Seeing as buttons were mentioned, here's the contents of mine. The manky brown card on the left is yonks old and also shows the buttons from my husband's wedding suit, the pearls from my dress and old shoe button and the toggle from my son's duffle coat that we bought him when Paddington Bear was all the rage the first time around. Also the belt buckle of my first posh evening dress.
I'll never use them all but how can I throw away some of those buttons that are 100 years old. I inherited some of them along with a shoe button hook.
I have an equally large button stash - but mine's not inherited, just built up over 30-odd years. Spare ones that came with long-gone garments, extra ones where the pack size was bigger than I needed, some bought but not yet used, and so on.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I need some ideas what to do with them, any ideas crafters? I also found these embroidery silks. I've no idea how old they are but perhaps embroiders can tell me. I'll never use these either.
We appear to be a nation of hoarders and, to a certain extent, I don't see anything wrong with that. Better in a shed, loft or garage than landfill. As long as 'stuff' is of some value (either sentimental or potential re-use/recycle), where's the harm?
I didn't mind going through my parents' belongings one little bit.
Two of the things I couldn't find after my mum died, was her button box and her Singer sewing machine. I am still remarkably sad about that. I have a button box, but it doesn't have the memories hers had.
My attic is probably a little different from most. A loft extension was done here in the 80's but the end two rooms (at each end) were never finished. So my attic has large doors a good floor and you can walk in easily. Saying that it contains, all the childrens beds from the previous owner, these are beds from the 30's looking at them, two huge rolls of old carpet we took up when we moved in but had to keep due to the actual hand over taking THREE years. The original 1918 maids room (she was the only person in the house that got their own room!), several milk churns, boxes of unused tiles, 3 scythes, all of a friends who stayed here for 6 months christmas decorations, which comes to 5 large boxes and two large plastic tubs catching the drips from a leaking chimney that no one appears able to seal.
We have added to this mess with 10 dining room chairs, (not matching) a juice extractor, a walker for my mother and a dehydrator with a fan that doesn't work. There's not more up there because I also have a huge barn, 2 utility rooms and a small garage.
Nothing in our loft except very thick layers of insulation - government green project cost us 1€ - and the small heat exchangers linked to the PV panels.
However, we have what we call the cave which has stone walls and fabulous rustic beams and all our "junk". Lots of shelving to hold all my decorating gear - paints, brushes, rollers, protective sheets and furniture renovation products and another set of shelving holding cat baskets, garden lanterns, spare preserving jars, garden games, leccy stuff and tools we rarely use. Then there's the garden furniture we store in there over winter along with parasols, a surfboard, an old ceramic log burner and some furniture awaiting treatment and the 2,500 litre oil tank.
Also 2 house-martin nests.
@Pansyface - you can probably sell your patchwork quilts on E-bay or a quilting site. There are collectors out there.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
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The manky brown card on the left is yonks old and also shows the buttons from my husband's wedding suit, the pearls from my dress and old shoe button and the toggle from my son's duffle coat that we bought him when Paddington Bear was all the rage the first time around. Also the belt buckle of my first posh evening dress.
I'll never use them all but how can I throw away some of those buttons that are 100 years old. I inherited some of them along with a shoe button hook.
I also found these embroidery silks. I've no idea how old they are but perhaps embroiders can tell me. I'll never use these either.
I didn't mind going through my parents' belongings one little bit.
https://blog.thakehamfurniture.co.uk/2012/03/20/what-are-harlequin-chairs/
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
However, we have what we call the cave which has stone walls and fabulous rustic beams and all our "junk". Lots of shelving to hold all my decorating gear - paints, brushes, rollers, protective sheets and furniture renovation products and another set of shelving holding cat baskets, garden lanterns, spare preserving jars, garden games, leccy stuff and tools we rarely use. Then there's the garden furniture we store in there over winter along with parasols, a surfboard, an old ceramic log burner and some furniture awaiting treatment and the 2,500 litre oil tank.
Also 2 house-martin nests.
@Pansyface - you can probably sell your patchwork quilts on E-bay or a quilting site. There are collectors out there.