{treasures}

My mother and father-in-law recently downsized from a large farm (15+ acres) with outbuildings to a house in town. Many treasures from their previous home weren't going to fit in the new one so being the incredibly generous people they are, they told their kids to put their names on anything they wanted.

The goodies were delivered recently, and I was pleased to see how perfectly they fit in our home.

I have a thing for turquoise glass, and these old bottles are from a collection belonging to Quinn's dad. The funny shaped clear glass piece by the mirror is a glass insulator from a power line. Random but cool.

I like the insulators so much, I got some turquoise glass ones too. Oh, look - there's the only nice picture we have of Quinn and me. Need to do something about that.

Keeping with the beachy, turquoise thing I've got going in the living room, this watercolor of a Vancouver Island beach is perfect. I love it so much I often find myself standing and staring at it. I need the beach in my life and now I have a beautiful reminder in my living room.

A couple of years ago, my mother-in-law gave me her ironstone collection. She knew how much I loved it and told me that instead of waiting, she wanted me to take it home that day. There was more that didn't fit on the table. I know, that's a lot of ironstone. Aren't I lucky?

When we were renovating, I wanted to be sure to have a special place to display the ironstone, and  designed the dining room with it in mind.

To display the collection, I bought a glass cabinet from a local shop. They only had one and told me that the company had gone out of business. I kicked myself afterwards because I knew that I really needed a second matching display case and now I was stuck with just one. A few weeks later I was standing at the till at my local grocery store, and lo and behold, there was a display case that looked suspiciously like the one I had already bought. Except this one was black.

So I bought it and had them both sprayed in a black lacquer. The white ironstone pops against the black beadboard, and there is glass on three sides so you can see the ironstone as you come down the hall into the dining room. Love. It's one of my favourite things in my house.

This is a fermenting crock used for pickling and making sauerkraut. It's big - about a foot high and ten inches in diameter. It's empty right now, but it would make a pretty awesome cookie jar. Or maybe I'll use it to store my compost scraps. It's in perfect condition and I love the colour.

This piano was an anniversary present from my father-in-law to his wife for their anniversary many, many years ago. Emily and Liam are starting piano lessons in the Fall and now they get to practice on their grandmother's piano. 

The kids each took a special reminder of the farm. Emily was thrilled with her vintage typewriter and has actually handed in homework typed on it. It makes me smile to hear her clacking away on it in her bedroom.

Kyle took home a giant life-size cardboard Darth Vader, Liam has his grandpa's spyglass, and Conner took a bow.

The items are beautiful, but even more special is knowing how lovingly these items were collected by Quinn's parents over the years.