Friday, December 11, 2015

Things We Found In the Fire

The day after the fire, Ryan went to the attic in search of our dated Christmas ornaments.  He found all but 2 (which I have purchased at absurd expense, so my set is complete).

This one was not one of my regular ornaments, but a commemorative flat ornament from our community center at the bottom of the hill, where our daughter's reception was held.  I cleaned it up somewhat after the fire, but you can see what I was working with.

 I then proceeded to clean up 36 of these:

Just FYI, if you put foil in the bottom of a pan, add a generous handful of baking soda and half fill the pan with water, you can boil silverplate clean.  That's right.  Some required just a quick rinse in clean water, some needed a little buffing with a dry towel, and the very worst (looking like my poor brass ornament) had to be boiled for a long time, then polished pretty hard, but they all came out looking pretty good.

I was delighted when I realized that I had put my grandmother's glass icicles in my dresser drawer for safe keeping, so they were not destroyed in the fire.

Ryan was very saddened to find just his name off his Christmas stocking, and I nearly cried last weekend when I realized that the Christmas tree skirt that the girls and I made back in 2000 was burned up.  Some things can never be replicated.

On the plus side, after firing 2 subcontractors, we finally have a guy who's actually getting some lumber in the air, and we now have about 1/3 of the roof replaced.  Heck, we might even have another bedroom back in service by Christmas!  I'll be cleaning that carpet and painting that ceiling this weekend, so we shall see.

Happy weekending, everyone!  Take a little extra time to enjoy the things you've had for a long time, which hold memories for you, and be happy for me that some of my memories were found after the fire.

10 comments:

Linda said...

You don't really realize what you've got 'til it's gone.

Big Dude said...

Every contractor wants the job but too often they don't actually want to do the work. They seem to book to many jobs and try to keep them all going by working on the one who yells most. Glad you found the guy you needed.

Deana Sidney said...

Well, this is what happens when I drop out for a while. Goodness you are taking it well. Having your lovely house all ruined must have been just gruesome for you, and you did Thanksgiving anyway!!! What a trouper.

To answer your question (and you are so sweet to ask) Dr. Lostpast is never going to get better. Sad, very sad. He's a ghost.
Be glad your family is all well and good. Houses can be fixed. Sometimes people cannot.

Have a great holiday and hope your house is better than ever when you are done.

rottrover said...

Those icicles are priceless. So glad they were safe. You're a trooper.

Rhodesia said...

Sorry about your losses but health is the most important. Enjoy Christmas come what may. Diane

grace said...

cool trick about cleaning silver! i have some stuff that could definitely use some help. :)

Lapdog Creations said...

Sorry about the burned up stuff, but it seems there's a silver lining to everything... and those icicles are gorgeous!

Pam said...

Losing that tree skirt in the fire is awful! I am so glad your Grandmother's icicles made it. They are beautiful.

It's terrible you had to fire two contractors before you found one that would do the job right. UGH.

Anonymous said...

Oh, your grandmother's gorgeous tree jewelry -- happy for you.

Dexter said...

I wish there were more reliable contractors. Unfortunately, for many, there's a reason they don't work for somebody else. Glad you found one that actually wants to work.

Mango Momma