Gregory's Server"Being alive is as special an occasion as it gets" 😍
 73 comments
@wendinoakland Admittedly I do not use the family silver, both because it requires a lot of maintenance and because it can be uncomfortable for eating hot foods!  @daviddlevine Yeah, then it’s not worth the headache. We eat everything off the posh af Royal Copenhagen china, and gorgeous vintage glassware. When the pandemic hit, it all crystallized. @wendinoakland @daviddlevine I have the same attitude about the good perfume. I put it on every day now because it pleases me. It's worthless if it stays in the bottle. @lydialurch @daviddlevine We must’ve crossed paths in my NYC days. Moved to California in ‘98, but was a west villager for years (10th street, perry street…) 🩷 @wendinoakland @daviddlevine I was on Jones St. between Bleecker and W. 4th from '90 to '98 when I moved to Brooklyn, and Avenue A before that. You do look familiar and it wouldn't surprise me if we've met. @lydialurch @daviddlevine I was dark haired back then, and anorexic (we all have our things). @wendinoakland Yep. It's unfortunate how influential heroin chic was in those days. I'm sorry you struggled with that. I was a tall redhead and I wore a lot of short skirts in those days. I danced a lot and walked everywhere. I miss those days. @lydialurch same! Why keep it for it to go off. Smell the niceness, enjoy the niceness! @Cbfoley @wendinoakland @daviddlevine I can imagine myself as a ghost who came back to use the rest of the good perfume. 😅 @Cbfoley @wendinoakland @daviddlevine I still might want to come back though, for other reasons such as invisibility powers. 😄 👻 @lydialurch if that's on offer without burning pits, please come back and let us know 😁 @wendinoakland @daviddlevine  @lydialurch @wendinoakland @daviddlevine Someone may have told you, but perfume changes in odor the longer it sits around. It often gets to smelling worse. I'm glad you are using the perfume you like whenever you want. Joy should not be held back for another day. @MyWoolyMastadon @wendinoakland @daviddlevine I've learned this from experience when I tried to save the last drops for a special occasion, only to find that it wasn't as lovely as I remembered. It's flowers, after all. @lydialurch @MyWoolyMastadon @daviddlevine Perfume is really weird that way, how it perishes. And then there’s the unthinkable and criminal “formula change…” where a classic scent is murdered. I’m looking at you, Arpège, lovely old elegant thing. Whoever is responsible should be denied sleep for all of eternity. 😳 @wendinoakland That's so sad when it happens, or when they discontinue a favorite. Aveda used to make a few really amazing and distinctive scents but they dropped them all and broke my heart. 😭 @daviddlevine @wendinoakland I don't have fancy china, but my mum has lots of dishes and some she never uses. If I end up having those, I'll keep and use those I like, even if I'm just having toast. @wendinoakland @daviddlevine @OiskaE The trick with silver is to use it constantly, then it won’t tarnish. Put it away in a cupboard and you’ll find it’s too much effort to clean when the occasion arises.  @wendinoakland @daviddlevine  @daviddlevine  @falcennial @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Our local chain of charity shops are awash in wedding China, the stuff that can't be in the microwave or go into a dishwasher due to metallic paints. You would not be alone in donating yours. Do it. Donate them and remove any anxiety you have from them. @MyWoolyMastadon @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley unfortunately a lot of thrift stores and charity shops won’t take any of that fine China, crystal, and silverware because they can’t sell it. So just use it, and enjoy it. I hate to say this, but the thrift store may just throw it in the dumpster if you leave it with them, so you might as well get the joy out of using it. @Lynnd @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Depends on the shop. But yes. Enjoy what you have. Send it through the dishwasher enough times so that the plate is white in a few years. Stop worrying over it. The charity shop near me sells these plates for US$0.50 each. They certainly are not trying to make bank off of them. @MyWoolyMastadon @Lynnd @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley We have a free shop in town, they get in sets of fine china regularly d/t people dying off & their kids don't want it. My everyday stuff is a mixture of china & other plates I enjoy looking at. Some are one of a kind. Even use it out at the trailer. Had a big supper do with the other campers one night, the older campers were aghast at using fine china around the campfire. "What if it gets broken" 😜 @CodieneC @MyWoolyMastadon @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley that’s awesome. I think that so many shops get inundated with “the family china,” that they just can’t handle it all, especially if it doesn’t sell. One option for teacups and saucers might be a local tea or coffee shop. @Lynnd @CodieneC @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Ages ago I saw a jewelry artist who took broken China plates and made broaches and earrings and hair clips using the decorative edges. Moziac artists too could use them. Unless repurposed, no one is paying US$35 a plate and up like they once did for these dishes. @MyWoolyMastadon @CodieneC @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley it’s a lesson on the value of conspicuous consumption - what is “valuable” to one generation may be garbage to the next. I love how you were able to repurpose these things. @Lynnd @MyWoolyMastadon @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley It would be great if every town had a free shop for recycling stuff they no longer want or need. We were lucky that one lady in town had an old shop that wasn't being used for anything so now 2x a week you can drop off unwanted items and/or pick something up that you can use - for free. @CodieneC @Lynnd @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley I was watching a show that was discussing the Maker mentality in GB. There was a garbage transfer station where people pulled up to discard their rubbish. They put usable but unwanted stuff in a corner where anyone could pick from to take home. Single pane windows, busted chairs that needed paint and woodworking, lamps missing shades, etc. It was brilliant. Plus it was a community where you HAD to take your own garbage to the dump. @MyWoolyMastadon @Lynnd @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Definitely a good idea for any dump to be doing. @MyWoolyMastadon @CodieneC @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley that’s a great idea. I think that some dumps do that here in Ontario, but ours does not. @econads @Lynnd @MyWoolyMastadon @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley @econads @Lynnd @MyWoolyMastadon @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley No problem - just that nowadays most charity shops are owned by big corps or churches & they like Feregi style profit @econads @CodieneC @Lynnd @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Yep. Salvation Army and Goodwill are horrible charities. Their prices for goods they got for free are exorbitant. A few bucks more and you could buy brand new. Lucky to have a religious charity in my area that keeps prices cheap. Saw a Tommy Bahamas shirt some time ago. The price was $5 like all of the other shirts. @Lynnd @MyWoolyMastadon @econads @falcennial @daviddlevine @Cbfoley Yep, I never take the cups, saucers or bowls. Sometimes someone will take cups/saucers for the senior's centre & I know of some that grab whatever is left for various art projects. They never really last long :) @MyWoolyMastadon @Cbfoley @falcennial @econads @CodieneC @daviddlevine @Lynnd We have fine china bc my mother-in-law insisted we choose a pattern, bc ‘everyone should have it’ (grew up quite poor). Usually gets used just a couple times a year, but I think maybe we’ll start using it for Sundays even when we’re just have soup and grilled cheese. Will make for fun variety, and will make me less salty about the cupboard dedicated to storing them. @DavidM_yeg @Cbfoley @falcennial @econads @CodieneC @daviddlevine @Lynnd In the wedding industry there are many traditions that I'm happy to see go. Expensive seldom used fine place settings were always a silly expense. My mom had to pick out a place setting and ask for it at her wedding. Things she did not get she was expected to go out and buy herself. The sets were only used at major holidays. They required hand washing, could never go into a microwave & caused anguish when chipped. @MyWoolyMastadon @DavidM_yeg @Cbfoley @falcennial @econads @CodieneC @daviddlevine and because of that, so many people stopped using them altogether, and they just sat in the fancy china cabinet unused and unloved as a status symbol of a bygone era. I go my mother’s and my aunt’s china and crystal, and I am using it all, and enjoying it. If it gets broken, oh well, one less thing for my executors to deal with 🤷♂️ @DavidM_yeg @Cbfoley @falcennial @econads @CodieneC @daviddlevine @Lynnd I'm glad you will use the fine China and enjoy them. @MyWoolyMastadon @daviddlevine @elilla I collect old videogames. What’s the point if you aren’t going to play them?   @daviddlevine Reminds me of that popular Richard Dawkins quote: We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia.   @daviddlevine I discovered some Blue Mountain coffee in the bottom of the freezer left over from our last visit to Jamaica - having discovered it I'm certainly drinking it now, not keeping it any longer!  |
@daviddlevine Use the company/fancy china every day. For toast, for snacks. And the nice cocktail glasses, wine glasses. Be your own guest. Tomorrow is freaking upon us.