This is a table, with very special storage! I built this table for a reason, I needed it...
You see, we live on a farm, a nice one, but we do have some special needs once in a while. Like how to keep boar semen fresh for the little ladies in the barn. Yup, that's what I said - boar semen. It is exactly what it sounds like, the seed of the male hog.
Some years ago, we went from using actual boars to buying the swimmers instead. In order to keep them fresh they needed to be kept at a relatively stable temperature. The deliveries were usually quite late at night, and in order for us to get to bed on time we would need a place that the delivery person could access without getting too close to the barn - and the house was the most practical solution.
So we put a beer cooler in the front entrance way of the house for some temporary storage. Although practical, it was not very attractive and it was a pain to keep putting away and remembering to take it out again for delivery night. Also, the floor in our entrance is heated, so the cooler needed to be elevated, away from too much heat. And I really wanted to use the cooler for beer or food once in awhile but was put off by the thought of you know what! You can see I had a bit of a dilemma.
Then I thought of this butter box I found in an old house my parents were taking down. It was the perfect size for a sack of boar juice and I thought if I lined it with some 1" Styrofoam it would make an adequate cooler. Since I needed to have it raised off the floor I went scrounging around in my attic and found the parts of an original banister from the house. This old house of ours just keeps coughing up treasures - having been built in 1918 and renovated a few times, there are a few leftover parts still hanging around.
The banister parts included enough boards and spindles to make the stand for the bottom as well as a lid for the top. I added a few hinges and some jack chain, finished the old wood with some leftover ebony polyblend and called it done.
The delivery guy loved it and people always notice and ask about this odd piece of furniture - but I don't always mention it's purpose!
This is a picture I took a few years ago when it was still in the front entrance being used for it's intended purpose. Much prettier than that blue cooler I was using. However, we sold our hogs almost two years ago and this little cutie is no longer needed for keeping the swimmers swimming.
Now it hangs out in the kitchen. I even considered using it for beer when we are entertaining - now isn't that ironic!
Because I used all found and leftover items, including the hinges, chain and Styrofoam this piece cost me a little bit of sweat - but no actual money was harmed.
Good for you if you read that whole thing without saying eeeeww a few times, {sigh} The stuff was triple bagged, by the way.
Do you like my Laundry room door? See more here.
Have an abundant day,
Diana
Update: Our youngest reminded me (after reading this post) that she can remember calling out "the semens here" when we received deliveries, like this was a normal part of every ones life! Farm kids got it good.
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