Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Delicate Treasures ~

Last week my sister went to our mom and dad's to do more organizing and cleaning,
She found old phone books and catalogue's. They were securely enclosed, each book in
plastic bags. Our dad has a wood stove in his garage and he burns 'trash'.  Annette said,
here, you can burn these books. She went to bed that night and kept thinking about what may
have been in those bags of catalogues, that were so important to 'bag'. There were 'lots' of
phone books and catalogues. She was hoping that dad wouldn't burn those right away.
She jumped up the next morning and went over to mom and dad's house and he hadn't
burned them! Thank goodness! The photos below are what was in those catalogues.
It melted my heart. Annette spent the last couple of days gently lifting these flowers from
the pages and organizing all of what you see here, but wait there are more. Probably hundreds of pressed flowers. Annette figures she had pressed these about 10 years ago. The phone books say the year 2000.
Mom and dad are 80ish.
All of these flowers are from their gardens and yard from past years. In the second photo are two small clear plastic boxes (top row second item from left) that are full of lilac petals! Oh my!





Our mom always did things on a grand scale.
When she cooked it was always for a large crowd.
There were 3 of us kids and mom and dad.
I'm smiling because that's always the way she did things.



She has more books to go through and more organizing to do.
Annette, thank  you so much for sharing and doing all you did here.
There are so many things you can do with these pressed flowers.
The ivory flowers are like butterfly wings, they are so delicate and transparent.
I am still in awe of these flowers. Annette will finish organizing and place everything in one or two
large plastic bins and give them to her for Mother's Day. She's forgotten about them.  Mom use to make arrangements behind glass and frame. Mom's are pretty special huh... ?  So are
dad's and sisters. Thank you, mom, dad, and Annette. Sniff sniff....I need a tissue..

46 comments:

  1. just Stunning....thanks for sharing.

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  2. What a wonderful hidden treasure. Your post brought me to tears.

    hugs
    -missy-

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  3. BOY! It's a good thing she thought of that. Doesn't your heart just drop when you think "OH NO!" Whew. These are beyond fabulous. What a treasure. I know you'll both probably find wonderful things to do with it all.
    Very fun! Have a great day! Karen

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  4. Oh those are just so beautiful and so very precious at the same time ~
    It reminds me of when I was a little girl pressing flowers with my mom ~

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  5. Hi Linda,
    After having spent the last week with my family, and my hubby's parents, I agree. Moms are very special! Dad's too!

    Have a wonderful spring day!
    Kate

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  6. Oh. My heart is so full when I think of all the hours your mother spent pressing, picking, and planning for those flowers. I am sure God told you to stop the burning because He wanted you to see and have these little buds of love... I am so glad you shared that with us. Moms and Dads are special beyond belief... Hugs from Windy Missouri.

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  7. Wow...what a touching entry. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Brought tears to my eyes. Wonderful post & the flowers are all so beautiful. I'm sure your mother will be so surprised and happy to see them again! xoxo Tracey

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  9. That is amazing! So glad you saved them!!

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  10. Oh gosh! How beautiful!!!! What a genuine treasure found...

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  11. What a great find!

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  12. Anonymous6.4.10

    Those pressed flowers are beautiful!!! It is a blessing your sister didn't dispose of the old phone books herself!

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  13. Oh my goodness.... beautiful!!

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  14. A beautiful treasure! The flowers are so beautiful!

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  15. Absolutely beautiful, and tenderly cared for. Imagine that 10 years ago. I'm sure glad you appreciate all that work. I have a few of those books someplace. I had planned to make bookmarks for all my mother's children as a commemorative initiative with flowers from her garden, but I just can't bring myself to do this yet.

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  16. What a lovely, sentimental find! Her guardian angel must have put the thought in her mind to go check what was inside. Lovely.

    karen

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  17. Thank God, she did some thinking and realized there was more to those books and catalogs than what they appeared! Look at how beautiful those pressed flowers are. I'll bet the phone book pages were an excellent place to press them, too. Ten years and look at those colors. Thanks so much for sharing this ~ going to get my tissue now.

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  18. What a great find and how loving to have pressed all those beautiful flowers.

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  19. THANK GOODNESS he didn't burn those treasures! Enjoy them they are wonderful.
    Charlene

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  20. Wow, I am so glad those beautiful flowers werent burned. What a loss that would have been. My grandmother used to press flowers like that.

    Ginger

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  21. Treasures! Thank you for sharing~ :)

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  22. oh goodness, this just got me teary eyed. i'm pretty sure my mom pressed every flower her garden ever produced, she has boxes of them. such treasures.

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  23. What a great find, Linda! Those pressed flowers are beautiful. I love the colors!
    Hugs,
    Julia

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  24. Such a treasure, how wonderfull they kept their colors, have fun and pleasure working with all this beauty.
    Hugs
    Dorthe

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  25. Anonymous7.4.10

    kudos to Annette for knowing your mom that well, to know that it just wouldn't be books she was keeping. As the recipiant of some of these beautiful creations, I too, am extremely grateful!!!!

    XOXOXOXOXOX, Beth

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  26. What a treasure to find! Thank the Lord that the books didn't get burnt! I hope that you get to use these in some beautiful artwork that you create!!! Yes, Mom's are special people for sure!

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  27. Anonymous7.4.10

    Oh, Robin, I'm totally sighing! To think they were almost lost!
    Diane

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  28. What an absolute treasure!

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  29. This is the sweetest post! So glad I stopped by. The flowers are beautiful treasures!

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  30. How wonderful! What an exciting find! Isn't it great the treasures we find when we least expect it! And such pretty ones too.
    Doni

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  31. Oh Linda!!!! They are all so beautiful!!!!! I just love that she saved all of these gorgeous treasures....hugs and love, Dawn

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  32. That is so beautiful.

    My heart is so relieved and thankful that your sister was in tune with that lil' voice inside that put up the red flag.



    What a treasure your mother took time to preserve!

    lovely

    shell

    www.gypsylemonade.blogspot.com

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  33. Linda, these are just so precious, I'm so so glad you found them. so delicate and sweet. I can just see these preserved and framed. Love seeing them. Thanks again for posting my giveaway!
    hugs,
    Debra

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  34. WOW!!! thats amazing...

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  35. What a loss that would have been. the flowers are so pretty. Just goes to show you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
    Blessings!
    gwen

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  36. Such a treasure trove of sweet memories behind each petal saved - I am so glad you have these precious beauties to frame.
    Blessings,
    Laurie

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  37. Robin Bird9.4.10

    I cried... ohmygoodness is all I can say

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  38. My gosh those flowers are amazing! Thank heavens for women's intuition at the right time!
    Enjoy them and your mom,
    Tobi and the Pixies!

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  39. Awww, I'm glad that they were saved as they are definitely a treasure!

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  40. Oh how beautiful! So glad you saved them, Gerry

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  41. Just splendid! So glad that you found them!

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  42. Linda! Wonderful story, I am so glad you shared it. It makes me want to start pressing again. Now where is that phone book.....
    Love
    Marcie

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  43. How beautiful, what a treasure to find, so glad they werent destroyed that would have been a shame. I'm sure she will be surprised and thrilled to receive them again, what memories they must hold!

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  44. MAGNIFIQUE !!! I wonder how many of these phone books he burned before this find.

    OH how wonderful these are. She will love having those back again...it will make her so HAPPY.


    Rose

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  45. This brought back so many sweet memories of the time my Sister and I cleaned out our parents house after both of their passing. Mom had saved so many cherished treasures for us to stumble upon. We spent an entire week of reliving our childhood and tucking away forgotten memories to treasure and pass to our children as well. Thanks for the warmth you put in my heart today with Treasures and Memories:)

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