Treasure trove

This late spring is killing me! Between the new farm, new baby, and bad weather, I have a ton of things on my 'to do' list in my head. I was finally able to sneak in a little raking last night. The raking turned into trimming and then into an all-out overhaul of the side yard (I tend to be extreme sometimes). Well during my venture into the jungle that separates the property from the neighbors, I ran into a few hefty items deep under the leafy ground cover. The first thing I pulled out looked like some sort of huge oversized crow bar or something... there were three of those. After researching I found they are the cast iron legs of an old desk! Love it! Then I literally dug out an old kitchen sink! heavy sucka, it think it is cast iron with porcelain overlay? Not positive. A side note: the dirt in and around the sink and desk legs is BEAUTIFUL! I NEED to get gardening people! Anyhow, back to my story: Once the sink was unearthed, that's when I saw it. Be still my heart... it was a heart? there was literally an old iron heart the size of a dinner plate in the ground.... I was immediately giddy (those who know me understand). My sweet, nurturing, patient, kind husband was watching the whole thing unfold. I promptly announced that this 'heart-thing' would be hanging in the house soon. Knowing me, He just agreed. As I went in to retrieve it, it was much bigger than I originally thought. I began it dig around it and unearthed this beauty:

 I researched online last night and found that it is a door to a very early turn of the century cook stove. These stoves are referred to as "The heart of the Home" which is inscribed on the top of the heart-hinge. Our Farm was built 100 years ago this year, so this is most likely the original stove door from the kitchen! To make this even sweeter, I dream of owning one of these stoves in the future. And even sweeter, while looking online, I was able to find only one heart (just the heart piece) that was exactly the same. The dealer sold it for $600! Pretty cool. I did find another full door (similar but not as pretty :) for $1200.  I will most likely restore it and hang it in the kitchen. LOVE.

Here are some pics of the other treasures:

 

 

Thank you Jesus for these beautiful things. Thank you more, for my beautiful family. If I didn't have my husband and children to share this home and experience with, these would be merely empty objects.