On the 20th of March of this year I posted a little thing here in the blog called “A rush of blood to the head”. It has proved to be my most liked post. I thought I would follow that one up and show you this new friend. “Ting” 2. It doesn’t “ting” in quite the same way as it’s friend in the other room, but it does have a proper ringing bell instead of a modern, shrill, soul-curdling, insistent cacophony. And it is the phone that so many of us over a certain age remember spending hours talking on as a teenager. BUT I never saw a blue one before.
Love at first sight.
I will put it into context now and show you where it lives.
This little corner is just the most comfortable place to sit and answer the phone. And I thought, as it has just finished being “Second-hand September” here in the UK, that I would say a few words about that.
Ting 2 is obviously second-hand and lovingly restored by the same craftsman who restored Ting 1. Could I have bought a cheap repro model for less money? Of course, and then regretted my decision for years. Repro phones have push buttons and weigh NOTHING. Cheap rubbish. The phone in the photo has serious heft to it. So, I paid a bit for that but not as much as you might think. Take off the potential cost of several badly made telephones that seem to mysteriously die as soon as the guarantee expires, and it suddenly looks like very good value. Now the cost of the little table it is sitting on? NOT SO MUCH. I got two for £25.00 and did one up to give to a friend as a present.
An antique music cover, well past its prime and already dog-eared, was used here in a Chalk Paint, decoupage and wax treatment and I was happy enough with the outcome. My friend seemed to like it.
Mrs Blue Chair now…
…and I do feel it might be a “she” as it has such lovely lines. This was nabbed second-hand from Facebook Marketplace for the princely sum of £25, plus a bit of fuel to go and fetch it.
I do love the idea of giving things another chance, of cherishing something that may have meant something very important to someone else. And for all of its slightly formal overtones, this chair is meant to be used. It is supremely well made and very comfortable and it makes me smile every time I see it. I cannot help but feel how much my Grandmother would have approved of my choice and been not just a little jealous of my bargain find!
Oh, how I wish I could have all the loved ones in my life who have “gone ahead” over to see what I am doing. What a party it would be!
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Quotidian 