She wanted a magic wand to make it go away!   She had to settle for me, and my ability to sort, rearrange, and  pack with lightning fast speed! 

    I spent a week with my sister in California,  once again going through her lifetime collections of china and our generations of family pictures.  The pictures were fun and easy.  We spent a cozy evening at home sorting and labeling a a box of treasures, including pics of long lost Uncle Sircey.  We look forward to many more evenings with the other boxes.

    The china was a different matter.  The Franciscan Ivy reflects what Donna collected a decade ago.  Her tastes have changed.  When we were in Bisbee last year for my birthday and our long postponed trip to old Arizona, she lusted after a copy of ATOMIC KITCHEN.  We found it in a kitschy book/gift store, and Donna's whole face lit up with joy when I bought it for her.   Now she enjoys George Jetson type motifs, and 50s turquoise is her favorite color. 

    If you know me, you know that I would rather be locked in a sealed chamber with violent rap music playing 24/7 than have anything even remotely resembling spaceships or chrome and formica dining sets in my house.  But when I see these things through Donna's eyes, my view softens, and I always learn something new from her.

     When we checked with her husband, he was in favor of sending the Franciscan Ivy to Fidel Castro, so he was not going to object to it going bye-bye.  I sat in the guest room the night before my departure, and in a twinkling of an eye, to coin a hackneyed phrase, the   creamer and sugar and the two divided vegetable dishes were packed, just in time to go up on eBay for the holidays.

      One woman's tired old stuff is another woman's or man's treasure.  As I went off to sleep that night, I thought about the journey these pieces would take to a new home, where they would once again become newly acquired treasures.

      I love this job.

   Last spring on our way to a family reunion in Missouri, we stopped at a shop in Kansas.  The old church by the interstate has been an antique shop for years.  I scanned the shelves and counters for silverware, and found a spooner full of souvenir spoons. 

    One had an hand engraved view of a church, and the legend San Mateo, California.   My family had moved to San Mateo in 1955, and I lived there until I was 19.  I was intrigued that the church was not identified, but I was pretty sure that it was St. Matthews Episcopal Church.  But not certain.

     My sister Donna, bless her, offered to take a picture of all churches that are likely suspects.  :)    She has recently retired from over 35 years of service as a librarian, so she was thrilled to have an assignment to investigate, as she is a top notch researcher. 

      After about 100 years, much has changed, but we are now pretty sure that the spoon is in fact St. Matthews Episcopal.   It will be interesting to see, when I list the spoon on eBay, if others agree. 

      I love my job!

    How many toasters do the newlyweds need?  I wanted to give Leah and Kevin something that no one else would even think of.   I know that they had registered at one of the Big Box stores, and as we sat around the table at the reception today Cousin Carolyn mentioned that she had given the couple 2 place settings of the brand new china that they craved.  Someone else mentioned the coffee maker that they had chosen.  Yet another guest chose to give the pasta maker.

    I will be interested to hear the bride and groom's reaction to their c1935 kicky pierced round tomato server.  This is not just any old tomato server.  No indeed.  The blade is a fairly familiar floral design, but the handle terminal reads CONGRATULATIONS, and below it is a bride and groom in their 1930s finery.   Hopefully, each time they use it, they will remember their very special day. 

    The last time I gave a vintage silver wedding gift, the bride called to tell me, "This gift ROCKS!"

    It seems like just yesterday that Leah was a third grader who had just started playing her beloved cello.

I am always curious about the amount of monogram  resistance that I observe in buyers.  To me, a monogram is a part of the history of a piece, and adds interest to it.  Monograming has fallen out of fashion, but prior to World War 1, it was an established practice.  For my own collection, I include monogramed pieces without hesitation.  However, not all monograms are created equal.  Names such as Alice, Jeremy, Caroline, and Frederick are examples of lovely monograms.  Smedley, Sturgeon, and Bertha are less charming.   I recently declined to purchase a lovely soup ladle monogramed with the family name of Kram.  Experience has taught me that this monogram would be an impediment to a successful sale.  Initials are tricky too.  L.M. is offensive to no one.  B.A.D.  reduces potential buyers to giggling fits.  The most successful monogram I have ever encountered was on an ornate late Victorian baby set.  Each piece was loving inscribed "Darling Baby Pet".  The bidders went crazy over that!