Blue and white

At the hight of the Sweden People's Democratic Republic's era in the 70's the Consumer Co-op chain of stores launched a brand called Blue/white. It was an answer to the more colourful and expensive ranges of goods. The Blue/white range included a lot of basic foods but was a bit cheaper as the Co-op chain did not do any advertising or used expensive packaging for it, and thus could get away with a lesser price. The packaging just said "vanilla ice cream" or "oats" or such. Only a genius in a socialistic country could have come up with this idea. It was too good (and boring) to last. Just now the co-op stores are selling a retro range of selected foods and kitchenwares. I got this mug and bowl for my breakfast cereal today as a reminder of my childhood.

Nesting birds

These doves can be seen just outside my kitchen window. They're fixing the nest from last year, a bit of stucco and it's done. Wonder who's picking out furniture and curtains...

Wedgwood

A few days ago I decided to take away the old pots and saucers the former owner left behind. The pots were only ordinary pots, but low and behold what I found under the eons of dirt and grime collected on the saucers. Wedgwood! Bloody Wedgwood! This is classic goods from the United Kingdom right here at the heart of The Village. OK, I know it's not like having a Chippendale cabinet in your garden, but still. It is not IKEA, mind you.

However, this is not the Wedgwood I think is most famous. Enoch Wedgewood was a distant cousin to the world famous pottery designer, abolishionist and inventer Josiah Wedgewood. But I would like to believe that old Enoch made more for the common man in order to fill homes to the brink with nice pottery, so maybe this actually is the more famous Wedgwood.

Wedgwood & Co became Enoch Wedgwood (Tunstall) Ltd. in 1965 and is since 1980 Unicorn Pottery. Which name do you prefer? So much for heritage. Balmoral, yes, there is a certain likeness of my little house and the famous royal castle in Scotland...

And if you can take the very british flower decoration Wedgwood is definitely something.