Tuesday, June 17, 2008

out of control

Okay I admit it, I have an addiction. It’s a sickness, one that I haven’t tried to get control over but one that I have accepted. I’m thankful that this addiction is not of a chemical sense but there must be some chemical that is triggered in me when I’m close to my addiction. It’s neither an addiction that I find in a bottle, from a bookie, or in food. You see my addiction is tablecloths. Now stop laughing because this can be serious. One can only have so many tablecloths can’t they??

As someone who has only one dining room table, how many tablecloths does one need? I must have a couple of dozen but I won’t go count them for fear of embarrassment.

When I go shopping I don’t go looking for tablecloths but if I’m in a Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Ross, Marshall’s, etc. I always gravitate towards the house wares section to see if there are any styles/colors that I like. I’m thankful as many times I find a pattern I really like but it’s not in the size I need. Whew. In the past I’ve bought a size that doesn’t fit any table that I own but because I really liked the pattern and was sure I’d find some use for it, I’d buy it. See, that’s called an addiction.

The other day I was cleaning out my tablecloth drawer. The drawer (36”w x 20”l x 8”d, no small cubby here) was packed plus there was some more in the hall closet. Oh my. Yes, it’s time to purge. Seeing that I bought a new table after my remodel and some of the tablecloths don’t fit the new size, I had to let go.

Through this process I found a very nice surprise. It brought back such vivid memories of my first trip to Italy. You see in the bottom of the drawer I found a bundle carefully wrapped in tissue paper. I sat down and carefully unfolded the tissue paper trying to remember what I had purchased. There in front of me were delicate handkerchiefs in different patterns, several placemats that I use as table toppers, and one white starched linen tablecloth with delicate embroidery with matching napkins and one beige linen tablecloth with a lot of crocheted details also with matching napkins.




When I read while researching for my trip to Italy that the ladies of Burano hand made the lace I knew without a doubt that I was going there. I had to see these linens that someone put their heart and soul into. I was enthralled with Burano, such a quaint island that you can walk 15 minutes in any direction and be on the other side. I loved that each house was painted a different color, bright melon next to pale mustard next to mauvy brown. It’s like each home owner put his hand in a bag and pulled out what color they would paint their homes.


I walked around the island enjoying each shop I came to admiring their wares. They were just beautiful. I found the linens that I wanted and made my purchase. This was my first real purchase in Italy (I had bought a printed picture from a street vendor in Florence for €5 but I don’t think this counts). The sales lady delicately wrapped my purchase in a light rose colored tissue paper secured with a printed sticker and then placed in a very sturdy brightly printed bag with handles tied with colored ribbon. I was surprised by the flourish that went into bagging my purchase knowing that in the U.S. it more then likely been put in a nondescript plastic bag.




The only downside of my purchase, I didn’t realize how heavy the bag of linen would be and that I had to hand carry this the remaining two weeks of my time in Italy as I only had a backpack and was using the train system most of the time. Some day soon I will post my journal of my first trip to Italy. I warn you it’s long but entertaining and would need to be posted in many installments.

I'm out to run some errands, what? no I'm not stopping at target... er, bye!


Today’s Temperature
High: 110°F / 43°C
Low: 81°F / 27°C

3 comments:

Rowena said...

Burano is still on the list of places that I have yet to visit -- the linens!

My m-i-l is pretty loaded with tablecloths too...infact...she wanted to make one especially for the outdoor picnic table, so I said okay. Well, if she didn't go ahead and make FOUR and told me to choose which one I liked best. LoL I'd be a collector of tablecloths myself if I had the space to store them! ;-)

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Oh I love linens too...Italy is *definitely* an enabler ;)

Anonymous said...

Rowena - Love your MiL!!

Bleeding Espresso - Linen addiction, hmmm, wonder if a support group is needed?