Old jewelry, old feuds, old houses

I took some old gold and sterling silver into a local jeweler and sold it yesterday. Mostly it was my mom's unwanted/broken/single earrings, but there were a few larger things. In the end Mom had about $240 dollars worth of store credit. The next time she comes to visit we will go over there and arrange for her to have The Wrong Ring re-worked or re-set.

The Wrong Ring is one of my Grandmother's rings that was actually left to my aunt. A different one was left to my mother, but in the clusterfuck that was the aftermath of Grandma's death and sorting/dividing her things, my mother wound up giving her sister The Right Ring and taking This Other Ring. To me, the ring mom has is nice, but I think she sees it not as an actual piece of jewelry, but as a bitter reminder of a bad time and of the dissolution of her birth family. So, I said, why not have the Unsatisfactory Ring changed into a pretty pendant, or a different ring that won't make you feel bad. It will still be something from Grandma, but it will be different! I hope this works. Grandma has been gone for about 10 years...but the sadness and bitterness of the family break remain.

While I was there, I looked at a couple of amethyst rings set in white gold. They were so pretty.


This is not one of the rings, but it is similar to what I liked:






Each of the rings was around $500. I enjoyed trying them on and admiring them, but when you get right down to it, I am not at a place in my life where I feel I can spend that kind of money on something that is a want and not a need.

I also, while I was out and about, stopped in at Sherwin Williams and got paint chips. I may not be going to spend big bucks on jewelry, but I am going to spend cash having my house painted and fixed up. We have chosen paint colors and the work should start in late September. These are the names of most of the paints we'll be using. We are going a bit more saturated and traditional this time. These color chips I copies off the Sherwin Williams site don't really look like the colors on the paper chips I have, but at least you can see where we are going.

Sassy Green for our bedroom

Compatible Cream for kitchen, dining room above chair rail; great room

Quietude for Living Room.

Hardware. Under chair rail in dining room.

Flowerpot. For the Spare Room.