10.15.2007

So ... you tell me ...


So ... I spent part of today working on the bedskirt for the guestroom. I walked back and forth between there and the sewing room (aka "The Kingdom") as I measured and cut. Each time, I took a look at the four poster queen-sized bed which used to be ours and now is basically willed to our oldest daughter.

And for good reason.

You see those finials in the picture above? They are the source of countless memories. Countless. And they all involve this same daughter, who shall remain nameless but is, interestingly enough ... a Vespa-riding-sewing-Martha-loving-Attorney-at-law.

And a thief.

Once she had gone away to college, she would immediately make her presence known when in town for holidays and the occasional summer, by stealing the above pictured finials and hiding them in unusual places. We would find them in our drawers, as parts of centerpieces, under our pillows (uh ... usually found that out the hard way) and one year, while opening our gifts on Christmas morning, we found they were ... our gifts. Oft times, her siblings were in on the joke, on other occasions they were part of the joke. Although ever since the bed is no longer in our room to be scrutinized during her visits, the finials have stayed neatly on top of their respective posters ... and I am sooooo very sad.

My question is this: What the heck are they? I believe we have referred to them over the years as Acorns, but now that I am staring at them on my computer screen, I am doubting that. Help me out here.

And help me think of a good trick to play on her ... she'll be here for Thanksgiving.

Posted by Picasa

11 comments:

Mrs. Dub said...

please say they're acorns or my whole existence will have been a lie.

and while i have a few good ideas, i dare not share them here. after all, that VRSMLAAL sometimes reads this blog.

MarySue said...

I've been stalking your lovely blog for awhile and will bravely venture forth with a comment. I found your blog via mrs. dub who I think was a roommate of a Stayner gal at BYU. My son married another Stayner gal (Annette) and somehow this is supposed to make sense to you. Your good sense of humor takes over here and I hope you're snickering a bit. Your acorns, and I think that is closest to what they could be, do have a bit of a pineapple/pinecone flavor also. My mom and I used to hide a very large, purple pedestle serving plate for one another back in my BYU days (1967-68!!!!). May favorite was when I put it under her thin, woven bedspread and of course it protruded greatly which just added to the fun. P.S. I too have blue plates hanging on my walls. Small world.

Leslie said...

i'm guessing pinecones. fancy pinecones with ruffles.

Angy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Angy said...

they also kinda look like corn on the cob...

steph said...

i thought fancy pinecones, but i am from nebraska, so corn on the cob, maybe?

ginny said...

Ugh--you have lured me out of my pretrial self-ban on blog commentary! I have always thought of them as acorns, but was once at a furniture store where they were referred to as pineapples--I believe it's a Napoleanic thing.

The BEST acorn scam was when I stole it on one Thanksgiving break with grand intentions of mailing it to Mrs. Dub, then on her mission in El Salvador, to have her return it to you upon her homecoming at the airport. But then I got stressed about the unreliable Salvadoran mail system, the timing, and the possibility that it might not pass airport security or customs, because it WOULD make an awesome drug mule device. Defeated, I think I just mailed it back to you a few weeks later. It would have been cool, though.

P Daddy said...

Research shows--research was necessary because I love research and because I independently know nothing about furniture and didn't know what a finial was before this post, notwithstanding having handled many on the ends of curtain rods, whether as much research was necessary as was performed is an entirely different issue--shows that acorns, pinecones, and pineapples are all used in furniture, wall covering hardware, and landscaping ornamentation finials. I believe these beloved finials are pineapples because: acorns usually have a raised cup on the bottom of the finial (rather than the "nut" portion) or the bottom, not the "nut" portion is scored; pinecone finials usually have no leaves or cup at the bottom and usually have raised segments; and pineapples tend to have rounded leaves on the bottom, like these do. Some poster beds have both pineapples (usally high on the post, but below the finial) and acorns. But given VRMSLAAL's squirrelly hoarding and hiding episodes with these, they might as well be acorns. Just think how much fun it will be when the bed is in her MS home in ATL and the niece(s) and nephew(s) come to visit and hide the finials; hope she enjoys seek as much as she enjoyed hide.

sara said...

I see a resemblance to corn, although on first glance I would've said A-corn. And I love the sneaky-hiding-them stories; one more reason to think your firstborn is the greatest.

May I be so bold as to request pictures of Lil' Gee, whenever you have them? That cutie is so photogenic! I just love being able to catch glimpes of your posterity. What a couple of dolls! (I already have a good source of photos of Miss Dub or I'd request hers too!)

Lindsey from The R House said...

they look like pineapples to me.

Lindsey from The R House said...

they look like pineapples to me.