The Flourishing Farmhouse: Dishware

                           

   I'm a bit of an old soul. I grew up listening to Daddy read Little House on the Prairie to me and my sister before bed. I loved learning about pioneer traditions and often pretended our lawnmower trailer was a covered wagon. I dreamt of having my own homestead someday with bright quilts and pretty floral china. In keeping with cherished old time traditions, I asked for a hope chest for my 16th birthday. My parents found an antique pine chest complete with a secret compartment. I first stuffed it with my precious keepsakes from my childhood. It grew to include embroidered tea towels, handmade cloth napkins, quilt sets passed down from a church member, and one of my personal favorites: a breadbasket with a chicken cover to keep rolls warm!

    Last year, I decided it would be practical to think about adding dishware to my collection as I don't want a traditional wedding registry when the time comes. I had kept my eye on the Pioneer Woman's summer collection at Walmart for a while. When they went on sale at the end of the season, I consulted my boyfriend about going ahead and purchasing them. When he met me at the store to look over them, he noticed that they were making room for the fall collection. Instead of the brighter reds of the summer palette, the fall dishware displayed the more muted "claret". It wasn't exactly settled, but when I saw how he held a much stronger preference for the darker tones I had to follow along. Now, I couldn't be happier with our choice. I waited until Christmas where my grandparents gave me the four-piece "Farmhouse Lace in Claret" set along with the "Timeless Floral" bread plates. Aaron completed my floral dishware and added the matching cow creamer and butter dish with the gorgeous measuring spoons. I found the teal pie pan and some adorable fat-bellied polka dot mugs in the clearance section and had to snatch them up. My birthday brought me the coordinating floral and claret mug sets, a charming gingham tablecloth, and an apron set that carries over the same floral motifs. The boxes have been carefully packed away in my closet for future use, but every now and then I have to pull them out and admire the classic daintiness of it all.

                       
                              

         

 

   I enjoy having these dishes as a tangible reminder of what I'm looking forward to becoming as a wife someday. I dream of the day memories can be created around our dinner table with these dishes. I think about my husband coming home to dinner for just the two of us with these plates. At other times, my thoughts go to the days when we'll have a full table of eight, laughing as we share a meal together. I might cry a little when the first dish gets broken, whether by me or a seemingly helpful little child, but the dishes aren't what's important. It's the people we share the memories with that count.

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. -Psalm 128:1-5 ESV