Grandma's Bed

When I was a little girl we would go and stay at Grandma's for a week in the school holidays.  One of the best things for me was being allowed to sleep with Grandma in her big bed, which got me thinking of the John Denver song......

It was nine feet high and six feet wide

And soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty 'leven geese
Took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick.

(You can see John performing a rather different version of the song here.)

Now my Grandma's bed didn't quite have the dimensions of those in the song, but it was high and old fashioned, albeit with a lumpy kapok mattress.  However it did have a nice white Marcella quilt and green eiderdown.  The best thing though was that it had Grandma and she sometimes let me brush her long white hair.

Her Singer treadle sewing machine sat to one side and an old turned leg side table on the other side, under which there was a Big Old Tin Treasure Chest. There was also a big blue chair and blue chest of drawers.

This all took place over a rather short time frame, as she died when I was nine.  I was always rather sentimental and for quite some years loved going into her bedroom, sitting on the big bed and looking at the treasures from the trunk - old photo albums and a huge fat book called "Medicology", which was fascinating.

Many years passed and the room was to be repurposed.  The sewing machine came to me and currently has our TV sitting on it.  The chair and side table are with Mum.  What to do with the bed?  At the time we had own bed and our spare bedroom was set up with lovely old antique beds.  Sadly, I had no room for the bed I loved so much.  In the end my brother took it, used it for a while and then it went into storage, firstly in his garage and them in Mum's.  When Mum moved to the retirement village last year we ended up with the bed, once again in storage.

Finally, now that we have got rid of all the boxes of books we have a room in which to house Grandma's bed.

It is a simple bed, dating form 1927. The timber was rather dry, but other than that is in surprisingly good condition.  After lots of furniture polish and a new mattress it has come up a treat.  

The main design elements are the sweet decals on the head and foot, which is what I loved so much.  However, what I have really noticed is that it isn't really all that big - how perceptions change as we grow older. 

This room is still very much a work in progress.   No one can sleep here as yet, as there is no bedding under the quilt.  I still have to go shopping to make it nice and snug. It is the perfect size for my Nature's Journey quilt.  The Marcella quilt is probably the original one off the bed.

Yes, there is a sewing machine beside the bed, where there always was one, even if it isn't Grandma's. This White was one of our first auction purchases and lived in our bedroom for many years. Apparently, my other grandmother had a White.  We have also had the bedside cupboard on the other side of the bed for many years.  The quilt on the rack is an Anni Downs design I made from a kit not long after she opened her first shop here in town. 

We still have to hang some pictures and add a few bits and bobs to make it welcoming, but it sure looks better than a room full of boxes of books.