dishes

American Glassware

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

My most favorite thing in America is our glassware. Specifically, I love Ball mason jars and Homer & Shakespeare Laughlin’s Fiesta ware. Both companies are over 100 years old and showcase the best America has to offer.

Previously, I had been all rah-rah USA. I was in support of our troops, our country, and had many American flag themed items. Before the pandemic, I was very patriotic. That all ended on January 6, 2021. As some of my neighbors participated in the insurrection and are currently serving jail terms, I can now say that every single time I see an America flag, the only thing I feel is fear. (You should have seen the parades they had just before and right after the insurrection.)

I am ashamed to be an American these past four years when we are living through a genocide perpetuated by a government that wrongly declares covid to be “over.” With millions of Americans being deliberately killed by a known biohazard, I cannot wait to leave this country of such hate and murder. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that America would let its own citizens die in a pandemic because it’s too hard to instate a mask mandate and improve ventilation.

When thinking of leaving America, I would have to say that the only thing I will miss about this country is our glassware. Yes, I’m sure that the glassware in other countries is spectacular as well. However, I will genuinely miss mason jars and fiesta ware when I leave the USA.

While most mason jars are clear, I do have some of the 100-year anniversary jars that are blue color. When Ball first started making mason jars over 100 years ago, the glass had a natural blue tint due to the weather conditions where the jars were made. I love how mason jars are standard sizes with gradations. While originally used for canning food, mason jars are versatile in their uses. Nothing works quite as hard in the American kitchen as the mason jar.

As an adult, I am also privileged to have been able to invest in a set of fiesta ware. Fiesta ware is guaranteed to be lead-free, which is a hard found luxury in the USA. They are made with different colors with whimsical names. Each year, a new color is introduced while an existing color is retired. Some people will have a color theme in their house. Others just mix and match.

Fiesta ware is delightful in its colors. The quality of the glassware is high. It is long lasting, often handed down from generations. Some families have fiesta ware passed down from grandparents. The glassware is durable and difficult to chip or break. 

Our color theme for fiesta ware in my household consists of:

Daffodil (a yellow color)

Shamrock (a green that was recently retired)

Lemongrass (a light green)

Lapis (a blue)

Peony (a pink that was recently introduced, although we have one peony item – a mug)

  • We do not consider peony to be part of our “original” color theme

All of our human dishes and all of our cat dishes are fiesta ware. I believe in giving my cats the very best. I actually upgraded all my cat food and cat water dishes to fiesta ware before my human dishes. The cats’ lives are shorter than human lives. They deserve to live the good life.  After all, the greatest gift they bring to our lives is unconditional love and joy. 

In preparing to leave the USA and move to some other country, I am downsizing my house. No, I am not getting rid of any of my mason jars or fiesta ware. My mason jars and fiesta ware are all being used and bring us joy. However, when the time comes to actually make the move out of country, the mason jars and fiesta ware will be leaving. I am not going to attempt to transport glassware with me internationally. I plan to only immigrate with the basics. 

Mason jars and fiesta ware will be the only American items I will miss when I leave this country. Everything else I can do without. The glassware I use every day brings me such joy. It is hard to think of going to another country and starting over with different glassware. 

There was a story on the news recently about people who immigrated to the USA. They were asked about the one item that they brought with them from their home country that reminded them of home. For me, it would be a mason jar and fiesta ware. 

What would you miss the most if you were to leave the USA or your home country? 

15 years and 6 hours

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

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Christmas lights at the library

Even though I try really hard to be a minimalist and only have what I absolutely need, it still took me 6 hours to move into my house. It was overwhelming. Granted, I had lived in the same location for 14 years, so it basically took me one day to move 14 years worth of stuff. I suppose that’s good. It was still overwhelming.

I had the thought that the next time I move, it better not take 6 hours. It better be closer to 2-3 hours. However, I won’t be moving again. I bought a house. I’ll be dying here.

I suppose that is why so many homeowners have so much stuff. It’s that feeling of comfort that this place is your’s, so why not store something? There is no need to get rid of things if you have a place to put it. Then, we wonder why we are surrounded by so much stuff.

The point is, even if you do own your own home, when you die, you can’t take it with you. Some relative is going to be left with the chore of going through all the stuff stored in your house that you didn’t want to deal with when you were alive. Newsflash: your relatives won’t want to deal with it when you’re dead either.

So even in my house, I’m still striving to be a minimalist so that I am not leaving a heap of crap when I die. I also do not want to be wasting my time cleaning or keeping house.

Someone tried to give me a lamp a few months ago. I took one look at it and thought “no way in hell do I want to have to clean that.” My mouth said “no thank you.” In reality, do I need a lamp? Nope. I have enough interior lighting.

Having less stuff means less to clean when you’re alive and less to get rid of when you die. I like both of those ideas.

Christmas vacation will be coming up, and I will be continuing my decluttering process. Now that I am in permanent housing – my own home – what do I really need? Not to mention that I have more built-in storage space. I can probably get rid of an entire bookcase simply by putting the items into some of the house’s existing space. It’s my space to be used. It’s not like I need the bookcase for some future dwelling when this is the last stop.

One of the positives about being a minimalist is that it is not all about what you are removing from life. It is about removing things from life to focus on other things. In fact, you can even upgrade things.

Here’s an example. About 5 years ago, I bought a set of dishes from the second hand store. I’m pretty sure I paid about $5 for a set of 4 bowls and 4 plates. I’m one person. That’s all I need. I love the dishware, but many of the bowls now have chips in them. I can’t really complain about $5 dishware. I’m sure that prior to my use, they probably served someone else quite well for a decade with no chips. But, now my bowls are chipped. I noticed it when I cut a finger on one.

One of the benefits of minimalism is that since I am not up to my eyeballs in debt (I don’t do hardly any shopping), I can spend money on quality dishware. Five years ago I spent $5 on dishware because I only had $5. All my money was going to this credit card bill or that bill or whatever.

Now, I have no debt as a minimalist, so I can go wild and pay $5 a plate if I want. And then some.

I decided to try Fiestaware. I bought one plate and one bowl. If I like them, then I will order more so I have a set of 4 bowls and 4 plates. However, Fiesta is expensive, so I am ordering pieces gradually. I view this purchase as an investment in my future. I have permanent housing. I need permanent dishware that’s not cracked and cutting me. I figure I should be able to get a good 15 years at least out of the Fiestaware. I’ve heard some people have pieces from 30-50 years ago.

I never in my life thought I would be paying $15 for a lunch plate. But estimating that it will last me 15 years makes it worth it. The fact that minimalism has realigned my priorities means that when I do have to replace something, I can afford higher quality items that will last longer.

I’m expecting to live in this house until I die. Hopefully the Fiestaware will be the last set of dishes I buy too.

My single Fiesta bowl and single Fiesta plate just arrived today. We will see how I like them before I order more. Of course, if everything works out, I’ll be ordering more bowls before I order more plates since it is my current bowls with chips that are causing troubles.

When deciding on dishware, I decided to avoid the second hand store this time. I love the second hand store, but I do not want to buy another set of dishes that will only last me 5 years. I want dishware that will last me 15 years.

I had narrowed down my choices to either Corelle or Fiestaware. I currently have a few Corelle bowls. In the house, there are water dishes for the cats both upstairs and downstairs. I had to buy more bowls to put water dishes upstairs and it just so happens that they are Corelle. I like Corelle. However, the idea of being able to mix and match colors with Fiestaware was very appealing.

We will see whether I ultimately decide to go with Corelle or Fiesta once I have had the opportunity to use the Fiesta. Corelle is more affordable, but Fiesta feels more substantial and oh, those colors.

Given that I am buying new dishes, you would think I’m not really concerned about the whole having to move in 6 hours thing. This is partially true. I like to think that when I die, whoever goes through my house would be happy with 4 Fiesta bowls and 4 Fiesta plates. Let’s keep it real.

I would like to get rid of things so that it would take less than 6 hours to move, but I still need stuff to use to survive. Plus, I’m not moving again. Hopefully whoever has to clean out my house after I die will be able to do it in less than 6 hours. At least they’ll have some fancy dishware to show for it.