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From Dreams to Clutter

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Earlier this afternoon, I was reading the lovely Na’ama Yehuda’s Tea Time poem which gave me the urge to make myself a cup of tea.  English Breakfast, to be precise.  The image she used to accompany her poem was taken by her niece, Smadar Halperin-Epshtein, and looks like part of a store specializing in tea paraphernalia, or at the very least all sorts of kitchen stuff.  My comment to her post was:

“If I could, I would include a picture of MY teapot collection.  And now, for some strange reason, I felt the need to plug in the kettle 😉”

I actually tried to insert a picture into my comment but knew it was for naught.  I told her I’d just have to do a post so she could see!  And well, dang it, here it is 😉

I wiped off the dust (what’s visible anyway) and took this picture.  I do have a couple more in my “store” as we call my sort of cold room, notably a Santa Claus…

I stared at my collection and reminisced about why I have so many teapots in the first place.  No, no, no, I was just collecting, like those who do spoons or plates from all over the world.  I once had a plan. These teapots would be put to use in my eventual tea house.  Family members, especially my sister, Lisa, started giving me them as gifts.  I don’t remember ever telling them to stop but eventually it became clear that they were just going to sit there.

Why, you ask?  Life got in the way.  First came the house, then the kids, then, when I started talking about starting my catering business, Mick announced he was going to leave his job and start his own business.  We couldn’t both take risks at the same time.  I believed in him and completely supported him all the way – his was a more lucrative business that could actually pay the bills rather than mine, which was an “unrealistic pipe dream”, anyway.  So I put mine aside.  And worked in offices as secretary/administrative assistant/supervisor, blah blah blah.  They can give it the title they want but it’s all the same difference.  I was good at it and paid decently so it lessened his stress.

Within a few years, Mick’s business was doing really well and I wanted to leave my abominable boss and boring-to-tears job and focus on my potential catering.  He balked.  I gave in.  Till I got myself liberated 😏.  Yessiree.  I made sure I was liberated.  Which was smart in the end, as I had a contract and they had to pay me five months’ salary.  I had done catering jobs here and there plus personalized birthday cakes, over the previous twenty years, but now I could focus on getting more contracts.  I started making meals for busy families.  I started working on my website (forget it, it’s shite, right now), I did corporate lunches here and there.  That dream was still in the back of my mind but growing dimmer.

And then Mick died.  And everything changed.  I still did meals for about a year after but that was just not lucrative enough.  I got offered the job at the golf club and slowly stopped catering.  The idea of owning my own little tea house has gone to the wayside.  I’m too old for that type of business now.  No, don’t argue.  I am at the stage in my life where I don’t want to be stuck to such a business.  And I don’t want to look into a partnership either as that brings its own headaches.

My house is for sale.  I want to downsize.  I want to travel, breathe, live.  I will find something else that will permit me to do just that.

Those teapots?  They are now officially clutter and need to be “Kon-maried”.

Ironically, as I was writing this post, Na’ama wrote another poem that arrived in my in-box bearing a message that spoke to me, effectively book-ending my little musing.  Do go read it, it is absolutely lovely, it ends with these words:

“You’ll find the path

To follow when you

Wake.”

— Na’ama Yehuda

106 thoughts on “From Dreams to Clutter”

  1. Aw…. Dale! I’ll be happy to twiddle me thumbs many more times while waiting for such lovely posts! I think your tea-house-wannabes are going to find a lovely home with someone else who’d love them with dreams all their own. Or maybe they’ll spend their days belly-full of tea. Who knows. What matters is that you had the dream (lovely dream, too! I’d have come to your tea house for a cuppa and a bit of chit chat and some gossip and ya know, gal stuff) and that you lived life alongside it even as it percolated — front burner or back burner.
    I think of these kind of dreams as ‘life fertilizers’ – and in the best sense of the way. A leavening for some times where there might not be a ‘plan’ otherwise.
    Thank you for sharing the lovely collection, and for the stories, too.
    Am so so glad that my poems wriggled about in your muse to generate this post.
    I raise my cup (of tea, of course!) to ya!
    Hugs, my friends — and may the downsizing lead to all the new dreams that will become your new reality!
    Na’ama

    Liked by 2 people

    • Good to know the wait was worthwhile 😉
      Yes, they will. Coz they ain’t all coming with me!! Of course, I did hang on to them all this time because, maybe I can still hold some tea parties? But I don’t need more than 4-5 so the rest… buh-bye.
      Not only would I have served tea, but delicious cakes, too.
      I like that “life fertilizers”
      Thank you for stopping by and inspiring me to write it in the first place!
      Hugs!
      To new dreams!
      Lotsa love,
      Dale xoxo

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Q,

    The teapots were a tempest inside another life. A beautiful storm of a collection, with a plan. And that’s the whole thing, ain’t it? A collection that possesses a destination? Unlike most collections, which end up on eBay or the trash. And even IF that destination was not something you arrived at, the fact of the matter is, you arrived at so many other wonderful destinations along the way.

    To the journey.

    B

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Dale, Dale, Dale – this was a triple win for me – I love english breakfast tea – the song, and then mmm -I feel your contentment with planning but staying in tune with what life actually brings – and then to the cups in the cupboard – they brought a smile.
    I could imagine you dusting them lightly – – and as I just helped my mom purge many beautiful pieces of dishes – there is a FREEDOM indeed to releasing stuff – even the beauitful things that are connected to a dream or people we love…
    and the way we looked at cleaning out stuff was that someone else could use the dishes – etc.
    and amen to your time for this:
    “I want to downsize. I want to travel, breathe, live.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ahhh, Yvette. How pleased to hear from you. It is the best tea! And I needed a “dreams” song. Yes. We can plan but sometimes, we need to stay in tune – especially if that dream wasn’t the “end all”, yanno? Glad my helter-skelter cupboard made you smile (I left it as is).
      I believe I will feel that FREEDOM once I start.
      Yes. Travel, breathe, live. My ultimate goals.

      Liked by 1 person

      • I do like all kinds of teas – but just last week I was somewhere – traveling with my own “bag” english breakfast – they had this old electric kettle and the made the water a thousand degrees – well a vigorous rolling boil and too hot actually – but I think it made a better cup of tea. or it was different water (some places have different minerals as we all know) and then I added a spoon of real butter and almond milk and Dale, truly the best cup of bagged english breakfast – ha
        but sometimes I like herb teas and all that –
        anyhow, that tea also came at the right time in my morning and so who knows all the things combined to make it still sit in my mind.
        — and you have a huge task on your hands but I feel it is the right call – wow

        Liked by 1 person

        • You mean to say they do “bullet” tea as well? With the butter? And yes. Über hot water for the tea… I’ll have to try that now.
          Yes, I do. Damn house has been for sale since April. I just changed Agents and am more motivated so… thanks!

          Liked by 1 person

  5. What an absolutely beautiful post about dreams and how they change along the way… I have always had a soft spot for quirky collections — and teapots! — but have never managed to keep enough of any one thing to call it that. I love how you are ready to separate from these objects, and the past dream, without undue attachment. And feel sure that you will travel well and far! x

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Mel! The road does have many paths and forks. It was a cool collection to have, I must agree. It is hard to say goodbye but I really feel I must.
      I sure hope I do! xo

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Whew, your story reminded me of so many moves. Downsizing (or any kind of move) has a way of inspiring those reflections about which of all those “things” I’ve been hanging onto are still “me” and which it’s time to let go of. Or in some cases, less “inspiring” and more “forcing me to finally come to terms with, dang it.” I’m not moving any time soon but I am reassessing and reorganizing my space (and clutter). I recently made the plunge and boxed up a ton of books that were all from my (gulp-can I say this word out loud?) former career – that dream that I keep thinking I’ll go back to again, but have to accept is not going to happen. I haven’t read or watched any of Marie Kondo but I know what you mean: those books were not sparking joy. Even so: ouch. Good luck getting rid of your old baggage and moving on to fresher pastures. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  8. What an interesting share of a personal story. Fascinated by your teapot collection, yes, but more so by the dream once-shelved, to be brought out and dusted off with the potential to be lived again. Don’t give up on it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  10. A beautiful post, Dale. We have all sorts of dreams, and they change, but then we have new dreams, right? I’m glad you’re going to keep some of them. They’d be lovely at a themed party.
    Coincidentally, Monday’s dVerse prompt was steep–and some people wrote about tea. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  11. A post because of an image that couldn’t be inserted into a comment elsewhere = a post about the changes in life that occur – a post with the teapots serving as the unknown of the future.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Dear Dale,

    I once had an angel collection. Those things can get out of hand, can’t they? I let most of them go when we moved to the house we’re in now…and we upsized. 😉 After 25 years in a 950 sq ft cracker box we needed breathing room and we had the money to do it.

    Every time you share a post like this, my admiration goes up a notch. Today when I have my afternoon tea, I’ll think of you. 😉 So cold here, the hot liquids will be on tap. Although I find that brewing tea in a Keurig works quite nicely.

    Shalom and hugs, my friend.

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      I had a cherub collection (of course, this was after Austin died so…) and yes they can get out of hand! More space means more stuff 😉

      Aww… I thank you. Today is not overly warm here, either. There will be tea in the afternoon, to be sure. Cheers!

      Shalom and lotsa love,

      Dale

      Liked by 1 person

  14. When I moved in with The Viking I had to let go of a lot of things – some easier than others. I tried collecting bells once but that quickly became a nuisance because my ex and I moved 12 times in 11 years. Now, I just have things that I love. 🙂

    Nice post, Lady. I may need a cuppa myself later today,

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Yay for you, Dale! You sound very together!
    So, those teapots…. I instantly thought they could be crushed and made into a fabulous mosaic!
    I suppose you have enough stuff for a yard sale… buy some nice dinners in Pari$. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Oh, Dale. Makes me sad because YOUR TEAHOUSE WOULD HAVE ROCKED. No doubt about that in my mind. Your delicious confections, your energy, would have lent the place a vibe I think a lot of people could use. I love your teapot collection. Especially the one with blue flowers on it, and the one with the cabin. So cozy and cheery. Like you–and your teahouse that you’ll create in another place/time/universe:).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, it totally would have (I like to think)…
      I only wish I’d had the hutzpah when it was time, yanno? I let others influence me and discourage me.
      I may hang on to those two 😉 Plus the white one in the front with the pale flowers on it..
      And you are the sweetest! xo

      Liked by 1 person

  20. Whoa…I’m still processing all you shared in this post. I’m not sure where to begin beyond your collection is/was charming, delightful and very sweet. I can practically taste the spiced herbal tea in my panty just looking at your lovely ceramic collection (in between sips of stout coffee while I’m catching up on blog reading). There really is something that elicits a smile at the mere thought of drinking that tasty liquid. Coffee is necessary to adult, but tea…ahhh…beautiful memories attach to that endeavor. Remember the path to heaven passes through a teapot. ☕️

    Liked by 1 person

    • Strange how that went about, dontcha think? It still is in my cupboard. Am loathe to lighten the load but honestly, they’ve not been used in a dog’s age (😉). And, I don’t have friends like Roxanne (we drank pots and pots of tea) who enjoy a cuppa so I only make myself a cup at a time, now.
      Absolutely agree with you. Coffee to adult; tea to dream. ☕(Why are there NO teapots?)

      Liked by 1 person

      • I asked myself that same question. Jeez Apple, with all the stupid emoticons, you couldn’t have a friggin teapot? WTH?

        Your post reminded me of a similar collection of ceramic penguins. Those cheerful enduring flightless birds, and I have a gob of them. All in a box (because I’m too damn lazy to dusty the little buggers all the time). They represented a time of great upheaval that I managed to weather. I may have to think more about culling that collection and getting to the heart of why I hang on to them, yet won’t display them. *Sigh* 🐧Therapy here I come.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Apple, Samsung. They are all guilty. So I Googled it (I’m silky that way) and this 🍵is supposed to be green tea. But we want a pot. Amiright?

          Oh. I also have a collection of angels, cherubim, to be precise, which I started collecting after the death of my son. They are also packed away and shall not be re-displayed in the eventual new house…
          *Sigh*
          Maybe we can with through this together, save a fortune 😉😎

          Liked by 1 person

    • You are so right… and there is work involved in obtaining our dreams, so if the effort is not made, maybe they were not quite what we thought. And yes, maybe in another dimension 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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