Saving the best until last ...

I've had a bit of a wallow in nostalgia this week, my lovelies! There is a little charity shop that I visit once a week or so, where the two ladies who run it treat me with great amusement and think me very odd that I like 'old' things! "Oh, we hate that sort of stuff" they say with relish ... "we've just thrown a load out, because they were ... old", when I inquire whether they have any lace doilies, old leather suitcases, eiderdowns or china teasets. I have left my phone number and given them strict instructions not to dispose of anything without first contacting me, and I will come as soon as is humanly possible, to avoid the offending items from cluttering their shop.  My perseverance paid off this time ...

The other day, they said that they had a load of stuff coming in as an old lady had died, and her son had been clearing out her house. The lady had a china cabinet, containing a complete teaset, that for as long as he could remember, had never been used, but had been his mother's pride and joy ... would I be interested?

They unpacked 39 pieces of pristine, mint condition, bone china.  Twelve teacups and saucers, twelve side plates, a sandwich plate, milk jug and sugar bowl. A complete set, with not a chip or hairline crack in sight, the gold unscratched and untarnished ... just perfect.

Imprisoned for years behind glass doors, no red-lipstick  had ever stained the cups, nor sugar-mouse-pink  Fondant Fancies been delicately placed on the plates ...

Saved for best.  But best had never happened ... nothing in the life of the old lady was special enough to use the 'best' teaset. The ethos of her day was "waste not, want not" as beautifully illustrated by Hettie Brown above.

 I, as you know, am thrifty by nature and follow this to the letter.  However, I too, used to save things for 'best', as I wrongly thought it would be wasteful not to.  The children's clothes, when they were young were often passed on, practically unworn, because they had been saved for best, not enjoyed and worn just for the hell of it.  I used to squirrel away special toiletries, candles, bedding and china ... not any more! If someone has given me something as a gift, instead of putting it away and forgetting about it, I use it ... I luxuriate in rose-scented baths surrounded by beautiful, scented candles, and dry myself on pretty towels ... on a Monday!  Don't save for best, save for the wet, windy, dull, down-in-the-dumps days when a little luxury will go a long way to cheering you up. Hiding beautiful things away, that are made to be enjoyed ... now that is a waste!

These men's hankies would have been given to a husband or Dad for Christmas or a birthday ... and then dutifully packed away, never to be seen again, in his sock drawer.  These have a special poignancy for me ... my Dad used this type of handkerchief, and his name was Tommy ...

Was the little boy or girl who excitedly opened these roller skates on Christmas morning then instructed to "put them away until the next fine day" but the sun never shone and they remained on the shelf in the garden shed, until now?

What stories do these items tell? Years of being hidden away without ever having the chance to shine, to be loved, used and enjoyed? Sadly, we'll never know ...

Love, Claire xxx