Di-wui«,<»ier Tanning, aaiuraay, uciooer 7, 2000 On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp What makes an heirloom...an heirloom? Is it age? Is it beauty? Is it his torical significance, functionality, timelessness of design? Or is it in the eye of the be holder? There’s an “heirloom” parked on the windowsill behind our kitchen sink. At least its an heir loom in the eye of this beholder. But no antique dealers are likely to make a beeline trying to ac quire it from me. Violets Through The Ages MORRISTOWN, N.J. The Tristate African Violet Council will present its annual African violet show and plant sale, “Vio lets Through the Ages” on Satur day, Nov. 4, from 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Frelinghuy sen Arboretum, 53 East Hanover Avenue in Morristown, N.J. Ad mission is free. The show will include educa- See One Of These Local Dealers Harrisburg, PA HIGHWAY EQUIPMENT 717-564-3031 Litltz, PA KEYSTONE BOBCAT 717-625-2800 Martinsburg, PA BURCHFIELDS, INC. 814-793-2194 Mifflinburg, PA BS & B REPAIR 717-966-3756 Muncy, PA BEST LINE LEASING, INC. 717-546-8422 800-321-2378 Reading, PA BOBCAT OF READING Div of Reading Kubota 610-926-2441 Bethlehem, PA CSt ENTERPRISES INC. 610-868-1481 Chambersburg, PA CLUGSTON AG & TURF INC 717-263-4103 My heirloom is a 10-inch, white, stoneware pitcher, a class ic design of a once-ordinary household item. It’s the sort of pitcher one would see on a muse um or restored historic-site visit, often paired with a companion white, stoneware basin located at a handy spot for washing up. Or maybe it was used for serv ing cold milk or chilled water. Or steaming, hot gravy. It’s history is a mystery. But it arrived at our house by tional displays, hospitality, and African Violet Society of Ameri ca information. A sale table will include blooming and unusual varieties of African violets. These plants are easy to grow and make wonderful gifts. For more information, please contact the show chairman, Jill Fischer at (908) 464-4417 or Karyn Cichocki at (973) 579-7914. Quarryvilie, PA QRUMELLi’S FARM SERV. 717-786-7318 On any New Bobcat Skid Steer Purchased in Pennsylvania. Hurry. Limited Time Offer. ~_ , . „ fA. .I.UM>»UIILf *»<*4k>«k^h. v SPECIAL FINANCE RATES 0% for 3.9% 4.9% 5.9% 7.9% way of a not-unfamiliar route for occasional heirlooms. A junkpile. From which The Farmer rescued it, knowing my affinity for such items. The reason the white, stone ware pitcher had ended up on a junkpile, rather than someone’s prized antique display case, is glaringly obvious. It has a half inch, V-shaped gap broken out of the spout. The rough edges of the break have grown dark and ugly with age, and tiny, dark, cracks run from the break down toward the body of the pitcher. A second reason possibly that the pitcher did not cross an auction block or command a sum of money is that it well may have been an ordinary, everyday, piece of kitchenware of the time, pur chased at a general store or five and-ten, equivalent of today’s “dollar” stores. It’s not delicate English china or heavy, hand thrown stoneware. Nevertheless, the somewhat faded, somewhat cracked pitcher remains an heirloom to me, sim ply because it once belonged to a talented acquaintance I admired very much. And it sees regular use here, not for milk or ice water or gravy or washing up. With a bouquet of flowers plunked into the stoneware pitcher, the chunk broken out of the spout isn’t even visible. And, it’s the perfect “vase” for dis playing flowers in our country farmhouse decor. While rooting through a cup board a few days ago, trying to organize and stack heavy-duty 12 months for 24 months for 36 months for 48 months for 60 months plasticware storage containers none of which want to fit into the other another heirloom tum bled out and nearly “bonked” my toe. This one is from family, a hand-crafted, wooden rolling pin lovingly used to bake by kinfolk countrycooks a few generations ago. It’s one of those quirky twists of fate that a handcrafted rolling pin should end up in the kitchen of a cook who dotes on micro waving, converted a few years ago to instant mashed potatoes (fixed with lots of whole milk and real butter) and rolls out dough for anything maybe once a year. By comparison to the junk ed stoneware pitcher, the rolling pin is an heirloom grossly under employed. For my breakfast muffin this morning, I dug a dessert-sized plate out of a stack in another cupboard, from a supply turned over years- ago by my mom. White, with a small floral pattern around the edge, these little dish es originated as freebies in car tons of dry oatmeal. I’m told, and are probably well over 50-years-old. They match some petite, shallow dessert bowls of the same source and vintage. Etched in my brain is an anec dote I once read, about a woman who recalled a dream. In the dream, her husband, a widower, had remarried, and her successor was enjoying using all the prized, family http II a g jdcredit com heirlooms she had carefully “saved” hidden away for years. I’m using not saving the heirlooms that have been passed down. Even the rolling pin, now and then. And, when I’m gone, I hope someone else finds use for the few heirlooms they may inherit by desire or default. If I don’t manage to drop them first. Given my history of damage to breakables, that chipped-lip pitcher is probably living on bor rowed time. Buying Pre-Owned? TRACTORS (40-TOIOO-HP) Pay No Interest Until March 1, 2001. 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