Hello Again

Hi Purposeful People!

I have been out and about looking for things to breathe new and different life into.  I was hiking at a local nature conservancy with my man and our dog.  The land was gifted by a wonderful local family.  It originally served as pastures for their cows that provided the milk for their dairy.  As the family grew, times changed, the dairy relocated, but the land remained in the family.  The elders saw the opportunity to leave a priceless legacy by gifting the land to the city, keeping it from being developed while generations can enjoy its beauty.   What an amazing RE:Purpose!  So, as we walked this beautiful land I saw out of the corner of my eye a glint of metal.  It turned out to be an old milk delivery crate from the dairy, I can see it in my minds eye filled with glass bottles of fresh milk on a local porch.  I will be filling it with pansies and putting it on my front porch.  My small way of appreciating the Purpose of the gift I was given from that land.

Lindsay

Educate With Purpose

Hi There,

I was at one of my favorite places yesterday, my public library, The Russell Library in Middletown, Connecticut.  I love books and reading.  This is a passion given to me by my parents and shared by all of the people I love in life.  In this age of electronics, fast paced lives and Tivo, we lose sight of the beauty of the written word.  I recently read a book about two sisters and ones love of books, her rejection of e-books because she could not feel the pages.  I could not agree more, books have lives, souls and purpose.  I collect vintage cookbooks.  I cannot tell you the excitement and elation I feel when I find a hand written note from the original owner letting me know that a substitution makes the recipe better or a torn out recipe from a periodical gone by that the previous owner thought high enough of to keep.  This feeling is like the one I previously posted regarding looking at old buildings and wondering.....go to the library, take out a book and wonder....meanwhile you are RE:Purposing in the best way.......

RE: Purpose Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Part of being a RE: Purposer is that it's good for the earth, less things in the landfill.  But what about Planes, Trains and Automobiles....they are easily repurposed.  There are charities that accept used cars as tax deductible donations.  Your local technical high school will do the same.  Our local toy and hobby shop, Amato's, http://www.amatostoyandhobby.com/ gorgeously demonstrates the art of the locomotive through beautifully staged model train exhibitions that provide multiple ideas.  Old steam locomotives are a definitive nod to the Art Deco and Industrial Ages.  Planes you ask?  This picture, I believe, demonstrates a rawness in the beauty of an old plane, in this case a crop duster, outside of Missoula, Montana.  This image is repurposed by being enlarged and printed, framed and hung on the wall of an engineer.....RE: Purposeful art.

Follow The Gut

Hello Purposeful People!

I am consistently saddened when folks want to remodel and old home, co-op, walk up, pied a terre and don't see the value in salvaging the architectural detail and integrity, they simply gut the place.  I am torn between loving and loathing the businesses who make it their business to gut a place and then resell the tear downs at remarkable and sometimes absurd prices. 

However, I cannot stop shopping those places.  I occasionally find something that I can RE: Purpose, but more often I find myself imagining where the item, adornment or whole room came from?  What were the original owners like, what did they do for a living?  What would they think about where their vision ended up?

The next time you are out and pass an old building, look up, enjoy the detail and wonder......

Lindsay

P.S.

Here is one of my favorite places to wonder...

http://www.unitedhousewrecking.com/

Making more room in the kitchen

What Fun!

Old Postcards

After a long day of flea markets, junk stores and yard sales, my man and I run into and old junior high school friend and her two daughters.  She sees my Jeep filled with items and inquires as to what the heck?  I explained I am a born "RE: Purposer"....she admits that she is not and then admits she is recently divorced, quite down sized and just quite down.  What an invitation!  We spent the next day RE: Purposing some of her and her daughters things, making old memories fade and new ones emerge.  We painted, stressed, turned a dresser into a side board and had a wonderful time......I think I have created a RE: Purposed monster as she is joining me next weekend for the latest "hunt".