59 grimy teacups later

Tchotchkie:  Noun. A knick-knack, collectible, trinket, etc. A small cheap object used as a decoration.

Note from the Urban Dictionary. "Tchotchkies can be pretty, sentimental, or even occasionally useful, though it usually breaks easily if useful. If you are having trouble identifying tchotchke, just look around your house or someone else's and whatever you see that a thief wouldn't steal is probably a tchotchke."

Before

It was one of those snowballing home projects that consumes the entire weekend.  It all started Friday night when I was putting a casserole dish away and the bottom shelf collapsed. Well, no big deal. The flimsy plastic shelf bracket was cracked and John said he could make a trip to Home Depot on Saturday morning and have it fixed in no time.  And he did.

When that was done, I told my handyman he might as well take a look at the upper brackets. The shelves were sagging in the middle from holding up 80 pounds of plates for the last 20 years. (At least that's what I thought.)  After inspection, the handyman said they were sagging because most of the plastic brackets had already broken off, and we were in danger of being buried under an avalanche of dishes. That meant another trip to Home Depot for more brackets. And on Sunday morning (my job) EVERYTHING had to come out. 

Yes, you know my weakness is collecting blue and white dishes. But as I trudged back and forth to the dining room with stuff I hadn't touched for years, I had time to wonder how one person could squirrel away so much in such a small space. What if we had a big kitchen?

The dishwasher ran and ran and ran. Everything was coated with that distinctive grimy film that grows like moss on unused dishes.

The handyman asked why we had 59 teacups "displayed" in the cupboard?  He diplomatically suggested that some could be stored downstairs in boxes, and if the Queen and her entourage ever arrived for tea, we could bring them out then.

On Sunday morning I sorted:  stuff to keep upstairs, stuff to keep downstairs, stuff to give Amanda, stuff for the Goodwill.   

After

And just looking at these neat shelves filled with useful, clean dishes lowers my blood pressure.  A good weekend's work.