Summer is winding down, kids are going back to school this week and the weather is absolutely beautiful in Lombard. I must say the climate we have enjoyed for a good portion of the summer has been wonderful. I have used my air conditioner for only a couple of weeks, which is a true bonus with the cost of electricity these days. I hope it stays this way.

With getting my daughter Rosie back to school Aug. 16, my husband and I are once again adjusting to the empty nest we experience without having her around. Although you might seemed overwhelmed with too many things going on with your kids right now, I am telling you – appreciate it. In the blink of an eye they are off to college.

Feeling like last Sunday was a vacation day with the beautiful weather we had, I decided to do something that I would do as if on vacation. I visited the Lombard Historical Museum on 23 W. Maple Ave., across from the Helen Plum Library. They were having an antique bazaar from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. so I thought I would see if there was anything to add to my collections.

They were not holding house tours, but the backyard was filled with stations manned by people who were donating antiques that, if sold, would give a portion of the sale to the Lombard Historical Society. Some of the items available were a spinning wheel, antiqued mirror frame, hurricane lamps, old water pump, and even an old typewriter — in very good condition.

It really got interesting for me when I ran into Lyn Myers, who had a booth but also is on the Historical Commission for Lombard. She explained to me this commission is the liaison between the village and the Historical Society. She not only had some interesting pieces, but as we got to talking I loved hearing about her collections. She said she was just ready to sell things

Her husband, Al Schiewe, who grew up in Lombard, shared his collections for the day. What really brought me back was his bottle collection. It was fun trying to figure out what kind of bottles they were. We came to the conclusion they probably were made for cough medicine. He had found them in an empty lot in Lombard when he was a young boy and kept them. I could just picture a lone Zinnia in one of the bottles sitting on a windowsill. He also had magazines called the “Home Craftsman” that went back to the 1950s. A neighbor had them, and Schiewe kept them until now.

Myers also had a collection of old pharmacy items given to her by a friend. A Toothache kit was interesting, but the Stomachic Drops intrigued me. The bottles were empty, but some of the ingredients were oil of peppermint, oil of anise, and oil of cloves, which led me to believe these age-old healing recipes are still around, just in a different bottle, under another name.

Another item I had never seen before was a winter window refrigerator. It looked a little bit bigger than a breadbox, made out of galvanized sheet metal. Myers explained to me how this was inserted into a ready made area in your kitchen during the winter months and you used it as if it were a refrigerator.

She also had a wood veneer double sleigh bed for sale, which she refinished herself. The cost was only $125 and it was in great condition. If anyone is interested and it has not sold, contact me at my e-mail address, lucky-lana@comcast.net, and I will put Myers in touch with you.

For further information on this museum, log on to their Web site www.lombardhistory.org or call (630) 629-1885. Starting in September, they will be open extra days, so I will keep you posted on their new hours.