Sunday, February 28, 2010

I LOVE a flat surface!!




Flat surfaces are just MADE for displaying 'stuff'! And I have loads of 'Stuff' to display! The newest flat surface my husband made for me recently was a shelf over the French doors in our kitchen. We thought that would be a perfect place to keep our most precious memory coffee cups. And, boy, do we HAVE coffee CUPS! I counted them once long ago and they totaled over 300! That was before my marriage to Louis Dean and he brought a collection with him plus all the many we have added to the number since then! We still maintain a coffee cup cupboard in the kitchen....three shelves with cups stacked on top of each other and every shelf FULL! The NEW shelf is for my SPECIAL cups!
Among my treasures now sitting safely UP on my new shelf (he put a little lip along the edge so they will not 'walk' off !) is a cup with orange autumn leaves and pumpkins on it. My friend, Deborah Freeman, and I took our kids to Marshall Pottery on a field trip back in our homeschooling days. I remember after shopping at the pottery place there we stopped at a camping site they had for visitors where the kids made a small campfire of pinecones and folliage while she and I brewed us up a mini pot of flavored gourmet coffee (they had water/electric for the camping site) and we sipped from my newly purchased cups! In the years between then and now, one has been broken but I still cherish the one that remains. Also in this group is the special coffee mug with my three grandchildren pictured on it. I don't want THAT one to break..EVER!! I have a cup from North Lake College where Amber attended at the young age of 15! Another from Hawaii...no coffee like KONA coffee! We used to collect cups as we traveled so I have a special one from Colorado trimmed with gold leaf around the rim. A cup from Cafe Du Monde reminds me of our upcoming visit to New Orleans. I will need to take Louis Dean there for Cafe au lait and beignets! Do you think I MAY buy ANOTHER special cup then?? There is one sitting there that says 'Grandma' even though I am a 'MiMi'....not sure WHERE it came from but I am keeping it! None of the cups were expensive and I would not be devastated to lose one...however they do hold meaning for me....each and every one! Even the ones in our 'everyday' cupboard! I guess you could say that along with the cups that sit on that shelf are also many memories. It makes me happy when I look up and see them all.

2 comments:

Amber said...

i remember waking up early when ben and i were little and making coffee. we'd have fun picking out which cups we'd pour it in for you and dad. you do have a lot of coffee cups, i think i stopped getting them for you as gifts when there was no more room in the cabinets! glad LD put a lip on the shelf, my first thought was one sliding off and cracking somebody in the head! it's so interesting the things that hold life's memories for us. love you mom!

Linda said...

I have one of those YOU gave me up there...the blue cup with red apples. It is a Teacher Cup and I treasure it! One of my favorites broke yesterday. It was in the regular cupboard...however it does not make me too sad since I have enjoyed USING my cups so much! Better to use it and break it than just keep it to look at! Did you notice the one I got from Hawaii when you and I were there for your 18th birthday? Ahhhhh...memories!