Trousseau/Hope Chest

 

 

This refers to the things a teen age girl would start collecting in anticipation of getting married. The chest itself could be very ornate or functionally plain. The contents varied a great deal, depending on the resources of the girl and her family. It was a custom in many countries dating back as far as the 6^th century in Egypt. It was also called a Dower Chest.

 

A lot of the items such as clothing, table linens, bed linens, quilts and towels would be worked on by the women of the family, including the girl. They would make these items special with embroidery and other needlework. These things could possibly be worked on for several years. The chest would need to be big enough for the contents and portable, since most girls took the chest with them when they married.

 

General list

 

Household linens as listed above (multiple sets for each type)

Underwear and nightclothes

Slippers, stockings and gloves

Aprons

“Personal” linens

Jewelry

Clothes for everyday use and some for special occasions

Sometimes china, silverware and glassware

Toiletries and hair care items

 

After the wedding, the chest would become part of the family furniture. Storage for extra blankets or bedding, also for storing the wedding dress.

 

A nice little custom from the past.

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Random thought:

The youngest picture of yourself is also the oldest picture of yourself.

 

Check Your Drawers!!

 

No, not those drawers…your JUNK drawers. Unless that’s where you keep your regular drawers (i.e. underwear), in which case you just need to leave this blog…even if you DO call your regular drawers “junk drawers”. Which is funny, yes. But I digress…

 

Awhile back I asked if the mighty junk drawer was in ALL homes, and the answer was pretty much a universal “yes” even in other countries. So I got to thinking…what makes the perfect junk drawer? And came up with this tutorial for the rare folks who need guidance.

 

Kitchen

Tape measures. At least 2 of them. One regular and one long enough to measure a wall.

At least 2 or 3 sandwich bags of rubber bands.

A 3x5 cardboard of thumbtacks. And another one that has NEVER BEEN OPENED.

Various screwdrivers and pliers.

At least 1 icepick.

A couple of small hammers.

Random nails and screws of different sizes. Maybe a few bolts and washers as well.

Zip ties.

Different types of tape rolls (electrician, masking, painter, etc) ALL WITH ONLY SMALL LENGTHS OF TAPE LEFT. The 37 pound roll of duct tape is in the garage on top of the freezer.

String of some sort. Nothing long enough for anything.

One flashlight with batteries that are dead, one flashlight with no batteries in it.

Random batteries, none of which go to either of the flashlights.

Several various tubes of glue which are pretty much dried out.

Plugs. Your choice. None go to any appliance in the house.

Same with keys. None go to any door.

Plastic bag of matches.

Bonus points for stuff like legos, broken plastic toys, maybe a couple of rocks that one of the kids put in there to keep it safe. You can probably come up with other things as well.

 

You can have other junk drawers for things like desks or night stands, but you’re on your own there. And no matter HOW many times you go through the various drawers to straighten them out, you will end up with THE SAME AMOUNT OF JUNK!! It’s like MAGIC!! Don’t fight it!

 

 

Empty Shelves Make Me Sad

 

I grew up with books filling the shelves. My mom was a voracious reader and passed that onto me. Starting as soon as I could read, I had books galore. The first ones were kid’s books that I inherited from my older cousin. As time went on, I acquired more of my own. I had two bookcases in my bedroom that were completely filled. I also regularly got several books at the library every other week or so.

 

Yard sales, used book stores, wherever they were available, books came home with me.

 

I have seen many, many articles about minimalism, Marie Kondo advice, downsizing, etc. It seems the first things that you are recommended to toss are books. Anathema! Blasphemy! An empty shelf has NO SOUL!! Some of the examples show a few books flanked by plants and/or maybe a knickknack or two. And plenty of space.

 

Now, you all know about my “thing” about cats and cats stuff. I have TONS of cat stuff that I like to display. I have 2 shelves in the family room where I have a nice display of cat stuff that I like to rotate. Same with the fireplace mantle. The rest of ALL THE OTHER SHELVES are filled with books. Family room, front room, guest room, craft room, hallway. Books, books, books. Where possible, I MIGHT have a kitty figurine or two on the front of the shelf in front of some of the books. If there is ANY empty space in a bookcase, it is quickly filled with a book or two…or three.

 

The only change I have been making lately is starting to winnow through the books when I read them, especially if it’s a second read. I decide if I truly intend to read the book again. I have favorites that I will never get rid of, but I know there are ones that I can let go.

 

Now…what will I do with the empty spaces…?

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Random Thought:

If you Google “askew” the entire page will tilt…go ahead and try it…