Some favourite things, every one with a story of course! The wooden bird brought from Russia in 1996 dangles from a lampshade, trapped in flight -
The shelf with painted doors, bought at auction in Durham, 1971, for £4, holds the green-stemmed Rosenthal glasses that were a 50th birthday present, as well as the Carlton Ware blackberry jampot found in Pinner just when I was buying this flat, and two netsuke, one from the V&A and the other "real" -
The real one has lovely patterns on his clothing -
Also on the shelf, a carved Chinese box that once held a cricket (apparently) - a present found in Bruges one cold February day; a carved stamp brought back from Xian by Min, which reminds me of his help with my faltering Chinese conversation; and the mug was found in the market in Cambridge in 1974 - even though it was priced at £3 and I was the wife of a student, I went ahead and bought it. Marks on the bottom show it was made in Denmark in 1869.
In another part of the room, this cardboard clock, which has been ticking since 1993 or so, with a few battery replacements; a sunny house-warming present from 1994; an owl made of curls of paper slotted into each other, brought from Thailand by Vicky. The basket under the neglected spider plant has held old-fashioned wooden clothespegs for at least 20 years.
None of these items are strictly "necessary" to everyday life, but it would be less rich without them.
The shelf with painted doors, bought at auction in Durham, 1971, for £4, holds the green-stemmed Rosenthal glasses that were a 50th birthday present, as well as the Carlton Ware blackberry jampot found in Pinner just when I was buying this flat, and two netsuke, one from the V&A and the other "real" -
Also on the shelf, a carved Chinese box that once held a cricket (apparently) - a present found in Bruges one cold February day; a carved stamp brought back from Xian by Min, which reminds me of his help with my faltering Chinese conversation; and the mug was found in the market in Cambridge in 1974 - even though it was priced at £3 and I was the wife of a student, I went ahead and bought it. Marks on the bottom show it was made in Denmark in 1869.
In another part of the room, this cardboard clock, which has been ticking since 1993 or so, with a few battery replacements; a sunny house-warming present from 1994; an owl made of curls of paper slotted into each other, brought from Thailand by Vicky. The basket under the neglected spider plant has held old-fashioned wooden clothespegs for at least 20 years.
None of these items are strictly "necessary" to everyday life, but it would be less rich without them.
Life would be very plain indeed without these treasures. The memories they evoke of where we were and who we were when we found them and acquired them add so much to their worth for us, too. I obviously share your taste in treasures, as I covet every single one of them!
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