Arg. We have a big credenza-type thing with a second level of shelves, glass doors and so forth to "exhibit" this "bounty". We bought the cabinet because it seemed as though we "needed" it but I'm now realizing how it's an end in itself.
Half of the contents are from G's family, half from mine. Heavy silver tea and coffee service from his; Victorian glassware from mine. The glasses are exquisite, but tiny and fragile. I can only think that: a.) the Victorians drank less, b.) the Victorians were physically smaller, c.) the Victorians had servants to constantly refill their glasses, while the glasses remained small to (no doubt falsely) convey "modesty" in consumption.
What really is driving me bonkers is that out in the perifery where we live the dust is overwhelming and it's a fine clay dust that filters in everywhere. WITH THE CABINET DOORS CLOSED these things get dusty w/in a month. To actually use ANYthing (no matter where stored or what it is: cheap/expensive.. heirloom/bot at Target.. frou-frou dinner-party-type odds&ends or cheapo frypan.. as it may be) I have to wash it FIRST. Then wash it after. Then, if it is visible, wash it periodically in-between uses.
I'm going to go live in a beach hut and order in Chinese.
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I WILL buy new nice towels and take the cheesy ones to the charity drop-off. It was never HOW to get rid of them that was the real issue, but WHETHER. I can drop a couple grand on something w/o thinking twice, but some bad aspects of "selective cheapness" linger, and are hard to shake. The bad-towel-retention was an example, a metaphor, for a kind of pointless "penny-pinching".