Kitchen Sink Dreams

I’m back at my friend Shay’s place in Ellijay, finishing up a three-day writing binge. It’s been a very productive week. Fifty pages–plus a plotting break-through on THE FIXER UPPER, plus some more excellent junking. I get to go junking if I finish my daily page quotas. Among the treasures I’ve found on this trip are an enamel-topped side table–perfect for a beach house nightstand, because Mr. Mary Kay is bad about knocking over his water glass while fumbling around in the middle of the night. I’ve also found some things for MAISY’S DAISY, my antique booth at Seaside Sisters on Tybee Island. Also–I found a bomb crate. Yes. And for less than $100. Let me explain. My friend Janie’s boyfriend Joe is the genius behind the Tybee Bomb Squad. It’s kind of complicated, but suffice it to say that sometime in the 1940s, our very own armed forces dropped a bomb into the waters off Tybee Island. So Joe–who makes adorable adirondack chairs and also bartends at Doc’s Bar at Tybee, deputized his very own Tybee Bomb Squad. Their official duties are shrouded in mystery, but I’m guessing there is a good deal of beer drinking involved. Joe has a Tybee Bomb Squad booth at Seaside Sisters. He also has a small bomb on display there, as well as spiffy ballcaps and T-shirts. You should buy some. They are a guaranteed conversation starter. I’ve been assured Joe’s bomb has been disarmed. And now, courtesy of the Blue Ridge Antique Mall, he will have his very own bomb fuse crate. It’s painted a festive blue color and lined with tin, and the outside is stencilled with words to the effect that this is a Bomb Fuse Crate. I don’t think it’s a fake–after all, who makes up this kind of stuff? What I have not found on this trip–or any other junking expedition this summer, is the perfect authentic vintage kitchen sink for The Breeze Inn. I have this fantasy sink in my head. I probably saw it in some old black and white movie. Or maybe Donna Reed did the dishes in it, helped by the always adorable Shelley Fabares, who played her daughter. This sink is porcelain over cast iron. It has a high, curved backsplash and double basins. Double basins are important at our house. I’ve seen this sink on Ebay–but it’s always being offered by somebody in Wyoming or New Hampshire, and they refuse to ship–local pick-up only. The sink haunts me. It calls to me. It will make my beach house kitchen a culinary shrine. MUST HAVE SINK. Tomorrow, I’m packing up my laptop and heading home. Why? Because tomorrow is the first day of the Scott’s Antique Market. Somewhere, a dealer at Scott’s holds the key to my beach house kitchen nirvana. Stay tuned…