So here's the short of it, 
I'm watching Antiques Roadshow.

And here's the long.

I love this show.  It just amazes me to watch the things that people have, to hear the stories behind how they came to have them, and to find out exactly what they might be "worth" - at least on the market today.

I do love these things that people bring.  What a look into the past of our country this show provides to the audience.  A few years ago Antiques Roadshow actually came to Chattanooga.  Here's a link to some of the items that were appraised in Chattanooga.

I think one of the things I really like about the show is that in addition to seeing lovely things and hearing interesting stories, I always learn some history that I didn't know about before.

Tonight I've seen a pre-civil war rifle made in New Haven, CT, where Shelley and family now live; a wooden sculpture from China probably done in the period that preceded the Ming dynasty; a viola that the man who brought it in thought was a violin; and these carved wooden folk art items that had been used in a German POW camp in the south - they indicated the various areas of Germany where the prisoners came from -- reminding me that there were nearly a half million German POWs in the United States.  Here's some information about that.

There was this great necklace that a young woman had inherited.  She thought it was a Tiffany piece --- and she was right!  She was so surprised at the value - maybe as high as $250,000.  She was advised to have it repaired and safeguard it.

Here's a really interesting article and the accompanying link to this particular appraisal.