China town

                                      After the launch of the Carlini wine  on Saturday I had PILES of china to put away. I kept putting it off, on Sunday I was washing glasses and too tired, on Tuesday I went to Saffron Walden, on Wednesday it was the U3A leaders lunch and today I just HAD to knuckle down.  George said I have far too much china and should throw half of it away!   He is sort of right, of course, but what happens when you have 30 people to feed?    As you can see, this cupboard is already full and I  still had all that to pack away.....

But I did it!   Well, almost, just a few things on the floor which I really cannot squeeze in.  What to do?  Where did it all come from?  Many years ago we bought a mediaeval farmhouse with ALL the contents which included lots of china, much of it quite old. There were two big dressers in the farm which were loaded with plates. I had a dinner and tea service as a wedding present - 18 of everything (and I seldom break things) and then I had all my mother's Golden Wedding china (a real pain because I cannot put it in the dishwasher)!  And of course, here and there along the way I have bought the odd plate or bowl in foreign parts. But I have to  confess it IS a bit excessive.  I  must have about 36 ramekin dishes,  about 72 dinner plates, 60 small coffee cups  etc, etc - I am not boasting, I am asking for sympathy!  They are all part of my life and it would feel like throwing old friends away dispose of them. Heaven knows what I shall do if we have to downsize again!   Hanging on the door, by the way, are bags with Halloween witches, Easter bunnies and so on.  I want George to put narrow shelves on the door but he says that is just encouraging me......

Now if that isn't a masterpiece of packing it all in, I don't know what is. And what about the crochet edging then, Gina?   Echoes of your crochet bunting!  I have done enough for two shelves and  there are five altogether, but it is a good travelling-in-the-car task.   After all that hard work I found half an hour to take Gina up on her drawing challenge.   I hunted for the Indian Ink which had gone solid in the bottom of the bottle, it is so long since it was used!  I put some water in but unsurprisingly it was not very potent.   I found a pigeon feather in the garden and picked a hydrangea head and had a go,  then I found an old felt tip pen which the grandchildren used to use and tried again, that was much easier to use.

Then I put on a bit of colour and it looked better......... 

Thak you, Gina, I enjoyed that - it was a good exercise and much more fun than packing plates away!