Farm Rescue

I'd like to show you one of my favorite pieces that I have in my home. It's an old Fairbanks grain elevator scale that came from my parents' farm. When my dad decided it was time for the leaning, sagging elevator to come down, my mom was savvy enough to see that there were some windows and possibly a few other treasures that could be salvaged. When I spotted this scale mechanism, full of oily, rusty old chains and nails and bolts, the memories of playing in that grain elevator as a child came flooding back! When I mentioned to my dad that I wanted this piece out before the building came down, he gave me what we refer to in our family as the "Buff look" which was his way of saying "Are you nuts? Not gonna happen!" He couldn't quite see the potential in it that I did, nor was he too interested in wrestling it out of it's spot...guess it weighs a few pounds. I was thrilled when he finally conceded (and discovered that the heavy iron scale mechanism could be removed) until I got a good look at how seriously saturated it was with old machine oil! Not one to shy away from getting my hands dirty, I took to it with some Dawn dishsoap and a steel brush and gently removed as much of the "antique" oil as I could. I think I did a pretty good job! You can see the distress marks and even some old carvings in the wood, which really lends to its character. I found the old church arch piece in an antique store and it fits nicely on top. Below the scale, I store my music cd's, which you don't really see until you're close up to it...and a really cute old wheel just for fun!

It's definately one of the most primitive pieces in my home, and I wondered if it would fit with the decor, since my house is a newer construction. I decided that I would find a spot for it regardless and it now sits in my kitchen. And....my dad was pretty impressed with how it looks as well. It pays to trust a junker's vision....thanks Dad!

Hookin' up to FJI's SNS here.