I'm home! Grandma is mostly moved in...LONG

[mstang67chic]

I say mostly because when they finally made me go home today, there were still more unpacked boxes than I was happy with.

We left Saturday morning (we being me, Dad and my uncle J) and drove about 3 1/2 hours to where G'ma was living. When G'pa died, G'ma originally was going to live with my aunt A and her husband D in NC. That didn't work out as planned though and she wound up in A and D's house in OH. (They moved to NC for D's job but kept their house in OH) Because of this though, a lot of G'mas stuff was in storage in NC. D rented a truck there, loaded G'mas stuff and brought it to OH where we loaded the rest. We drove back here Saturday evening (loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong drive because of the truck and G'ma needed to stop often) and then unloaded the truck in the new apartment Sunday.

It's a nice apartment but small and has very little storage. Basically just the closets in each bedroom (two....J will be living there too) and a small linen closet in the hallway. Because G'ma and G'pa had been living in a RV when G'pa died there was no furniture, no curio cabinets, no china cabinets.....nothing like that. Also, even though they had downsized considerably, G'ma still has boxes and tubs full of "prettys", keepsakes and TONS of kitchen stuff that she'll never use again. Big serving platters, fancy entertaining stuff, specialty untensils...that sort of thing. So....aside from the beds, the dressers, a recliner that G'ma got in NC, a second recliner Dad bought used, a small book case and a small dinette table and chairs my cousin gave her, there is no other furniture and nowhere to put this stuff. Oh yeah...*insert sarcastic laugh here*.....no DISHES either. Seems that somewhere between the move out of the RV to NC and then here....they have disappeared. When D got G'ma's stuff out of the storage unit, A wasn't with him. We're not sure if he missed it (they had stuff in there too), if it never made it there to begin with or...as G'ma frequently speculates.....if someone broke into the unit and only stole her dishes. My bet is on D not getting all of her stuff unless of course, G'ma sold the dishes with the trailer and has forgotten. (Which is possible as that happened 2 1/2 years ago but who knows) So....with what we DID find....they have 6 plastic tumblers we found in a bag of Tupperware type stuff, pots and pans, some paper party plates, 6 coffee mugs my step-mom donated, silverware (all of THAT was there), all sorts of untensils, BOXES of fancy party stuff, and two tubs of things that belonged to G'pa's mother. THAT stuff however, will NEVER be used again. It's fancy, G'ma doesn't want it out of the containers it's packed in and the set I DID see was very, very, VERY old, beautiful and OMG delicate china. When I found that set, I unwrapped one cup. I've heard about this china but haven't seen it. (G'pa isn't my bio g'pa and this stuff belonged to his mother. G'ma wants to pass it down the bloodline which is totally fine with me....I've just never laid eyes on this particular set.) Anyway, I take the cup to G'ma to verify what I was pretty sure I already knew and yep....it was Grandmother F's good china.

O
M
G

I was scared to death to handle this thing! This stuff is at LEAST 50 years old but I'm SURE it's much older than that....very fine and so delicate it almost felt like if I tensed up I would crush it. I looked at the bottom of the cup......made in Japan and Platinum edged. Honestly....I never want to handle any of it again! LOL I'm a person that can trip over air....I'm not going to touch that stuff ever again!!!!!!!!!!! My brother was there at the time so I had him carry the tub to G'ma's room and put it in her closet as far out of the way as possible. I figured he was the safest bet. He's young, strong, coordinated and has taken gymnastics and years of martial arts....unlike his klutzy older sister! LOL

Ok, so anyway....no dishes....nowhere to store stuff...not much furniture, not much cabinet space. *sigh* But....I DID make the living room floor appear! LOL I unpacked what I could, combined other boxes, got some books put on the book shelf, put things away in the kitchen and at least stacked the other stuff around the edges of the room. Not as much as I wanted to accomplish before I went home but G'ma and Dad figured I did quite alot and sent me home. Actually my level of exhaustion and snippyness MIGHT have had something to do with that also. Which....fine by me. I'm glad I got done what I did (uncle had to work today as did Dad) and they are good for now. They need to do a store run but they have the basic staples that I got Sunday night, cable will be hooked up by 1 tomorrow and I arranged for their phone to be hooked up on Wednesday.

I'm pretty pooped but I'm happy about G'ma living this close...first time in my entire life she's lived closer than 3 hours away....this is about 40 minutes away from my house. BUT....she and I are a LOT alike and I think we both reached our limit with each other the past couple of days. LOL So....others will be taking over from here and I'll go back up another time to help with anything that's left of that comes up later.

So....did I miss much over the weekend?

Oh...and my dogs? Went BALLISTIC when I got home. AND I got some good pictures and video of the niece...one was her first time eating peas complete with some very....creative facial expressions. LOL

 

[Hound dog]

Glad you had a safe trip. Sounds exhausting....and I know cuz I just went thru it. LOL

About the china......honey, you think you were nervous?? mother in law's china has been passed down in the family for generations. There are 2 sets that are well over 150 yrs old....perhaps older. These are the sets locked in my buffet. lol They're pretty, delicate...too delicate for my tastes...and are gonna stay there until easy child takes them off my hands. Nichole got the set that is only (haha) about 100 yrs old.....my favorite, white with 14 kt gold band, gorgious set and fragile as all get out.

Have I mentioned I'm a paperplate/plastic silverware sort of gal?

No furniture? Is Gma's apartment furnished?

I bet you're glad it's done. And of course the dogs went ballistic. Mamma was HOME.

Hugs

 

[mstang67chic]

Nope....not furnished. For now they have two recliners and a large, almost double width chair. G'ma doesn't like it though and it's really too big for the place so she's going to get rid of it. It was something Dad found for her. J has a tv in his room or can sit in the other chair. If anyone visits, they have 4 kitchen chairs that can be used also. Once they get more organized, she's going to see what she has room for. She wants either a desk or some sort of filing cabinet to keep her papers and records in. She has a small two drawer filing cabinet but we don't know yet if it's empty....I didn't get that far. She also talked about a curio cabinet that she can put some of her prettys in....we'll just have to see what she's got room for as she gets organized. I think if it's done right though...she could fit a small couch or loveseat also. It would be cozy but it can work.

 

[DammitJanet]

Craigslist honey....craigslist!

Oh and walmart has some fantastic plates for a buck fifty a plate. Glass..or some sort of earthen ware. Not plastic. Bowls in matching colors.

 

[Star*]

You are a good granddaughter and there will be several jewels in your crown for this. Over and above baby - over and above.

And I'm with Janet - CRAIGSLIST - Goodwill - Salvation Army

However (raising eyebrow and saying hmmmm) verrrry interesting about things that are missing.

AND.....just a thought about the pretties -And forgive me for this but I am a depression era glass freak - You can only collect SO much. What she needs right now vs what she has in boxes - maybe you could ask her what pieces she feels she could part with, find an antiques dealer and have them give her cash = then use that for things she needs? Also - have her lable the pieces NOW that she wants to go to whomever and make sure her will is intact. Morbid I know - but this will solve a LOT of problems later of THIS IS MINE.

 

[mstang67chic]

You can only collect SO much. What she needs right now vs what she has in boxes - maybe you could ask her what pieces she feels she could part with, find an antiques dealer and have them give her cash = then use that for things she needs? Also - have her lable the pieces NOW that she wants to go to whomever and make sure her will is intact. Morbid I know - but this will solve a LOT of problems later of THIS IS MINE.

Snort

First of all.....she HAS gotten rid of a lot in the last few years. With each move they did (3 or 4 before G'pa died), she downsized a bit. And to be fair....some of this stuff (not a lot but some) is keepsake stuff. Little clay pots my uncles made in school, stained glass things my cousins made for them (G'ma and G'pa helped raise half the grandkids, three in particular)...things like that. There MAY be some stuff that she would part with but not much. As for the labeling? She already has. That woman has little notes in EVERYTHING. In fact, when they originally moved to Florida, they moved with their bedroom set, clothes, personal belongings and valuables of all sorts. That's it. They gave away EVERYTHING else. Spare beds, the patio set, furniture, the spices out of her cabinets. Everything. In addition to the patio set, a bed and the spices (LOL) I received a hurricane lamp with a note in it detailing that it had been a gift from me in 1980-something (would have thought they would take that to Florida though ), a decorative jar thingy with a note saying that it was purchased in 1971 when my parents were still married and on vacation and G'ma watched me and a little red glass jar with stopper that had originally contained Avon bubble bath. The note reads "From Stang Lynn. About 4 or 5 years old. Grandpa got a hanky." The woman saved EVERYTHING so for her to be down to what she has now is simply miraculous. But...most things have notes like these or one simply saying who they are for. For example, back in January, G'ma gave me a diamond necklace she had designated to go to me. She decided though, that she wanted to give it to me in person rather than after the fact so she could see my face when she gave it to me. It came in a typical long box from a jewelry store with the velvet lining folded over the necklace. When I investigated, sure enough, under that lining was the note. "For Stang" I'm sure there are things that don't have notes but between my Dad, aunt, uncles and cousins....we pretty much know the origination of most everything. And we (or I) learn more each time. When I was unpacking some of her stuff, I found a small porcelin vase. Sometime between my uncle's birth in 1960 and his younger brother's birth in 1965, G'ma had a still born girl. There was no service but someone had sent flowers and that vase was what they came in. No note in it (which actually kind of surprised G'ma LOL) but now at least I know what it was if no one else does.

So....I don't see much more downsizing in her future. If she does anything, I could see her giving this stuff to some of us in the family but that would be it. And honestly, if she had someplace with storage, it wouldn't be such an issue. There just is no place to put this stuff in the apartment.

 

[DammitJanet]

I can understand the keeping of that stuff. I have a closet filled with my moms stuff now. Even though I have such awful memories of her, I simply cannot part with this stuff. It is part of my childhood and what I remember. I have plans to maybe leave it to the boys...maybe. Or maybe I will bypass them and go straight to the grands. I tried to actually give a really nice piece to Cory the other day and he made a comment I didnt like so it stopped right there.

I gave Jamie a set of China that was my mom's when he got married the first time. It wasnt her good set or anything like that but it was rather nice. He thought it was something special. It really was just some China that a bank gave away for opening an account years ago. It was dainty and had light blue flowers on it with a sterling silver border. He kept it put up and showed a few pieces at the top of his cabinets in the apartment. Well he tells me that some of it got broken during a move. I somehow doubt it. I think Billie threw it because she got mad it was from his first marriage. Dumb...it was from his grandmother!