Catching up on the last four years…
Where to begin? Lady Wife and I are still dividing our time between our home in Venice and Ye Olde Plantation in North Carolina. The days of the latter are numbered, because we really don’t need as much space anymore. We have decided to buy a village or rural property in Italy and make it the permanent base of operations. Venice is to be avoided June-September, and the half-day journey across the pond two or three times a year is getting old. A countryside property with easy access to the trains will make it easy to have a comfortable Town & Country existence. But I am limiting the country property to 1-2HA, and no more.
We celebrated Lady Wife’s Diamond Jubilee (the preferred term for her 60th birthday) in April. It was 10 days of parties, starting with our friends in Venice, then moving to her favorite winery in Valpolicella, and then Tuscany. Between the various locations we were able to celebrate the milestone with 80 friends and family. As enjoyable as it was, it felt wonderful to return to Venice and just enjoy some quiet time on our terrace.
For the first time in our 43 years together, we do not have 7 dogs. We are down to two Bloodhounds (13 & 9), a Golden Retriever (6), and a Black Labrador (9 months). Until we make the permanent move, there will be no new additions to the household.
The logistics of emptying out the NC property are daunting. Shipping a container to Italy isn’t so much the issue, but there is so much that cannot be kept (such as small electrical appliances), or is just no longer needed. We have five sets of china in the US, all service for 12-24. We just don’t entertain on that scale anymore. In fact, I like to keep my dinner parties to 6-8 these days. Apparently I am not alone in this, as you cannot give sets of china away anymore. Formal entertaining in the US seems to be a thing of the past, which is sad.
We escaped Venice just ahead of the Bezos wedding, and will spend the summer divesting ourselves of the accumulation of 23 years in this house. October will see us back in Italy through the holidays, when we can pick out the new residence. In the meantime, there is something deeply satisfying in divesting oneself of the amassed chattels of two-plus decades.
Divesting yourself of accumulated stuff can be brutal – but it is also freeing. Would Replacements.com be interested in your china? You could probably day-trip it over there in NC.
@onlysujema They might, but it is quite a distance from us, and from what I have heard they charge a lot but pay pennies on the dollar.
Warning Comment
How nice to see you here again! I followed you on the old OD — you have always had such an interesting life.
Ah yes — the divesting dilemma. I’m not moving house but I’m conscious that I have a LOT of “amassed chattels” that someone else would have to deal with in my absence, and I vowed I wouldn’t do that to anyone else after having struggled through 6 months of clearing out my parents’ trailer after their deaths. So I’m gnawing away at it, donating a lot but have so many things that at least used to be valuable (Depression glass, my maternal aunt’s silver set, my father’s old carpentry tools) that apparently no one wants nowadays, and yet how can I just donate them? I’m giving some things to Granddaughter (my grandmother’s crystal goblets, the monkeypod coffee table that her great-grandfather made while they were stationed in Pearl Harbor before the war) and hoping to sell the embroidery and quilts hand sewn by my grandmother on Etsy, but what to do with these other things?
I wish you luck on the divesting, and on your new life in Italy! I’m frankly quite jealous of anyone who escapes from this country and wish I had the wherewithal to do the same!
P.S. I was Ghostdancer on the old OD
@ghostdancer There is a book by Margareta Magnusson called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How To Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter. It’s actually a good read, besides being practical.
Old silver has no market, sadly, and people buy it at scrap value to melt it down. Such a loss of beautiful craftsmanship. Young people would rather have stuff from IKEA than fine china and crystal.
@bedlamhillfarm I’ve got that book on my wish list; but with your gentle prodding, I’ve ordered it from my library (buying it was eyewateringly out of the question!)
It breaks my heart that all the beautiful old things just aren’t wanted any longer. The heirlooms from my great Aunt Lucy’s — I can’t give them away. My plan is to get an appraiser from Antique Trove out here and see what (if anything) they’d buy. I’m going to donate my father’s old tools to the Restore. And then? IDK But in the meantime I can keep beavering away at the new stuff I’ve managed to accumulate (even without an attic!)
Warning Comment
Nice to see you here! Italy is on my bucket list. Having moved several times in recent years, I understand the challenge of getting rid of stuff.
Warning Comment