Flinging (lightly)
When The Commander left the building in 2012, she left behind the Dillon House (in Sault Ste. Siberia) and the moomincabin. Our priority was to empty out the Dillon House because we would be selling it. So we got rid of a whole heckuva lotta stuff from there. Little Cat Z took some furniture (she had just moved back to The Great Lake State from SanFran) and she and others took other artifacts. The GG trailered many things to the dump or re-use centers but a few boxes made their way to the moomingarage to be dealt with later (i.e. now).
After a few months, the Dillon House was empty and up for sale. Selling it took a while because Sault Ste. Siberia but we eventually managed to unload it. At one point after it was empty, the GG tentatively suggested we keep it “open” so we could use it on trips to the Sault after the moomin was closed for the season. I nixed that PDQ. Staying at the Ojibway Hotel did not break our bank and I did not want to stay in the old Dillon House again. It was “luxury camping” while The Comm was still alive but by then it was just an empty shell of a house.
It’s been “a minute”, but the GG channeled the right energy to work on the few boxes of stuff that made their way from the Dillon House to the moomingarage plus some other stuff.
Honestly I have no clue about some of the stuff in the boxes. What is it and where did it come from? There’s other stuff I have no interest in but maaaaaybe the beach urchins should have final say. Then there’s other stuff that’s in between. A whole box full of Iitala glassware… Hmm… Maybe keep the liqueur glasses (even though we rarely use liqueur glasses) but get rid of the rest? Wedding cake pans? I dunno. The Commander made a couple of wedding cakes in her life but I will never make one. I think those are flingers. And more…
Eskimo pillows? They were in one of the first texts the GG sent out to our family group today. They weren’t in the moomingarage, they were upstairs. They are keepers. I’ve been mostly staying out of this fray but I joined the family text to say that the Eskimo pillows needed to come back downstairs. Radical Betty and Duke did two tours of duty in Alaska (Duke was an Air Force colonel) and they sent these to my parents during the earlier tour. Are they valuable? I highly doubt it. But they are handmade by Native Americans (as far as I know) and a part of my childhood and I still love them.
August 18th, 2026 at 9:04 pm
I love the pillows and wouldn’t be able to part with them. I thought I would be able to easily get rid of my parents’ things but then discovered that I had to keep more than I intended to, although I/we did get rid of a lot.
August 19th, 2026 at 8:23 am
Our tastes, once again, align so well. Adore those pillows. They look a bit like felt applique. My dad was in the Army in Alaska during WWII and brought home some interesting carvings and miscellaneous seal teeth(?) and other bones/antlers/etc. They’re in a box…somewhere in this house. Some of many items I’ve decided to not part with (although they serve no purpose) and let my kids do the hard work of tossing them out after I’m gone. But those pillows will remain useful for a long time to come.