I agree that your family should give you a break. It isn't like we live forever, we should enjoy our beautiful things while we can. And as for them surviving intact to be passed on thru the family - why is that? So someone can make money off of them some day? Who cares! Eventually they will fall into the hands of a future relative who has no memory of you or your grandmothers, they will have no sentimental value, and they will be sold. That's all well and good, but to be honest, I have more to worry about than whether one of my decendents is going to get a good price for one of my items in 75 or 100 years. Use and enjoy, that is my motto.

Frou...thanks for your caring words. I'm like you with not liking electronics showing. I've got all the TVs in cabinets as well, and with them being flat now it's so much easier to do. I got that cider can a few years back, at Michael's it was on clearance. It's nice because it looks like a really old piece. NanaK..thanks.. I almost hear your voice through your words and it's very comforting. Glad you enjoyed looking and I'm happy that everyone is pleased too. marlene..thank you again... I'll be looking for you to join us here. As you can see, everyone is very sweet - Always! Karen..you liked that part - about the fingers & mouth! Can you relate??? lol I love that little bird cup too. It's so sweet. Sometimes the simplest things make 'big statements'. You know they also had a large plate...but I thought what would I do with 1 plate...silly me. kathleen...thank you. I love that carved woman too. The details on her don't really show up in the photo. OA..I'll take a photo tomorrow before I go to the Dr...while it's still daylight. Then, I'll post it tomorrow evening for you to see. I'll show you the TV inside and how it extends out. jane

With pleasure, nanny----they were purchased online from Grandinroad, the less expensive arm of Frontgate. They were very reasonable, well made, and (surprisingly) actual leather. For the price I was expecting pleather :-) I have linked to them below. Here is a link that might be useful: Grandinroad ottomans

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to say, I feel your pain! I can totally relate to what you are saying. We have a very hard time throwing things out too. And not because we pat ourselves on the back either, it is because we just can't! Sometimes I am jealous of those that can. I don't mean something like hoarding...I mean changing something out because we are tired of the old. We have two behemoth tube-style televisions. We do not watch much tv so we will never wear these stupid things out. One of them my DH won in a raffle with a $3 ticket before we were married. They are so annoying, but I just can not, even with great sales and deals, go buy a new one just because I don't like the old ones. None of our furniture (which most of it is previously used) "matches" but apparently it is going to last forever, so I will forever have mismatching furniture. That is the kind of stuff I can't get rid of. I try not to bring too much other clutter into the house, knowing I have a hard time throwing things in the garbage. I even cringe when I have to throw broken toys away, not because I think they aren't garbage, I just think of the space in the landfill a worthless broken toy is going to take and it seems so wasteful. Over the years we have really become way more selective in what the kids can bring into the house too, because of my dislike for things that break easily and have to be thrown out. Dedtired, where do you get stuff that you can put in paint cans to dry them up? Now THOSE I would love to get rid of!