Well I entered the workforce at 16, worked at the local hospital, married when I turned 18 and continued to work until for some reason our family started to increase :o). One of the fortunate ones, I got to be a stay at home mom. When our kids were all in school I did seasonal work at a nursery, this turned into full time and after 5 years was offered a managerial position. I turned it down to become a full time mom again, 'our kids' are now all teenagers, this should be self explanatory LOL. I joined a couple of Garden Clubs, took a judging course, judged fair shows, parlor shows, and helped judge several larger shows for over 20 years. I also took the judging course put on by the Pacific North West Dahlia Conference and started out to become a Dahlia judge but this entailed some travel which I wasn't able to do. I retired from judging last summer and now I get to play in the dirt to my hearts content. After reading all of your accomplishments I had to smile to myself. We who come from all walks of life meet on a common ground to share our love of gardening, it doesn't get any better. Annette

I'm an avid reader of the backs of china, and have looked at the back of this set any number of times. About 5 years ago, I took photos of many of Mom's things for an inventory, which is why I have the photos. I didn't want to forget that her Great Aunt Elizabeth was the original owner of this set. I just can't remember right off which of the many Limoges marks is on this set! Here's the other photo I have of a couple of serving pieces. I do love them, and I may keep them. The problem is I don't really have a space for them.

Wow, that's really nice stuff and thank you so much for sharing it. I have always found their story fascinating, and the remaining quints do live a pretty poverty stricken life, they applied for government help a few years back and were turned down. Very interesting reading, I always gobble up books about them when I see them. Thanks again, Lydia. Suzan J

Hi Nicole Ont, Can Sophie, now crowding 14, remember how well she did with the "quintessentially" project? As for spelling, just put a "quint" on the front end of "essential" ... and add a "ly" at the end. And as for the "quints", those 5 famous girls, born a week after my brother in May '34, and (more or less stolen from their parents) lionized in Ontario and beyond for years ... does anyone know how many of those five are still alive? ole joyful