La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
WE BOUGHT AN ANTIQUE ENGLISH pub table in a shop in Georgetown, Washington D.C., around 1984. It’s one of the five pieces of furniture we shipped from the United States when we moved to Spain. San Geraldo had read that, when moving to another country, it can be helpful to take with you some furnishings to make your new place feel more quickly like home. We were fortunate to have that option and it was an excellent piece of advice.
When it comes to our antique pieces, we’ve always tried to be purists about any repairs. We had avoided refurbishing the pub table so as to preserve its value. But we’re not selling it, so, finally, we don’t care. The original wood top is not quite large enough and the color/finish doesn’t suit our latest style. The cast iron base has always been in need of restoration. So, I talked to our talented friend Marisa, skilled in restoration (click here for an example), and she took the table away yesterday. She’ll bring it back in a couple of weeks with a major face lift.
The rest of today’s post is mostly about food — the potpourri part of the title.
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COMPRAMOS UNA ANTIGUA MESA DE pub en inglés en una tienda en Georgetown, Washington D.C., alrededor de 1984. Es uno de los cinco muebles que enviamos desde Estados Unidos cuando nos mudamos a España. San Geraldo había leído que, al mudarse a otro país, puede ser útil llevar algunos muebles para que su nuevo lugar se sienta más rápidamente como en casa. Tuvimos la suerte de tener esa opción y fue un excelente consejo. Tuvimos la suerte de tener esa opción y fue un excelente consejo.
En lo que respecta a nuestras piezas antiguas, siempre hemos tratado de ser puristas en cualquier reparación. Habíamos evitado renovar la mesa del pub para preservar su valor. Pero no la vendemos, así que, finalmente, no nos importa. La tapa de madera original no es lo suficientemente grande y el color/acabado no se ajusta a nuestro último estilo. La base de hierro fundido siempre ha estado necesitada de restauración (haz clic aquí para ver un ejemplo). Entonces, hablé con nuestra talentosa amiga Marisa, experta en restauración, y ayer se llevó la mesa. Lo traerá de vuelta en un par de semanas con un importante lavado de cara.
El resto del post de hoy trata principalmente sobre comida: la parte popurrí del título.
El gabinete alto en el fondo también es de nuestras vidas en los Estados Unidos, comprado en una tienda de antigüedades en Gloucester, Massachusetts, en 1982.
Pastel de manzana antes de ir al horno a principios de semana. Ya no es. (receta)
El pan de plátano llega hoy.
Una nueva incorporación al pan de plátano.
San Geraldo regresó ayer del supermercado con un capricho.
Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche de postre anoche (traído a casa con los chocolates).
San Geraldo encontró ayer estas alcaparras en el frigorífico.
27 de noviembre de 2014. ¿Crees que siguen siendo buenas?
Moose espera que me levante de la cama esta mañana. (La menina de la mesa del pub en su habitación temporal).
Moose se da cuenta de la cámara (la pequeña mierda).
Chocolate seems to be a theme, enjoy. I wonder if the top of the table was cut down at some point?
David:
I had thought the plank on top of the table wasn’t original because of the fit. But some years later, I was in a pub in England and the tables were the same. Badly fitting tops with parts of the bases sticking out. And the wood was identical. It’s a beautiful piece of wood.
Moose is a sly devil when the camera appears.
Bob:
Dudo will usually pose. Moose usually either turns his back on me or gets up and walks up to me to be petted.
I would toss the capers. I LOVE the face in the ironwork legs of the pub table. and the FOOD! and moose!
anne marie:
Oh, yeah, the capers went right in the trash. We, too, love the face in the ironwork. Hoping Marisa can bring it out a bit more with her loving care. Moose is yowling at me from the door right now. It’s going to be a long 35 minutes until treat time.
Look forward to seeing the pub table refurbishment by Marissa. The ironwork legs on it remind me of a very old Singer sewing machine table my mother used to have,
Your 2014 caper incident reminds me of my two oldest grandchildren (late teens at the time) going through the upper shelves of one of my food cupboards a year or so ago. Being vertically challenged at 157.5cm, I rarely make it those upper shelves unless a ladder is involved (did I mention I’m never that interested…). They had a hoot finding items with sell-by dates from the first decade of this century, I told them it was an historical challenge. A jar of capers may have been involved. Must admit, refrigerator condiments best-by dates are easily overlooked, too.
Mary:
I’m also reminded of those old Singer sewing machines. I always wanted one and I knew so many people who had them as tables. Whenever I visited my mother, I would attempt to reduce her collection of canned goods in the cabinets. When she died in 2016, I still found items from the 1960s! She actually once told me around 2012 to pour myself a drink from an open bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream… that had been in the liquor cabinet since before my father died in 1987!
That IS a very small tabletop, even for a pub. The base reminds me a bit of the old Singer sewing machines — they have similarly ornate legs. I bet those capers are fine — they’re basically pickled, aren’t they?
Steve:
Years after we bought the table, I was in a pub somewhere near Horsham that had tables of the same size and with tops cut identically, with part of the base exposed. I always wanted one of those Singer sewing machine tables. Don’t know why I never bought one, but glad we have the pub table.
Steve:
Forgot about the capers. They’ve been trashed. SG doesn’t even like leftovers after 2 days!
So many wonderful colors and textures in that first photo. I can’t wait to see the refurbished pub table (I’ve never heard of a pub table, but I love that iron base)!
Judy C:
Head into any old (vintage) English pub and you’ll probably see similar tables. There’s even one in Minneapolis that shipped them over. I, too, can’t wait to see what Marisa does. Her work is exceptional.
I hope you don’t die from capers poisoning!
Debra:
That sounds dangerous. I’d better google it. Anyway, no worries, they were immediately trashed. SG doesn’t like to eat things that have been in the fridge for a week. Not a chance with 6-year-old capers.
I bet the capers are fine, the liquid is still clear. But I am sure they are history by now! Our fridge just crapped out on us so we have tons of condiments to toss out. Probably not from 2014, though. Looking forward to seeing the reincarnated pub table.
Wilma:
Yep, those capers went right in the trash… and the jar and lid in recycling. I can’t believe we had something from 2014 in our fridge. I am constantly tossing outdated items and still manage to find things from years ago.
I am not sure I would eat anything pre 2020 (even then anything from this year would be off too! it’s that year) but definitely not that old, especially already open. If you love your furniture best to redo it to your current taste. If it was a 20,000 antique maybe not but a more functional table like that – definitely
Cheapchick:
Yeah, those capers weren’t debatable. And you’re right about not wanting to eat anything labeled 2020. Maybe come January 1, we’ll toss it all! I wasn’t an antique purist until we bought from a dealer in DC in the ’80s, who made me feel like an idiot for wanted to refinish a butler’s server in disastrous condition that we were considering buying. He was so arrogant that we didn’t buy it and never bought another thing from him. But I never stopped thinking that way. And you’re right, a museum-quality piece is one thing, a side table for our house is another!
I like your style of elegant simple no clutter nice things.
I like the cat too.
Urspo:
We did some major downsizing over the years reaching its peak with the move to Spain. We used to have a lot more clutter.
Wait…..no full moon shot today?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I am glad you took some pieces. I have friends that move all the time, and evetime they move they sell everything. That bothers me. 1- do they never appreciate anything they have? and 2- who the hell wants to keep starting over? I feel like no place would ever feel like home. If I moved I would have to take some thing like you guys to bring the memories with me. Certain things just make the home.
Mistress Maddie:
We’re really glad SG read that advice about taking some pieces with us. We do miss some of our things still, but had no idea what we’d have room for. The day OUR furniture arrived at our place in Sevilla really did make us feel like we were home. The best advice we ever received.
Mistress Maddie:
Forgot to comment about the full moon. That was so much fun, I thought of going full frontal… but that’s not going to happen!
My lips are sealed honey!!!! But yes, it very freeing to flash the moon at times! Maybe Ill even surprise you!
Can’t wait to see the restoration! It’s nice to give favorite pieces a new life. You two were admirably restrained in your move. We moved a half-size shipping container from SF to France. It took almost two months to make the trip (down to LA, through the Panama Canal, up to Savannah and Norfolk, over to Rotterdam, then to a northern French port before it was hauled by semi to our house. The shipping company was great. They packed everything in SF. Nothing was broken in transit.
Walt the Fourth:
We had no idea what size place we were moving into and we had so much STUFF including some over-sized pieces of furniture that would be hard to fit. We do miss some specific things now, but glad we have what we have. One small shipping container carried it all. Our shipping company was not so great. Went from LA to England (don’t know what route it took). Sat in storage in England for a month until we had a place to deliver it to. Then by boat to Málaga and truck to Sevilla. Then back to Málaga because the truck was too big to fit down our street. Then back to Sevilla a day later. One bent antique lamp with a broken filigree, which I guess wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Too bad we didn’t know you before we made our arrangements!
We have a TV programme here in England on BBC, called “Money for Nothing”. The presenter has special permission to be at a recycling centre ( dump) and they find 3 items from people before they throw them away. The items are then taken to specialist restorers and either refurbished as they are or made into something entirely different…(often only using a few bits of the old item, which is a bit of a cheat if you ask me!! ) Anyway…one of last week’s progs had a table almost exactly like your pub table! It had a new top put on it and the legs were cleaned and painted and it looked great. He also made some bottle carriers with the old table top. The new items are then sold, and the profit is given back to the original owner. Can’t remember how much it sold for.
Love the blue sky and sea photo….it is 0 degrees C here at the moment and foggy with it!
Frances:
I’ll have to see if I can find a video from that specific show. Sounds like fun. Marisa does that kind of work, so can’t wait to see how she revives the pub table. I told her she could keep the original wood type; she’ll find some use for it.
If it is any help. it was on our BBC 1 at 3.45pm last Friday afternoon. ( I just checked with the TV mag!)
I love your pub table but look forward to seeing its rebirth.
Love,
Janie
Janie:
So do I and I’m very excited. I made Marisa a little nervous with the post. I gave her some basic input, but didn’t want to stifle her creativity. I’ve seen so much of her other work that I know no matter what she does, we’re going to love it.