It's Not About Me

• My father’s hobby was weaving. Out of the blue, he ordered a big four harness floor loom from Canada. He really enjoyed this hobby as he made numerous coverlets, placemats, etc. He would buy his thread in bulk and sometimes his selection of colors was not the best! I used to help him string the loom; I wove a few little items, but it was not my favorite thing to do as it was too redundant for me.

• I did learn to cane split bottom chairs as we always had old antiques that needed repairing. • My family used to go “antiquing” on weekends. We would drive around out in the country side in Hardeman County and go up to any old house, knock on the door (if they were not sitting out on their front porch) , and ask them if they had any “old stuff to sell”. Usually, we would mention a coffee grinder or dough tray or something simply to get the conversation started. It was remarkable what people would have that they inherited from their parents, uncles, etc. We picked up many of our antiques in this manner: kitchen cupboard, chairs, corner cupboard, bedside tables, glassware, etc. It was a fun thing to do as it was almost like a treasure hunt. Usually, if they did not have anything themselves, they would say that “so and so” down the road might have what you are looking for…and we would head off to our next stop! You would not try this adventure in this day and time…you would probably get shot. Occasionally, somebody would tell us that they used to have “such and such” but they sold it to an old lady and her son about 30 years ago; unbeknownst to them the persons they were talking about were

18