Family heirloom

Thursday
This plate is one of a series of nine which I had put upstairs safely out of the way, when we were re-decorating the living room and dining room months ago, and for some reason I hadn't got round to bringing them back downstairs until today. I washed them and put them back in the display cabinet. Mum and Dad had collected the series, depicting flowers of the different seasons, plus extra ones for Christmas and Easter, and had bought some of them for me, then after they died three years ago I acquired the remaining ones to complete my set.

My Dad was a very keen gardener. When we moved into the house, when I was five, the "garden" was a complete wilderness, with knee-high grass, and two huge trees which kept the garden in shade most of the day. My Dad had one of the trees cut down (and much later the second one) and gradually over the years, he transformed it into a beautiful garden, with different levels, and a wide variety of plants, shrubs and some fruit and vegetables. In the Spring and Summer it would be a riot of color. Dad was almost 96 when he died, and whilst he had someone in to do most of the work, he still enjoyed pottering in the greenhouse. Mum didnt do much work in the garden - she was a musician, and when she wasnt occupied with the house or us children, she would be teaching piano, or accompanying or practising. However, she loved nothing better that sitting in the living room or sun-lounge and enjoying the results of Dad's labors.

So these plates will always have a special place in my home and in my heart.