopt an older kitty that needs a good home. Everybody wins!
November 19, 2016 @ 6:20 am
Adopt an older “kitty” — that’s hilarious!!
November 16, 2016 @ 2:07 pm
A thought about the towel rod….that I do not believe is ACTUALLY a towel rod…..I think it is a CURTAIN rod. Why? Towel rods have the bracket with a hole for a rod and/or finial….the rod you show has a metal fitting that holds the finial, but if you look at all of the towel brackets for those sorts of rods, you will see they are a one-piece deal-io. Thus, I believe you have a spectacular curtain rod for one of your spectacular bathrooms. Curtain rod brackets should be a bit easier to locate.
November 16, 2016 @ 2:19 pm
I thought this was about spool cabinets (and now I want a few). If that baby is still there by itself, you should go get it, just saying. You can get an older one too.
November 16, 2016 @ 2:23 pm
Hahahaha, oh my god, I totally laughed all the way through that cat video! Thanks for that!
November 16, 2016 @ 2:25 pm
I was loving the spool cabinet story, and the towel rail, and even had a suggestion. And then I got to the kittens and now feel sad. But I totally agree with you, and you did the right thing. You have now sent those little loves out into the world and allowed some other wonderful person(s) to be the recipient of their kitty love. But what of the left behind baby? Of course she will find a new home, but you feel like a traitor. I certainly understand that. Our wonderful indoor fellow had a brother and despite the deep pleadings of my 7 year old daughter and the adoption lady I didn’t take him. I couldn’t. Taking this one would be pushing it. And now, 11 years later I still feel like a chump. But we really couldn’t take another cat and even now looking back I know that but it still bothers me from time to time.
Spool cabinet is gorgeous!!! I never find anything good on Craigslist unless there is a huge price tag next to it. Well done!!
November 16, 2016 @ 2:34 pm
I smile every time I see there’s a new blog post from you in my mailbox. I thrill vicariously at your treasure hunts, laugh at your humor and bleed with your concerns.
Just so you know there’s a yin to the yang of your hurt at the third, as yet unadopted kitten — I was present at my own local shelter when two of three kittens got adopted. (Our shelter has a rule that kittens must be adopted in pairs, while older cats can have a forever home on their own as singletons. My daughter and I were there as volunteers.) Anyway, my fourteen year old daughter looked at me with what we call her moo moo eyes as the third kitten mewled after her disappearing siblings. That was it. We brought her home to join the family. She’s fit right in with our older two cats.
I thank you as a fellow animal lover that you open your heart and home to foster sick cats. Even if you’re not ready to adopt, you are doing a wonderful thing for these helpless creatures. Thanks for doing what you can. <3
November 16, 2016 @ 2:42 pm
I love your big heart and I am totally jealous of the deals you find on craigslist! Why can’t I find those people who are willing to sell those wonderful treasures for pocket change? I have found a lot of crazy beautiful GFTs, but I usually have to pay through the nose to obtain them…like the giant 19c gilt wood and gesso framed mirror from a Butte “house of ill repute” that I had to have. I love it though and look at it every day. Keep telling your stories and I’ll keep reading and laughing, along with all your other fans!
November 16, 2016 @ 3:54 pm
I had a hole after our Floyd, kitty-of-18 years, died. I, too, wanted to wait, because I had to go though that mourning process properly. We got a black kitten (apparently for some weird reason they are harder to get adopted?) which I sort of regret because our kitty was all black and I kept seeing Floyd instead of Stitch. A year later, though, thankfully, all I see is Stitch. (we adopted a kitten so it would get along with our dogs–Floyd hated them).
November 16, 2016 @ 4:51 pm
We’re cat people … obviously my husband is descended from a long line of cat attendants because sorting thru old boxes, we came across a vintage 1930s photo album of cat photos, including studio shots of their cats.
We’re currently cat-less in Seattle. Our last cat was inherited from my mother in law. After eight years of kitty’s bad attitude and claws (renamed her “Shredder” for very good reasons), she became very ill and was put to sleep. Later that evening, she showed up again for her evening treat. My first and so far only ghost sighting was a cat! Since then we’ve had a visiting (living) cat who came every day for treats and snuggies and a four or five hour nap.
We’re moving soon to a retirement apt and hope to find more visiting cats willing to drop by for treats and snuggies. Maybe fostering would be a solution for us?
November 16, 2016 @ 5:33 pm
Saying goodbye is brutal. But that prancing kitty was a delight to watch! Keep up the good work,
Victoria. I admire your determination to help those in need.
November 16, 2016 @ 5:39 pm
love Spool chests….I have 2 and have no problem passing up a “new” old one, because I am on the brink of being a hoarder, and recognizing it’s a problem is the first step to recovery. Unless I find something absolutely fabulous, then all bets are off. Can I ask a silly question? Why dont you date your posts?? I get confused about the “time line” of things.
November 16, 2016 @ 5:54 pm
You could go and get that little lonely kitty and teach him/her to be the best role model for the rest of the fosterlings you bring home. It will be a perfect nanny. Baby kittens need to learn a lot of things a human mom can’t possibly teach them.