Small treasures that need cleaning. I do not like cleaning silver, the blackness of the cloth the smell of Silvo. As a child it was Brasso as well, we had one of those Russian tea urns which needed cleaning and brass candlesticks as well. I have one silver teaset which lives permanently in a cupboard given as a wedding present. As a child the newspaper laid on the table, the silver taken down from the huge sideboard and then the application of the fluid cleaning stuff, fingers and cloths got blackened, watching the liquid dry and firstly rubbing off with newspaper and then buffing the silver to brilliance, only to know it would need doing again - all those poor Victorian maids!
My MIL from my first marriage had a whole Chinese cabinet of jade and ivory and silver, all needing my patient hands, the sinking of the heart felt when the inevitable newspapers laid on the table and the silver came out for cleaning ;)
So what you see here in this photograph, is just small items given as presents, I dreamt about them last night strangely. The miniature Dutch furniture came from Lotta, the two little pepper pots came from Persia I think. And the fish utensils came from Leni, think she was probably Hungarian, she lived in a small house by the station halt in Blonay, Switzerland and only when they were not talking and had fallen out, was Lotta's best friend. There is a photograph of my daughter and Leni standing by a tall sunflower. It was a lovely spot, the train chugging up the mountainside, the chateau over the road. I suspect it has changed greatly though, but the mountains and the view down to the lake will still be there.
Suddenly I realised thinking back to these times, that my daughter will be 50 years old this August, a milestone for her, but that as a baby she was baptised down at 'Grandpa's' church, in Territet and her three godmothers sat round her smiling at a rather sulky baby Karen.
There is Florine Katz, her American godmother, Lotta and Leni, all sadly gone after all this time. There are strong ties with the Opper family, Karen goes back every year to visit her aunts and cousin Marc. Leni lived to a 100 years old but is now dead. Es Planches, the bungalow where my in laws lived many years ago, are memories - just that.
Suddenly I realised thinking back to these times, that my daughter will be 50 years old this August, a milestone for her, but that as a baby she was baptised down at 'Grandpa's' church, in Territet and her three godmothers sat round her smiling at a rather sulky baby Karen.
There is Florine Katz, her American godmother, Lotta and Leni, all sadly gone after all this time. There are strong ties with the Opper family, Karen goes back every year to visit her aunts and cousin Marc. Leni lived to a 100 years old but is now dead. Es Planches, the bungalow where my in laws lived many years ago, are memories - just that.
A photo picked up from the net, Wiki I think, looking over Lake Geneva from Blonay the chateau in the distance.
http://www.ascasonline.org/articoloMAGGI194.html
I use a rag and a tube of Autosol for all my metal cleaning (silver, brass, copper etc). Just rub it on with one rag, and polish off with another (old towel is the best polishing rag.)
ReplyDeleteYour life has been a lot more exotic than mine. I hope I get to travel a few countries more before I pop my clogs.
Sadly parts of my life has been exotic because of ill fortune ;) But it was such a shock when Karen said she would be 50 this month I thought its best to fill in some of the stories for her. Florine for instance when Karen was about 5 years old bought her a beautiful expensive pink dress which Karen refused to wear, and it sat in the airing cupboard for years.
DeleteSuch a beautiful country isn't it? But I suppose home is where the heart is and I know you now have a great love for Whitby. Perhaps some love for Wolverhampton - a town where I lived when I taught there for seventeen years - and very happy years I might say.
ReplyDeleteMy memories of Wolverhampton, sad and happy. Walking to the bus station, the smell of hops in the air from the brewery. My half brothers crying their eyes out as they were put into Tettenhall School for boarding and hearing news of them running away several times. and Beatties? the great department store, where my two stepmothers shopped with such extravagance! But also tea and toast, and they made blissful toast for hungry children in the olden days in the black and white old restaurant in the middle of town Pat.
DeleteI no longer keep things that require much maintenance, no matter how lovely they are.
ReplyDeleteWell I have got rid of so much that these few things remind me of the people who gave them Tabor, still surround myself with nonsense though such as the dollshouse which I have never got rid of, waiting for the next generation of great grandchildren ;)
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