Our darling daughter is an avid collector of mid century modern.
(our son and lovely DIL are keen collectors too.)
Teak, ceramics, glass, metal Jere wall art.
She has a great eye for detail and has scored many deals.
It's probably her art history background and all those years at university...
or possibly because I pushed the pram up Antique Row from the time she was a few months old and then later when she was older she'd accompany me to see what treasures we might find and bring home.
Both kids were accomplices on these forays/walks.
We'd have a poke around the shops before heading home to make dinner.
Those days we had very little discretionary income so I juggled the budget.
There were orthodontics, ballet and hockey classes for the children and I was a stay at home mom.
Mr. HB was busy getting his career off the ground and worked long hours and many weekends.
Money didn't grow on trees and living in an old house there were always repairs and maintenance to consider.
We never really did without.
Although there was that one summer I recall where we practically lived on zucchini as it was growing prolifically in The Humble Bungalow Garden. Zucchini chocolate cake, muffins, zucchini sticks with dip, zucchini in soup and casseroles...I am sure you get the picture!
Oh and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we had to have powdered milk mixed with homogenized!
The kids will never let me forget that summer...
I think that was also the summer our Golden Retriever Rufus, swallowed the fish hook that had been baited with bacon... left on the back deck of Poppie's Gal...and a lead weight went down his throat which the vet said would be certain death if we did not operate.
Of course we opted for the surgery, we loved our dog so much, he was family after all.
The vet's bill was shockingly expensive and we had very little in our savings account.
I remember walking in the neighbourhood and looking down hoping to find coins on the ground.
It was one time I felt truly worried about money.
Somehow we managed...it must have been the zucchini and powdered milk!
We were happy in spite of our circumstances as children and dogs kept us busy and our world naturally revolved around their rhythms.
As time went on we got back on our feet and got really quite good at finding great loot at bargain basement prices.
Many times we'd bring home a piece of Mission or Arts and Crafts furniture that I would have paid for with the grocery money and I would then have to stretch the budget for the next week or so.
No zucchini this time around, it would be vegetarian based homemade soups, casseroles or pastas.
We'd be in cahoots together, giddy in fact, carrying the piece in question from the commodious old Volvo and re arranging the furniture swiftly so it looked like it had always been there...
When Mr. HB arrived home I'd greet him at the door with a kiss and a freshly made cocktail, take his briefcase, and the kids would be bringing up the rear bearing guilty smiles and hugs.
This scenario repeated itself many many times...
and Mr. HB came to recognize the signs.
He'd pause and say "OK What did you buy?"
Wonderful memories...
It's not surprising that both children are not fond of zucchini to this day.
I quite like it myself. I owe a lot to that hardy vegetable!
Darling daughter has an apartment decorated and full of mid century modern.
I posted about her "Mod Pod" awhile back and you can revisit
here.
Our son and his lovely wife are raising our delightful granddaughter in a mid century modern home with all the bells and whistles. They are redecorating room by room and the results are stunning.
Rosenthal Thomas china,
Orrefors crystal glasses
Tapio wirkkala votive holder
darling daughter's apartment last weekend
as she hosted dinner for a friend.
I am thrilled that our children share the love of collecting
objects that speak to their tastes.
Mid century modern pieces are still available locally
although the prices have gone through the roof
as they have become all the rage.
Who knew what we grew up with as kids would become the next hot collectible?
"Everything old is new again"
