THIS IS NOT JUST ANY OLD CHINA.....

…..this is Royal Albert bone china and the pattern is Lavender Rose.  There is another pattern which used to be very popular, Old Country Rose, but I always felt it was a bit fussy.  Actually this is much prettier in colour, but this is for the Mono Monday challenge, hosted by JoanneInOz.

Many years ago, because my birthday is on Boxing Day (and in case you’re wondering, the birthday cards are still holding off the dust on the coffee table!) Mr. HCB decided that it would be rather nice to buy me a piece or pieces of china to make up a tea service, especially for my birthday, as distinct from Christmas.

Way back then - and this is about 40 years ago, Royal Albert china was all the rage - as were tea services, because we did sit down to have “afternoon tea”.  There was only one problem, I don’t actually like tea and very rarely drink it.  So we compromised, and he bought me the tea cups, plates, jug and sugar bowl, but he also bought the coffee cups, cream jug and this beautiful coffee pot.  

So, every year, for a number of years, just before Christmas, Mr. HCB would go out on his own into the town, only because he had to, you understand, not because he liked shopping!  

One year, when it was very slippery, he had ordered this coffee pot and needed to go and collect it.  Whilst walking to catch the bus, he slipped on some ice, and being very aware that he had just spent an awful lot of money on this piece of china, he tried every which way not to land on his back on the ground - sadly he failed and came home in fear and trepidation that the coffee pot would be broken in some way.  So he tells me, a man sitting on a seat nearby saw what had happened, came up to him and said “I’ll give you 4 out of 5 for that fall - for keeping your hands in the air and for not letting go of your parcel, well done.”  

Thankfully, the coffee pot wasn’t broken, although Mr. HCB did have a badly bruised back.  In all the years we have had this beautiful china, which we still use, only two pieces have been broken - one by a dear friend as she was wiping it up, before the advent of dishwashers, and another when I dropped my favourite coffee mug.  Both pieces have been replaced, and I guess it will be passed down as a family heirloom.  I see online that I could sell my china, but it has too many memories for me ever to do that.  

Although I do like this china very much, the fact that Mr. HCB used to save so hard, when we were not that well off, and then go out and buy it for me is worth far more.

The best and most beautiful things 
in the world cannot be seen 
or even touched. 
They must be felt within the heart.
Helen Keller