(no subject)

So far, in sorting through the remains of the estate, we've found nine sets of china, three of glass, several figurines, about a million of my grandmother's paintings, a delightful Finnish boning knife, and a .22 revolver.

We're going to be packing the plates and platters and cups and such tomorrow afternoon and all of Monday, and we're formulating a plan for safely packing the paintings. The knife is going home with me in my checked baggage. The .22 is a bit of a mystery.

i found it, unloaded, with a bunch of silverware. At least, I checked the cylinder, but I'm not an expert, so tomorrow I'm going to very, very carefully take it apart and make sure there's nothing in the barrel. (I've handled firearms for stage performance before so I know all the precautions to take, don't worry.) Gran never mentioned owning a gun, and I can't imagine why she'd have put it in with the knives and forks. It's an antique -- I'm going to check tomorrow but initial investigation puts its manufacture somewhere around 1899.

I'm going to assume it's magic until I discover otherwise.