Today has been busy and bittersweet

Today has been a busy day - it started early as today was to be delivery day for some of the pieces of furniture from mums - nothing major  - I do not have much room but have chosen some very ecclectic pieces  needless to say ones with memories.  

The TV table from mum's dining room was always the TV table at my Nan's.   I had always been under the misapprehension that my Uncle made it (he was a Master Cabinet Maker) but on closer inspection it turned out to be an early flat pack kit still going strong. 

 I love little tables and stools.  I do however have one of my Uncle's stools which also arrived today.  My mum used to rest her feet on it. Two round stools that my brother and I used to sit on as youngsters.  They need recovering but that will give me another project for the winter months. The Piano stool from my childhood that always held the family photographs and sheet music as it has a lift up lid.  We have too many photos to go in there now but I do have some of my father's and grandfather's sheet music which can be nicely stored in there together with some sheet music picked up from Charity shops. The fabric top to the Piano Stool needs replacing.  I have a couple of completed needlepoints that might do the trick will see how it goes.  Alternatively I might work another piece.  I would love a Piano to go with it but I do not think I would squeeze that in where we are.  The Joanna that matched the piano stool was bought for my father's 21st birthday and was an upright.  My Dad started to teach me the scales and asked me to practice whilst he was away training for a new job.  However mum did not realise and thought I was just making a noise and told me not to use it anymore.  When dad finished his training he came home and both he and mum thought I was not interested so they gave it to a young lady who was learning  to play.  Never mind - one day.

My Maiden Great Aunt Ivy's Needlework box/table.  It is green silk lined  but plain on the outside - very unfussy just like she was and I am very chuffed to have this particular object  She was a beautiful needlewoman her main hobby being crochet but she was good at lots of crafts.

A  a pine blanket chest that had belonged to a friend of the family and when he was getting rid of it my dearest father bought it home and used it for storing all his photographic gear.  I may give that a going over too.  That friend like my father has long since passed and I was friends with his three daughters as a youngster so I was pleased to find amongst the photographs a beautiful one of the three sisters together.  I shall keep that for remembrance.  Its a long time since I saw the Tomlin girls.

There are also two plain painted chests of drawers that can stand side by side or stacked. They originally belonged to friends who emigrated to Australia and I had them in my bedroom as a teenager to store my jumpers in.  I may well either have them for jumpers again or maybe for my craft stuff.  But I think the outside will get a revamp and a paint job. We have had great fun getting the drawers back into the right chest as OH and my brother took out all the drawers to transport them.

My original coffee table has also come home - it was on permanent loan to mum as she loved it so much.

And her whopping great big mirror that she had in the front room.  I think that I am going to have it on my wall opposite the fireplace so that it will show the reflection of my painting through its glass.  It is gold framed but a really lovely bevel cut glass.

There are a couple of other pieces as well.

Fortunately the dining room is now completely done and has been stripped out from top to bottom and the room is lovely and clean so the furniture is stacked in there.  Now I have to start sorting to make room in the rest of the house.  I never make things easy for myself!

But today has been bittersweet because no one really wants to take their parents' furniture but on the other hand you lose it if you don't.  But on the other hand there have been lots of lovely memories flooding back.

In the chest of drawers I found my mum's best table cloth hand embroidered  - I had not seen it for years and I found tray cloths  and other embroidered tablecloths, some of which are damaged but I think we can do something with them and so revamp some lovely pieces in a different use and so give them new life and create new memories.

I am beginning to feel like a sardine.  So I had better go and start and make some room.

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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