With all of the rain pounding the area, I have been forced to stay cooped up in the Little Bayou House. While I would much rather be out hiking about the hillside, this inside stuff is not so bad. I have been taking advantage of my confinement by moving furniture. Yep, that excites Son so much that he went out and hurt his knee. (I confess. He did not actually hurt the knee to avoid moving furniture but the timing is suspicious! Poor fellow, I have been teasing him pretty heavily about this as I drag a huge buffet across the room.) At least things are starting to look a bit better and I feel like I am accomplishing something.
To me, the hard part of moving anything like a buffet, is not the lugging it to a new place, it is unloading it, sorting stuff, tossing stuff and then putting said stuff back into place. Here, I must add, that although I am parting with an enormous number of items, I still can never get the remainder back in the buffet or cabinet. It just doesn't happen. I think the space shrinks with each dish I remove. But, I have been cleaning and that is occupying my time.
One of the things that I pulled from the cabinet was Mom's childhood tea set. The tiny dishes, or at least what remains of the set, are so very delicate that I am always afraid to handle them. For being a child's plaything, this is made of some pretty fine (thin) porcelain. Today's sets, if you can find a ceramic one at all, is thick and clunky...not this set. When held up to the window, the light actually shines through the side of the cup. Sweet! I cannot imagine ever letting a little one play with the tiny cups and saucers but, perhaps back in the day, kids were taught to be gentle and respect their toys.
The pretty little set is hand-painted in Japan with a scene of trees, water and swans. It is a lovely mix of orange, blue and a very dark brown. I am assuming that she got the set in the late 1920's or early 1930's. Several pieces are missing from the set and I can only imagine this happened after Mom was grown and had some rowdy kids of her own...ooops! She also collected any other odd pieces that matched the pattern.
I carefully placed each tiny cup and saucer in the china cabinet. Their bright orange color reminds me of fall so I figure it is a good time to have it on display. Plus...each tiny cup, saucer or teapot made me smile and think of Mom. All in all....good day!
I do not splurge often. I hate shopping and am so thankful that Mark does not mind. He is in the stores just about every day. Me? Not so often. I rarely leave the hillside and when I do go, it is usually to a thrift store. You can find some really neat things there! My search is always for some oddity that can be used during the annual "Clue Hunt on the Bayou" but I am open to just searching. Mark has patience with me as I scavenge through the heaps of more or less junk one finds at such places and will occasionally point out some rare find! My brain is always working craftwise while in such places. Whenever I spy something interesting, my mind whirls. My brain picks the thing apart in search of some elusive fragment of art medium. Our visits wind up with Mark toting bags of "stuff" to the truck after paying a mere pittance. It does not take much to make me happy while shopping! Now, that has even improved! Darling Daughter has moved back to the Coast so I have my "junking" companion back with me! We have a blast while scouring the flea markets and thrift stores!
The last time I went with Mark, I couldn't help but buy something frivolous! Sitting among the odd plates and pot lids, a tiny tea set called out to me! It was begging me to take it home with me! Well, I just could not resist all of that pleading so I put the thing in my basket. The tea set seemed satisfied as it never made a sound as we walked about the store. Once home, I pondered why I just spent $2 on a child-sized tea set. My granddaughter lives far away in Georgia and probably will never need a Christmas tea set, yet, here I am owning one.
I can remember back when I was a tot, that my own grandmother would have tea with me. She did not own a tiny tea set like this one but would allow me to use one of her porcelain teacups with a saucer. Hers were the very thin porcelain and were decorated with lovely flowers. She used these daily to have coffee or tea. I admit that I was nervous as a cat whenever she handed me my cup. I was so afraid that this little country girl would crack such a fine teacup as that. Grandmother, being the genteel lady that she was, assured me that it was fine and I would not shatter that thing to a billion pieces. We would sit at her table with our cups of tea and two small cookies. A bit of wonderful conversation would pass between an old lady and little girl. It was a special time. One that I will never forget and one that I hope to share with my granddaughter some day. Should I use the clunky, child-sized tea set from the thrift store? Or should I pull out the last remaining teacups of my grandmother's? I am thinking those lovely teacups from long ago should once again be the special link between grandmother and granddaughter. If they get chipped, so what? They are material things and things do not measure up against special times. The tiny tea set will probably sit on the shelf until one day I just send it home with my granddaughter, Mary Ruth. She and I will be grand ladies and drink our tea from the fine porcelain teacups with the lovely flower designs!
