I don't come from posh stock. My family was solidly working-class. So why I should think that the vase I inherited and have kept in a cupboard unused for forty years could be worth anything is beyond me. I blame Antiques Roadshow.
I haven't actually watched it for years but you know what it's like. Mr and Mrs Jones turn up with a cracked dusty old jug and it turns out to be a collectors' item and worth thousands. In reality, probably Mr and Mrs Jones are Mr and Mrs Smythe-Jones who live in the local manor house, not Mr and Mrs Jones the Milk from down the road.
But you never know.
The point is: I am trying to be ruthless. We moved the sideboard back into the hall this morning. (The decorating's not completely finished but downstairs is.) Husband said, 'Do you want to dust the back of it before we put it against the wall?'
Honestly, we've been married forty-two years; you think he'd know better than to even ask.
Anyway, sideboard - back undusted - is in place and it's time to return all the candles, plates, crockery and general knick-knacks. This is where the ruthlessness comes in.
Quite cute but never seen the light of day in our house. It belonged to my great-aunt so it has sentimental value but I never use it, put it on display, or think about it except at times like these. I might as well get rid of it: my children don't want it and won't thank me for a big pile of junk to sort when I'm dead and gone.
And that's where my AR-inspired dream comes in. Maybe it's worth lots of money! It has a brand and even number on the bottom. It must be worth loads.
It's not. There is a huge number of Aller Vale Pottery items for sale on ebay, mostly about £5. And I don't think even those are selling.
Oh well, transfer to charity shop pile.
4 comments:
Yes, we all want to discover that Van Gogh hidden behind the Dogs Playing Poker print, don't we?
Sentiment trumps dollars, for me, every time. I "made" Hunky Husband give his surviving sister the cash equivalent for their deceased sister's engagement ring. Why? Because his surviving sister had confessed that she would sell the ring to get money and I did not want that ring to leave the family. Again, why? Not because I get to wear the ring or use its diamond to have a pendant made - I don't. The ring belongs to HH. Eventually, though, our elder daughter (who remembers her aunt) will eventually inherit the ring. Sentiment!
Oops! The ring thing was mine. Sorry.
I saw an article about someone’s father who died in his nineties. Every year, he got rid of more stuff. By the time he died, he had one plate, cup, a bed and its bed clothes, a chair...you get the idea. There was next to nothing left for the family to dispose of after he was gone. A wise man indeed.
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