...old chairs...

Many of the things we have in our homes have stories that go with them. I have three chairs that have stories. 

This chair was sitting out in front of a junk shop over twenty years ago. It caught my eye as I drove by, and I remember that I turned around and went back for a closer look. I bought the chair for eighteen dollars...a dear sum for me at the time. The seat was in need of new cane, but it would have to wait, as caning was way out of my budget. I put a chair pad on the seat and was happy with my old fiddle back Windsor. Years later, when I was able to finally have the seat re-caned, the fellow who did the job told me how special the chair is. Apparently, it has "ankles".

See the small curve? He said it is an animal leg and that it was a very fine chair. It's black walnut and though it's not my favorite, it's has been around awhile and is part of our home.

My husband pulled this little black Windsor out of a trash pile when he was sixteen. He rebuilt it, painted it and used it as his desk chair. It's been with us our entire marriage...in this corner or that corner...we always find a place for it. It is not a fine chair but is a true testament to the words...make do.

By far, this wonderful old rocker is my very favorite. It is a family piece. It sat in the kitchen, by the fireplace of the home where my father grew up in Pennsylvania. He remembered that when he was a little boy, his grandfather...a Civil War veteran...repaired the chair. There are wrought iron brackets on the arms to reinforce where they might have loosened over the years. 

This chair has moved with my family from Pennsylvania, to Virginia and then to Florida. My mother rocked my sister in it in front of that fireplace in Pennsylvania. I played in it, as a child, when it was moved to my grandfather's office in Virginia. I mourned my father rocking in this chair, in my first home in Florida. When my daughter was born, I rocked her and told her stories about all the members of her family that sat in this noble chair.

This old rocker dates to 1840. It  has been in my family it's entire long life. I love this chair.

Do you have a story about something you love? Trash or treasure?

Enjoy the day,

Robyn

I meant to say that the chair seat was rewoven...the seat is woven rush...not cane. I hadn't had my second cup of coffee when I wrote that.