Before and After Silver Haul

I had a meeting in a town about an hour and a

quarter away from my house earlier this week

and on the way home I stopped at a thrift shop

for a look around and found a pile of old silver.

I imagine a family emptied out someone's home

and sent it all to the thrift shop.  Probably many

of these pieces were wedding gifts back when

people got silver for their weddings.  There were

so many cool pieces, a huge circular tray that

must have been 2' across, coffee pots, creamers,

footed water pitchers...  and I didn't buy anything.

NOT ONE THING!  I thought, oh, you have so

much already, where will you put it?

And then I regretted it.  I thought about it all

week.  I really wanted the huge tray.

This was our wedding anniversary weekend and we

were out of state all day on Saturday so I made a deal

with Mr. Wonderful.  I said if we got up early on Sunday

 and got all of our outdoor chores done, could we head

back down south and see if any silver was left?  He was

up for it and off we went.  Of course many of the good

pieces were gone, including the huge tray.  But I did

pick up 10 pieces.  And I got it all for $20 which is the

weekend limit I usually set for myself.  So it was a score!

I polished it all as I was watching the final Lewis on

Masterpiece and now it is all packed away in the china

closet.  I think we will have a silver themed Thanksgiving

and Christmas this year!

Silver Haul!

It's that time of year when the garage sales start up and 

I'm always ready to go treasure hunting.  A church near 

my house was having a rummage sale and I stopped in to

look around.  I saw this bag of silverware marked $5.

The first thing I noticed was this server that was

sitting on top of all the other items.  I thought the

rest of the bag was probably filled with assorted

forks, knives and spoons but I was interested in the

server.  In an antique store this item alone would 

probably cost at least $15 so I figured $5 was a 

good deal.

When I got to the car I looked in the bag and laughed.

I guess someone else likes butter knives as much as

I do!  I use butter knives often and not just for butter,

when I serve triple cream brie or other soft cheeses

or dips, I like to give each person their own knife.

When I was a little girl I always liked to use the butter

knife from my Mum's silver set ~ it just made the meal

more special.

While watching a movie this afternoon I got them all

polished and looking beautiful.

They are mostly silverplate but I did find some 

sterling.  There are even a few that match

 ~ not that that matters...

I love the little shields on this set of 6, perhaps I

should have them engraved with our initial.

These two will go to someone I know with the

initial B.

There was even one M ~ made just for us!

Mrs. P. Pierce

Who Are You?

Okay, I admit it, I have a problem with

thing for silver.

I'm always on the quest for another

interesting piece for my collection.

I have LOTS of silver polish because when

I travel and find something new, I have to

polish it up to see the treasure beneath.

Someday, I'll wise up and bring along some

polish in a little travel bottle.

Does it bother me if someone else's

monogram is on it?  No, not at all.

That just makes it more interesting.

I never buy things at some chi-chi antique

store ~ that's no fun!  I want to rummage

through old boxes and bins at a flea market

or thrift store or garage sale.

It's all about the treasure hunt.

And that's how I found the Mrs. P. Pierce

spoons.  I was on my way to a quilt show

in Marion, IN, about a 1/2 hour from my

home and just as I was pulling into town

I spotted a huge sale at a church.  I had to

go!  Now I had $10 dollars in my pocket,

it was the cost of admission to the quilt

show.  I found a box filled with silverware.

It was the box that a case of soda would come

in,  when I asked the price they said it was

whatever I wanted to give.  I asked, "$10?"

So much for the quilt show....

But I've never regretted it.  I find this monogram

to be so strange, it is so specific.  Wouldn't it

be more common to just have a "P" or even 3

initials?  Did Mrs. P. Pierce have many sets of

silver and she needed something different on

this set?  I guess it's a question I'll just have to

ponder.  But in my house, you are an honored

guest when you get the Mrs. P. Pierce spoons.

My Mum always gets one with her tea.

And whenever I eat ice cream, I use one of

these to eat it, it just makes it taste better

somehow.