Wednesday, December 29, 2010

An Update And A Question

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An update on my dear, little mother: Thank you for your many comments and emails and prayers for my dear mother. She came through her cataract surgery with flying colors. She is recovering more and more each day. I stayed with her after she came home on the day of surgery. Yesterday I took her back to the eye doctor for a check and things are going quite well. She rested at home through the afternoon until I arrived with a pot of hot turkey-vegetable-noodle soup, freshly made salad and delicious rolls for dinner together. It hit the spot – just what we needed. Each day my mother is seeing a bit better and she is amazed at the improved vision she has since the surgery. I teased her and said we won’t be able to sneak anything around her anymore! She’s a dear and we’re so glad this surgery is behind her. Late next month she will have the cataract removed from the other eye. Now we know what to expect and the questions have been answered. Time will tell what her vision capacity is – it’s too soon to tell right now but all signs are that things will be good. We both thank you for your love and support and words of encouragement.

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On this damp, gray winter afternoon in Western Oregon my home is a maze of Christmas decorations, storage bins and things to be put back in their place after the busy holiday season. I have been working on a list of goals that I want to accomplish in the coming year and as I work to put all the seasonal decorations away my mind goes to a question that I’ve wanted to ask you for awhile. My ‘forgetter’ has worked overtime and I think I’d better ask it before the thought goes away again! Many of you dear blog friends have more than one set of dishes. I see your collections often as you share tablescapes and glimpses of your family celebrations. One or two of you have shared your storage areas for your multiple sets of china and all of the accompanying pieces. Now, I want to know – if you don’t have a closet or cupboard or butler’s pantry in your home, if you have to store them in a garage or basement setting – how to you store all of your dishes? Do you stack them neatly together on shelves? If you do, do you wrap them or put something between them? Do you store them in bins or boxes? If so, do you wrap them or protect them in some way? If you wrap them, what do you use?

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I have gathered a wonderful set of Christmas china (seen here) and many accompanying pieces. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you know that I live on Holly Street and a few years ago my sweetheart suggested that we ‘feature’ holly in our Christmas decorations. I loved the idea and that began a whole new plan! For the first time this year I was able to fill the little corner hutch in my dining room with my holly china! It was such a delight to my heart. Now, as I put things away, it’s the perfect time to organize things and store them in a safe place. I have a wonderful, new storage cabinet ready for my sweetheart to assemble and install in the garage. It would be nice for my china and other decorating pieces. I have great cupboards and cubbies in the garage that would work well but I’m in a quandary how to best store my pretty dishes. So, I turn to you, my friends. Help, please!

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Since this is the perfect time to get ready to start a new year, I’d like to organize myself a bit better than before. Your suggestions and help would be most appreciated. (I have big plans for decorating my little hutch next year. I’ll work on some of them through the year and you will see the difference about a year from now!)

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(Here’s a little out-take! Do you see something that doesn’t belong in this photo? When I opened the lower doors on the hutch Joey decided to stick his head inside, sniff around and check it out!)

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10 comments:

  1. lol, Your china is lovely, Adrienne.I'm sure you will figure out a great way to store it. I believe you said you have heat in the garage, so it should be okay. Have a blessed New Year, my sweet friend. Hugs ~

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  2. What beautiful Christmas dishes. I just love them.

    I also love that you are sharing more of your home with us than ever before. It is a very beautiful home, may I add. :)

    So glad your mother is doing well. The next one will go like clock work, I pray.

    As for dish storage..I don't have nearly as many dishes as most bloggers and I have enuf storage for now. I better not buy any more, tho. :))
    hugs, bj

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  3. Your dishes are beautiful Adrienne. I love that silver pocket!

    Good news about your mother!

    Happy New Year!

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  4. I haven't been online so I'm catching up now. Glad to hear your mother's eye surgery went so well. I had it a year or so ago and don't have to wear glasses now! My husband needs to have it now.

    The holly china is so perfect for you! Believe it or not I only have two sets of china, our casual and our OCR. All the other pieces are just a few plates of different designs.

    I store those in Rubbermaid bins. I do place paper, a doily, napkin or paper towel between them. Some heavy chargers I have to store upright so they won't crack.

    Love the way you decorated your chandelier!

    Happy New Year!

    Katherine

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  5. Beautiful holly dishes Adrienne. My Christmas dishes are stored in boxes with much paper wrapping, then the boxes are put into a plastic tubby which is stored in the garage. I have Blue Willow dishes on the hutch and a set of dishes I got at Pier One in the drawers of the hutch, as well as the Blue Willow that won't fit on the shelves. Our everyday dishes are navy Fiesta and they're in my kitchen cabinets! When we downsized to this house I gave my china to one of my daughters and it's packed away in one of her kitchen cabinets. I also have a set of Pfaltzgraf that has many missing pieces stored in a tubby at another daughter's house. They have more storage room than me. And that means I have way too many dishes! :) blessings, marlene

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  6. As you know Ive had a rough Christmas here myself so I havent been around much. Didnt know about your moms surgery but my dad has had it done now to both eyes. He breezed thru it with no problems. I have one slowly developing so at least now I know what to expect and wont be so afraid when the time comes. I bet your mom will be just fine the next time around :)

    I just love your dishes. Anything with holly is my very favorite Christmas thing. I purchase several lg. Lenox Holly platters online to round out my own plain Lenox I use for the holidays. But Ive always loved their holly china and lusted after it for yrs. Ieve never seen your pattern before tho and I love it.

    I would buy one or two of those big plastic bins to store it in, in your garage if theres no room in the house. Im still sorting things around here from the move and realize I may have to do some of that too, to have more room in my hutch. So many things I just dont use often so why let them take up the room?

    Get a roll of bubble wrap tho and cut some squares to fit between the plates, it helps keep scratching to a minimum and protects them too.

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  7. OOO, I DO hear you singing all the way for Oregon..and a BEAUTIFUL voice you have, too. :))

    Haaa...thanks so much for the birthday wishes.
    I hope your New Year is beautiful!!
    xo bj

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  8. Adrienne, I am so far behind in blog visiting that I was not aware your mom had surgery. So glad to hear she is doing well. She must beyond thrilled to have improvement in her sight. Good vision is such a blessing and sometimes I think we have a tendency to take our eyes for granted. I hope she continues to do well and has the same success for the second surgery.

    Personally, I'm not much of a dishaholic. I do love beautiful dishes as the next woman but since storage space has always been a big problem for me at My Cottage of Bliss, I've easily resisted collecting multiple sets. I have one set of "everyday" dishes and one set of inexpensive china that is displayed in my china cabinet. Years ago, I had a set of Corning Corelle Christmas dishes that I would repack in the box they came in and I stored them in the garage loft with the rest of the Christmas decorations. I finally sold them at a garage sale because frankly, I got too lazy to deal with switching them out with the everyday dishes and the packing/unpacking process. For me it was a dreaded chore, not a labor of love.

    I want to say thank you for your continued cyber friendship and frequent visits to my blog. Best wishes to you and your family in the coming new year. :)

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  9. I am so glad everything went well for your mothers eye surgery. Your dishes are just wonderful, and they look beautiful in the hutch. I have an old set stored in a small rubbermaid container in the basement. I put paper plates between them and wrap the cups and saucers in paper. The cover keeps them clean.
    Happy New Year!

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  10. Good to hear your mom is doing well. I have secretly looked forward to a day when I have that surgery as often the sight can be repaired back to the point of not needing glasses.

    I love your Christmas dishes. I don't have many, but the ones I have I pack away wrapped in tissue with Christmas decorations in bins. Then they are found when I bring out the decorations for next time.

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