Used but Useful

We inherited a lot of stuff when we moved into our house, and I keep finding treasures like this fun little metal tray and a gazillion - give or take a zillion or two - nails, screws, bolts and washer preserved in old jelly jars.

We only met Emil Gelb a few times, but every time we find something useful, or something that makes us shake our heads, we think of him fondly. (Among the treasures he left that didn't make the "keep" pile was enough dry-cleaner plastic bags to stuff a mattress or six.)

Two of the best things were lawn chairs. The old kind with woven strips. We have decided they're at least 60 years old because they're super sturdy and don't fold. They went perfectly with the house until some of the webbing started to give way to age.

Our neighborhood had a yard sale and I found some things down the street that I thought my sisters would want. Our neighbors Don and Patty Holtz actually knew Mr. Gelb, the original owner of our house.

Don and Patty were giving away some lawn chairs of the same ilk as Mr. Gelb's but more modern. As Jeff and I argued over whether they needed to come live at our house - Jeff reminded me of our years-long plan to re-web the inherited chairs and I reminded him of the years-long part, which inspired Don. He had spare webbing that he was trying to get rid of.

So we spent most of Saturday afternoon fixing the chairs. It required only one trip to the hardware story and we didn't even get into an argument over how to do it. It was a major milestone in the Reed family joint home improvement projects.

We had enough good strips to keep one chair in its original form for a little while longer. The green and white one is a combination of Don's old webbing and a few new white strips we had to buy. You'll find us on the front porch in them for the rest of the summer toasting both the Gelbs and the Holtzes.

It's been an eventful couple of weeks. My niece, Rebecca Weir, has moved in for a little while as she takes a couple summer classes at Butler University. She'll be back in university housing in the fall, but for now, we're having a lot of fun with her her. Via Netflix, she and Ali are introducing me to Parks & Recreation, which I somehow missed the first time around.

They made French macaroons today. Becca was recovering from her Organic Chemistry test and Ali is working on a project for our neighbor, Kris, who's father passed away. If they keep this up, I may not make it through the summer without needing to buy new clothes.

 Last weekend, we spent some time at Queen Lynn Sinex's lake with John and Lisa Vielee. While it wasn't especially taxing, day drinking is apparently not a skill either Jeff or I have acquired.

Ali and her friend Nikki hit the water almost as soon as we go there. It was super fun and I woke up in time to come in 2nd in the pool for who would win the Indy 500.

We started off this weekend with a trip to Newfields, formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Art where we were going to watch "The Phildelphia Story" on the outdoor movie screen. Weather sent us inside, but it was still a lovely time with our friend Clay Miller.

It was a fitting prelude to our dive into restoring vintage chairs, although the movie is likely older than the chairs.Ali was a good sport hanging out with old people and even said she liked the movie, although if she had to choose between Katherine Hepburn and Clay's chicken salad, I think she'd choose the salad...