Tribute to my 100 yr old Grandma

I'm feeling some big time guilt today. Tomorrow, my Grandma turns 100.  With our move this summer I simply could not get back to Iowa for this occasion.  I feel really kind of sick about it.  Last year my brother, sister in law,  and my family all flew in and we had a party for her 99th birthday at her nursing home.  She is in a state-of-the-art memory unit in Boone, IA.  ( I know, who'd of thunk Boone, IA would have state-of-the-art anything).  She doesn't do too bad physically but really struggles with her memory.  When we visit she doesn't know who we are specifically but knows we are her family.  So in this post I will honor her by showing you pictures of all the special things I have in my home that were once hers.

  

Last year my Mom brought me this box of silver pieces (some of it is plated) that were from my Grandma.  None of it had been polished in a long time and I had no idea what to do with it.  At first, I really didn't want it.  The thought of polishing all that stuff was not appealing.  Really, there are very few household jobs worse than polishing silver.  So I sucked it up one day and started working on it.  It took the entire day and about 100 flipping cloths but I got it done.  Okay, I cheated a bit and paid my cleaning woman to do one tea set.  I'd like to curse, swear, cuss right here to emphasize how much this job stunk.  In the end, it was worth the blood, sweat, and swearing. I put it all in my china cabinet and here was the the end result.  It is my favorite display in my house. 

In addition to all the china my Mother also brought me all my Grandma's linens. She had  napkins in just about every color of the rainbow.  Again, I'm thinking what in the *&&*@* am I going to do with this stuff.  They'd been ironed and starched to a meticulous crispness I didn't think I could ever replicate if used.  My Grandma was one of those who used to iron her underwear.  Well this apple fell an orchard away from that tree.  I've tried to replicate the starched napkins and have failed.  As you can see in the picture the first two rows are hers and the orange mine.  Notice the pathetic difference. 

I also have some great chairs from her that I had reupholstered.  Here they are.

The Chippendale Wing 

The Black Velvet Berg-ere

The Camel Back Fauteuil

 

I just love these chairs.  The wing back is my husband's "official chair".  BYW if you want to know approximately how you say fauteuil, which means chair in French.  My little French instructor at Les Arts Decoratifs tried very hard to get me to pronounce it correctly.  It is like FAH toy.  With a French accent of course.  I truly stink to high heaven at French.  Spanish was my minor in college. I can trill an "r' like nobody's business but French is just a complete anomaly to me.   I digress.  So, even though I won't be there physically to celebrate with my Grandma, I'll be there in spirit.  I always have her things around me as a constant reminder.  Happy 100th Lois Disney!! We love you!

Four Generations August 2008

Great Grandma's 99th Birthday

Comments

[Paula Grace]

Awwwwwwww.... I think I'm going to cry. Love everything you have that was hers. Um, Kristin, they make silver dips. Just dip it in and tarnish is gone. No rubbing required. I'll get you some for Christmas along with red martini :) Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

[Julia @ Hooked on Houses]

Happy 100th to Grandma Lois! That's pretty amazing. My grandma just turned 93 and I thought even that was incredible. Sad you can't be with her to celebrate--that would be hard.

Her linens look brand new. I'm no good at that, either, so I admire someone who can iron things to a crisp!

I took Spanish in high school and then French in college. I could never get the hang of French and kept trying to pronounce things with a Spanish accent. It was a disaster. Ha. Anyway, I'm glad to know how to pronounce fauteuil--although I'd probably butcher it if I tried to use it in conversation. :-)

[Kristin]

I do the same thing with French and give it a Spanish accent. There are some things I can pronounce correctly. Mostly, things that have been Americanized. When we order or purchase my favorite Champagne, Veuve Cliquot(which is a devil to pronounce) I do okay. However people look at me like I'm the idiot. The young girl in the wine store totally "corrected" my husband the last time. Too funny!
Paula, I need the name and info on where to get the silver dip? I've tried tarnex and that doesn't work.

[Dream Mom]

Happy 100th birthday to Grandma!

The china cabinet looks just beautiful. It is hard to imagine doing those tasks like polishing silver, etc. however it really does look nice when it's done. I think it's great the way you have used her furniture and updated it. That's the best way and I think it makes a home special.

As for the linens, I cheat and have the dry cleaner press most of them since I like to use them for tablescaping. I loathe ironing but do like things pressed with the "heavy starch", as the cleaners calls it.

Susan, at the blog, "Between Naps on the Porch" has a Tablescape Thursday where women create tablescapes and post them. I participated a few months back (took the summer off with my son) and I found it was a lovely way to use/display all of the pretty china and dishes I had around. It's fun to be creative and think of new ways to use it but most importantly, I found that by using them more and creating beautiful tablescapes, it really enhanced my enjoyment of all of those dishes. Although I had used many of my place settings for holiday dinners, participating in the tablescapes made me elevate my game, I mean tablescaping, to a new level. After participating in these Tablescape Thursdays, I would kill for all of those linens from your Grandma since I like making all different kinds of tablescapes!

Anyway, my point is that you might enjoy creating some pretty tablescapes with your Grandma's linens and silver as a way to honor your Grandma and to keep her memory alive.

Thanks for the french lesson!

[Kristin]

I was wondering about having the cleaners do them. I would love to do a table scape. I love the idea of creating one in my Grandma's honor. That is a great idea. I love a pretty table and have the sets of dishes to prove it. I used to say if there was a 12 step program for dish addiction, I'd be in. I'm entertaining in a couple weeks so I'll send Susan a tablescape. I think she has emailed me before about doing one but it was in the midst of the relo chaos. I do read her blog though. I do have enough linens to create about any color schemed table imaginable.

[Cheryl Drohan]

What a beautiful tribute! You should get your mom to print your pictures and show your grandma. I'm sure she would be touched to know that she is thought of every day with her belongings around you.

[Kelly]

I lived in Boone, Iowa for a year. I didn't know that was there, either! Iowa has a lot of good medical stuff due to the medical school at the University of Iowa. Psst....there's a great Dutch bakery in Boone.