Thyme in a tea cup.

To every thing there is a season , and a time to every purpose under the heavens…
Ecclesiastes 3 : 1

Minature cup and saucer with large pink peonies and buds.
Numberless leaves of thyme on thin stalks.
A handful of this plant from evergreen creeping plants in the garden.

Thyme is anti:
- inflammatory
- microbial
- septic 

"nature has not changed. The night is still unsullied, the stars still twinkle, and the wild thyme smells as sweetly now as it did then... We may be afflicted and unhappy, but no one can take from us the sweet delight which is nature's gift to those who love her..." George Sand ( pen name for a lady French Novelist 1804-1976 )

… a sprig of thyme brought in after a sudden drop in temperature with white frost on its leaf margins .
The carefully painted and the happily growing in all weather little leaves.

Under the cup and saucer are these words.
The Paragon China Company.

How much discussion, planning went into those words.
Here is something about the families.

The Paragon China Company was a British manufacturer from 1919 to 1960. It is now part of the Royal Doulton group.

Here are some family connections I found interesting. In 1897 the company was called the Star China company. The founders were Herbert Aynsley ( the great grandson of the founder of Aynsley China) and Hugh Irving. When Herbert Aynsley retired Star China became Paragon China with Irving’s two sons becoming managing directors. Now the evidence of family seems to have gone because more recently it is part of the Royal Doulton group. The Paragon name has been retained, mainly with designs based on traditional floral patterns.

I find it heart warming to notice transfer of family skills. One can almost visualise the time spent together, learning together. Or is this rather romantic nonsense with fighting and bickering being in its place. It is just a thought.