Items Spotted in Our House
Posted on 08. Apr, 2008 by Laura-Jane - Whimfield in House
In the walls: newspaper from 1915;
In the walls: chewed up French currency from France (really old);
In the floorboards: vintage beads, circa 1940;
In the floorboards: a vintage metal broach;
In the floorboards: vintage hand-cut paper cutouts of a heart and a purse;
Unmentionables: a live mouse (only one so far), thousands of live flies (and even more fly residue), three dead birds, some bird’s nests, some mouse houses, and numerous mummified rodents and bird bones;
And my favourite discovery, which I unearthed yesterday: the cutest wall-paper imaginable!
The majority of the wall-paper was removed years ago, but only a few scraps remained beneath a window frame’s moulding. If I ever get organized (which I am finding hard to imagine a future where I would ever have time to do this), I plan to frame this scrap in a tiny frame. Aaah, all these little ideas that may or may not materialize in the far-flung future.
Kelli
Apr 8th, 2008
I wish I could have framed some of the wallpaper I found in my house, but it crumbled to dust as soon as I touched it. Fortunately I got good photos of it, so I can at least frame the photos! :)
Marjorie
Apr 9th, 2008
what do you mean by ‘chewed up’ French currency? Do you mean chewed by the rodents or birds? (hope you took photos or kept the currency – we can ask Gilles about it – he still thinks in OLD French Francs (what was in circulation when he was a boy) and so has to convert from old French Franks to new French francs to Canadian dollars!!
Oooh la la, is this ever cute wallpaper! I adore it!! So glad you got this sweet photo of it including a snippet of the wallpaper to the right. It is a treasure!!! Yes, you must frame this. Hey,I wonder if there is any more of this wallpaper still in existence on the whole planet!!
I wish I myself would have taken photos of the newspaper insulation, and moss insulation/chinking (yes, walls and walls of moss chinking as insulation) that was under the pine boards in the house you were born in, at the end of Chinook Avenue. I wonder if I had the sense to take even one photo of the moss chinking – maybe it is in a ’slide’ (?)… or maybe I just dreamt that I took a photo of it…
lots of love, mom
Vicki
Apr 18th, 2008
That is always so exciting to find stuff in the walls. Are you going to leave something in the walls for the next person who thinks Aha, lets renovate!!
Carol
Jul 5th, 2009
My grandfather served in WWII in Belgium (I know that one because he brought home coins and my mom still has them in a cowhide purse). Maybe he brought home the currency? Years ago, someone was renovating and found mom’s old highschool french text book behind the wall. They kindly sent it to her in the Yukon. She was very excited to get it.
Please do frame the wallpaper!!!
Your blog is leaving me feeling very nostalgic and wishing I was “home” on the island and not in the Yukon!
Sal
Oct 10th, 2009
Get an old $2, carefully preserve and put it and Toonie in the wall. Maybe with a little note.
That is a fun idea – wall-o cacheing – hahahahah