Looking at the state of my silver recently, I'm embarrassed. So I've decided to put some time aside over the coming Long Weekend to cover the Dining Room table with newspaper & drop sheets & go hard. I still use the bottle of Silvo, toothbrushes & old white sheets cut up into buffing cloths - just as my Mum taught me. A Domestic Goddess I'm not, but I do find this is the chore that gives me the most satisfaction after it's done.....and the most frustration!
I've some cherished family pieces that mean the world to me & I really enjoy sitting quietly cleaning them recalling their provenance. My Great-Grandmother's Edie's silver button hook for her high black Victorian boots, soft clothes brush set & silver photo frames. My Grannie's beautiful tea service. Grandpa's engraved water jug from his Adelaide Steamship Company days. Mum's gorgeous heavily embossed coffee pot. My childhood flatware set. And the boys christening mugs. While I'm at it, have you a precious piece you'd like to include in Millie's Silver Cleaning Session?
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I wish I were close by, I would come and lend a hand. I adore polishing. When I was in grade school my best friend's Mother had silver all over the diningroom and I would polish it for her several times a year. Pour yourself a big glass of wine and put on some good music- it's a labor of love!
ReplyDeleteMillie,
ReplyDeleteYour silver pieces sound fabulous. Like you, I find polishing silver rewarding..not so fun, but immediate gratification and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I guess it's like weeding my garden.
If you decide to entertain with your 'shiny brights' I do hope you will post some images. Rita
Millie, the courier has just left - hope the pile I've sent isn't too large! Much appreciate your kind offer to help out with this least favourite of jobs. Leigh
ReplyDeleteHi Millie,
ReplyDeleteLove the sound of all your beautiful silver and have fun cleaning.
It is one of those jobs I leave, and do only when I can't stand the tarnished look anymore.
I hope that you are having a lovely week.
Hugs
Carolyn
Dear Mill's,
ReplyDeletePolishing the silver takes me back to my childhood. My sister and I used to sit and clean it all. Candlesticks, silver tankards, teapots, trays, trophies etc and we used Silvo. I don't have a lot of silver but I do have a lovely little silver art nouveau vase that I'm sending over for a bit of spit and polish !! Put a lot of elbow grease into it, won't you ?!!!! XXXX
Thanks Millie, I'll drop in my silver tea set! It's such a shame that all that hard work is so short lived, but it's satisfying to see it shining in all its glory once polished. I think Debra has the right idea, a nice wine and good music could make it just a bit more enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteHave a good week
Kerri xx
I wish I was closer Mille and I would bring mine around for you to polish while I chatted and drank the wine! I am not so fussed on polishing silverware! It is probably why I do not own much of it at all! xx
ReplyDeleteLovely! I polished all of mine just before Christmas...couldn't believe how much better it looked! It had been a few years! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI too, love the satisfaction of finishing such an irritating job. (It's usually been staring at me for ages).
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is a full coffee set, with the tall pot and all the cups in full silver, engraved/embossed with a beautiful scroll pattern. It was my Nannas and them my Mums. I feel very lucky to have it, and very guilty when it needs a clean!
:)
Hi Millie
ReplyDeleteWell I think you've seen the teapot collection.. it's on it's way over now.. hope you don't mind but some flatware and trophies decided to keep the teapots company... Actually I quite enjoy polishing silver. I just don't get around to it so often... enjoy doing yours Millie and we'd love to see the results.. xx Julie
Yes please Millie. I have the silver cigarette case that was my great uncle's. He lost his life in WWI and it still has some mud from the trenches. It has a letter in it from the Scottish Army that was written to my Great Grandmother on his death. Very precious. I keep it tucked away in a drawer so I don't have to look at it in it's appalling state.
ReplyDeleteI too would lend a hand if we lived nearby, well on the same continent for starters. I love polishing silver. It's actually somewhat relaxing for me, but finding the time to sit down and actually get out the polish is another story!
ReplyDeleteDeborah
Sending over all my silver frames!
ReplyDeleteI always think of it as such a chore, but then I settle in with it because, like you, I enjoy quietly recalling their provenance. It's almost as if Granny is right there with me nodding in approval.
Thank you Mills for a lovely post.
xoxo Lisa
I too love to polish the silver when I have the extra time!
ReplyDeleteKarena
Art by Karena
Wow Millie, all those family pieces - how wonderful. It's funny but the one that captures my imagination the most is your Great-Grandmother's silver button hook! Sounds like a really nice way to spend a long weekend..Rxx
ReplyDeleteAll those who love cleaning the silver are invited to my place next Wednesday!!!!! I'll have it all ready on the dining room table, the kitchen table and......Plenty of silvo and old white sheets on hand (yes I do it that way too..when I have to!) But I agree it does look wonderful
ReplyDeleteDamn it...I just bought a new bottle of silvo..if only I'd known then what I know now! Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteWell you are lucky mine is packed up...you know the whole housebuilding thing....by the sounds you will have your hands full!
ReplyDeletexxx
Hmm - I've got a heap of silver cutlery that we don't use often enough that could do with a spit and polish, or a bit of silvo, before we next take it out in 10 years time ;-)!!
ReplyDeleteGoodness I only have the silver sugar bowl shaped like a coal skuttle with scoop which we bought for MIL for her 25th wedding anniversary which has now returned to us and a silver photo frame bought by our brothers & sisters for our joint 60th birthdays and they sadly do not get all the love and polish they should. I really don't know what I would do with your haul..... Hire a cleaner?
ReplyDeleteJenny x
I love a bit of silver polishing action, Millie. One of the few household chores that are actually worth the elbow grease. I have a coffee pot, originally my grandmother's, that I just adore...but is terribly tarnished. Happy polishing! Meredy xo.
ReplyDelete