A few weeks before Mother’s Day, Christopher asked around for advice on where to find a dinner bell. He received plenty of suggestions for a hand bell, but he knew what he wanted to give me – a big daddy. Something the boys could hear from the woods, two acres deep. Something permanent, that we’d ring for decades and grandchildren alike.
When my mom visited her parents that weekend, she sent him a photo of my Nina’s dinner bell. Something like this? Yes, he thought. Just like that, only… one of our own. After much reassurance from my grandparents directed at the protesting from my husband, he graciously received their gift. My mom brought it back and had it smuggled into my house just in time for Mother’s Day.
Chris and the big boys got it in the ground last week, and boy does it do the job. I half-expect the entire street to show up for dinner some nights! I couldn’t be more honored to have such a piece in my front yard. Every time I ring it, I think of my Nina & Papa and smile. It was the perfect Mother’s Day gift.
8 Comments
We have the same one and that’s EXACTLY what we used it for when the kids were growing up! Good memories!
my parents have one and that’s what we used it for, to call everyone back to the house. I WISH we had one of our own.
do be wary, wasps LOVE to build inside there, so don’t let the kids ring it without warning to run during the summer!
I love the puppy photo bomb in the window!
Aww, I didn’t even noticed that. Sweet baby, Delilah! :)
what an awesome piece to have! it looks great!
So amazing! We need one at the farm!
LOVE this! :)
I grew up with a dinner bell. It was huge. (I grew up in the same farm house as my dad, who bought the house from my grandpa, who bought it from his dad…who built it!) So it was awesome to participate in the tradition, ring the same bell that had been rung by our family for years. Such good memories associated with something so simple!