Jars, jars and more jars.....

Thank you so much for your lovely comments yesterday. They really meant a lot to me. It was a hard day for me and I greatly appreciated the warmth I felt from readers who have never even met me. So kind. Thank you.

When we last spoke about the shelves. This is how I left you. The top shelf was finished (aaaaah) but the two below looked rather empty.

This is how I've been getting on.


I love the idea of having kitchen staples: pasta, rice, flour, sugar, easily to hand and on display in attractive containers, conjuring up an old-fashioned picture of homemade chutneys and scrumptious preserves, made using carefully-harvested ingredients, lining the shelves. Doesn't even the thought of it make your mouth water? I am drooling even as I type the words. That's what I wanted for our kitchen.


A while ago, my mother gave me two old glass jars, which have cork stoppers. Having things from my mother's kitchen makes my own feel so much more homely to me. When I look at the things I have that have been handed down, I can remember all the (many, many) times I would come home from school to find her standing by the stove, delicious smells through the house, stirring and preparing for our tea. To my eternal shame, I took having a wonderful meal set before me each night completely for granted, as I'm sure my children do now.

But isn't one of the wonderful things about having a happy childhood, being able to take your parents' love for granted? Feeling they will always be there, even though,with age, you slowly come to realise that, of course, they won't.


Yes, I'm still feeling a wee bit melancholy about my own children going off to school. How could you tell? :-)


These lovely glass vessels of my mother's were my starting point for this shelf. I bought Kilner jars, which were traditionally used for jam-making, to stand alongside. I wanted some variety but not complete visual chaos on the shelves so went for several matching jars (also buying three spares....pessimistic, moi?! Having spares definitely makes for a more harmonious family life!).


I added an old crock pot that I bought from a school fair years ago.




All the pots and jars are of a similar heights so I was able to have the shelf built with them in mind. I love the mix on this middle shelf of old and new. Even the new Kilner jars contain echoes of the past. Oooh, lovely!