My Dad owns rental property. His properties aren't exactly Beverly Hills mansions or Miami Beach condos. They are situated in Columbus where the real estate market and economy has plummeted over the last year. Most of his rental property was already in areas on the decline before the real estate slump.
When renters leave (usually in a hurry from not paying rent and not wanting to be evicted) they sometimes leave things behind. Usually they leave behind trash, old clothes, and generally things they feel aren't worth the time to pack. Dad has a tendency to go through all this "stuff" and cherry pick what he thinks might be worth something. I tend to think he keeps WAY TOO MUCH of all this, but I try not to argue with him.
At Thanksgiving when we met to drive down to Deer Lodge, Tennessee to see my cousins, Dad brought along some "stuff" he thought I might like. He said it needed elbow grease but would look nice when it was cleaned up. He handed me two black encrusted metal objects vaguely resembling a candy dish and a teapot. Vincent and Perry raised some eyebrows as I threw it in the trunk of the car and said thank you.
After Thanksgiving we returned home and I made a stop at Target. I bought some silver cleaner, some red candles, and some small red and silver round ornaments. With a LOT of elbow grease I was able to clean up the candy dish/candle holder and make a nice centerpiece for Christmas dinner. After Christmas dinner it resides on the mantle. I even was able to mostly clean up the teapot, even though it still has a few tarnish spots and is missing the very top piece of the lid. I haven't figured where this will go, but it surprised me that it turned out as nicely as it did.
While I don't always believe one person's junk is another person's treasure, both these pieces surprised me. Although Dad might have been right this time, I don't think he's going to convince me on a lot of his other projects/treasures.
--- Stephanie
1 comment:
Very nice!
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