Tuesday, August 2, 2011

P is for purge and plates

I'm joining Jenny Matlock this week at Alphabe-Thursday for the letter "P".  Before I continue, you must realize that I'm home with our two dogs while my husband is in Tucson and, due to a dust storm and rain, our cable is out!  That happened Sunday evening and Direct TV won't be here to fix the cable until Thursday morning!!!!  With that said, I'm going to share with you some things I've done out of sheer boredom!

I've been meaning to clean the china hutch in my dining room but somehow I never found time...until now.  I looked at the contents of the hutch (way too much clutter) so I decided to purge and replace the contents with my mother's set of china.  Maybe I'm being very melancholy right now along with bored because in a few weeks it will be the first anniversary of my mother's passing.  At any rate, I took everything out of the cluttered hutch and started anew.

You can see the clutter behind some Easter decor.  I had plates, two sets of glasses and miscellaneous cups and saucers from garage sales all packed into the hutch.


After the purge, you can see my mom's china and some meaningful memorabilia on the shelves.

                                             A close-up of her dainty pink floral pattern.
 Now for the mess in the kitchen cupboard that held my wine glasses and everyday drinking glasses.  Another purge was in order.................
                                                                       Before

                                                                        After
Now for the cupboard that held the dishes we got for our wedding 33 years ago!!!  I think it is time to move on and use the dishes that were in my china hutch so......during the purge
                                                                           
                                                                         After
The whole wheat pattern on the Mikasa plates that we registered for before our wedding in 1978...so long ago~~~~~

                                  The plates that will now be used everyday

                                                      During the hutch purge

                Bright, shiny glasses ready for a new home in the kitchen cupboard.
 I found this cow creamer while I was cleaning/purging.  It is old as I believe my mom acquired it while we were living in IL.  My mom used to put milk in the cow and my daughter (now 31) would drink the milk out of the bucket that goes with the cow.
                    I also found these two egg cups that my mother had for many years.
This purge proved interesting as I also found this vintage pitcher with glasses that my mother brought with us when we moved to AZ in 1962.  I'm sure that she had it for many years before that.
Oh, the memories!!!  I remember eating my cereal out of these bowls when I was a little girl living in IL.  The design is so pretty.
I also found these plates that my mom saved.  My parents got married in 1943 so I'm sure that these plates were purchased before or shortly after their marriage.  Hmmmm...68 years old!

                My mom's bowls from IL.  Again these are probably close to 68 years old!

Now what????  I have the old Mikasa wheat pattern plates and cups from 1978 when I got married, and a very nice Noritake dinnerware set that we purchased years ago....why I don't know!!!!  The Noritake set was on a shelf above the Mikasa wheat set that we used everyday.  For the life of me, I can't figure out what made us buy that Noritake dinnerware set!

Maybe I'll sell the Mikasa wheats on ebay and save the Noritake set.  So with all the purging...I'm really only getting rid of one set of dishes!!!!! 


15 comments:

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

I loveeeeeeee your collections and the after photos!! GORGEOUS! :):):):):):):):):):)

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

The kitchen has the most memories! I just recently received my grandmother's old Household Searchlight recipe book with her handwritten recipes in the back.

My name is Riet said...

Oh wow, I love what you did with the cupboards. I should go use my "Good" china too and throw all the rest out. Maybe I will after reading this. Great P wod

Unknown said...

You found such treasures!

Betty said...

I'm envious of your purge. That's exactly what I should be doing. My parents were married in 1943 and I have my Mom's china that looks a lot like what you have from your Mom. I'm sentimental too and that's probably why my house is getting so cluttered. I keep talking about getting rid of things, but it just never seems to happen.

Betty said...

I just spent some time looking at your Flickr photos. I saw your Ginnys dolls! You are so much like me. I'm a sentimental old fool and I have so many things that I keep just for the memories. I also have my mother's wedding gown. I wish I could display it, but with cats that would just be asking for trouble. I have some of her purses, hankies, etc., just like you. I like the way you put all the prayer books in a bowl. I need to get some of my things out and display them. I had a 1966 Mustang too. Mine was dark blue and it was the first new car I bought, but we had to sell it in 1968 when we went to Sicily with the Navy.

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

I am going the other way! I've been on a collecting spree lately....

I already have more dishes than a person could possibly use, but can't seem to stop buying a cute plate here and there!

Susan Anderson said...

Great stuff!

I don't have nearly as many cool things as you do, but I need to get some kind of cabinet where I can display my china/pottery, etc.

=)

Ames said...

Do you hire out? Ha ha! I have been doing that purge/clean thing too!~Ames

Jenny said...

Oh, hello! hello!

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year! Gosh, where has that time gone?

I know you're keeping busy but I can only imagine how your heart is hurting right now.

Your re-do's are spectacular. I have a huge set of the dishes you are using for every day. Love all the colors in them.

And the rest of your things are so charming, too. I hope you have nothing but memories of happy times each time you dine from them.

It's hard to find much distraction in this heat. I'm sorry things are so difficult for you right now.

Hugs and...

A+

EllenaElizabeth said...

He he, gotta love a good purge. There is nothing better... and the results are so satisfying.

Barbara Rosenzweig said...

Yes, this is a wonderful trip down memory lane!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

You remind me to clean, clean, and clean up my house before winter..

Judie said...

What a wonderful job you did with that cradle!! It is so lovely!!!

To the Toy Box and Beyond said...

I love the cow creamer Very cool and the colorful mixing bowls are awesome. I bet you would make good money on ebay with that wheat set My sister likes that pattern