Friday, February 1, 2008

Memories of Grandmom ~ Her Porcelain Spinner



Okay, now that it is Friday, I can tell you why this gift shop, porcelain, trinkety figurine means so much to me.
When I was a little girl, my Grandmother would take care of me when my parents went to work. So, I spent a lot of time there. One of my favorite things to do, was to hop on my Grandmother's bed. Now her bedroom set was modern at the time, but basically it was one of those 1960's headboards with the shelf built in and the sliding cubby doors on each side. In the center she had different items. I don't remember when I first discovered it, but it caught my attention every time I saw it. A porcelain eagle with the spinning gnome-like ballerina. I would hop on her bed (to her dismay,) lay down and stare at the things on her shelf. But my FAVORITE thing to do was to make this little ballerina SPIN. And spin it did. (Also to her dismay...she was usually heard hollering "and don't spin that thing, you're gonna breaaaaaaaak itttttttt!) And did I stop? No, not usually. Somehow, it did not break.
Well, as the years went on, I would still love to spin the ballerina, but more so in an admiring way.
When it unfortunately came time for her to live in a nursing home my Father asked me and my two cousins (both women) to come in and pick out what we wanted of hers so they wouldn't be lost, but kept in the family. They of course, picked out big things like furniture, but I had little things like this in mind. I really wanted to retain my childhood memories of "spending time with Grandmom."
So, I was able to take my precious little spinning ballerina home with me and I keep it in a safe place so that it DOESN'T break...but every now and then I give her a little spin. My Grandmother passed away a little over a year ago and I still miss her. This helps keep her close to my heart. There are other things I was able to keep, but this one is my favorite.
And this is my edition of Show and Tell Friday.
Check out the other entries at this blog site:
Additional note:
If anyone knows anything more about this type of spinning figurine, I'd love to hear about it...or even if you have one yourself, I'd love to see a picture of it! Drop me a line or two!


20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Miss Minnie is just beautiful!

I love these sort of memories. I remember playing with my Nan's dolls in traditional national costume from all sorts of countries it makes me feel quite nostalgic now to think about them.

How lovely that you got to keep the doll and eagle.

ellen b. said...

I have never seen anything like this. What a unique treasure you chose. Enjoy...

Michelle said...

That is the sweetest thing I've ever seen! What a treasure and I enjoyed the story too :)

Michelle

P.S. Stop by, I've got something for you :)

Amy said...

I love this story! I have memories of my Grandma's dressing table and her pretty lamps she had.
I don't know anything about your treasure item but I think it is very cool and pretty.
I have taggged you at my blog to play a game if you wish.
Amy

Cheryl said...

What a precious keepsake you have of your grandmothers. Your lucky you had one of those "nice" grandmothers...some of us were not so lucky *sigh*

Constance said...

That got me all teared up. I wa sclose to my grandma and have precious things from her as well! Thanks for the warm fuzzzy!
Connie

nannykim said...

That is so different!! I am very surprised you didn't break it!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jillian,
I got my lovely package today!!! Thanks so much, I really like it and the other surprises inside too! I posted pics on my site..go and see. I am glad that you had won something too! And new friends to boot!

I like your special ballerina. What great memories and to have that piece to remember her by. I loved my Mommom, as we called her...she was always hugs and full of time and love for us, I miss her too, she died about a month before my 3rd baby girl was born and would have been so thrilled to hold her and then her sister. Thank heaven for grandmas who are full of LOVE!

hugs/Carol

Susan said...

These items with precious memories are the best kind.
Susan

Anna said...

Wow that is just beautiful...I love it.....Thanks for sharing...and thank you for visiting my blog..Have a wonderful weekend.

SweetAnnee said...

It is lovely!!
and memories are the best part..
fondly, Deena

Liz Harrell said...

What a sweet story.. I've never a figurine like that before.

Thanks so much for your sweet and supportive comment the other day. I have really taken to heart all of your advice, it helps so much. I really appreciate you ladies more than I can express!

Julieann said...

I have never seen anything like it--it is lovely--and I enjoyed the story that went along with it.

Julieann

Betty said...

Jillian,
I think you have a priceless remembrance of your grandmother...I'm not familiar with spinners.....but it's beautiful....

Thanks for visiting with me....Betty

Jean said...

I've never seen anything like your spinner. A treasure with wonderful memories attached. The best kind of treasure!

JEWELGIRL said...

Lovely ballerina figurine, I
like her face. Oh yeah, cute
precocious feline!

Ele at abitofpinkheaven said...

Just beautiful and with a lovely story to go along with it! Show n tell fridays is a great idea.

PurpleFlowerFairy said...

what a wonderful momento from your grandmother. i've never seen anything like that before. debbie =)

MJ said...

Thanks for sharing the photo and the story about this spinner. I am glad that it remained intact and waiting for you to take care of it in your home! What lovely memories!

PS: I finally posted about my collections! I didn't mention any of the easy acquisitions (ie: Emma Bridgewater pottery)!

Heidi said...

Ah! This is the sweetest blog entry! I remember my grandmother having a shelf like that too behind her bed but for me it was playing with a porcelain hippo of all things. My mother recently told me she has that hippo when I was talking about it. Isn't it funny what things we cherish for their memories? I have a plastic candy dish that was my grandmother's too. It was a cheap version of a glass one we accidently broke. It was precious to me since my grandmother always said my little brother and I should go get a piece of candy from the dish each time we stopped by. When she died, my aunt was throwing things out and I rescued it. She asked why I wanted that junky, cheap candy dish. I think you know why too Jillian.

Hugs ~
Heidi