Tobacco Basket

I am very excited to say that I finally am in possession on a tobacco basket. A few months ago I saw one in an antique store in N. GA and was intrigued by this square, shallow, woven basket they had for sale. It was a little beat up but they wanted 75$ for it plus they were giving 15% off. I didn't buy it that day but I came back a few days later thinking I was going to buy it, but hesitated. I bought some other items for the house instead. I proceeded to research these baskets online and found out that they have been in use up until the 1980s mostly in the tobacco farming areas of N. Carolina. They were used to display the tobacco for sale.

I asked a lady at a local antique store about them and she said they were hard to come by, but that I might have an easier time finding one in N.C. Well, when we went to Maggie Valley in April I went antique shopping. I found one but it was in poor shape. The salesman wanted 15$ for it. He said he had more but couldn't find them. So I decided to check around a few more places. (For some reason there are not as many antique stores around Waynesville as there are on the 441 in N. GA. and western N.C.)  But I wasn't able to find any more and everyone told me they were hard to find. So we went back to the store that had the broken one.

I thought, for 15$ it was so cheap that if I got lucky and found another one, then I could put the broken one downstairs and put the new one on my bedroom wall. I was afraid of missing out and not be able to get a basket at all. Well, now they had another one sitting on the ground that wasn't there before. It was tore up too, but not as bad as the first one. The salesman then proceeded to tell me that he had found the missing baskets and that I should look up and low and behold up in the rafters were about 20 of them. He also told me that he had misquoted me on the 15$ but that he would honor that price, but if I bought any others, they would be 35$. Either price was cheap to me. I saw online where some of these sold for up to 150$. I picked out the best one and bought it. Thanks Craig. He really went out of his way to make sure I got my basket.

Here is the front of my basket. I love the diamond shape. It will hang above my bed.

Back view of the basket.

The rims are blue and say Farmers Knox.

Number stamped on it.

When I get her all cleaned up and on the wall, I will post it here. Also, here are a few more updates on the house:

Everything matches in the kids' shower now.

 

New shower head for my shower. Rest will come later.

UPDATES

Curves update: I am now down to 162 lbs which is where I was when I first went to Curves in Alabama back in 2008. It is not acceptable now as it wasn't then, BUT it is a ton better than the 176 I was when I started Curves here in January of this year! So, I am happy about it, but determined to blast away the next 14 lbs. The goal is to get to 133 or 138. Ideally, I would like to float in the 130s with 140 as the most I would weigh at any given time.

Basement update: Craig finished the drop ceiling in the guest room and is starting to work on the guest bathroom. Can't wait when a real guest can actually use it. It is going to be a very nice area. He has also started putting up the cans for the pot lights that will go in the TV room which is next to the guest bedroom.

Rear of guest bedroom; will get more pot lights. Deer will not stay.

Left of guest bedroom; deer will not stay.



Right side of guest bedroom, has one pot light already.



View of pot light in guest bedroom.

New nickel doorknob on guest closet.

New nickel doorknob on guest bedroom door.

Cans for pot light in TV room. Will have drywall ceiling.

Can for pot light in TV room.

There will be 2 pot lights here, and walls need additional drywall.



This closet in the TV room will be cut down to half its current depth. Also will get bi-fold doors.



Craig wants a much bigger TV eventually and will hide the wires behind the wall.

Studding up the guest bathroom.



Please keep in mind that we did not do the basement. When we moved out it was just one giant unfinished room. Like I mentioned before, I have no idea who the renters got to do the basement work, but if they paid him even $1, then they paid way too much! Everything in the basement was done shoddily, cheaply, lazily, and without skill. Thank heavens, I have a husband who knows how to do things right. The basement is not done at all the way we would have done it, but Craig is working to make it right the best that he can.

New Stuff

Some new things we purchased for the house:

The one on the right is new, the other my mom gave to me back in '92. These will hang on the wall in the half-bath. I just need to figure out what I want to do to frame them. I am thinking barn wood.

New mirror for the boys' bathroom. It is still in packaging. The old mirror is behind it and must be removed very carefully.

Close-up of detail on boys' mirror.

New beach picture to go above the mantle. It's still in packaging too. I want it mounted to the wall eventually.

Close-up of mantle picture.

Also, Craig started painting the stairwell and the downstairs guest bedroom green. He's not finished yet. We will replace the old hand-railing that you see in the picture.

This is a major improvement.

Craig's got big plans for the basement family room or 'man cave' as he likes to call it, and basement guest room, and I have plans for the furniture. The former mantle picture of the Eiffel Tower and the small metal Eiffel Tower that is still on the mantle will go into it as well as black/white bedding. I want black furniture that is similar to what we put in our bedroom. I found a cute Eiffel Tower lamp at Kirkland's that I may get later on. I also have a pretty black mirror to go in there as well. I wanted the walls painted blue like the other bedrooms, but Craig wants it green and since he has already started..... He will paint the basement bathroom blue though.

Trip!

We finally got to go on a trip that didn't have anything to do with Craig's job. We decided to take the 5th Wheel to North Carolina for a few days. Craig spent a lot of time as a child in Maggie Valley with his paternal grandparents, so we chose to stay there.

Craig found a nice RV park where we could stay by the Johnathon Creek. It was a nice nice creek/river. The sound of running water and the serenity of the mountains all around us made for a very relaxing and wonderful time. We saw the sights, went mini-golfing, ate local fare, roasted marshmallows over a campfire, the kids played at the campground, Craig met all the neighbors, the guys fished, and I got to catch up on my reading and my DS games, plus I even got to go to the local Curves. All in all, it was AWESOME!

As we were returning home, Craig pulled into the camp area at Talullah Falls Gorge just to check it out and we ended up staying one more night there. If I had known we were going to camp one more night, I would have asked Craig to let us stay in North Carolina instead. Nothing against Talullah, it's just that my heart is in the mountains.

View of the creek outside our RV living room window.

Chase mugging for the camera.

Peyty.

Our trailer.

Rear of trailer and view of mountains.

Craig fishing; he's got his waders on.

Kids posing in front of vintage fire truck.

Chasey.

View of rental cabins kitty-corner from our site. These cabins are gorgeous inside.

Local wildlife.

Peyty enjoyed throwing rocks in the creek.

Fixing something on the awning.

Sadly, there are no pics of me, but that's OK.

Completed and Yet to be Completed

Here are more pics of completed projects:

Espresso bamboo flooring at bottom of stairway in basement.

New vent covers are in the master and LR/kitchen. All vent covers were replaced, but these are the ornate ones. The others are the same color, but standard looking.

Craig's side of the closet. New storage/drawers.

My side of the closet. New storage/drawers.

New sink, mirror, light, and towel hanger in half bath.

Better view of sink in half bath.

Better view of mirror in half bath.

Here are pics of future projects that are still on the docket:

This shower will be taken and out and then tiled and bronze fixtures added. This shower is atrocious. If we cannot afford to tile the shower, then we will replace just the fixtures and change the sliding-doors to bronze with prettier glass.

Full view of yucky shower. Tub will get tile on the wall up to the bottom of the window that matches the shower tile. I want tumbled stone. If we can afford to tile the shower then I want a bronze door, not a sliding one.

Needs bronze filler and handles. It is very hard to find bronze shower/bath fixtures.

Stairs still need staining or painting. Am thinking about painting them the color of sun-bleached driftwood, as well as the oak railings, unless we get wrought-iron balusters and new railings.

Kitchen is oak, doesn't match color scheme of house and needs to be updated and reconfigured. If that is too much money, then I want to paint them. The bottom cabinets black/distressed/glazed and top cabinets bisque/distressed/glazed. Will also upgrade cabinets to have pull-out shelves. Needs new counters as well.

Fridge is in silly location next to a wall. You can not open the right door all the way to get the drawers open and they can not be removed to clean them properly. The doors are always hitting the wall and window mouldings.

Basement stairs will be painted the same colors as the upstairs. Walls to be painted green

I don't know what the renters were thinking when they painted the stairway to the basement. They just painted around everything instead of removing them first. I want these walls to be the same green as I have  in the L.R./ kitchen and the railing re-done in either white or black.

More lazy-man painting around the light in basement stairway.

What's up with their not painting the corners?????

Fingernail polish on stairway wall and hole they tried to cover up with wall putty.

This was much more visible when we moved back in , but it says BEWARE and there is a drawing of a smiley face. It is wearing away as we walk on it, but is is hideous and bugs me nonetheless.

There is still a lot or work to do. Hey, it only takes money. Now where can I find some more? We're tapped out with what we've already done. There is a ton more work to be done in the basement. The renters did some work down there, but we have no idea whether they got the proper permits to do so. Also, from the looks of the entire basement, it is obvious that they did not hire professionals. Enough said. We have no idea who did the work or what we will have to face financially to get everything done properly, correctly, and up-to-code. Those pics will come soon.

Other projects include:
1. Front porch railings, balusters, and posts must be re-painted white. They are moldy and green.
2. Front and back yards have been sorely neglected while were gone. Need to be completely dug up and re-sodded. They are more weeds and dirt than lawn at this time.
3. Entire house needs to be pressure washed as well as driveway, front porch and retaining wall. There is graffiti on it.
4. Stone stairway added from driveway up to the backyard. There is severe erosion problem that I hope the stairs will remedy.
5. All new window coverings for every window in the house.
6. Gutter by garage re-routed so that it does not flow across and down driveway.

Things I want done, but may not get done include:
1. Covered/screened in back porch.
2. Current real deck wood replaced with no-maintenance wood. I don't know the name or term for it, but my neighbors have it and I love it. No splinters, no fuss.
3. New garage doors.
4. Garage floor painted and sealed.
5. Rain gutters covered.
6. Driveway in back yard.
7. Detached boat/truck garage with office.