Traverse City Record-Eagle

Dee Blair: The View From Sunnybank

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June 26, 2011

View From Sunnybank: Overweight to just pudgy

By DEE BLAIR Local Columnist

Oh heavens! Sunnybank House, on a crash diet once again, has dumped 1,500 pounds in five hours.

The weather's been unusually cold, so a week ago I trudged up to the (normally summer-hot) attic again, determined to relieve it of more weight. My firm rule: If an object hadn't been used in a long time I'd make someone else happy by selling it for a very reasonable price. Goal: Lose the weight, and the dust the tonnage was gathering, and gain the enormous satisfaction of knowing my children won't have to face "fat attic" syndrome when I pop off.

To ensure that my packrat instincts were kept at bay, I paid two friends to keep me focused. (If I shell out money, I tend to listen to advice.)

It worked.

Les and Dale challenged most things I clutched possessively. When I wiped the nostalgia from my eyes and shook off my "Saran Wrap-cling" behavior, the "sell" pile grew very large indeed.

We hauled down a huge old steamer trunk, lonely and unadmired, that boasted amazing decals, drawers and curtains, and so much ancient charm. It sold immediately.

The dining room's stained glass hanging light -- a lovely thing, actually, but unused for five years -- went meekly into a car.

A charming wooden rocking horse, four hanging tulip-shaped baskets, framed Welsh watercolor paintings, two gorgeous antique iron and brass bed headboards and a beautiful five-legged vintage oak dining table also were snapped up. A delighted gardener bought my leftover fieldstone for his small garden path. I'd been tripping over them for a year.

Out went two big scalloped cement pools that had delighted me for a decade. My solidly crafted wooden spool table, painted a cheery green, brightened a woman's day. It was a beauty! Happy customers took away a curved cement bench supported by lions, an elegant (never used) patio table with two matching folding chairs, a white wicker porch swing, and three heavy brass Borden milk jugs.

I made more than $1,300! What a productive five hours.

There were some memorable moments. A small child with short brown curls gasped when she beheld my enormous cuddly twin bears. She fell into the closest one's soft embrace and wouldn't be pried away. They were inseparable. Aww ... I gave it to her. My daughters had loved them, and now she would. Her dad and I watched her -- luminous with delight -- stagger off with it to their car. Little Madeline's huge smile displayed missing front teeth as Barnaby and she waved goodbye. (Its twin, Benny, didn't sell; a secondhand shop will certainly find it a good home.)

There were sneaky moments. Twice I furtively snatched back loved things. But Les caught me as I tried to tiptoe away. He asked just one question: "What will you do with this?" When I just gaped, he quietly put it into an eager buyer's hands, and then pressed her money into my hands. Ah, well.

And finally, a mallard moment. Torrential rain had deposited a respectably deep, house-sized puddle into the alley, making parking and walking difficult. "Welcome to our lakefront property," we joked to customers as they soaked their sneakers wading toward the display, past a cadre of quacking, splashing waterfowl. At closing time a damp duck waddled confidently into our nearly empty garage. He knew what he wanted. The wretch gobbled up my gluten-free toast, quacked happily and waddled out again, not forgetting payment -- a dump on the floor. Right. Compost material. A fair trade, I suppose. But I'd wanted that toast ...

"Lose the weight," Les chuckled. "Remember?"

Yeah, yeah.

Dee Blair's Sunnybank Gardens are at 325 Sixth St. in Traverse City. Visit her website, www.deeblair.com, for more information.

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