Free Treasures

Let me see... back in 1999 when Aaron and I were living together in college in his nasty college house in which he had 6 other male room mates, he and I were cleaning the basement when we came across a bucket of china dishware. We actually had to clean out the basement because that old house had a massive carbon monoxide issue. The meter went wild the moment the gas man (hard to say without laughing) entered the house. Oh well... wasn't my first exposure to high levels of carbon monoxide.

In anycase, we made a bunch of runs to the dump from all the years of college students leaving this and that behind. There weren't may treasures buried in that basement, trust me I searched. And then we came across some dishes, which definitely caught our eye. We asked everyone if they knew anything about them. And sure enough, no one did. Who knows how long they had been down there. I figure a student came with a family member's odds and ends china collection and had decided not to use them and stashed them away. Aaron and I did the same thing. Neither one of us wanted to throw them out, so we stashed them in storage through a couple more apartments and our current house. I figured one day, I might be able to use them. The pattern is pretty, dogwood flowers, and unique. They look like vintage 1950 something. They definitely fit my eclectic personality. People who have eaten my homecook meals have complimented me on my old farmhouse eclectic dishwares. From the mismatched gravy bowls and pitchers, to the sugar bowls; my different English tea cups and my teapot that Granny brought with her from England a long time ago. I love them all. I do have one complete china dishware set that my mother gave me, which does come out on special occassions.

In any case, Aaron needed a bucket while he was working on his truck yesterday. I walked into the storage area and saw those plates we had found way back in 1999. I thought to myself, "Now that I have a lot more space, since we remodeled the kitchen, maybe it was time to pull them out and use them." So, I cleaned them up, a lot of dust has collected in the last 10 years, and placed them in my cabinets.

There are 15 saucers, 5 plates, 2 regular sized bowls, 2 large bowls, 10 small bowls, 6 tea cups, and a sugar bowl. Because there are 15 saucers and 2 large bowls, I think... at one point in time they were 2 complete sets, with 8 pieces per set. I wish there were more plates and less saucers but that's okay. Maybe one day I'll find more pieces to my set. I'm not worried about them being worth anything. The fact that they are pretty and set in my cabinet is all the worth to me in the world. It means, I have something pretty to pull out when guests come.

Psst! My cookie jars are empty.