Farewell, Old Friend

For the longest time, my everyday china has been Blue Danube. I'm not sure why I started collecting it... maybe because I was intrigued by the huge variety of pieces they made, maybe because it reminded me of the Blue Onion tea set my sister and I played with as children, maybe because it always went on sale for half price. Or maybe an obsession with purchasing china. In any event, I accumulated a lot of it over the years.

 

That's not even all of it, some is stored elsewhere.  I think we started with the normal amount - eight place settings.  Then we probably saw it on sale again and thought it would be nice to have twelve.  At some point we thought it would be a good idea to have twenty four so we could do two tables of twelve for large dinner parties or family gatherings.  And then of course we needed the bowls, serving pieces, linens, etc. And it grew and grew, until one day I realized I was sick of it.  That happens with busy patterns you use every day.

Then last Christmas I was trying to come up with an idea for a Christmas centerpiece, and in the course of googling for pictures I discovered Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, and all those Tablescape Thursday links to other beautiful blogs. Oh my goodness, there was a whole world of tablescapers out there who had all sorts of different china patterns instead of tons of all-the-same!  I had no idea! At last my china obsession could have meaning and purpose!  I just needed a nice set of white dishes and then I could create different looks with bowls and accent plates.  And chargers. And linens. And glassware. And, and and... You know the drill, but I hadn't quite realized all that at the time.  

So I got the bright idea that I could sell the Blue Danube on eBay, and that would pay for new dishes. Soon I had new Christmas dishes and Italian Countryside for my new everyday dishes.  But I took my sweet time sorting out the best place settings of Blue Danube to sell.  Finally I got the listing up, one five-piece place setting for a "buy it now" price, eight available.  And nothing happened. For two months I checked eBay every day. No one was even looking at it. 

Then one day I didn't sign on to eBay.  It was Tablescape Thursday and I was busy with my blog and looking at other blogs.  When I checked eBay on Friday, someone had bought all eight place settings Wednesday night! Unfortunately my listing said I would ship within two days, so now I had to scramble to pack eight place settings, create a shipping label, shower, dress, drive to the post office... yikes!  And to top it off, the eBay shipping calculator "combined shipping" and only charged her for one 12x12 box... as if all forty pieces would fit in the same box as the one for an individual place setting.  She saved $70.00 and I was going to take a hit.  Finally I got it all bubble-wrapped and loaded into the box the Italian Countryside came in.  But I couldn't lift it.  Did I mention I've been housebound with a back injury, broken ribs and a fractured foot bone?  Even if I could lift it, it probably wouldn't fit in my sports car.   So I found two smaller boxes and started over. 

Next I had to create a shipping label.  That took a while to figure out, but when it was all done, it wouldn't print out.  Apparently Firefox's last update messed up something and it won't print from the internet.  So I had to start all over on Internet Explorer.  The clock's going tick, tick, tick and I can feel myself getting more nervous.  All done!  I swung around and jumped up out of the computer chair and smacked into the two boxes of china I'd forgotten I'd set there.  I re-broke the bone in my foot. This is going so well!

I get done with the shower, hair and makeup and look for something to wear. Remember I've been inactive for a long time and living in sweats. Nothing fit!  I was ready to get the party canopy and cut armholes in it when I spotted a black wool sweater-knit pants and top I purchased a few years back for a plane trip to the northeast in January. Perfect! Stretchy knit pull-on pants!  Of course I wasn't pleased with how my fat self looked in them now, so I topped it with a large black raincoat. Here I am decked out in heavy black from head to toe, in Southern California on a sunny day.  All I needed was a veil with an eye slit to complete the look. For a moment I reconsidered the party tent. Too late, it was 4:45.  

  

I carried one of the boxes to the car, opened the trunk to put it in, and the trunk smacked down on my head. A fine time to discover something's wrong with the hydrolic thingie.  Repeat with the second box and I'm on my way.   I get to the post office minutes before 5.  I get a box out of the trunk, get smacked on the head again, and scurry-limped across the parking lot and up the steps, stepping on my long coat with each step.  The postal worker is at the door, keys in hand, ready to head home.  "Prepaid?" "Yes."  "Okay, I'll take it for you."  I've got one more." "No problem."   Back to the car, another hit from the trunk lid, and I get the second package up to the man waiting at the door.   "Thank you so very much," I said.   "You're welcome, Sweetheart. You have a nice evening."    Awww! He called me Sweetheart!  There I was all fat and limping and frumpy and stressed with a bump rising on my head and a stranger made me feel better with a simple kindness.  

 

So far I've sold twelve place settings and eight bowls, and made $800.00 to spend on new china. But it still takes me forever to get it wrapped and packed and shipped.  I don't envy eBay sellers who do this for a living.

Be sure to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.