And then there are those old handy widows that enjoy schooling old prospective future husbands on the finer details of woodworking and finishing. Things usually go well until the lecture on shellac delves deep into how shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Then once the man has fully digested the important info concerning Thai bug vomit, the old widow can discuss dissolving these natural flakes in 95% grain alcohol known as Everclear and then applying the dissolved shellac using a cotton cloth stuffed with cotton balls. It is during the discussion about making the applicator using a 100% lint free cotton A cup bra, that the old widow hears a crash on the floor and turns to see an old man with glazed-over eyes passed out with a $60 1.75 liter bottle of Everclear spilled over him. It was then she realizes that she should have never brought up making the applicator or perhaps lied and said it was a D cup.
I have my Franciscan all put away in the china cabinet, along with my Hall’s Aladdin’s Lamp teapot that I also love. My mother had one exactly like this when I was growing up and it is where she always steeped the tea that she and I would drink together some evenings. My Franciscan has a few pieces that were my mother’s, which is where I first fell in love with the pattern. Most of mine is from pieces that I picked up at thrift stores or yard sales, and are old enough that it was made in California, and a few of the newer pieces were made in England. Over the last 60 years, I have been a vagabond, moving from one place to another, and these dishes have been packed and moved many times over those years. This is the first time that they have ever actually been in a china cabinet, and I am loving that I can sit here at my desk and look at them. I will definitely be using the dishes , and not just looking at them now !
Beautiful Yvonne! How wonderful that you can finally display such a wonderful collection in such a beautiful cabinet.
Nice …love your dishes they really suit the cupboard @Yvonne Smith I’ve got a china cabinet about that size as well, mine would be about 35 years old it’s a dark walnut colour .
Thought you were going to say you should have explained exactly what should be done with the everclear.