I went to my email box today and found a Black Friday ad with something I have been wanting for months. 70% off beehive dinner ware, but only in the store. Great price, but is it worth the 30 mile drive on icy roads to get it?
Told dh about it and he decided to play devil advocate over the plates. What would I do with them? Where would I put them? What about the fine china we all ready have? I had answers. Use them for everyday dishes once I trust the kids not to break them. I have room, I just need to move a few things. And the china, well, we don't have a complete set AND I don't want the kids to break them.
That last question/answer got me thinking, how much of the china do we have? Went and counted. Answer: 7 dinner plates, 7 salad plates, and 8 bread plates, along with 5 cups and saucers we will never use. Next question: can we get more? Answer: yes. Cool. One more dinner plate and salad plate and I have serving for eight. Four more of the three and I can serve 12.
Then I wondered about great-aunt's china. I looked and looked again. Found out brand (W. S. George) cut (Lido) and pattern (Flower Rim). The pattern was the most difficult to figure out. Can I get more? Yes and I need 6 bread plates to go with the 12 dinner plates I have. I could also pick up 12 salad plates (and serving bowls, platters and a gravy boat if I wanted).
Forget the beehive plates, I will just add to what I have and I will then have two sets of nice dishes for family dinners and parties.
But that was just the beginning of my thoughts on the subject.
If I bought a fine china that is plain white or ivory, I could add that to what I all ready own. 8 sets of those would take me up to 16 sets, which would be dh and children all paired up. This is a good thing. Just mix my pattern with the plain and I am set to go.
But what about a everyday set to replace the plastic plates we now use? The plastic is great, they don't break, but they are, well, plastic. And, wow, are there a lot of cool patterns of china on ebay. Seen some great ones at D.I. too from time to time. Maybe I could buy one here and one there and collect them. But where would I put them and I really would rather USE what I have. (I really don't want to dust them.) What if I bought the china and collected them and used them as my everyday plates??? Then if the kids break one so be it, I'll just have to look for and buy another one.
It might look crazy as I might end up with not a single plate matching. But I think I could have a lot of fun looking for the plates. In many ways it would be a treasure hunt, and I like treasure hunts.
