So - a day later and still no regrets. Phew.
But I enjoyed a bit of irony last evening. It crossed my mind that while I have no qualms at all about purging our wedding china, there are other things that I'll see at garage sales, antique stores and in the garage on junk picking day that have me all aghast and horrified, as in - I can't believe they are getting rid of that!!!
More often than not - it's quilts that have me coming to the rescue.
I have one that I use on our guest bed air mattress that is a beautiful hand pieced stained glass twin size quilt, completely finished. I had found it my first year junk picking (it's an annual event the beginning of spring) and it was stuffed tightly into a box and completely black, like it had been on the outskirts of a fire.
I threw it in the back of whatever vehicle we were using to collect treasures at that time and I brought it home and threw it in the wash. I'm no expert at washing - and it came out just perfect. Not a speck of black left on it, perfect condition. Still floored that somehow tossed it out.
I remember purchasing another one at a yard sale before I was even married - it hung in our foyer for years, but came down when we thought we were moving and now it's in the linen closet. I believe in using these things...so we do. This one was a bit more fragile and I had asked the woman that was selling it, that really...you'd sell this? And she said none of her girls wanted it. Even then, I was stunned.
Incidentally - I never purchase china at garage sales. LOL
And then theres this one that I found at the antique mall a few years ago - I was practically shaking with the excitement of a cool find
There are more than 18 hand embroidered pieces, all nursery rhymes. Only a few of them aren't completed..and as luck would have it, I love hand embroidery.

But what had me even more excited than these was this that came with it
Its 5 1/2 feet long, double spaced - typed on both sides and as neat as a pin. Little backspace xxxxx's and all.
And chock full of fascinating information - I enjoyed reading it and I have no clue who the people are. I'll share some bits....
Dear Sofee;
I am sorry to be so late getting this tape to you but I have been very busy. You were so right! The latest pictures look so different. Each year makes changes in us all and the last two or three seem to have done such nice things for you and Peter. Peter reminds me of his father when he was a little boy. They both have that tantalizing getting ready to smile look.
Doesn't it just make you so curious about it all right from the first paragraph? As I read on I can tell that the writer is obviously the one in the family that's trying to piece together the family tree and she both explains what information she is trying to gather and she shares other tidbits along the way, for instance...
If any family tree is shaken hard enough I am sure it will product stories of heroes and horse thieves. Lives to be proud of, lives to imitate and some to regret. Your family tree, no doubt will be the same, so I think it is wise to remember that we are totally responsible for ourselves and our lives but we owe no debt to the past.
I love that!
And then the writer shares a bit of her own history and her name...
My name is Edith Mary Madeline Ternes Reynolds. I am your grandfather's adopted sister. I was introduced into the family when I was four and a half years old. My mother had died giving birth to her fifth child. My parents rented a house from your great grandparents. My mother was pregnant and on her way to the Ternesses to pay the rent. She tripped on a broken sidewalk near their home. Mother Ternes told me she saw her and went out and put a pillow under her head and called for help. She was taken to the hospital and died that afternoon. She was only 26 years old.
In the summer of 1911 I was taken by my aunt to a cottage on Hickory Island. I played in the water and on the beach with some other children until nap time. I was put down for a nap, when I awakened my aunt was gone and I found myself in a strange place without a single familiar face. At four and a half this can be a devistatingly traumatic experience. It was for me.
Can you imagine??
She goes on to talk about how she was then adopted...how her name was changed from Freda to Edith and how confusing this was for her to be called a new name.
She mentions home and addresses where people lived, how she joined the convent and so on. And all this information is just on the first half of the front side of the muslin piece.
I'm so glad I came along and rescued it. I mean, seriously....;)
And if you ask real nice I might be persuaded to retype the whole thing. Maybe....
What would really tickle me is if someone actually knew the people mentioned, if that whole small world thing came to play
Or if someone had an idea of what I could do with a long piece of interesting muslin typed on both sides