Looking into the Past

Remember the neighbor who had uncovered a marvelous mural in her bathroom at my paternal grandmother's old house? Well, as it turned out, Grandma actually painted it and when I finally caught up with Jane again and told her, she invited me to come see it. So Friday morning, I went by Jane's to see the bathroom.



The painting goes all the way around the room. I took these starting over the toilet and turning to the right.

I don't know how bathrooms in other parts of the country are constructed, but here in the South, most of the older home have tile floors and tile up to about chest-height, with plaster going the rest of the way up to the ceiling. Because the tile is so out front in these bathrooms, it's hard to know how to deal with the rest of the wall (I am facing this quandry myself in my house). This house has lovely shades of green and the painting just FITS. It had been covered over by wallpaper when Jane bought the house and I was amazed at what good shape it was in.

Jane is a graphic artist, so what repair needed to be done after the wallpaper removal, she did. She also added the blue skies and the hot-air balloon next to the window. She was thrilled to find this and even more thrilled to be able to learn something about its origins.

I don't remember this painting. I'm sure it was there when I was there, but I was probably only 6 when Grandma and Harry left for Canada. What I remember of this house is walking down the hill with Harry for a Frostie Rootbeer. When you're only six, those big hills make a huge impression. Home decor does not. I wish I remembered it though - and consider it a treasure to have found it now.