Yep, Still Here.

I won't even try to explain our absence.  Okay, well, just a little: busy at work, toddler at home, baby on the way.  We'll try to do better.

At any rate, just a quick update on a the Michigan schrank (wardrobe) I posted about a while back.  As Hollie was sitting in front of it working, she noticed something.

Do you see it, too?  Over the original blue paint (visible here on the diamond panel), a later family member, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century, added a much more, at the time, chic paint treatment: oak graining.  We had thought about having it removed to show off the original blue (there are plenty of things with original oak graining, but not many in original blue).  There was much debate, including a lively debate at the Midwest Antiques Forum.  We were comfortable with our decision to have the wardrobe cleaned down to the blue, but then Hollie noticed the word "Michigan" clearly integrated into the oak graining.  I guess with the family repainted it, they wanted to express a little regional pride.  The family that sold it didn't know about this, nor did the very knowledgeable dealers from whom we purchased it.  And we lived with it for months before Hollie noticed it.  But now...it's going to stay right where it is.