what we had when we had it

Tango

Reflections

Narvik

These are new additions to our Crown Lynn collection. Crown Lynn was a pottery started in New Zealand in the late 1930s. It had its heyday in the 70s and, sadly, closed in 1989. Mostly it made everyday china and, back in the day, everybody had it. One of the best things about Crown Lynn was that you could buy individual pieces. So, if you broke a plate, you could easily buy a replacement. It's been having a bit of a renaissance and is now quite sort after by collectors.

There is an exhibition on in Auckland until 14 January and these swans are just a peek of the delights in store for you if you go.

China and orchids

I collected an assortment of china today that I won in an on-line auction. It included this adorable children's cup and saucer. It's Beswick and has images of characters from an English children's book series that I'm not familiar with.

On the cup are two bears, Teddy and Cuddly, standing arm-in-arm in a garden of red flowers. Katie Country Mouse is on the saucer, surrounded by forget-me-nots.

But the cutest are two tiny characters: a guinea pig on the back of the cup and a chipmunk on the saucer.

This is Gulliver Guinea-Pig setting off to travel the world in a blue hat with a yellow feather.

And my favourite - Charlie Chipmunk dancing in the daisies and looking like a little fat Buddha.

Its so cute. I'll keep it to bring out when small guests come to tea.

This is an orchid given to my husband for his birthday last year. It's had a hard outdoor life. I am hopeless with house plants. To our surprise its flowered. I've brought it inside so that we can enjoy its loveliness.