We Found This To Be Humourous... 

I came home to find a leaf resting on my front doormat.  It made me smile.  

Welcome Autumn.

Dishes.

(or Discovering the Beautiful)

by Mary Courtney Blake

Prior to moving, I used two different sets of dinnerware.  Neither was particularly special to me, both were inherited.  When it became apparent that I was going to be moving, I decided that I would start to look for new plates and things for the kitchen.  Being the seasoned dinner host that I am, I thought it high-time that I get some dishes that reflected my personality and this move would be just the occasion.

I set out to my local plates and bowls stores and set my fingers to work on the internet all in search of dinnerware that said “Eat off of me, I am cute and vintage-y and will make guests feel welcome and will be a perfect addition to your tiny artsy home.”  Surprisingly, there are a few plates out there that do say this.  So, I added the logical criteria of a color or pattern that would look good in my kitchen, my previous kitchen being a sunflower yellow and my new kitchen being a bright-yet-soothing green.  Since I knew that the new kitchen was not going to be yellow, I thought that the dishes would be a great place to take it with me.  I just think that yellow is such a wonderfully welcoming and cheery color.

This is when I noticed that the pattern of one of my sets of dinnerware, specifically the one given to me by my grandmother when she moved, was a beautiful shade of golden yellow.  Interestingly enough, I had never noticed that before.  Perhaps this oversight was due to the fact that I had grown up with these dishes, not only had my grandmother used them, my mother also had a matching set when I was young.  To me they were nothing particularly special, just the regular everyday, hard to break, great for kids dishes.  That is, until that moment.

The more that I stared at the pattern, the more that I loved it.  How is it that I could have grown up with these plates and had them in my own home for several years and never noticed how beautiful they are?  They are simple, late 60’s or early 70’s Corelle Dinnerware by Corning.  You probably have some in your own home or did at some point in time.  Virtually unbreakable, not particularly expensive, they can go in the oven or the freezer and they look as good as new after 40 years of use.  But, more importantly, or at least equally so, they feel delicate and look charming with their stylized alternating flowers and butterflies in the perfect shade of yellow.

I suddenly became proud of my dishes, and I remain so as I continue to use them daily in my new home.  They say, “ I am cute and actually vintage.  I have held many wonderful meals and will continue to do so for years to come.  I welcome the stranger and help them to become family.  I still remember the lost art of bringing people to the table.  I am lovely.”  What a wonderful gift to discover something beautiful and to realize that it had been there all along.