Country Dairy's and a Long Awaited Hand Me Down

On Saturday we took a little joy ride through some country we have never been through before.  Idaho has a ton of countryside farms and dairy's so it is a lot of fun to roll the windows down on a cool evening and go for a relaxing drive.  The smells of the fresh cut hay, the alfalfa, and the Russian Olive trees are amazing.  We get to see so many neat birds and occasionally a fox or coyote.  What I really love though is the old barns and houses that are left behind by early settlers.  There aren't many left, but when we find one, I can't resist a picture or two.

My Mother has a few prized antique pieces in her house that were scouted from my Grandmother's basement when she passed away.  She has had this washboard sitting in her laundry room for years.  I have secretly had my eye on it for just as long, patiently waiting for the day she decided to pass it to me. 

She and my Dad just decided it was time to move to a smaller home and so she was cleaning out and the blessed day came.  I got the washboard!  It was in bad shape when I received it.  Both sides were broken in half and held together with masking tape.  The wood was very dry and had paint spilled on it.  

I fixed the sides with Gorilla Glue, hydrated the wood with Coconut Oil, and used a putty knife to carefully remove the paint and soap scum.  It is now absolutely beautiful.

Along with the washboard came an unopened mint condition box of starch.  I think it is so cool that Grandma saved this stuff for so long.  She had no idea of it's value later on.  She was just saving stuff because it was what she was taught to do in the depression. It's like me saving a bottle of liquid Tide for 50 years.  

Things have been quite interesting around here this summer.  I still feel like I am living in a dream and soon I will wake up to the day it was before Oldest was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  

But, it never happens and life goes on.  I have the pictures to prove life has been happening. I have blog posts of our family adventures this summer.  School is starting in a couple of weeks so I know time has been moving.  I just feel so disconnected from it all.

I am thankful for the camera lens.  So I can go back and remember all the fun times we have had.