Pattern!

I have spent so much of my adult life liking only white crockery. I have a beautiful set of white, but now I want pattern to cheer things up. I particularly like to serve things in the middle of the table on pretty plates and bowls. I have been coveting this set of four hand-painted plates (£196) from OKA for months now. They are even nicer in the flesh.


Of course I'd also like more vintage crockery, but it's quite hard to find something that's really beautiful rather than just quaint. Does that make sense? Should I stop writing about crockery? This shop, The Oxford Tea Party, has some very nice things. Looking through their products makes me want to buy a set of cake plates and a vintage hamper and go off for a picnic in the countryside near the beautiful riverside town where I grew up. These art deco plates would do nicely :-) and they are a good price at £12.99 for a set of 6. Shame it's not summer any more.



Last time I went to Bewdley was this summer, two and a half years after my parents moved away. I was emotional already because I'd just driven more than 20 miles of terrifying road to get there (and I hate driving), but once we were standing by the water's edge I started to cry my eyes out in that shoulder-shaking grief kind of way. It was embarrassing. I told my husband that the spot we were standing on was the very place where my sister and I once released an eel, which my dad had caught, back into the river. Silly really, crying over a memory of a fish, but that's me.



Bewdley images from http://conference.whub.org.uk and Wikipedia. I don't seem to have any pictures of my own.