common ground

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mystery Solved...

There are times when you can look back and see where one small act changed the course of your life. What seems a random choice at the time, turns out to be one of those life altering occurrences. I'm sure we've all had them, but it's up to us, the individual, if we see them as coincidence, totally random, fate, luck, destiny, or maybe it was God moving us in a direction we wouldn't have otherwise traveled.

I'm going to tell you about one of mine...

It was after Christmas about nine years ago that I was cleaning off the downstairs mantel, putting away all the Christmas decor. I totally stripped down the large rustic wood beam that has always been a challenge to decorate properly. I tried several things but nothing seemed "right". I had a picture in my head about some sort of wooden box that would look good up there. I tried a few things we had, and nothing worked; too big, too small, wrong shape...nothing worked. The weekend came and I was on a mission to find "The Box". The "picture" I had was of a smallish box with a keyhole...I would know it when I saw it.

Real long story shorter...my hubbs and I decided to scope out all the antique malls and fleas in the area,. We'd have a fun weekend out and about, but in my heart it was the quest for this special box. So on Sunday afternoon, we happened into an antique mall that we hadn't been to before. Hey, my husband knew the owner from growing up with him and we chatted and reminisced before we checked out the booth spaces. Time got away from us and it was almost closing time when I spotted this worn out and used hard wooden box. Hallelujah, I knew right away that it was THE box I'd been looking for.

The markings on the top were worn out and barely discernible, the finish was rough and flaking, but it was the right size and had the keyhole. I brought it home, ran downstairs to the mantel, placed it in the center and said a "thank you, Jesus" prayer. It worked.

Fast forward, we started several antique mall spaces there, and never looked back. That was the beginning of our business. I'd been buying and selling antiques my whole life, but never had a shop or space. So the search for a small wooden box was the motivation to move us forward for a really wonderful time in our life. The antique malls, flea markets, and small shops eventually led me to this blog, and so here I am having gotten to know you all. And this has been one of the most rewarding times of my life.

Are you still interested in the "mystery"?

Well, we never could figure out what the box had been originally made for. We knew the inner lining and workings were gone. It also had "Switzerland" stamped on the bottom. We now have it setting on the arched opening from the kitchen as a kitty deterrent. Of course the first thing the girls wanted to do was hop back and forth from the sink to the loveseat below the opening. ah no... not happening.

Last Monday night we were watching one of our fave TV shows "The Blacklist", when lo and behold, there was an almost replica of our little wooden box. It was a music box that had been given to Lizzie by her father many years ago. If you don't watch the show, you're missing out. This is one of the best on television right now, so go catch up, it's a totally fascinating story line.

These are some photos from Google when I did a search.

I found examples of many different styles and sizes, each with a somewhat different design or crest on the top. I could barely make out the design on top of ours, which after searching, turned out to be a horn and probably a violin with other musical items. I never would have thought that it was a music box.