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Post by MZF on Jul 4, 2024 15:03:35 GMT
We do use the good stuff. I have several sets of china, sterling, crystal, and all sorts of odder table accoutrements like salt cellars, bone plates, shrimp cocktail glasses, and so forth. Cooking and entertaining are my creative outlets. We love to have people over to share a good meal around a pretty table. I have a few sets of everyday stuff too but I love to set out the “good stuff.” I believe in using what we have in general too. The nicer sheets, the “company” rooms, burning the candles, using the last of the perfume… I don’t really “save” anything. I take great pleasure in using it. This is us, too. I decided a few years ago that since the kids really don't want to inherit our stuff, we might as well use it. I really enjoy using the nicer dishes and glassware--makes my meals taste better:) |
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Post by smasonnc on Jul 4, 2024 15:29:01 GMT
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 4, 2024 15:51:52 GMT
We don’t even own fancy dishes or crystal. We never registered for any of that because I knew we wouldn’t use it. We do have a set of silver that was DH’s grandma’s but we mostly took it because his sister didn’t want it and it might have some value.
I try not to wear my nicer clothes unless it’s a situation where I really need to look nice. The odds are just too great that something will get wrecked wearing my nicer shirts, etc. in everyday life so I don’t. But I have enough opportunities where I do wear them so they do get used.
But don’t get me started on the good scrapbook paper, LOL. I have a lot of that, and also some fabrics that I have a hard time cutting into because at this point I know I can’t get more of the same. I have had situations come up where I knew I had the *PERFECT* paper for a specific project and at those times I was so glad I hoarded it and didn’t use it up on something else lesser just so I could say I used it.
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Post by disneypal on Jul 4, 2024 15:56:27 GMT
I used to “save the good stuff” for special occasions but not anymore, I’ve learned that life is too short, we may not live to see tomorrow so use the good stuff today! Why have good things if we don’t use them?
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,718 
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Jul 4, 2024 16:00:43 GMT
Yes we do use the good stuff. We have several sets that we use, depending on the occasion.
we have Christmas settings - including coffee sets with side plates for dessert, birthday plates for cake, afternoon tea plates, honestly you name it and it will no doubt be in a cupboard somewhere. There are serving bowls and platters, gravy jugs, glasses of all descriptions.
i enjoy doing a nice table setting when we have people for a meal especially family, it is just one of those things that make me happy.
mind you neither DS or DD will particularly want any of these dishes so I guess they will end up in a junk shop somewhere.
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basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,664
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Post by basketdiva on Jul 4, 2024 16:05:34 GMT
We do use the "good" stuff. I've a few special plates I've inherited from my grandmothers I use for dessert when we have company or sometimes just because. I used to have a lot of cross stitched and embroidered item flour sack towels. I was always afraid to use them because I didn't want them destroyed but then my grandmother said " I made these for you to use and not sit in a closet- who cares if they get ruined-enjoy them" So they were well used and eventually discarded.
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Post by GamGam on Jul 4, 2024 16:24:00 GMT
We do use our Waterford crystal wine goblets every day at cocktail time. I’m convinced that wine tastes better when it is drunk from Waterford crystal 😁😉!!! It's a proven fact. We proved it, although our research methods may have been flawed.  I love trotting out the "good" stuff. I collect stuff like a packrat. My family is Irish and having china, silver, and Waterford was next to godliness. I inherited some things and acquired others. I like to set a "fancy" table for holidays and celebrations. I even do Valentine's Day, Easter, and July 4, days or weeks before, and then use the table on the occasion. I have two sets of regular china and a set for Christmas. I don't know why I find it so fun. It's a quirk.    Lovely, lovely tables .❤️. How do I make a reservation?😁 |
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Post by natscraps on Jul 4, 2024 16:47:48 GMT
Our “good stuff” is pfaltzgraff filigree so it can be used for any occasion. We don’t utilize it for daily use because it’s just so heavy. With my tendinitis I would have a hard time getting it in and out of the cabinet.
The only hand me down “good stuff” we have are serving platters/dishes. We have a set of cheap wine glasses we never use. The first 10 years of marriage I used the regularly even for soft drinks. But then hurricane DS came along and they mostly sit in the dish cabinet now.
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Post by manomo on Jul 4, 2024 16:58:45 GMT
Makes me think of the episode of Little House on the Prairie where Ma said that special dishes are for special people not for special occasions.
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Post by mikklynn on Jul 4, 2024 17:12:49 GMT
My mother would often gift my aunt towels because she always had ratty ones in the bathroom. When she passed away all the new ones were in her linen closet unused. My father, her brother, is the same way. He is 90, I don’t know when he expects to use his things. That is my mother  |
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Post by alsomsknit on Jul 4, 2024 23:45:09 GMT
We use what we have. No saving for special occasions. And, no belief that we aren’t worth using the “good stuff.” Why is company more important than our family members?
I don’t have a guest room. I no longer care to have guests due to a really bad experience. But, it means that room is used by one of us, usually me, every day. One day, it will finally have the bookshelves I have been wanting.
We seriously use every square foot of this house.
My mother had the “good” room that was saved for company. We children were not allowed in it. The expensive furniture rotted before it was ever used. I swore that was never happening in my home.
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Post by lisae on Jul 5, 2024 0:58:35 GMT
I have a lot of dishes. I do use some of the good things but not as much as I'd like. What I need to let go of is my crystal. I chose goblets that are way too delicate and fancy. We seldom drink wine but when we do, I use them. The water goblets are just taking up space.
I love tablecloths and napkins. I have quiet a collection and use those every day. One thing I never use are paper plates. Don't even have any in the house. I keep some plastic utensils but just for travel.
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Post by brynn on Jul 5, 2024 2:22:19 GMT
My grandmother, my mom, and I all loved pretty dishes. So, I inherited two sets of china and one set of silverplate and my mom's cutlery bought from a jewelry store. When I got my first apartment, my mom set me up with everyday dishes (eight place settings of Corelle ware), "good dishes," which is a china set from a thrift store and Oneida silverware. I use the "good stuff' for eggs or a slice of pizza because I am remembering them.
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Post by lesserknownpea on Jul 5, 2024 3:35:39 GMT
I travel out of state several times a year to help my stepmother care for my dad. ( plane tickets are not cheap). Although their home is large, with several roomy guest bedrooms, she puts me in a tiny room originally meant to be a downstairs office with a little twin bed. Her linen closet is packed to the gills with sheets and towels that have been given her, but she gives me totally threadbare sheets and towels to use.
She has several cabinets housing fancy china from her mother, grandmother, her own wedding, gifts over the 55 years they’ve been married. She’s made it clear these are all saved for her son, to save for her granddaughters. ( I know my SIL will donate it all before the corpse is cold ). Meanwhile, Dad and her eat every day on hideous, very old, Corningware she bought at the Goodwill. I can understand if they don’t want to eat on china every day, but they could totally get more pleasant everyday dishes.
And USE those towels and sheets. For that matter, next time I go, I’m raiding the closet and helping myself to something better. (although she’ll give me the side eye. I’m 66 YO and I swear she makes me feel like a naughty kid).
ETA: I have some china packed away since I moved in with my son and his family, who have no wish to use it. If I ever have my own place, or just kitchen area, I intend to use it every day.
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Post by smasonnc on Jul 5, 2024 14:52:28 GMT
Her linen closet is packed to the gills with sheets and towels that have been given her, but she gives me totally threadbare sheets and towels to use. She has several cabinets housing fancy china from her mother, grandmother, her own wedding, gifts over the 55 years they’ve been married. She’s made it clear these are all saved for her son, to save for her granddaughters. ( I know my SIL will donate it all before the corpse is cold ). Meanwhile, Dad and her eat every day on hideous, very old, Corningware she bought at the Goodwill. I can understand if they don’t want to eat on china every day, but they could totally get more pleasant everyday dishes. This was MIL. We bought her bedding, dishes, clothing, slippers, etc. and she either made US return it or saved it in a closet, never using anything we gave her. They ate off nasty plastic plates and used fraying towels. She had silver plate from her family but never used it and never offered it to anyone else. No explanation but she was really cheap and never appreciated nice things. |
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