Back in the days when there there was no Amazon, magazines like Country Living or Better Homes and Gardens had sections where novelty furnishings or garden items could be purchased. In the late 1990’s, we had a townhome in Louden County, Virginia with a really nice screened porch. During that time, late one night, I ordered a grape cart flower cart for that porch. Here’s the flower cart today:

The funny thing about that order was this–my husband traveled and worked away most of the time so I was in the habit of staying up very late at night and then sleeping late in the morning. I saw this cute little grape cart and decided it would be a great addition to the screened porch in Northern Virginia. I was living in a town called Cary, North Carolina when I ordered it. (Mike was living in the Louden County townhome.) It was about 2 am. There was a 1.800 number number and a Pennsylvania address. I thought it was a number for a call center that took orders for the magazine. So…I called it.

The phone rang a few times and then a sleepy voice answered…“Hello.” I didn’t know what to say–I was stunned that it was not a call center, so I just said “I am ordering the grape cart.” While I don’t recall the details, I didn’t order it that night. I ordered it the next day.

I’m glad I did. I have always liked this little grape cart. It’s had the box remade several times. The box that appears in the photos above is taller than the original box and it’s made of old wood from church pews that were modified to be shorter in length than a church pew normally is. The downside of the current wooden box is that I cannot grow lettuce in it, etc., and it’s built with wood that has varnish, etc.

Here’s the box as it used to be:

This grape cart has been moved to the following locations as we moved around. It started in Louden County, Virginia. It moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey. From there, off it went to Boca Raton, Florida, and then it came to where it is now in Mendota, Virginia.