americana

Sometimes the simplest things give you the most pleasure. I think the Lord delights our hearts unexpectedly to get us over the potholes of life. This morning we woke up to heavy fog - summer is over - and a cool day. Randy decided to take the boys to a barn sale down the road and I went along which I rarely do. The weather this time of year makes me kind of melancholy. Actually, pensive is a better word. It means musingly or dreamily thoughtful. Or a sad thoughtfulness. Writers are supposed to be that way, aren't they?

Anyway, we wandered past farm implements and old trucks and lots of junk in the fog and didn't see anything that shouldn't have had a for sale tag on it. UNTIL I walked into an old cobwebby shed. There, on this dilapidated table, sat a box of English Ironstone China. Now, this might not mean anything to you, but I was absolutely delighted at first sight. Over the years I've managed to find a saucer and a little dish of this in antique stores but nothing else.

The delightful thing is that this china was only made for one year - in 1976 - to commemorate America's bicentennial celebration. I was a girl back then and dressed up in a pioneer costume and marched in a Kentucky parade like lots of other local yokels.

These wonderful dishes are a glossy cream and deep brown and have Colonial scenes on them - Betsey Ross sewing the flag and Paul Revere riding around in the salad bowls, George Washington and Mt. Vernon on the dinner plates, the Boston Tea Party on the dessert plates, Martha Washington on the creamer, etc. About a hundred pieces in perfect condition! And all for only $40.00. Sold!

Only He knew how much finding that would mean to me. The Colonial era is my era and the only one I really care to write about. And everytime I use these Americana Style House Ironstone Everlasting Colour J. and G. Meekin England dishes I'll be reminded of how He delighted my heart on a grey, foggy day in the middle of nowhere.

Randy thinks it's ironic that England would make these quaint dishes that celebrate America's radical rebellion against them but I think it makes the find even more delightful still.