Something very cool that I inherited from my grandmother is a set of crystal butter knife rests. Unfortunately, there are only 3, so maybe someday I will run across some others to buy. I don’t know why I am so fascinated with these, but they strike me as charmingly old fashioned. It must have been uncouth to rest your knife on your plate. The idea was to keep the butter knife from touching the tablecloth and staining it (and after seeing the damask tableclothes my grandmother had that need serious ironing and care,  I understand).

My grandparents wintered in Florida for over 20 years, and they went to the beach every day. In the beginning, they loved to collect shells and I brought home a big bowl full of perfect shells from their house that they had found. I have no idea what to do with these though. We have lots of shells that we have collected ourselves, but these are in amazing condition. I already have some shells on display in a bathroom. Any suggestons of what to do with these?

I have to tell my favorite story about my grandfather. Because they went to the beach every day for many years, they soon had more shells than they knew what to do with.  My grandfather soon hit upon the idea of taking shells he found and sticking them partially in the sand near where he was sitting and then he would sit and wait for someone to find it. He used to love to see their excitement and joy at finding a perfect, beautiful shell and for him that was much more entertaining that taking yet another shell home.

Something very cool that I inherited from my grandmother is a set of crystal butter knife rests. Unfortunately, there are only 3, so maybe someday I will run across some others to buy. I don’t know why I am so fascinated with these, but they strike me as charmingly old fashioned. It must have been … Read more →