For their entire 110 years, the north basement stairs have stored the kerosene lamps.  Through the 1920’s, WWE would get up in the morning, collect the lamps, and then clean and refill them on the stairs.  The shelves and the stairs are covered in tin sheeting to avoid spills from soaking into the wood; originally the double-hung window was operable and would have provided ample ventilation and light.  It was a convenient, but discreet, location for a necessary task.  Since the house was electrified, the area has gradually acquired an odd array of spare fire-place tools, lampshades, vases, and mysterious glass containers of liquid.  Actually, three of those containers made of very pretty blue glass with cork stoppers and No markings are carbon-tet fire extinguishers.*  The fourth, a massive gallon jug claimed to be bleach, we decided that bleach had no right to be a nice dark brown.

However, we have plants, lots of plants, and no particular need for kerosene lamps.  Some of those plants need a good, cool place to overwinter: scented geraniums, fuschias, begonias, passion flowers…  And, frankly, we were all tired of navigating the stairs, highly breakable vases, and oddments with loads of firewood. 

And so, the kerosene lamps, their accoutrements, the fire extinguishers, and the purported jar of bleach** migrated to the cabinet that is built into/next to the little parlor’s chimney base.  This dry, dark, out-of-the-way location seemed to be a reasonable location for storing such things.  The odd bits of electrical fixtures got put with the other odd electrical bits.  The vases got rearranged on some safer shelves on the stairs, another shelf got built, and the whole thing got vaccuumed.  The hanging array of fire-place tools and oddments remains, as does the ridiculously sharp fire-axe.  I daresay I will fill the space with plants in no time flat…

*worthy of a post on their own, liquid carbon-tet is very effective at putting out fires…that it (if the fire is hot enough) can also create phosgene gas while doing so is a less desirable quality.

**what else can one do with it?  I am not dumping such things in a public watershed, even on dark and stormy nights.