I opened and emptied the contents of the trunk in my office this evening. As I unpacked bowls, cups, demi-cups, saucers, tureens, casseroles, platters, I was astonished at the breadth of this set. Alas, some dinner plates and a platter were broken. The moving company was not particularly gentle with our goods when they moved us from Temple to Fort Worth, but that was in 1989. I haven't opened this in all of that time because I didn't have anyplace to put it.

That said, I found some amazing pieces of glass, including two cake plates that are identical to some in a Martha Stewart Living article last month. I remember studying one photo because I couldn't figure out where the base of the plate was. There were two that seemed like just regular plates, but I finally realized they seemed to have little dimples on the bottom, so they were probably lower. On page 62 of the February issue you'll see the clear version (mine are green). It's the only one with the sunflower pattern (I found one online), lower right part of the page. There was also this incredible spiral patterned bowl of some kind with a heavy foot (all of these are really heavy) that is just gorgeous.

I don't know where I'll put all of these yet. I put the plates and stuff in the cupboard that used to have school supplies. I think I'll put school supplies in the hall closet where the router and modems are. And I have a bunch of old linen hand towels and cotton bath towels and a couple of soft soft bed blankets that were around the plates and around the box in the trunk.

These were all packed at my great aunt's house by my friend Emma. I paid for her ticket to fly out to Connecticut because I knew she'd enjoy the trip and enjoy the task, despite the hard work. We packed up 9 trunks total with lots of glass and objects. And here I am, 25 years later, still making discoveries from what Emma decided to pack. (I sent her home with a trunk of her own with the things she really liked for herself and her family.)

Amazing evening. Ironic, as maeve is locating a few remaining treasures, one at a time, that this incredible surplus from an estate is truly a gift that keeps on giving. I think, once the new house is built, that Josephine (the aunt who left me this stuff) is going to contribute to maeve's functional yet beautiful objects. The thing is, these are all utilitarian objects that are unique today simply because they survived. They're not high-dollar like fancy Euro crystal or Old World antiques, they're period pieces that are remarkable now because they aren't made any more.

SRS