My in-laws have their house on the market and are wanting to clear out items in preparation for moving. Mum says she is in "chuck out mode" I call it decluttering. When mum gets this way it can be scary for dad who is also inclined to be a bit of a hoarder... at least hubster came by his hoarding tendencies honestly. ;)
Hubster has many stories of his growing up years and the trauma of moving every few years when his dad was transferred again. Some of his horror stories are around his mum throwing out his 'treasures' One story in particular was his 'air tanks' that he had made from a couple of powdered milk tins taped together with plastic tubes coming out of the plastic milk tin lids so he could breath. He was around 10 when this move occurred and permanently marked him. To this day he talks of the distress of his air tanks being thrown out. He's not too damaged but does like to remind his mother of the trauma caused to him by her 'chuck outs'. See what I have to battle....
Over the last couple of weeks I have given Mum a hand sorting and labelling photos. That was fun and has lead to further projects... MIL is finally writing a memoir that she has often mentioned telling the stories of her life as a minister's wife and all the strange and often terrible places they were required to live etc. Things sure have changed for the better in the last 40+ years.
In this stage of the clean out I brought home two bags of fabric, mostly quilting cottons and a few other treasures. The timing is good as I am trying to get back into sewing a bit more and have been looking for a few items lately.
here are the treasures.
Amongst the treasures was a large bundle of underwear elastic. Since I am planning on sewing some undies that will be quite useful.
Some years ago mum crocheted these two doilies. They just need to have the ends sewn in and then blocked. I don't know how to block but will find out.
I have only one doily that my Nana crocheted and I treasure it.
My eldest has developed a love for many of these kinds of items now and will be eyeing one of these off (if I know her) ;). I also want to make sure that there is one for each of the other two daughters.
This was the other treasure we brought home (the first pic above is the most accurate for colour). It was my husband's maternal grandmother's foot stool. I am hoping that it comes up well with a good scrub as I quite like its '70's look and the shade is perfect for our lounge room. Hubster was very pleased with this one.
I know I am not the only one who appreciates the items that belonged to the previous generation. Somehow they are even better when handmade or owned by a loved one.
Just to finish off - here is the latest pic of Eddie. If it is hard to work out his position, that is because he was sleeping and doing an impression of an upside-down-flying-superman-crossed-with-a-pretzel. He slept quite happily in this strange position for quite a long while.
Oh and acquiring the results of some one else's decluttering isn't clutter acquisition - it is treasure acquisition. :) I swear. Honest.
2 comments:
I totally agree with you. It's like a treasure hunt. Esp with handmade items. Tragically my oldest sis who used to be a professional dressmaker did not keep any of the clothes she made. Neither did I. When I was young, my mother would sell the handmade clothes my sis made once I outgrew them as I am the youngest girl. My mother nowadays keeps her eye out for such treasures and would "chope" for me if she hears of anyone chucking out treasures of by-gone years.
OK, talk to me about blocking--it's easy: just a long warm soak to relax the fibres, then squeeze out water and pin out to desired shape and leave to dry slowly.
Post a Comment