I just got done wiping out the smaller dresser with Clorox wipes. It's going to be going upstairs.
The larger dresser had some humidity damage. The front paneling was warped and coming off and the doors were swollen shut. Not the end of the world, we just need to give it time to dry out again. Once it's dried enough to open the drawers, I think the plan is to pull the front paneling off, remove the broken handles, and see what we have to work with. We may stain it or paint it, and I picked out two possible handle designs at Menards this evening to see which one suits it better once it's stripped down and cleaned up. I'm not entirely sure where I'll be putting this one, but I think it may end up in the boys' room. There's a tag on the back that says Butler Brothers Minneapolis. A little bit of research later and I discovered that this particular dresser is from somewhere between 1911 (when Butler Brothers opened their warehouse in Minneapolis) and February of 1960 (when Butler Brothers was sold to another company). Random fact: the building the Butler Brothers used as a warehouse in Minneapolis was added to the Historical Register of Historic Places in 1971.
While out planting the cherry tree with Tony, the dogs were left in the house unattended. One of them (strong suspicion on Arya) has separation anxiety. She opened the plastic tote I keep my pepper seeds in, opened the bag inside the storage box, and proceeded to chew on everything. When I came back in there were pepper seeds all over the place. I wanted to cry. Arya was literally "huffing" the free floating seeds. I can't explain it any other way. Her face was burried in the pile and she was quickly breathing in and out. When I said her name she looked up at me with pepper seeds stuck like confetti all over her nose and lips, wiped her face on the couch and walked away. Fortunately, I was able to salvage most of my seeds. It was the baggy of guajillo pepper seeds she'd torn open and was enjoying. A couple minutes later she went outside and threw up. Poor girl, but perhaps a little part of me thinks she got what she deserved. Now I have to go through and re-organize the peppers. They were alphabetized and organized and ready to store too. Lesson learned - Arya can't be left unattended. She's usually with me all day, but with birds out and needing to focus on planting the tree out away from the main yard, I thought she'd be better off inside. I was wrong. Fortunately there were enough guajillo pepper seeds still in the bag that I was able to salvage them. I'm hopeful when I lay them all out and re-inventory, I shouldn't be missing any varieties.
Lastly, while out in the west field planting the cherry tree, I found a vining plant with bright green foliage and orange berries. I took some photos and did some research. Turns out it's American Bittersweet, which is native here. Grouse and some squirrels eat the berries, but all parts of the plant are considered poisonous. It looks pretty climbing up a branch that fell off of a tree.