Wildflowers In Winter #4

Wildflower Morning's, Wildflowers in Winter Week #4 Theme was "Wildflowers In The Home". I have really been looking forward to this theme week but since we have all been so miserably sick, I am not doing all that I had hoped to do. Instead I will show a small sampling of some of the special things I have with flowers.

This is a shaped like a Dutch wooden shoe - I am not exactly sure what it is, but it is something I purchased at the gift shop at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. I didn't have enough money to buy a teacup so I got one of these. My Mom and I used to go to Victoria every year, often in spring, as it was not to far from us to the ferry that takes you there. I have some other small trinkets like butter chip plates from there.

This is a teacup that my Grandpa Johnson gave me and it has either a tall teapot or a coffee pot (I'm not sure) and matching cups. He thought it belonged to his Grandma Johnson (my Great, Great Grandma who came here from Sweden). The bottom says "Devon Royal China England." This is a tiny and dainty cup.

This "Herdecker Kaffeetasse" or Herdecke Coffee Cup comes from the village of Herdecke in Germany. This is where my friend Jutta who became my penpal 27 years ago this month, lived as a girl and where I have visited twice. Forget-Me-Nots are one of my all time favorites because Grandma Hopkins had pink, blue and white ones growing around her side walk and my brother Danny and I used to pick them together. Since he has gone on ahead of us, Forget-Me-Nots are a special reminder to me.

This is a piece of modern German china from Arzberg. Any of us who travelled always picked up a piece for Grandma Hopkins and of course it was always pink - her favorite color. When she died, I was given this back. I bought this for her in Germany while visiting Jutta.

This cup says it is made by Colclough, who made china for quite some time. It was a gift from my Grandma Johnson and I don't know if it was hers or her mothers. Her mother had quite an extensive tea cup collection. Most of the family things on this side of the family were lost due to greed and selfishness, so I cherish each little piece I have. I only wish I knew the whole story! Grandma Johnson gave me several teacups as a child to start my collection, otherwise I would never have had any.

This little creamer came from a set that belonged to my Great, Great Grandma Smith. It just says "Eleanor Bavaria" on the bottom. Again, it was a gift from Grandpa Johnson.

One of the things on my "to do list" is to photograph and document all my china and heirloom pieces so that my children will know what is what and who it belonged to. We are in cramped quarters now so many of these things are boxed up. One day I dream of having a place to display and use some of these things.

And the last item is a bit more practical. This is a wine bottle carrier that I picked up at Michael's. It was so beautiful and it works perfectly for carrying a spindle and several ounces of fiber to spin!