New Life for a Coffee Pot

My little copper teapot "before..."

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece on Veikko Iivonen and the auction, and mentioned that when I was there I bought a little copper coffee pot. It isn't in very good condition, but I liked it because of the long life it has obviously lived and the stories it would tell if it could talk. Today I bought some copper polish and spent some time trying to bring the little pot back to life again!

Whilst I was polishing I thought back to the time when Frédéric and I had first met. We had only known each other about a week or so, and given that I was living in England and he was in France, most of our communication was via MSN. I already knew his views on many different topics, but one evening I asked what us lawyers call "a leading question." This means that you almost suggest the answer in the question itself. I said "What material things do you value the most?"  the implication of course being that he put value in material things in the first place. There was silence at the other end of the computer for a few seconds and then I saw these words flash up on the screen "...I can't really give you an answer to that because to be honest I don't really put much value on material things." At that moment I knew had I had met someone special - this was exactly the answer I had wanted to hear.



... and "after"

Of course we all have things we treasure for one reason or another but in the last few years so many things in life seem to have become completely disposable. We seem to spend out time replacing our computers and phones and all sorts of other gadgets every five minutes, and even when we don't do that we are being told that we should. In previous times things were made to last - because they had to.
When I visited Elvi's house earlier this week, she talked to me about the rug in her kitchen which she had made herself. It had been made when she was a young woman out of every scrap of material that was left in the house - shirts that were so worn that they were falling to pieces and other items of clothing that were too old to repair. Instead of throwing them away, Elvi used them to make a rug, putting the few bits of red or blue together to make a pretty pattern despite the humble materials she had to work with. The rug still exists all these years later - and she would not trade it for any other.

You may not be familiar with the English word "declutter."It is a relatively modern word which means to make space in your home and in your life by getting rid of things that you don't need. I made a resolution at the beginning of this year to declutter my life by reducing the amount of "stuff" that our family has built up. The rules are simple. If we don't either use it or value it for a sentimental reason, then we probably don't need it at all - so most weekends we collect together a bag of things that fall into this category and pass them on to the charity shop or the UFF bins. I always feel better once there is more space in the house. Decluttering your material things can also be very calming for the mind. if you don't believe me, try it - I guarantee you will feel better once the first bag of redundant "stuff" is out of the house.

In fact, having thought about it, I have decided that even though the copper pot surely has many stories to tell, its proper place is not with us. I know a place where it will be treasured by someone who understands the real value of objects that were not made to be thrown away, and I am quite sure it will be happy in its new home!

By the way....good news. It is almost five thirty in the evening and there is still light outside! There is no denying it. The days are getting longer and spring is on the way :) I wish you all a relaxing and decluttered weekend.