hearth and stool

A lifetime ago I collected some beautiful pieces of Victorian golden oak furniture, and still have most of them. (There's an ex-husband out there somewhere with a Hoosier cabinet with my name on it, but alas, I tried to be fair when the dividing time came: he got the Hoosier, I got the buffet, ladies desk, and dresser. That's fair, right?) The warm, mellow glow of the century-old wood, the rich relief of the carvings, the stories the pieces would surely tell, if they could...I loved it, and still. Despite my weakness for painted furniture, I would never paint these pieces, regardless of current trends or fashion. 

Here in our (poplar-clad) house on Moss Hill, we're surrounded by lovely wooden floors, unpainted woodwork, and an oak fireplace. The living room is an oak forest, and beyond the (trimmed in unpainted wood) windows is more wood: the covered porch (all natural wood) and the (living, growing) woods beyond. Beautiful. But - and yes, there always is one - we're swimming in a sea of wood. 

Which is likely one reason I'm so set on finding a couple of these shiny, ceramic, non-wooden garden stools to use as side tables:

mouse over images for source

Oh, to have a little house,
To own the hearth and stool and all!
The heaped-up sods upon the fire,
The pile of turf against the wall!
To have a clock with weights and chains
And pendulum swinging up and down,
A dresser filled with shining delph,
Speckled and white and blue and brown!

- Padraic Colum,  c.1907 'An Old Woman of the Roads'

Thanks to Jenny for pointing me in this direction!

http://confessionsofasineater.blogspot.com/