An Early St. Patrick's Day Gift

Two or three times a year an e-mail lands in my inbox from people who are getting in touch because they have happened upon one of my blogs. Generally they are distant cousins with whom I share a great grandparent or even a great-great grandparent.
But once in awhile they are from someone I have no idea who it is - those are the ones I'm leery of. February 28 I got just such an e-mail. It was from a name I did not recognize. It was a request to use one of my photos from a blog dating back to 2013.
It looked legit, but still.....I asked for a little more information and got this reply: "We write tips for cleaning dishes, laundry and surfaces. Upcoming is one for washing crystal and special serving dishes like those with gold trim and painted decorations. It's linked to St. Patrick's Day but I could not find a photo. Yours would be a good fit for the social media we have planned."
Okay, now I'm convinced. I gave my permission to use this photo from my June 22, 2012 blog:

My little collection of Royal Tara - the teapot a 50th birthday gift from my sister-in-law, Ruth, and brother, Ron. The matching tea cups a Christmas present from my husband, Bud. The vase, I'm not sure, but possibly a gift from friends, Kristina and Gene. And the little heart-shaped trinket box ??? maybe from a garage sale.

I always feel like a bit of a celebrity when something like this occurs. You can read the American Cleaning Institute's article in which my photo was used by going to: www.cleaninginstitute.org then clicking on Clean Living, then scrolling down the left side and click on 'Cleaning Matters Newsletter', finally, click on "Tackle the Washing O' The Irish With Care". (Sorry for all the steps, but their settings won't allow me to create a link.) I'm glad to note that I do correctly wash these special pieces.

And I'm most definitely looking forward to using them again with my daughter when she visits this summer!