Franciscan Earthenware Apple dishes

Marvin and Nell...our dear neighbors for over 20 years...This was their set of dishes...or at least the ones they used every day...Dave & Margie, Jeff, and Mark...their sons and daughter-in-law...handed these down to my guy and I...Dave told Ron there were some nicks, some cracks, some pieces missing...

For me, those cracks and nicks are part of what makes them so special...Marvin and Nell put those chips, those cracks in them...

Someone told them it was a mismatched set because some pieces were made in the USA and some were made in Staffordshire, England...

to me, that again makes the set a little more special...more unique...After Nell passed away, we became even closer to Marvin...we loved him so incredibly much...he became our family...

and then on April 4th, he left us for better pastures...

My guy and I have our memories... many of them...of playing cribbage...of just hanging out and visiting...and eating together...

and now when I eat my cereal in this bowl...or have a little bowl of fruit in this bowl...

or drink a cup of coffee or a cup of tea in this cup...

I'll think again of my Marvin...

A couple of days after Margie and Dave brought these over, it was my birthday...

and my sweet husband bought me something I never would have suspected he would buy...

a cookbook...a superb cookbook...with chapters highlighting different flours and recipes for them...like oat flour, corn flour, rye flour, millet flour, amaranth flour, barley flour, etc....

Last night I made Corn and Gruyere Muffins....YUM!!!

We had our dinner on our dishes from Marvin and Nell...via their 3 sons...

and then my dear, dear friend, Pamela, gave me this cookbook...this cookbook I was drooling over in Mendocino...and then when we went back to the kitchen store so I could buy it, the store was closed!!!

My buddy, however, stayed there a couple of days longer with her sweet husband...and she went back and bought this for me!

So this morning...at 8 a.m., I made Almond Crunch Biscotti...

and we ate it while we played 9 holes of golf...

This is my plum jam ... made last week ... and as I write, the canner is heating up so I can make strawberry jam...

It's a summer that I'm enjoying...cooking, cookbooks...and all to enjoy on my 'new' apple dishes...my dishes that were Marvin and Nell's...

Thank you...thank you so much Margie, Dave, Jeff, and Mark...

I'll cherish them!