A Special Gift . . .

It wasn't on my wedding day nor even on our honeymoon, but early on in our married life I yearned for a special gift for our 25th Anniversary -- a silver punch bowl.  

When the occasion arose, I made my wishes known that when we celebrated our 25th that that was what I wanted and only that.

The month before our 25th wedding anniversary when we were out antiquing, we ran across a Reed and Barton punch bowl with tray with ladle and with cups!

And home it came with us and the very next day, we served punch out of it for a party that we were hosting.

Husband Jim listened!

And it had pride of place for a long time.    It served the punch for many parties at Linderhof -- bridal showers and open houses.    It served punch for Daughter Sarah's engagement party and it served the wedding punch for Daughter Sarah's wedding and Friend Shirley Ann's son, Steven's  wedding.

Then we moved things around and it got relegated to the basement for there was just no room!

It wasn't that I didn't still adore it -- there just wasn't anywhere to store it upstairs!    And during those basement years, it didn't get invited to any parties for it was a bit tarnished and if punch was called for, the glass punch bowl (which also lived in the basement) was much easier for all it needed was a good wash.

Then last year, I realized that I rarely served punch anymore because the bowls were in the basement!    I would make punch but serve them out of pitchers instead!

So, I made a space for them in the very top of a cabinet in the kitchen and even found punch cups that matched my glass bowl on at an estate sale!   The weekend before we hosted a party!    The cups came in very handy!

And there they sat -- but at least they were usable and "at hand" but the silver punch bowl still needed polishing and whenever I needed to use a punch bowl, the glass one was the one I chose.

And then I got the wonderful old serving piece in the dining room.

Down came the silver punch bowl and an evening of television watching with polish and soft cloths . . .

The silver punch bowl got a good polish as well as the tray, all of the cups and the ladle.     The lower shelf of that serving piece is just a perfect place for the punch bowl!     And it is much happier being out where everyone can see and admire her instead of being shut up in a cabinet or (heaven forbid) being relegated to the basement!

I still adore the bowl -- I hadn't really ever fell out of love with it -- it is just that there hadn't been room to store it.    It does, after all, take a lot of room!    I am, however, glad that the new serving piece has a perfect place for the punch bowl.    

The glass one takes up half of the top shelf of a cabinet in the kitchen.   It's easy to get to, if needed, and inside are the 20 or so cups that go with it.      A short climb up a ladder and a good wash is all that it needs to be ready for party day!    And I have a silver ladle for that bowl as well.

And I have one other punch bowl -- that one resides most of the time on my dining room table -- the big  blue and white Oriental bowl.   It's really a punch bowl.      This year, I bought  12  wee Spode Blue Italian cups to go with for I can see that punch bowl at Christmas surrounded by greenery full of holiday cheer!

I am thinking of having a party soon -- just so that we can put the silver punch bowl to use again!