8 Happy Dependence Day!

Y'all.  There's a bit of red, white, and blue in my house,

and it's not the Stars and Stripes.

I'm going to assume you're all a little more observant than me, but just in case you didn't know how the Union Jack was created, check out this post from Laura at Happy Homemaker U.K. She's got it all laid out for me us!

I've mentioned my Stoke addiction here, and I bought this Emma Bridgewater teapot last summer as the perfect souvenir for our time here. I love it!

But then the Jubilee festivities started...

 and I saw this Mason Cash cake plate in a kitchen shop in Harrogate. I have a small collection of cake plates, and this one had to join...

 Then the Aga Shop had a little sale, and one of their designers made some adorable Jubilee-inspired designs, including this hot plate lid cover....

 Then Lakeland joined in the July sales (sales here are normally in January and July), and these little Mason Cash pudding bowls were dirt cheap... 

(For scale, these are 14 cm/16 cm/17 cm, or 5.5"/6.3"/6.7" in diameter.)

They say "God Save the Cream."

 My friend had these mixing bowls already, and I love them, but I was resigned to accepting that I'd bought enough Jubilee-related kitchenware for my already bursting kitchen cabinets.  Then I found them for (relatively) cheap! 

(These are 29 cm, or 11.4" in diameter each.)

They say "Let Them Eat Cake" (red), "God Save the Cream" (white), and "Off With Her Bread" (blue).

 Since it's Stoke sale time, I was all geared to go. I called my favorite potteries to find out the start dates for their sales, but was disappointed to hear that only Emma Bridgewater was having a sale right now.  Other sales would be later, in August, because of the Jubilee.  My favorite shop is Port Meirion/Spode, and they're having their sale in August.  I knew I wanted to check for Jubilee stuff from Emma Bridgewater, but four hours round trip is a long drive for just one shop's sale!  Luckily, Emma Bridgewater has entered the 21st century (you Americans wouldn't believe the lack of comprehensive websites for major brands/shops here), and had their sale, including seconds, online!!

(Seconds are the "less than perfect" pieces. They may have a small bubble in the glaze, or a slight misalignment in the design, but if you're choosy you can often find great pieces for cheap, and they're all still safe to use! Almost all of what I've bought in Stoke are seconds, as they're cheap and even cheaper during sale time.)

I took my chances with the Emma Bridgewater team selecting my seconds Jubilee teapot, and it's great! A few very small bubble inclusions, but no design issues!

Sad news is, I forgot to wear my favorite shirt for today- My "Dependence Day" shirt from Shirt.Woot!

I proudly rocked it our first July 3rd here, but last year we were in Ireland (Republic of) over the holiday- so I avoided wearing the Union Jack! We did get more holiday well-wishes from the Irish than we have from the English, though!

Happy Fourth of July tomorrow, American friends!  Any big plans for this mid-week day off?

Also, are y'all interested in seeing my other Stoke loot?