It was crazy windy yesterday -- we'd periodically get gusts that would knock over plants on the patio, and for one brief moment (about four minutes) we actually had RAIN! Which we haven't seen in quite a while. But it wasn't enough to matter and Dave and I had to tote our hose and watering cans around the garden as usual.
I sat out on our garden bench amid the swirling trees and finished "Amnesty," Aravind Adiga's newest novel about an illegal immigrant living in Australia. He has information about a murder -- will he go to the police, thus revealing himself to the authorities, or will he continue to live silently underground in Sydney, potentially allowing the murderer to walk free? It was a good book.
I walked Olga in the morning, and you know the expression "dumb as a box of hammers"? Well, I found an actual box of hammers. Or at least a couple of hammers. In a box.
Actually, more of a suitcase. It was sitting by a trash bin, and of course I opened it up and found it jammed with stuff -- old picture frames, cans of petrified shoe polish, bits of yellowed paper. Amid all that stuff were these:
I grabbed 'em. I think they're handmade, judging by the slightly irregular metal heads, and perhaps quite old. When I showed them to Dave, he said, "Oh, those will come in handy!" And I thought, "You can't USE my vintage handmade hammers to pound nails!"
But of course that's silly. They're hammers. They'll be fine.
(Top photo: A street scene on my walk to work last week.)
COOL hammers! I would hang them on the wall. You find the neatest stuff there in mushy pea town! Wonder how/why the case was just left there? Just for you to find! Really great hammers I just love them! Not a bad table cloth either.
ReplyDeleteOh Those Pressure Gradients - Righteous Shot Of Olga - Stay Strong Brother Steve
ReplyDeleteCheers
When I saw the title of this post I thought that you had suddenly become a West Ham United supporter. Their nickname is The Hammers and they play in claret and blue shirts. You can order one with "REED" on the back or an instruction - "READ!"
ReplyDeleteThat's some snazzy fabric your hammers are resting on. And if not handmade, I'd at least say one of them has had the head reattached at some point. Watch out it doesn't fly off when you use it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful hammers! And as others have noted- that cloth is beautiful too. Is it a large piece?
ReplyDeleteVintage hammers are the only kind we have in the house--passed on from previous generations.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I wish you could go back and pick up that old case for me. With some polish or oil or wax it could come up a treat.
ReplyDeleteThose hammers are a great find. Just looking at them reminded me so much of my father's very old toolbox. Love the photo of Olga and the suitcase.
ReplyDeleteWow, great find! Hammers, and saws and paint brushes, remind me of my childhood. My daddy was always making something. Give him some wood and these tools and he would make you something really beautiful. Use them, they'll be just fine. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThey are not handmade, we had similar hammers when I was growing up. The one on the right of the photo is call a, "ball-peen" hammer. Wiki says it best, "A ball-peen or ball pein hammer, also known as a machinist's hammer, is a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It has two heads, one flat and the other, called the peen, rounded." I have one I use all the time because of it's small size.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather had one of the other hammers too. I always thought it was a cobbler's hammer but Wiki says I'm wrong. Darn that Wiki.
Nice find.
I agree with Linda Sue, you find the greatest things.
Tom
Those hammers look exactly the ones around our house when I was growing up. I wonder if one of my sisters has those or if they made their way to some second hand store years ago.
ReplyDeleteI would have grabbed the hammers too. I know we have one (or more?), but I can never seem to find it when I need it.
ReplyDeleteI might have to check out that book....someday. My “to read” list is a little overwhelming right now!
Life must be returning to normal in London: you go out for a walk and get hammered.
ReplyDeleteYou find the best treasures. In addition to not being a very good scrounger, I'm currently nervous about touching anything found on the street... But there are never treasures like that around here anyway.
ReplyDeleteI was on the verge of saying that they couldn't be vintage hammers because they're exactly what we had at home when I was growing up, and then I realized - yet again - that I'm not a spring chicken anymore :)
ReplyDeleteWe say "as crazy as a bag of hammers" here. Funny the differences in language!
what a cool find. that's definitely not the original handle on the left hand hammer.
ReplyDeletethey look old to me, like the ones my Dad used to use.
ReplyDeleteOlga doesn't look very interested, "Oh, Dad's found another lot of rubbish" lol
Briony
x
The handles are certainly hand made.
ReplyDeleteWhat interesting hammers and they do look like they are handmade, not that I know a lot about hammers other than I can never find mine or nails when I want to use them.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had a little rain. That is what is happening here at the moment. We have been keeping an eye on the sky awaiting the flash flood thunderstorms that was supposed to drench us just pass over us. The rain that we are getting is soft and not much of it but it smells amazing.
Have a nice and easy week ahead. I am going to go to sleep early or at least try too.
Those hammer were a great find. They will be useful for driving stakes into the ground and repairing the fence when Mrs Kravitz gets on your case again.
ReplyDeleteI heard that author speaking about the book and it is on my read list. When the libraries reopen and if the wait list is not too long.
Alphie
Linda Sue: That's what I was thinking -- wall decorations!
ReplyDeletePadre: I know you like those Olga shots!
YP: Yeah, not likely. LOL
Marty: The attachments seem pretty strong, but yeah, I have no idea how safe these are!
Ms Moon: It's 1.5 yards. We use it as a sort of table runner -- it doesn't quite cover the whole table but we have another, neutral tablecloth beneath it. Linda Sue gave it to us!
Mary: Why buy new when the old ones still work?!
Sabine: It was a great old suitcase, and some of the picture frames had potential too, but I can only deal with so much stuff. Maybe someone else will rescue them!
Robin: Olga did not understand why we were stopping. But she's used to me doing weird stuff like that.
Edna: I admire people who have carpentry skills. I can do basic things like fixing a fence, but I haven't tried to make anything out of wood since shop class in high school. And my projects there weren't very impressive!
Tom: I was thinking handmade because the metal heads aren't quite symmetrical. But who knows? Yes, I've heard of ball-peen hammers! I read a book once where a ball-peen hammer was the murder weapon. "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" by Michael Chabon, I think.
Sharon: My brother has a lot of old tools from our family.
Bug: Can one have too many hammers?
Catalyst: Ha! Right?!
Mitchell: I figure as long as I wash my hands I'm fine, and the virus dies on surfaces within a few days. In fact I read an article recently that said it's not transmitted well on surfaces at all. The story keeps changing!
Jenny-O: Oh, maybe that's the expression! I can't really remember now! LOL
Ellen: Yeah, it looks reattached. There's a sort of bolt that goes through the wood to the top of the hammer head. Hard to explain, but they look pretty secure.
Briony: SO MUCH RUBBISH out there!
Red: Yeah, they may be replacements for the originals.
Beth: I don't know anything about tools, really. They do have some wording on the hammer heads but I can't read it.
Alphie: I thought of you (and several other Australian pals) when I was reading it. You might really like it!
You're so right, Steve. We do the best we can. Some days I'm fine, other's I'm overly anxious.
ReplyDelete