If you read my post,
Family Farm Findings: Part 1, you'll be up to date. That post was about being able to choose some of my grandpa's tools to keep for my husband and I. That same day, I was able to find some other awesome things that belonged to my grandparents. My grandpa passed away 2 years ago and my grandma passed away over 10 years ago. I was barely a teenager when she passed so some days it feels like I don't have enough memories to hold onto. I know "things" don't control memories but they sure can help!
When my aunt, my mom and I were looking through the things in the house, it was really touching to me to find things that belonged to my grandma and grandpa. My grandparents were thrifty shoppers and would frequent flea markets. Many items we found still had price tags on them! I can see I got a lot of my thriftiness from them. My grandparents were kind of pack rats, though. I try to avoid that.
Some of the things I found were simply awesome. Here are some of the things I found in the old farm house.
This is just one way I displayed some of the items. This bookshelf is an awesome representation of so many things I love. Books, obviously, antique and old cameras, elephants, handmade things (the elephants were hand carved in Kenya), horses, milk glass, and lavender. The horse bookends were a gift from my grandma when I was younger. They're not holding up books but I still think they're great pieces. The milk glass belonged to my mom's mom and I love milk glass. The elephants belonged to my dad's mom, the one whom this post is focused on. The lavender I got at the local farmer's market and I've used it to make homemade dryer sheets!
Just a pretty up close shot of the milk glass.
I love the little elephant family! They're precious, even though they're missing some tusks.
Hand carved in Kenya!
It was a boutique item, fancy shmancy!
Another elephant! This little guy is brass (I think) and he's adorable!
I also found this little carved blue stone Scottie dog. I'm not sure what kind of stone/mineral it is, though. It looks too blue to be turquoise. Any ideas?
This is another one of those things that it's so awesome to have. My grandpa was famous for writing little notes all over calendars and schedules. He would say things like, "Thurs-18-to Farmers Mkt" or my personal favorite "[date] Found dead mouse in dog food." It's just so cool because it's like an insight into his daily life. What's funny is that I catch my dad writing similar notes! Also, since middle school I've been keeping planners and each day I'd write a little something about what happened that day or what I did. Anytime I think to write about the weather, especially, I think of my grandpa.
My grandpa also loved finding things with his metal detector! I used to love going with him and getting to use it myself. He found all sorts of things and, you guessed it, he'd almost always put a tag on the item with a note! He would usually write what he thinks it is, who found it, when it was found, and where. One piece we found actually had a time of 7:15pm written down!
"Found on James River bank 100ft North of Lee Bridge near Tredegar Iron Works. Winter 1977"
Here are some more cool things I got. All complete with notes!
"Part of old iron. Found Oct-19-91 (Using MetroTech). 30 steps S-East of orig. log house"
"Handmade nail. May be from carriage house" There were several of these, one even had my sister's birth year on it so my mom took that to give to her. I know she'll appreciate it.
Really old dog collar. "Found in front yard 7-7-74"
Responsible owner! There were two different rabies tags on the collar. This one was from 1959, the other I couldn't read the date. The owner's name and information were on the collar too!
This one is my personal favorite (even though the 3 different sized horses are awesome!). "Found by Catherine using Nautilus. March '98 in roadway North of carriage house. 50ft North" ME! I found these two random bits of whatever! I could've cried when I saw this. I looked up at my mom and aunt and said, "I can go home happy right this second...I've got all I need." I was only 10 years old but unfortunately I don't remember finding this! I have such a crummy memory but it means so much to have this.
I didn't want this post to be any longer but there is more! Stay tuned for Family Farm Findings: Part 3!
What are some of your favorite things that you hold onto from relatives who have passed? Are they things that may seem insignificant to others but hold extra special value to you?
Till next time,
Catherine
