Today, The Squire hung the curtain rods in the guest room, and I ironed and hung the curtains. We need to get new pull shades for both windows and one more piece of bead board to put on the lower parts of the two book cases, so they will match the rest of the wall.
The cross-stitch pictures along the wall opposite the bed were a gift from a friend at church. She had picked them up at a yard sale for the grand sum of $10! For all four of them! Together! It borders on sacrilege. The frames alone are each worth more than that. And to have four years worth of stick-to-it-iv-ness to have actually finished the entire group is a real accomplishment. That’s the trouble with hand work; people who don’t do it don’t understand how much effort and time it takes. Well, JWF, whoever you are (or were), I appreciate them. Thank you very much!
We did discover that those “Command” wall hooks don’t hold a picture this size and when they let loose, they pull the paint off the wall, along with part of the sheet rock. I consider it a blessing that the glass didn’t break when the first one fell.
I bought the quilt set and matching drapes many, many years ago. The curtains were way too long, so I shortened them and used the cut-offs to make a cushion for my sewing chair. The chair itself, the sewing machine cabinet, and the marble topped wash stand all came from my grandmother’s house. (The sewing machine itself is “new”. My mum gave it to me around 1970.) The table next to the recliner is an antique; my mum gave it to us when she moved into a retirement center. The Squire made the lamp in shop when he was in high school. I gave him the recliner for Christmas not too long after I quit working in 1983.
The dresser was a gift from my brother-in-law. We needed one and he was looking to dispose of this, so it worked beautifully. There is a hanging bar behind the right hand door and four drawers on the other side. The oil lamp on the wall needs to be higher. From August 2000 to August 2001, we hosted an exchange student from Morocco. As Youssef was vacuuming his room before he left, he hit that lamp and poured the entire font of kerosene into his suitcase. Even then, things were tense in the Middle East, and I was not about to let him get on an airplane with luggage that smelled as if it was about to burst into flames. I had to wash his stuff three times to get to odor out, and used about a dozen dryer sheets, to boot. I bumped my head on it a couple of times this week, so it needs to be moved. There is a mirror between the dresser and the wall that doesn’t fit anyplace, so I’ll probably have to hit Target and find something to hang over the dresser.
thisendoftheswamp 
What you two have accomplished is down right amazing! The cross-stitch samplers are gorgeous and if Antiques Roadshow ever show in Baltimore, you really need to take the samplers there. And, yes, the sconce has really got to go; self-immolation is never a good idea even if it is done in protest.