A picture heavy post today. About 12 years ago, we travelled to the East Coast of Canada as I was speaking at a grief conference. We had some time between sessions and on our days off to explore the communities in and around Prince Edward Island. We found the sweetest tea shop and at the back, off in the corner, there was a beautiful display of some pretty china called "Cream Lace" by Skye McGhie. I fell in love with the beautiful scalloped edges and the cutouts but the set was not cheap and we immediately knew trying to get it home, all the way across the country, would be a very stressful challenge. We took some photos, with the permission of the shop owner and I vowed I'd search for this same pattern and style once we were back home. Most we found in the last 4 years, starting with a small oval dish.
Last week, on a beyond cold and blustery day, I went on Marketplace to look for art work for our new centre. And at the top of the page, randomly, was a post for Cream Lace dishes. The individual who was selling had 6 dinner plates, 6 small plates, 6 tea cups with saucers, 6 coffee mugs, 2 soup bowls and 1 oval platter. I jumped on the ad, especially as she has literally just posted it. Perfect timing! She wrote back a few minutes later to share she was getting a ton of requests but she loved what I wrote. We negotiated a pick up time, and the next day, still in the freezing cold but a little less blustery, we headed in to the Big City. She was lovely and so happy to hear where her beloved dishes, never used, just displayed, were going home to. With 2 grown boys who had no interest in sets of dishes, she decided to find someone who would love these. Other than only having 2 soup bowls (I'm now on the hunt to find 4 more), I'm sure I have more than the set we spotted and fell in love with in Prince Edward Island. I have so many unique items that we found over time ~ the lamp, the napkin rings, the baby dishes, the miniature tea set on it's own tray, the butterfly dishes, and the clock ~ that I feel this is the loveliest collection of anything I truly have. Now, there is only one issue .... the whole set will not fit in our current corner cupboard. Today, I took everything out and put it on our dining room table. My hope is that the china cabinet on the far wall will be big enough to house all these sweet pieces. I have a bit of a cold today, so I didn't empty that one but will try tomorrow if I'm feeling better. Fingers crossed that all the set will fit in it's new home in the bigger china cabinet.
Do you have a set of dishes you've collected over time?
~ Chy
