RECIPES

Tuesday 12 May 2020

Making Decisions


So far, it has been a good day.  I feel like I have achieved a few things that have been niggling at me for a while.

We have a mix of sunshine and high cloud and all the washing is drying nicely.  I even managed to wash some fancy linen that has been waiting for my attention for some weeks.


I’ve been through my DVD collection and put more of them into folders so they take up less space.  For many years, living in the caravan, we had no television access and relied on our DVD collection for evening entertainment.


With son and I blending our two households together there were a lot of things to sort out.  We have kept a robust dinner set for daily use (it is dishwasher proof!), but I still ended up with two complete dinner sets sitting in my cupboard.  I hardly need one, let alone two, and have been dithering over which one I wanted to keep for ‘best’ use.

Today I settled on keeping some of my Kelston Potteries willow pattern set.  These were produced by the locally-famous Crown Lynn Potteries at New Lynn (Auckland) between 1968 and 1980.


The NZ Museums website describes the pattern as “white earthenware plate with blue all-over print of the ‘Willow pattern’, a Chinese country scene with two doves.”


My next decision was not to keep all the bowls and serving dishes that I have collected over the years.  I only need to keep a few favourite ones, so that is my current sorting project.

The biggest problem that I can see ahead of me is ….. what does one do with perfectly good china and glassware that one no longer wants?  Do I give it away, try to sell it, trash it? – but think I will leave those decisions for another day!

Stay safe and keep smiling J

Margaret.





18 comments:

  1. Certainly sell them! Do a bit of googling to find an idea of prices and sell them either online or go to a dealer. When you're allowed to that is! That's a really beautiful dinner ware set.

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  2. My mum use to have similar dinner sets, I really like them still, there's a big market out there for people wanting them.

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  3. Oh, we rely on DVDs mostly, too.
    You get everything translated to German, if you´re really unlucky, watching a docu it starts in English and mid-sentence the German speaker bawls in and you hear both languages.
    Plus, so many things are translated badly.
    Hence, we go, buy DVDs and watch in the original.
    All the nordic countries get the original, subtitled in their language and learn proper English.
    And people wonder so many Germans fail.
    I had the very best English-teacher- from Great Britain, we visit Australia often, blogging helps, too.
    But it´s a shame how many Germans fail. And it´s not even their fault.

    Sorry ;-) I had to get it out.

    The Potteries are beautiful!
    Oh, that´s a hard job to do with letting things go, I have the same problem.
    Don´t trash!!!
    We have stations we can give it away. Books I give to the "phone booth" for free to the students, but we also... well I would not give away those beauties to a cheapy thrift store, guess most don´t see the treasure!
    At least over here they would not.
    I am too lazy for amazon, e-bay and such. Friends might be it?
    Or... use it as art.
    We have some beautiful - plastic-plates, ummm...- as art on the wall.
    I tend to break things, hence plastic it is over here... bad excuse, is it. But the more I try to be careful the more I break...
    Keep those beauties safe, and yourself, Ixx

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  4. Check the internet, see what sells, this will help you with any decisions, we often pop it on local facebook pages to give it away, if you can help a struggling family, its a double win.

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  5. The willow pattern reminds me of my maternal grandparents. I have boxes of pottery in my loft produced by the pottery that my wife and I had. I seem incapable of getting rid of it although it's quite commercial so the local charity shops would be delighted. My brother had all the family everyday pottery when my parents gave up their house. He still uses it. When I redid my kitchen recently I got rid of all my old crockery from when I previously did the kitchen when I moved in 25 years ago. It was from IKEA. The new stuff is all white and is also from IKEA. I noticed that they were still selling the one I bought 25 years ago.

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  6. PS All my DVDs are also in folders like that - great space-saver.

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  7. Oh, I like that dinnerware pattern! I am rather partial to blue and white china! I hope you are able to sell the pieces you no longer want or, at the very least, give them away, rather than trash them.

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  8. Oh my Margaret! If only I was near you, I would definitely catch those beautiful china! I have always been looking for nice sets on Japan Surplus shops here because I have been dreaming of a birthday breakfast on my garden (well alone I think since my family don;t usually give in to my fancy gimmicks HAHA) But if only my friends could have come, they sure will.

    I suggest you try to sell those my friend, those are more than just plates and saucers, those are treasures :)

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  9. We go to auctions now and then and really good dinner sets go for next to nothing. I suppose that young couples today have no interest in such things. Probably happy with takeout containers and pizza boxes. We too have three complete sets in addition to our everyday ware. I would happily set them on the kerb with a "Free - please take" sign on, but I doubt that is going to happen. It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate. I have been in field camps where you have a bowl and a spoon for everything, and it works perfectly well. Then I return to "civilization" and I have to have one spoon for soup, another to stir my coffee, a third for dessert, a little plate to set my bread on, a dinky little knife to transfer the butter from the dish to my plate, and then a knife to spread it with, quite different from the knife used for my dinner mind you, It is all a little ridiculous to tell you the truth. We have two woks and eat a lot of Asian food - everything with a single pair of chopsticks, the most efficient eating utensil ever invented. So at the end of the meal we have a wok to clean, two plates and two sets of chopsticks. And in addition, our average meal from the moment we start to chop veggies till we sit down to eat is less than twenty minutes.

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  10. Hello, it is a hard decision concerning your treasures. Maybe you can ask around and see if someone needs a set? I like the pattern and blue/white colors. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

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  11. I have a whole set of my mother's dinnerware, plates, cups, serving dishes etc all packed into a big box. It's "Riverside" by Midwinter, I don't like it at all but I'm not sure what to do with it. My sons and their wives don't want it. Maybe I'll try to sell it but it certainly won't make me a fortune!!!!!
    I do like your willow pattern set, I think you should use it.

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  12. I recently gave some of my mother’s dishes to the Salvation Army here. I know they will be of use to someone.

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  13. Though I have not seen the other choice, I definitely love what you kept for best. Don't trash the other! Do you have any friends that would love it, or know young person starting their own home? If I had room, I would love china/dinnerware and the pretty teacups!

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  14. The willow pattern crockery is classic. And so is that washing blowing in the wind. Lovely photos

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  15. We need some sun in may area. It's been rainy and chilly. We even had flurries on Saturday.

    I love your dishes. They're so pretty.

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  16. It must be hard to decide what to keep and what to sell or donate. I think this enforced time at home is making a lot of people go through their extra 'things'.
    I like to see your laundry drying in the sunshine.

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  17. Nothing as cleansing for the soul like clearing out the stuff we collect.

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  18. Such beautiful plates! I have two sets to get rid of...not sure who I will gift them to...we will see. :)

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Thank-you for visiting my blog. I love it when you leave a comment so please feel free to have your say. Have a great day! Margaret xx