Inherited Ornaments

This is beginning to remind me of Clockwise and the old ladies who are supposed to be going out for the day, one of whom is obsessed with the inheritance of some sherry glasses.

I would have no qualms in getting rid of ornaments that I did not like. When my Mother died I got a Royal Doulton figurine, she was made the year I was born and she is quite elegant.
My elder sister got the Lustreware jugs, a set of three, which have been passed down to eldest daughter in each generation. She has no children to inherit so she is bequeathing them to the museum.

Janeainsworth, that's really sad but how nice to know that she knew you valued it.

In a way I have the opposite problem.
I had a dear Aunt who had no children of her own, and we used to visit her nearly every year (she lived in Cornwall) for our holidays. When my children were little, we used to take them down there too.
She had some lovely things that she had acquired over the years and that had come from older generations of the family.
Hanging near her front door was an illuminated script done by my great-uncle, Polonius' speech from Hamlet Act 1 scene 3 ('And these few precepts in thy memory.........neither a borrower nor a lender be etc') I used to look at it, marvelling at both the words and the beauty of the calligraphy.
When she became frail at the age of 93 and went into a home, a cousin disposed of all her things without consulting anyone else in the family and although some things were sold at auction, the illuminated script wasn't amongst them.
After she died a few months later, it transpired she had left it to me.
I know that material things don't matter, but I would so much like to have had it not only to treasure for its own beauty, but as a remembrance of her, and my great-uncle whom I remember visiting as a child.

I've got some of my mother's school exercise books (much better marks than any of mine!) and also a science exercise book of my grandmother's. It must date from the end of the 19th century which seems very early for a girl to be studying science and is particularly interesting as she was living in Belgium at the time, so getting very good marks in a foreign language.

Yes, Galen, but you don't live in a two-up, two-down end of terrace!

I am trying to de-clutter too & am sending bags of stuff to Oxfam, though I still can't bear throwing out some old school exercise books - all that hard work! I could have sold some on eBAy but when I saw the hassle involved in selling on line decided to give the hassle to Oxfam too.
I've never had any problem discarding things I don't like or need but it might be worth checking their value - many auctioneers do free valuations. I once took a tall coloured glass vase, which I hated, that my MiL had dumped on us to a car boot sale. I was packing up & realised I'd left the vase in the boot so I plonked it on the empty table with a £5 sticker on it. Two guys in suits (probably dealers) swooped down immediately & bought it. I knew then I'd made a mistake & now I know it was worth a lot more.

anno what are you worrying about?
I've been here for over 35years and I'm a hoarder.
Think I'll just stay here until I die and then it will be the kid's problem

NO accounting for that Kitty

Sook

Scratches head with wonder ..........Who will DH leave his brick collection to

I was upset that my Mum is leaving me nothing other than any household goods no-one else has asked for by 6 months after her death . I'm starting to feel that she actually likes me and is saving me the bother of storing her stuff.

Oxfam are glad of nearly everything except electrical and furniture items.
Where I used to live there were several charities that collected and sold on bigger items.

Good advice, opsimath. I've been in my small house for 13 years and it's already bulging at the seams. When I left my last one after 15 years, DS1 came and helped me to fill two skips. Looking round me, in a smallish room, I can see several objects I never use - a pilates mat, a foot massager and numbers of books. I need DS1 to come and sort me out. Help!

opsimath That is a very good point. You have my sympathies. I can see my OHs hording leading to that problem. I am just about fit enough to clear things up if they are not too heavy but I can see our loft being increasingly difficult to access. It becomes a problem for executors.

opsimath I can empathise. I don't know what the solution is. It must be really difficult even to think about.
My recent experience has put me off shopping. Even for clothes.
Thank you absent . In truth there is still some stuff in MIL's loft but it is, in the main, not mine - "collections" of things like CDs belonging to DH. You know that "I've started so I'll finish" gene. But he did get rid of 25 years worth of National Geographics !!!
Some books, is all i have stored I think.A much reduced sub-set of my original number.
It's bound to be an increasing problem isn't it, the "bind" that you find yourself in opsimath. With increasing affluence, people tend to accumulate more and more "stuff" - shopping is a very popular leisure activity, much increased gift giving since I was a young adult. (how often do we buy things for the person who needs nothing) And longer lifetimes. It is the elephant in the room when people suggest that older people should downsize and get shot of their big houses and move into something more manageable.
hum. I could go on. Perhaps a GN blog beckons?

So much that has been written resonates with me. Over the years so many things have been inherited from various famly members on both sides. Some things have been passed on others used and much more packed away in the loft. Also I know there are some things up there that were stored there when we first moved here 50 years ago. Now we are both in our 80s and the house has far too much 'stuff'. We need work done but are not able to face the upheaval of major alterations that should have been done years ago. Ideally I shoud like to do as a previous poster and put what we need to keep in store and leave the house empty for the re-furbishment to be carried out. The loft could be emptied at the same time. If only it were possible! Sadly my husband has severe dementia and the disruption would unsettle him I have been told. So... all I can say is, don't put off clearing out what you do not need or like while you can.

Respect JessM. I thought I was doing well on the decluttering, first from London to the North-east and then to New Zealand. Even so, the garage is packed to the roof with all sorts of boxes, as well as some furniture now that we are in a small three-bedroom house. Not all of it is because I have hung on to stuff that I don't want; the house is rented so, for example, I cannot attach my grandmother's Vienna clock and my gravity clock to the walls. Even so, I am hugely impressed – your efforts were indeed heroic.

Anne of GG Canadian , please ladies!
Yes don't get conned by the younger generation to live with stuff you don't like.
I have 2 things only - a 30s chair that belonged to one grandfather and a wooden chest, probably made by the other. I had them both restored a few years ago. Ornaments? What are they? Where on earth would I put them?

(have to admit to being a bit smug after utterly heroic decluttering and downsizing efforts earlier this year - decanting ourselves from largeish 5 bedrooms to a flat with 2. I recommend doing this while one is still fit and resilient enough to cope with the physical and mental effort. )

I have my grandmother's button box, which contains lots of treasures like my mum's brownie badge, gran's good attendance medals from school, lots of unusual buttons and hat pins, and so on..... Over the years, children end up with it spread out on the table, fascinated with these old-fashioned objects.

When my grandma died the vultures family emptied the house. They squabbled over anything they thought had any value....grandma didn't have much tbh. I asked for the farmhouse biscuit barrel that I'd played with as a child. I played farms for hours using it and dominoes for animals. There was much umming and arring but finally it was decided that it was worthless so I could have it but I couldn't have the dominoes because they were ivory.

Came across a similar biscuit barrel online the other day which was valued at around £100. They'd have never let me have it if they'd realised

My most precious heirloom is a solid silver tray, presented to my grandfather by his colleagues on the 50th anniversary of his career in journalism. It's a beautiful and simple design by a Birmingham silversmith. Another is a Georgian bow-fronted chest of drawers from the maternal side of the family. It came from the rectory which seven generations of my ancestors occupied. The only ornament is a seated figurine of a monk with a very gentle expression.

That's a good point, roses. When I look at the things my adult children have kept for posterity, they aren't what we would leave to them because they have great value, or have been in the family a long time. They are things that have meaning from childhood. One son has a Meccano set, dominoes and a paperweight; other son has the Tom and Jerry from his first birthday cake, a roll of wallpaper that was made for him, and his teddy bear; one daughter has some costume jewellery that grandma gave her for dressing up, and the other daughter has sets of children's books that she treasures. None of them want antiques and china. They'll probably sell my stuff!

In terms of valuables, said daughter who liked grandma's costume jewellery also inherited some lovely earrings. When she got engaged, I commented that her diamond ring was exactly like the diamond earrings grandma left her. There was a look of panic when I said 'let's have a look.' We left it at that then a month later she announced that she'd found the 2 x 1/2 carat earrings in a box in the loft, had them cleaned and valued, then blamed ME for not explaining what they were!

Wow! haven't you all got some lovely inherited things? And some un-lovely things too of course, but after all, it's your own choice to sell give or throw away etc.I have never been left anything at all, goods, money, houses, nothing!And never will be now, sadly.We have moved house lots of times now, the last time was 5 years ago, and we only kept the things we wanted [presents from anyone included]. The things from our children's childhood, which we have been carting about and storing forever have now gone, they either collected it or we got rid of it.I do think that we should be ruthless about this because we have every right to be!Just have what you want around the house.

I inherited my gran's 'old pots' as my siblings described them. Victorian Violets china, very pretty, but some damage and cracks. I've built the set back up with occasional purchases found on various china sites for missing pieces and even found some cups and a cream jug on Ebay. It's all on display in my kitchen dresser, which is on the other side of the wall to next door, where my great-aunt used to live, and my great-uncle's family a couple of generations going back. That's where this tea set started off! It was given to my gran when she got married, as they couldn't afford lavish presents in those days. Now it's just a couple of bricks away from its original home.