Salvage Surprise

Last week I mentioned going off to a new city or area and being surprised by the interesting things I found there. Albany, the capitol or New York State, was one of those places.

It's definitely a city that needs some up-grading. Much of it is quite old and seems to have remained unchanged for decades. But I liked looking at the old homes and there was a great museum about the state.

But the biggest surprise, and the most fascinating place we went, was a salvage yard. Inside I found a "modern convenience for housewives--a baking station. It almost looked like a desk. There was a chair and flat surface in front of it, plus drawers and cabinets for all the baking supplies, including a large contained with a plugged funnel at the bottom, so you could dump the big bag of flour into it and then funnel out what you needed.

Despite the fact that I don't bake bread, I wanted that baking station. The instruction booklet alone was a hoot. However, when I'm considering bringing something large home with me, I mentally walk around my house to see where I could put it. At this point, my house is full. Not quite bursting, but close enough. Something would have to go before anything new could come.  So I couldn't take it home with me. I can't believe one of us didn't even think to take a photo.

The other amazing item that we saw was a bright red, British phone booth. I loved it! Memories of our trip to London swirled through my head and I immediately mentally walked through my house (not a chance) and around the yard. Nothing popped. Reluctantly, I bid it a teary farewell and walked away.

Back at home and several days later, it finally hit me that it would fit in the corner of the back deck. What a great conversation piece! How wonderful to have something so out of the ordinary! I could get a life-size mannequin and put it inside. I knew that it would make me smile every time I saw it.

I called my husband and told him to go back and get it. I don't remember if we even checked the price, but it didn't matter. It was gone. Sold to someone who thought faster than I did.

So now we're on this trip and my daughter said she'd found a salvage warehouse, would we like to see it? We walked in and off to the left I saw it. A British phone booth. I tried to remain calm as I headed that way. Then after just a few steps I knew something wasn't right. It was the color--it was the wrong shade of red. Plus it wasn't shiny enough. It was a wooden reproduction. Sigh.  

As we get back to our planned travels, I'll be keeping an eye out for salvage yards. And the next time we find an authentic British phone booth...

It's mine!