My blue and white obsession and my ugly kitchen

The plate below would be the plate that started my blue and white obsession...my parents had a whole set of these. I grew up eating on them and by the time I was out of the house, I couldn't stand them. My father died 7 years ago. In the last year I have found that items he owned mean more than gold to me. My brother, who is 9 years older than me and would remember this, told me that the plates came from a grocery store. Apparently, if you spent so much each week you could get one for free. (Why don't grocery stores do that now? I'm sure I've spent enough at Wal-mart to have a table setting for 20!!!) The plates are made by "Lochs of Scotland." I have been searching all over for the saucers, cups, etc.. I did manage to find 5 saucers in an old run down store that, if it weren't for someone telling me it was a great place to find dishes, I would have never stepped foot in. They wanted $4.00 a piece, I managed to talk them into $15.00 for all 5 of them. I don't know if it was a good deal or not, but the sentimental factor was definitely worth it! While we're talking about it, my mom passed away too. I was ten when she died. She tried to get me to sew and make crafts with her when she was able. At 5 and 6 years old I didn't care about it, I wanted to play with my dolls. By the time I was 7 she was too sick to teach me. Now, almost 22 years later, I wish I had listened to her!!!!
Below are pictures of my ugly kitchen. I was on Cindy at Romantic Home's blog today. She has pics of her top 10 redo's in 2008. One was a pic of her kitchen, which is set up similar to mine, just decorated much better! I asked for her advice and said I would post some pics of my own kitchen. My first puchase is going to be blue and white toile. I want to make a beautiful curtain like the one over her kitchen window. It is absolutely gorgeous!!! After all this talk about Cindy's beautiful kichen...please don't laugh at mine. If you have any ideas on how to fix it up, feel free to leave them.


In this pic you can see my hubby's handiwork. There wasn't a dishwasher in the house when we purchased it, just an empty hole that looked like the stove should go in it. Well...you would think, except for the fact that the plug for the stove was on the side wall and the cord wouldn't reach it. We looked everywhere for a longer cord and then gave up. Since we had an empty hole, my hubby decided he'd put the dishwasher there. We're going to eventually tear out the cabinets and replace them, but for now we used floor tiles to cover the makeshift countertop. I think it turned out pretty good for a few minutes of work. We still need to put something across the front, right now it's just open wood.
The little bit of decorating I have done is more of a Tuscan style, you know...the wine and grapes style. I really liked it at first, but I'm getting bored with it. I have a feeling I'll be ebay-ing soon!
Sorry for getting all sentimental on you earlier. I know it's crazy, but that one blue and white plate brings back more memories than anything else I own.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope this "hump" day is going well for you. The hubby comes home tomorrow night, so I am very excited!!!!

Goodnight!

A.Rose