Hadley Pottery: An Incredible Gift Linking Women in My Life

Are you familiar with Hadley Pottery? My collection has grown lately, and it makes me so happy. First you need to hear what it is and why I like it. Hadley Pottery was founded in 1940 in Louisville, when an artistic woman, Mary Alice Hadley (who had been born into a family of clay tile makers) designed and painted dishes for her houseboat on the Ohio River. When she entertained, everyone went wild for her dishes and insisted she create a set of dishes for their household in the same style. You can read their legendary story on the Hadley website.

My mother went to college at Denison in Ohio in the early 1950's and she said a Hadley mug was her coffee cup throughout college. I grew up drinking out of that same mug, painted with a pig, and loved that when the mug was empty, I could read "The End" painted inside on the bottom. I thought it was fabulous and drank Ovaltine out of it every chance I got growing up.

When I got engaged in 1991, a young couple I admired from Cincinnati gave us a Hadley salad bowl (Farmer & Wife) as an engagement present. Then when I moved to Seattle, I started going to church rummage sales. One day I spotted a Hadley milk pitcher…price 10 cents! My collection was growing.

When we had friends for dinner, I made a chicken dish with a sauce and served it in my new-found Hadley creamer. I told the story of the Hadley brand as I served salad from the big Farmer & Wife salad bowl. Well, six months or more later, that friend texted me and said that she thought the pattern I was collecting was at a resale shop in the next town. She was out scouting for herself and found loads! I went that weekend, and someone must have donated a lifelong collection! It was a thrill. I bought a giant platter, a covered vegetable, a teapot, and a creamer & sugar. Happy days.  And bravo to Stacie for recognizing the pattern.

Okay, now this is where you will not believe it. I posted this photo below on Facebook, showing that I was finally framing some of my favorite garden photos in some new inexpensive IKEA frames. And I got a comment from my high school English teacher-turned-friend, Pam. “Does that bowl on your table mean you collect Hadley?” What? I was so taken with my project I did not even realize that the bowl snuck into the photograph. I emailed Pam privately and told her about my growing collection that had started back in my mom’s college days. Pam said that loved Hadley china and was so thrilled that I did too. She said that she has a large collection that she has had fun adding to over the last 40 years. She also wondered if I would l would like to take some of her pieces as my own. She was downsizing and was sure that her children would not want as many pieces as she had. Gulp. Oh my, yes. What an honor.

Look how much my collection grew with her generous gift! I now have 2 dinner plates so Dan and I can have dinner together. Her vinegar & oil decanters are perfect with my salad bowl. I now have covered soup bowls for French Onion soup or individual baked vegetable casseroles. I have a honey pot and syrup pitcher too. And some darling holiday mugs and luncheon plates for cocoa and cookies. I really cannot believe it. I feel like an honorary daughter and it makes me misty.

Pam and I have been friends since I was in high school (cough cough). We started off on the right foot because her husband, Tom, had been my Social Studies teacher when I was in Junior High! I loved his class so I remember talking to her about how I knew him. Then when I was her student in high school, in addition to teaching English and Creative Writing, Pam also ran the district's Gifted & Talented Program. 

Pam knew that I spent a lot of my free time doing counted cross stitch and she encouraged me to apply to the Board of the Gifted and Talented Program for high school credit in needlework. The ability for the board to approve/issue high school credit for extra curricular activities had been primarily focused on ballerinas and students in ROTC, when Pam thought to challenge that with another viable creative pastime. 

When I was accepted, we helped the Board figure out what amount of time doing cross stitch should quality for 1 hour of high school credit. If memory serves, I did 134 hours of cross-stitch in one semester of high school. It is staggering now that I think about it, but I accepted the challenge, and it was fun. It was my senior year, and I would often spend that “gifted and talented” time slot doing cross stitch and having tea in Pam’s room. Tea and needlework. I’ve been me for a long time. 

Thank you, Pam, for your generous gift. I promise to take good care of your Hadley and serve delicious meals on it forever and ever. My heart swells with my collection and feels like it may burst.

#hadley #hadleychina #collecting #housewares #collectingdishes #blueandwhite #bluedishes #friendship #storytelling #beautyofeverydaylife #gifts 

 

 

Dishwashing

I found myself standing over a sink filled with lavender-scented bubbles this morning and when I looked over at the plates drying, it looked so pretty that I thought I would show you.

A friend came for tea yesterday (I'll tell you about the fun we had tomorrow!) so this morning I took my time and hand-washed the antique dishes we used.  

One of my favorite dish washing liquids is the lavender scent by Farmhouse.  The soap is gentle and the suds smell wonderful.  Wash, rinse and set your dishes aside to dry on a monogrammed dishtowel.  Celebrating the beauty of everyday moments.  

Lost in Thought

I was lost in thought for the past hour or so.  And this is the result!  I have a Swedish-style plate rack in my family room and I decided that today was the day to take down these sweet plates that were my grandmother's and put up my collection of Spode's Blue Room.

Whenever I move a large number of dishes, I end up rearranging everything in my big glass-front cupboard.  With so many different patterns, cups, and touches, it can take forever and as evidenced today, it is a wonderful way to get lost in thought.

I remembered when and where I got each piece; considered some Easter tablescape possibilities and imagined a conversation with Rachel Ashwell because I think she would like some of my dishes.  All in all, it was a good 45 minutes well spent and the cupboard looks beautiful again.

When do you get lost in thought?

Visiting England: Emma Bridgewater

Do you know Emma Bridgewater? I mean the pottery, that is. I have loved this company for years and have wanted to start my own collection of "Black Toast" (shown above on the teapot and covered sugar) for ages.

As we mapped out our trip to England, I didn't know if we would have time to go any further north than our visit to David Austin English Roses in Albrighton.

The Emma Bridgewater Factory & Shop in Stoke-on-Trent is almost an hour's drive north of our rose destination and I didn't want to be disappointed if we ran out of travel time, so I didn't "officially" include it in our itinerary.

But after spending an entire day outdoors photographing roses, a car ride and some shopping sounded great. I'm so glad that we made the effort!

Now that I've been to Emma Bridgewater, I can't imagine my trip without it! I bought all sorts of treasures and loved it so much. I'll tell you more tomorrow, for now I want to show you my tea service and cake that I ate in the on-site cafe.

I couldn't get over how much I enjoyed having tea IN Emma Bridgewater AT Emma Bridgewater. Get it?

Wonderland of Dishes

There is a shop in New York that pulls me like a magnet every time I am in the city.

Fishs Eddy is a wonderland of dishes, cups, glasses and flatware. I walk inside, my heart races and I am in love all over again.

I have wanted this many dishes ever since I saw Martha Stewart's barn full of dishes in her video, Secrets of Entertaining: A Buffet Party.

Fall Tablescapes

Now is the time to start planning your Fall tablescape. Is November your month for book club? Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year?

I saw this display at the Country Living Fair and it really got me in the mood for the rich colors and many textures of autumn. Next week I am going to pull out my cream dinner plates, black raspberry-covered dessert plates, green glassware and a melange of serving pieces and see what I can come up with for a casual "Dinner For Four."

I have a feeling I will be trimming napkins or doing something to pull it all together. This is the year to "use what you have." Join me?

MacKenzie-Childs

I think one thing that makes me love housewares so much is that they are timeless. Unlike shoes or clothes, a beautiful dish never goes out of style.

A dear friend gave me this beautiful MacKenzie-Childs dish as a house-warming present twelve (!) years ago and here it is today looking as cute as ever holding our first "crop" of strawberries.

Cath Kidston

Do you know the British designer Cath Kidston? Soft colors, pretty florals and polka dots tend to be her signature look and I love it.

This darling mint green cupboard is from her only retail store in the United States. This morning as I was drinking my coffee from one of her floral mugs (similar to those hanging from the row off hooks on top) I realized that I should show you this lovely display.

Everything tastes better on pretty dishes, don't you think?

Dishes by the Pound

I was shopping in Ann Arbor at a store called "Found," when I noticed that they had a table of mismatched china available for sale by the pound.

How fun. I immediately spotted this old Johnson Brothers square bowl and popped it on the scale. It is antique white with sweet beige & pink blossoms - very grandmother-y and perfect to showcase a peony. 

And for 75 cents, how could I go wrong? 

I hope you find an unexpected treasure this weekend - let me know what you found.