a peek inside the fishbowl

I have lots of things. There isn’t much that I really need. Although as I write this I can’t help but remember my need for new flip-flops and bathing suit and t-shirts and then there’s my Chapters wish list …

But I digress.

Mark has been helping the girls buy me art supplies for the past few Mother’s Days. And I have loved everything they picked out for me. But the sad reality is that I haven’t had as much time to art around as I would like. Remember the brayer I said I desperately needed? I’ve used it once.

So, what to get a mom like me for Mother’s Day?

We were in Canadian Tire when I saw them. DISHES. Yes. And since Mother’s Day was coming up and Mark was starved for ideas, well, why not? Dishes, vacuum cleaners, toasters etc. aren’t traditional gifts for moms who don’t exactly have a domestic bent, but these dishes are truly the gift keeps on giving. And isn’t that the best kind? Using those dishes would give me a small thrill every single day.

I am so tired of our current set. They’re 30 years old – or more – and they used to belong to Mark’s parents. They’re light grey with a dark brown ring near the rim. They remind me of a cloudy day. To make things worse, I bought a set of four place settings (in browns and dark red) and added it to the mix. Aaaaargh! Who was the girl who bought those additional plates? She’s the one who wore brown nubuck laceup shoes. And pleated khaki shorts when she really shouldn’t have been wearing pleated khaki shorts. I hardly know her anymore. I blame her for the plates.

The Canadian Tire dishes are open stock, part of the Debbie Travis line.

Normally I am not a huge fan of Debbie Travis. Some of her design ideas are interesting, but the last time I saw her design show she was painting a huge wall in PLAID. She always seemed to be doing over the top stuff like that. But these dishes were not plaid. They are VERY nice, they’re free form, which means they’re not perfectly symmetrical (LIKE ME!) and they’re a lovely spa-inspired robin’s egg blue. The mugs are big (yay for big mugs!) and the bowl is deep (I love bowls!) and the latter are creamy coloured on the outside, blue-greeny on the inside.

[I’m trying to link to the Canadian Tire website but it’s not working … ]

I got over the “but they’re Canadian Tire” thing very quickly. If I had seen these at Zone or that Blue Oasis place in the market I would have been just as lustful. And they would have been a helluva lot more expensive.

So Mark and the girls have bought a big set from two Canadian Tires. And they found a serving dish as well. Yipee! If they use them to serve me breakfast in bed I will feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Little does Mark know that in order to accommodate this new set of dishes I’m going to have to repaint the interior of the cupboard. And replace the shelf liner. And of course that means that we will have to repaint the kitchen.

Bwa ha ha!

Happy weekend everyone! Enjoy your Mother’s Day to the max. :)