Miss Mandie

The objects of my affection

As with most love affairs, this one took me by surprise. It was love at first sight if I’m honest. Our first meeting set amongst the backdrop of the glitter and glam of the Gold Coast. There they were, tucked into a corner (that infamous line by my teen heartthrob Patrick comes to mind), looking as beautiful as ever. I knew I had to have them. And for the bargain basement price of $6. Ohhhh, my heart skipped a beat.

I was indulging in one of my favourite past-times – procrastinating from study by scouring op-shops (secondhand stores for the international readers). This time I had a co-conspirator – Regina, a fellow student and from what it seemed, fellow procrastinator and lover of things recycled. I’ve never been one to pay much attention to crockery. I bought a heap when I first left home, got a dinner set when I got married and other than purchasing some big (I mean big enough to dwarf any sized meal in them) bowls last year, I haven’t invested much time and energy into what I eat off. Until now that is.

When I got home last night, I sat outside on my verandah, enjoying the last remaining moments of daylight, as I munched my way through some cheese and crackers, on one of my newly purchased plates. I swear it tasted better. I sat the plate at the sink with the other dirty plates. As I walked past later on in the evening (yes, I’ve gotten better at leaving dirty dishes in my house for longer than a minute), I swear that part of the kitchen looked more sophisticated and charming. Seriously. I stood and admired this plate amongst the dirty dishes for a moment. There was an obvious distinction between the usual “made in china and owned by 3 million other people” to these “made in England and slightly cracking from age” plates.

It was only when I spoke to mum that she alluded to why I might have been swooning over these plates. I said they were made my wyatt or someone. She asked whether that might have been Myott & Sons. A quick check of the one still sitting on the sink waiting to be washed, and I confirmed it was! She told me to google it. And so I did. Turns out these plates are OLD. Like really old. Like up to 80 years old, old. That is old! No wonder there seemed to be something different about these plates. Who knew I was into love affairs with older wares.

So I googled, and ebay searched and generally trawled the internet for an education on these collectable Myott & Sons & Co Bermuda floral crockery pieces. I learned they come in blue and rose. Oh, rose would go so nicely with blue. And it would make my cupboard look so…well, so coordinated in a very old, floral, colourful way. I decided that both colours would make my heart swell at a greater rate. Right now the only pieces I could find were in the United States. Do you know how much postage is for crockery!?! Over a hundred dollars if I got the 8 plates I found. Ummm, not a financial priority at the moment.

But, always a believer that anything is possible, I thought I would just let you know, dear friend, family member, avid reader of my rambling thoughts…that if ever you want to make me smile, contribute to my happiness at meal times, or just generally give me warm’n'fuzzy feelings, then you can hunt down pieces of this set for me. You never need wonder what I want for a present again! And be sure to check out the dusty corners of any secondhand shop you find yourself in…you never know, you might find a piece for my set or discover your very own love affair