Sterling Flatware

Using the good stuff

31.12.69

A flower man.  In fact, I think it may have been part of our wedding vows.  (“I,Inga, promise not to subject Olof to a single flower motif on furnishings, bedding, wall coverings, throw pillows, bath tile, or visible domestic surfaces so long as we both shall live.”)

But as I pointed out to Olof, the flower pattern is usually covered by food. Now that we’ve been using it awhile, I’ve noticed the twitching has stopped.

But the sterling thing has turned out to be a whole different ballgame. My much-missed long-deceased mother had beautiful sterling flatware, an exquisite set of Limoges (in addition to the wedding china that I now have), and lovely Baccarat crystal, all of which is in the possession of our younger-than-any-of-us stepmother, Fang, along with our now-deceased father’s estate.  At least weekly I pray that the Limoges is leaching lead.

But maybe Fang did me a favor stealing the sterling. Once Olof’s great-aunt’s flatware came into our lives, I quickly discovered how truly high maintenance it is. If you look on the Internet regarding care of sterling flatware, you will conclude, as I did, that 99 percent of it lives a perpetually shunned life in its wooden storage coffin, ultimately to be inflicted on another hapless generation. Sterling flatware is the ultimate white elephant.  Actually, the elephant would be less work.

Source: La Jolla Light