Excessive China Disorder

There are too many oranges
in the blue and white Fruit Bowl

and so MrsM gets out the
blue and white Mixing Bowl

and makes an orange cake*
for the blue and white Cake Plate.


*Inspired by Kristina and the "Best Cake Ever".

My recipe is by Vicky Musselman
and was originally published in Good Food
but I cannot source it online.

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe

It is a weekend of cloudless skies.

The roses have started to bloom
and we sit in the shade of the cherry tree,
drinking chilled white wine,
and remembering the delights of
a small courtyard restaurant in Provence.

For a few hours
everyday life
can be forgotten.

The Naming of Plates

MissM complains that we are
The Only Family in The World
where the china is individually named.
We have The Croissant Plate,
The Roast Chicken Plate,
The Breakfast Plates
and The Creme Caramel Plates.
And that is before we start on items with handles...

And now I must introduce you to
The Biscotti Plate
which was purchased in Cornwall
just hours before I met Diana
who gave me a jar of delicious handmade biscotti.
Imagine the trauma for all concerned
if I had not had a suitable plate!
I hope that Walter approves.

Thank you, Diana,
I had the most lovely evening talking blog-shop.
I don't think I have ever done that before.
I can remember blushing furiously
when I met Kristina and being quite unable
to say the name of my blog out loud.
That was eighteen months ago
and now I am brave enough to admit
in a public place
that I write and publish my work on the internet.
How times have changed.

A New Purpose in Life

If you see four little plates on the White Elephant stall
and you know that they have been languishing
at the back of somebody's cupboard, unloved,

you should murmur to them as follows:

(even if the weird old guy dressed as a scout
with immaculate scarf and woggle is watching you)

"Come home with me and I will make a fuss of you
and you shall have a new purpose in life.

You shall be the Creme Caramel plates."

The Blue Bowls

Some people treat themselves
by buying handbags or shoes,
nail varnish or perfume.

I buy china.

Last week,
after a long morning of appointments,
I bought these bowls.


I love them.

One Perfect Paeony

This year my paeonies have been battered and bruised
by the wind and the rain.
There was more rain yesterday afternoon
and so I picked this perfect paeony
to bring indoors.

The plate that it lies on is
Peony by Wedgwood.
It was manufactured in 1815.

Jane Austen was still writing novels
when this plate was used for the first time.

Breakfast on Saturday

Croissants

Jam

The Croissant Plate

Doesn't everybody have a Croissant Plate?