Hidden Treasure

This house is 116 years old. There's lots of history there, and we know very little of it. So, one of the things that we have been looking forward to in taking down the walls is the prospect of finding hidden treasure.  Sure, in my wildest dreams, I imagine a bag of gold (seriously, wouldn't that be awesome!!), but realistically, I'm just hoping to find bits and pieces of the past.  Over the past few weekends we have found a few odds and ends. An old concert ticket to a Boxcar Willie show (had to Google who that was...), some scraps of fabric, the beater to a hand mixer, and an empty pack of Camel's. All at least interesting, even if they won't payoff the mortgage  ;) .

Oh yeah, and in the attic were a number of really old boxes of mouse poison.  Today, I discovered why the mouse poison was necessary. Those mice built a nest in the ceiling, and in the walls.  A tight bundle if shredded insulation, fragments of newspaper, bits of string and the odor of really old mouse waste.  It was gross!  But, those little guys must have had a bit of a hoarding streak too. In that stinky pile of ancient mouse were some fun finds. Let me show you...

Old leather mitten, missing the thumb.

Scrap of leather

In between these studs was filled with mouse nest, and it went up above floor level on the second floor. There was more near the floor a few studs over. I didn't think to take the picture until I'd already taken the shop vac to it.....

Ok, so maybe the mice didn't hoard this, but it was at the bottom of the wall under the nest. 

Probably my favorite thing that I have found so far.  It is stamped "sterling" inside. I'm debating if I should shine it up, or let it be.

Oh yeah, and I found these....I guess that mouse poison did it's job (and I'm certainly glad it did!)