Putting Away the Linens

I am upstairs, hunkered down in front of the new dresser that we bought at the "as-is" section at IKEA separating my linens.  It is a huge dresser and I just realized that it is not big enough.  I am still sore and my hands evidently have tendinitis from my lovely iron tablecloths and use as much spray starch as you can marathon before the wedding, so I am getting a little frustrated.

Why do I have all this stuff?

It was fairly well contained until a couple of months ago when we moved a china closet downstairs.  Then we gave a friend a buffet and two recliners that were also up in the "guestroom".
The china closet held most of the tablecloths, a bunch of the napkins and all of the lace thing-ys.
The buffet held a bunch more tablecloths and some runners and some doilies. 
And the recliners held a bunch of extra blankets.

So everything ended up on the single bed and in a bunch of tubs.  We also deposited a lot of stuff that we didn't have room for downstairs.

THEN, I went upstairs the day before Audrey left for Leia's wedding and tore things up looking for runners and doilies and interesting lacy things.  (I'd known that I needed these things for a couple of months - procrastination is a sin that I am working on, thank you very much!)  Audrey quickly washed them and ironed them and took them to PA.

AND THEN a couple of weeks later, Mary and I took our lives in our own hands and went looking for more doilies and runners and interesting lacy things.  And tablecloths for the wedding and tablecloths for the rehearsal dinner.

We escaped with our lives, but we left even more devastation behind us.

So now I am trying to tame the mess and get everything back to order and I am for the first time seriously doubting my abilities.

I doesn't help that it hurts every time I bend over or pick anything up.

So back to the question - Why do I have all this stuff??

I bought them because I love vintage textiles, and back before our lives were so busy and chaotic, I enjoyed tending to them and looking at the colors and admiring the techniques used in making and decorating them.  And they are so soft.  And I can just imagine people using them way back when.  And because i went a little batty a couple of years ago on EBAY and bought a few (?) box lots to get a couple of particular pieces and now i am kind of overloaded.

I guess what I need to remember while I am sorting thru all the baskets and tubs and piles is that these pieces of fluff and fabric make my home a little prettier.

And make dinner a little nicer.

And make bridal showers a little more elegant.

And make rehearsal dinners a little friendlier.

And made Leia's wedding reception a little sweeter.

And helped to make Mary and Lance's wedding a little more beautiful.

Leia's tables before they put on the tablecloths

Mary's tables just before we finished decorating them

And if you all ever need to borrow any linens to make your life somehow better, please don't hesitate to call.  I'll probably GIVE them to you!!

I'll close with something that my friend Sues' daughter-in-law Mandy said as we were spreading out my tablecloths for Chris and Stephanies' rehearsal dinner.

(As close as my menopause addled brain can remember it, that is.)

Mandy said - "These are so beautiful!!  I always thought that if you had nice linens, it was a sign that you were grown-up."

Hmmn...I guess I am!!

(I sure hope that I remembered to send her some linens!)

Ok, enough procastinating.  I am going to find a pain pill and FINISH that room.

If i don't make it, at least it will be a soft landing!!