It’s been a long winter and I’m ready to do some spring
cleaning. The urge to purge had me wanting to throw out our old bed so we went
to the Finnerty Auction in search of a new one. Rhonda had tweeted that the
showroom was looking like The Brick this week so we decided to have a look. Ken
draws a crowd of antique collectors from near and far on a Friday evening as he
liquidates furniture from old farms and estates.
I’m not much for antiques, but the Farmer is. He got
distracted for a while by the old Sleeping Beauty spinning wheels and farm
implements. I wandered over to the rather modern-looking king sleigh bed. In my
increasing years I don’t sleep much, or very soundly, and the Farmer has
restless leg syndrome. This tiny, almost imperceptible movement of his foot
back and forth under the sheet is just enough to keep me awake. Many nights I
had to sneak off into the spare room and sleep in the spare bed. There are a
few problems with this arrangement: #1. The spare bed is now occupied by our
boarder, an International student; #2: I have nightmares in a different room because
my feng shuei is all screwed up and I start seeing things in the shadows; #3: I
have to be alert enough to sneak back into the marriage bed early in the
morning because if I don’t the Farmer gets all disappointed and everything.
If there is one thing we don’t
want, it’s to sleep in separate beds, in separate rooms. That just feels like
we’re senior citizens ahead of our time and we are not ready for that. Never, I
say!
We spent the last year on two single beds shoved together.
It solved the problem, as we each had our own little island of peace, yet we
were still together. Unfortunately the rigid edges of the mattresses and the
gaping canyon between the two wooden captain’s beds where they didn’t quite
meet in the middle made for a pretty inconvenient situation at times. (He’s going to love that I’m publicizing our
private sleeping arrangements). I felt sad every time I made those two stupid
little beds. I wanted something nicer.
The capacity crowd in the auction house concentrated in
silence (or else you get “shushed” by the auctioneer) as Finnerty moved swiftly
through the items, grouping them in bundles of two and three at a time.
“He likely won’t get to that bed ‘til 11pm,” the Farmer
commented. I worried I would fall asleep first. Finnerty’s helpers kept moving
up the left side of the room. Then, suddenly, the auctioneer announced they
were going to move over to the back end of the hall on the right side, where
the bedroom suites were grouped. It was like he read my mind. I watched as the
couple that had been sitting on MY bed was asked kindly to take their seats
elsewhere.
The queen-sized sleigh bed went for $1100. Ooh. That’s a bit
rich for us. We had agreed we would pay up to $500 for the king bed but I
didn’t hold out much hope. I started repeating in my head the mantra, “it’s too
big for your room, people. Leave it for me. It’s mine.” And they did! Only one
other person bid and the Farmer got the bed and beautiful pillow-top mattress
for $500, all in. Amazing.
I realize the king bed with its gorgeous dark wood sleigh
frame that perfectly matches my end tables and sets off my bronze-and-red
colour scheme may not answer the problem of the restless leg in the night. But
the waves that his leg used to make in the night are just ripples after crossing
the wide expanse of our king bed now. In time I should be able to ignore them.
It could be worse, I suppose. I could be dealing with a
snorer. How do you solve that problem, I wonder? Thank goodness neither one of
us snores. At least, he doesn’t. I might. I wouldn’t know – he’s deaf in one
ear and sleeps on his good one so he never complains. And with that, I’ll stop
giving out all the Farmer’s personal information. Farmwife out!
Email: dianafisher1@gmail.com
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