Wednesday, June 13, 2012

we gather here

The 95-year-old cottage across the road is up for auction. I wandered over there a few weeks ago to inspect the junk pile out front and I accidentally (luckily) got invited inside. Upon entering the kitchen I found my new table, patiently waiting for me. It has the patina of cutlery scratches and teapot burns. It came with a story, a good one, I think. 

I lit a beeswax candle for our first meal together. It didn't take long for Daniel and I to notice the two empty chairs. A bigger table requires a bigger family. There's two more spaces to fill (but not just yet).

Photos by the ever-lovely luisa who couldn't quite believe that we drink juice from jam jars.


39 COMMENTS

  1. gosh what a find! I'd love an old table like that and your ikea chairs just zing off of it. I like old and new together. Jodi, I would love to step into that room. x

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  2. what a lovely table. look at that golden wood. my parents have a table like that, made from up-cycled floorboards. as a child I would trace my fingers over the dents and imagine the high heeled shoes that could've caused them .. we drink from jars in our flat too - simply because the jars are better sizes than the few glasses we have.. and there is a cafe here that makes milkshakes in jars too !

    x

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  3. I love that you recycle them like that. Captains of Industry in the city has the sweetest little bottles you drink lemonade from (and it is yummy). Oh well, you've got plenty of time yet. I read your birth story about Poet yesterday and it made me that little bit less scared about when I get to that place eventually xx

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  4. So beautifully said Jodi. I love it.

    x

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  5. A table with a history that is still being written.

    x

    PS - you drink juice from jam jars!? lol.

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  6. Oh there is nothing like battered up honey coloured wood. Your house is now a home. x

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  7. Oh lovely - and I love to have furniture with a story behind it - so much nicer. There’s a cafe where I live that serves juice in jars - you’d love it there, it’s one of my favourite spots. If you ever visit London - come and drink juice from jars in there with me! x

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  8. What a fabulous find! Love that you recycle your jam jars as glasses! Fantastic idea!! x

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  9. How beautiful. You post title is so evocative and gorgeous. The table is darn good too. Is it nice where you live? I would love to live on the coast.

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  10. How gorgeous Jodi! I love how you have taken something with an already rich history and proceeded to make it your own. Forming new stories to be told. Just beautiful.
    xo

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  11. What a lovely table, i'm sure they were happy to see it go to a good home that will love it for many years to come.
    And some jam jars are just too beautiful to put in the recycling bin.

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  12. What a score! It looks great! Drinking out of jam jars? Why not? ;-)

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  13. I'm on the lookout for our family table - love that one!

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  14. Our dining table was bought by us from the people we bought our house from.
    It was the first thing I noticed when we first inspected the house.
    When we were signing the papers after the auction I asked the owner about it. When he mentioned he wanted to sell it we were excited!!!
    And even better the timber was from the old timber yards in our area (where my husband grew up) and it was built by an old craftsman in the highlands near where we got married.
    Some things are meant to be!

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  15. That's a gorgeous table- I'm jealous! I grew up drinking out of those exact Bonne Maman jam jars- when I saw them it immediately brought back memories. We use Ball jars in my house now :) Best part is they hold up far better to getting dropped than a normal glass.

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  16. Juice from jam jars, genius! I am so doing that.

    GORGEOUS table, I love it.

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  17. Your table look beautiful, drinking from jam jars, great!!, have a lovely day! xo

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  18. Beautiful table, Jodi, with it's tales and marks, and what lovely chairs and bits to accompany it! We drink from jam/olive/spice jars too (skinny spice jars are perfect for tiny hands, and are so sturdy), so we've had friends and parents offer to buy us proper drinking glasses when they visit - ha!

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  19. I also drink my juice out of Bonne Maman jars! They're great for smoothies

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  20. It's beautiful, Jodi. A place to sit and enjoy food, talk and make plans. A piece that you'll take with you forever, wherever you plant yourselves.

    One day I hope to sit with you at that table and drink from jam jars xx

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  21. Your new table is so nice and homey. I love furniture that's been lived with and loved. We found our big kitchen table at goodwill and after a lot of rehabbing it's now my most beloved piece of furniture. I plan to cart it with me wherever we go!

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  22. beautiful photos of a beautiful home. and 2 empty chairs...oh my goodness that's quite a plan you've got going on! x

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  23. there's something about drinking from jam jars....especially in the summer ;)

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  24. :) i like very much to imagine your growing family.

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  25. Loving old tables with patina and all. Yours looks amazing... such a great find! I have a table from 1920 which I bought back in Germany. I brought it all the way to Australia :)

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  26. Oh my Jodi what a great find .... I love it
    and jam jars are great as glasses (and for tealight candles)
    I'm sure you will add many more stories to your table !!!

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  27. There is nothing like the patina of an old table. It's beautiful. We purchased one at auction last year. I love it and sometimes think about how many families once sat around it. I know it spent some time in a shed when it wasn't considered "good" anymore. These tables are the kind of furniture that you will keep forever. I love furniture with a history.

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  28. Gorgeous words. The importance of meals together is great!

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  29. A big old table is as good as a hearth for homeliness x

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  30. Jam jars are perfect 'practise' cups for little ones too.

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  31. Hey, a few days ago, somewhere on the enormous jealousy-inducing interweb, I saw a photo of a table just like this ... only it had two big zigzags painted along it's length. It was seriously SO COOL. Kellie xx

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  32. juice from jam jars is the best thing ever! the table is a beautiful addition to your gorgeous family. xx

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  33. I cannot begin to tell you how huge my collection of Bonne mamma Jam Jars is! xx

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  34. The table is a truly beautiful find, have a lovely weekend :)

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  35. Such an amazing find! It was meant to be. x

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