By Susan Shanklin

It’s already 9:32 in the morning, and I haven’t been out in the garden yet! I’m biding my time, seeing that the rain gauge was totally full yesterday after torrential rains. I did a walk by later in the afternoon yesterday to make sure the corn was still standing and the tomatoes upright.

Everything looks good, and I saw a zucchini that I think must have absorbed most of the seven inches of rainfall! What I’m most anxious about are the cucumbers in the farthest back corner in the wetter area of the garden. It’s pickle time, and if I don’t get there today I’ll have “boats,” and they don’t make for very good dill pickles in my opinion.

But as I was eating my breakfast yesterday on a paper plate, because Tom was on the road ministering in North Dakota, I was noticing a lovely blue and white milk pitcher that I had bought at the thrift store to resell in my Etsy shop.

Etsy is an online store that sells home-based crafts and goods and vintage items. Anyone can have a shop as long as you follow the ground rules, so to speak, and I am one of the 2.5 million shop keepers worldwide.

My shop’s called “My Brick Farm House,” which is just that. I go to thrift stores and buy vintage items and resell them from “my brick farmhouse.” It’s fun, simple, and a little extra in the checking account. I go once a week usually and hunt, list the item, and pray someone will buy it. Haha. 

Anyway, I was enjoying this lovely pitcher. I mean really enjoying it! It’s so pretty to me. Not too large. It’s white with blue designs around the top and bottom and pretty blue flowers in the center. I can tell some are bachelor buttons, daisies, bellflowers, and maybe Spike Speedwell. The handle is smooth and not too thin, with a leaf expression protruding outward slightly. The top is nicely curved with a soft-looking pour spout. The underside is clearly labeled Arabia of Finland. At the time of purchase, I was not aware of this pottery, so it’s got to be good for resale.

When I purchase something for my shop, I want it to be in the best condition. Who wants a cracked or chipped dish or a broken basket? FYI, baskets are some of my best sellers! Anyhow, I always, always run my fingers around and around the rims of glass and pottery to make sure there are no chips. Why, I even keep inspecting in the checkout line for chips, and if I find one, I tell the clerk I am no longer interested in the piece.

After I get home, I do research on the Internet and find out about the glass, pottery, etc. which I have purchased. I also usually do a quick search on my phone in the store prior to purchasing, just to make sure it’s worth $20 or more. 

So this Arabia of Finland is looking pretty good. Discontinued between 1955-1970. Replacement value for it is looking good! I’m excited. I save all this info for listing purposes, and the next phase of listing for me is photos.

Photos are very important. I take time with them. I want to make my items so desirable that people just wonder how they can live without them! I usually take photos outside for the best light and for my perfect country “farmesk” feel for city folks. You want to get a good close up, a picture that shows just what your buyer will be getting.

I zoom in for my close up, and I can’t believe my eyes. What?! A chip in the back bottom edge. What? I didn’t feel this or see this before. I yank the pitcher off its pedestal and run my fingers around for the hundredth time and still feel nothing. 

Oh, I’m sooooo bummed. All that time I took researching and considering its value. I don’t like to make mistakes. I hate to make mistakes! Just ask my husband! I’m depressed and discouraged. I wasted $4! Who would want a lovely white and blue Arabia of Finland milk pitcher with a chip in it? No one’s going to pay $36 for a chipped pitcher.

I just want to heave it in the trash. It will always remind me of my failure.

But! I have a hard time heaving $4 in the trash, so I tell myself to go pick some flowers from your own garden.

I begrudgingly trudge out to the side flower garden and the main garden and collect colorful beauties of God, bring them in, and position them in the Arabia of Finland milk pitcher, and set them in the dining room table runner.

OH! Why, isn’t that pretty? My my, methinks, that is so pretty. I step back and pause at what a stunner this pitcher has become. Each time I walk by it, I exclaim how glad I am that I didn’t sell it, and it’s MINE!

So gazing up from my breakfast on a paper plate, I saw this amazing pitcher, and I was thinking about how WE think WE have to be perfect for people to like us. 

We look pretty good in some places, but oh my, I’ve got this visible crack or chip. Nobody wants to be my friend. I’ve got these flaws, these blemishes, these weaknesses, these failings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, for sure, there is a crack and maybe a chip too, but I bet you would look pretty awesome with some flowers in you! God’s love covers a multitude of chips. Let people see your value. And while we are at it, let us see the value of others—chips and all.

Stick a flower in it!

See Susan’s Garden Video, “People are Like Potatoes.”