New Desk

As I mentioned in my last post, I've got a list of things to do this summer - stuff I didn't have the energy or inclination to do while I was teaching. So summer time it is. Can I just say, first, though, how much I love summer? It is SO luxurious, after 10 months of a very inflexible schedule, to be able to sleep in, or not. To be able to go to a thrift store whenever I just feel like it. To be able to go for a bike ride or a walk at 2pm. And definitely, DEFINITELY to take a mini road trip to Nanton to go antiquing! The next item on my list of summer goals: figure out a desk.

I had an extremely improvised little shelf to hold my computer made of a $5 cupboard door from the As Is section in Ikea and a couple of brackets. It was very sad and definitely not chic.

Nanton is a town an hour south of the big city of Calgary. It's a quaint little town, and has marketed itself as the antique capital of southern Alberta. It has a bunch of antique stores lining its main street. So cute.

Nanton is a typical prairie town. It obviously values the past, though, because in addition to its love of antiques, Nanton's residents saved their grain elevators. These giants have quickly disappeared from the Western Canadian skyline in recent years in favour of more modern versions that store much more grain. I love the Prairie Giants, though. It's really nice to see people valuing these parts of our history. In Western Canada, our history is comparatively short. Alberta only became a province in 1906! People had only migrated here a short time before that. So our buildings are mostly new, and people tend to value the shiny and new and not put a whole lot of stock in buildings of the past. That's why Nanton appeals to me, I guess. My parents came from Eastern Canada, and brought with them a love of old buildings and taught me to value history.

That is downtown Nanton. A wide street with angle parking is rare nowadays.

 An old hotel. Doesn't it look like it would fit right in in a western movie? People playing cards downstairs and getting up to no good?

That right there is the best antique store in all of Nanton. It's in an old hardware store and the building itself is quite awesome. Inside is a treasure trove! I should have taken some pictures inside. Upstairs would have originally been apartments, and each of the six suites has been converted to a stall that serves like an antique mall. Vendors set up their stuff in there. What's super neat is that the apartments fixtures have been left alone. There's still kitchen counters and cabinets and stuff inside.

So, back to the desk. My budget was rather small. They had a whole bunch of gorgeous roll-top desks and neat little secretaries but they were out of my price range. I didn't want to spend all my savings. But then upstairs I found this rustic little table. And the best part: it was only $130!

Oddly thinks it smells rather interesting.

Storage is still a problem. I am going to need to figure something out for filing and paper storage and the like. I also need to get a shorter chair as mine doesn't quite fit underneath (it's just one of my dining chairs anyway). I also need to fix that chalkboard situation and maybe relocate them. They are a bit awkward there.

In the meantime, though, I also picked up that cool lemon crate on top of the desk.

It says "Sunkist Quail Brand" and then below "Lapland Lemon Growers Ass'n, Lapland, California."

Inside the crate is my computer terminal, some storage boxes (which I would like to replace), and pens and Sharpies and stuff.

On top is a treasure I found while on a nature walk with my dad on his piece of property in the country. Who knows how it got that round hole! It sort of looks like someone might have been using it for target practice, but then wouldn't the bullet have gone out the other side? It's perfectly intact, other than that hole right there on the front. Anyway, as you can see, I decided to turn it into a bit of a terrarium. The moss seems to be happy in there! We'll see about the fern.

The ink pot is another treasure I found out there at my dad's land.

I love treasure hunting! It's so fun!