Packing It Up...

Sunday found me...
Packing Dishes.

Or more specifically, packing up my Eggshell Nautilus Apple Blossom patterned china. In between baking and making salads, putting up a few 4th of July decorations (we lay claim to The World's Oldest Rodeo here, so the 4th is major...but that's another story) and going through ton's of stuff I've um, been hoarding...I finally packed away this china that I "inherited" from my grandmother (I say inherited because she's not dead yet...she just wanted me to enjoy it as soon as possible, which is nice because she gave it to me before I got married, and if I had to wait to actually inherit it, I wouldn't have gotten to use it...oh, the 2 times I've drug it out. I know, sigh.)

I was down in the coolness of the basement tackling this project that I've promised myself I'd get to a million times, and never have yet, but I received some wonderful dish storage for my birthday, so it was high time...and I say to myself I am super lucky my grandmother can't climb up and down the stairs, or doesn't read this blog, because if she'd seen the way I'd been storing the china I'd be in super big trouble...
You see (Oh, here it comes...skip ahead if you don't want to hear me justify my laziness) I don't have a dining room, nor have I ever in any of the homes I've owned, and absolutely no way to display my china, so it's been sitting in boxes sandwiched in between what appeared to be napkins from various past family weddings and some super old paper towels with Abraham Lincoln on them (which are probably worth something, so if you're in the neighborhood you can stop by and rummage through my recycle bin)

Now I don't have to worry anymore because it's all packed away very well, thank you.

I was also amazed to find that she'd saved the original paperwork in it's crunchy little envelope and had enclosed a handwritten note for me (which would have brought a tear to my eye if I wasn't feeling so darned guilty about not taking care of this storage thing years ago)

"The Joys of Nautilus"
from The Homer Laughlin Company

And on her note she said that she'd treasured this china for 50 years (sigh...) and that there was only one chip in a piece and was in the platter, put there by "...a dear friend" Yeah, right...my grandmother was and still is extremely particular with her belongings, and I've been listening to the story of "ole' so and so, who chipped my platter when she came over for dinner" as long as I've been alive and she used this set. My grandmother is also an amazing cook, and gave huge parties...and seeing this set always reminds me of how much fun we used to have...now none of us have a house with the space to even have a dinner party inside...or a dining room table, without having to clear out some furniture.

I also discovered I have a service for about a thousand. I feel so guilty because it's such a beautiful set, and paired with my set of sterling silver flatware my father gave me years ago...

I could certainly have a dinner party of epic proportions.
(if only I knew that many people)