by These are little treasures as opposed to the wonderful wooden artifacts and furniture I was gifted, they are personal gifts to me from Mr P’s mother that she squirreled away for me as a thank you for my help.
She knows of my love of glass, especially as she heard all about our adventures in Murano several times over! In light of this, and Mr P’s love of wine, we were gifted a beautiful set of cut crystal wine glasses that have been in the family for many years.
They have followed her on her travels from France to Morocco to Portugal and then back to France again. I am so glad that after all that traveling I managed to get them back to Portugal all in one piece. They are quite exquisite and have a gorgeous feel to them and an incredible tone when “pinged”
What is particularly remarkable is that I have a complete set of 18 matching wine glasses — none of them ever got broken in spite of all their travels!
Next is a simple, but beautiful, nativity set fashioned out of pebbles found on a beach by an artisan in France.
I am not a religious person, certainly not one of the Catholic persuasion, but even I can appreciate the message of Christmas through these simple figures.
Mr P is, of course, Catholic by birth and upbringing and, his take on Christmas is that it is about family, be it of blood or friendship and these figures resonate with him, too. I was honored to display them on my mantlepiece over the fire.
Last but not least , Mr P’s mums private — as opposed to family — gift to me, a stunning piece of Moroccan jewelry given to her by her husband when they first arrived in Morocco.
It is made of silver with an emerald as a center stone.
Needless to say, this necklace sits very well with me — I prefer silver to gold and emerald is my birthstone. I would wear this all the time if I could, but it really is quite heavy to wear all the time, especially when doing chores in the house or outside gardening. She really could not have given me a better present.
Thanks for sharing your lovely treasures, Nicola!
The glasses are majestic and they have a wonderful age and wisdom to them.
The nativity scene looks Egyptian to me! The stones shape, the colors…
Love the necklace. Are those four mountain ranges on the pendant? There must be a significance to their positioning. Three are circular enclosures and one is in a square.
The glasses feel so good in your hands …….. there is a beautiful balance in them.
I believe the artist who made the nativity may have come from North Africa even though they were made and bought In France – I do have a little hand written note somewhere that has their place and date of purchase – I will also speak to Mr P’s mum about them again and ask her about the necklace. Today was far too rushed and far too many people to take her aside to ask.
I am getting a bonus too – Mr P’s aunts cookery cards/recipes – the early ones hand written , the later ones typed …… !
I love it that the treasures will keep happening!
I may discuss these with you in email ……. I have a plan SMILE !
I love it too – especially when they are the results of other peoples good thoughts and kindness. I like to unearth treasures myself, but they are a lot more meaningful when they are gifted.
I love evil plans! SMILE! And, yes, all plans we have are “evil” or they wouldn’t be any fun to scheme! SMILE!
It’s fascinating to see what things of value are handed down from one generation to another. What is worthy of preservation and why?
My children got what they asked for – my son chose a dinner service a it reminded him of family dinners with my parents , my eldest daughter chose books and furniture , youngest daughter chose two toast racks ……. how diverse is that? I buy treasures as memory holders usually – or if I find something exceptionally beautiful and or meaningful.
I know my gifts from France were a mixture of what I wanted and what Mr P’s mum did not want to go anywhere else – or to be sold.
That’s the perfect way to handle it all around — each person is committed and invested!
And thankfully no arguments in this instance!