OT: Collecting, Anyone doing that still?

[mykneesareback]

Do you folks collect things, officially or just happen to have alot of some kind of items, you know how that goes. Like I used to collect cookbooks back when I cooked and baked all the time, but since 5 years ago dh became diabetic, and then, after his liver transplant he became REALLY diabetic, I don't even look at those cookbooks anymore, people still give me cookbooks anyway, lol. How are you storing your collections too??

Other than that, I do collect Santa's, and a bit of Disney stuff. Oh, and old 78 records and LP's, except for the flood of 1997, I'd have a ton more of those.




Doris

[birdlady]

dust.

[Verleen]

Gladys...... I have some dust for your collection.

Doris, I use to collect many things.....dog figurines, magazines, Lemax village stuff, jewelry, etc. Years ago I began to declutter my life. It is so liberating. Stuff, stuff, and storage places filled with stuff. Its a nightmare that I'm trying to escape. I want cupboards that are minimally filled, not overflowing. Closets, as well. Living space that is mostly bare with just a few paintings and pictures and decorative items on the walls. Nothing but lamps and the remote on end tables. Nothing on the floors except for necessary furniture and appliances. Everything put away in the place it belongs. Anything less than this stresses me out. I have been living in stress for so many years and beginning last year, I am whittling down all this clutter. Some mine and most Rich's. I swear, he can't stand empty space and looks to fill it with something. As I got rid of some of my things to make empty space, he came with in a day or two and put some of this stuff there. Pretty soon, there was no evidence of me in that room and his stuff was wall to wall with just a narrow path to walk through. I now empty a space and announce that its my empty space and that I will get nasty if anything occupies my empty space.

I cleaned the back porch and yesterday, he put a bunch of cardboard boxes out there that we emptied and the bags fo junk into garbage bags to haul to the junk yard. I told him that I didn't want that stuff on the back porch. The cardboard goes into a cardboard bin the garage and the bags into his car. He said, gimme a break, its only going to be there for a few minutes. This morning, its still there and if I don't keep at him, it will be there next week, and the week after. Plus lots of other stuff he threw on top of it. It truly is a battle here. He calls me a nag.

I went to a seminar while I was working on decluttering your office and home to reduce stress. She talked about how much stress too many things give us and how much extra work they bring us. Take clothes, for example. She said we all have too many clothes and want bigger and bigger closets to hold them. We have summer clothes and winter clothes. Most of us have to switch them from closet to closet as the seasons change. She advised having just enough clothes that everything fits into one closet. She said people with large closets waste a lot of time trying to find something. If you spend time trying to find something, then you have too much stuff that is causing you stress and work. Another example she gave was the cleaning we do when company comes. Mostly its caused by too much stuff. Its so much stuff that we're embarrassed to have it all out. So we bag/box up alot of it and store it away until the company leaves. A sure sign that we have too much stuff. Common, every day items should have a space in a cupboard where they can be easily accessed. If there's no room, then there is too much stuff taking up valuable space in that cupboard.

I've gotten rid of much of my stuff. I still have the Lemax village items stored in a closet. Why? I'll never have a house where I can actually use them. So this fall, I'm going to put an ad in the paper. I have other stuff that I'm keeping, but these are used in my hobbies that I actively do. Rich and his huge amounts of stuff, mostly truly junk, is another matter and a tough one to address. We really aren't compatible living together. He gets stressed out when he has to give up some of his stuff. And yet he gets stressed out when he can't find his stuff because its buried among so much stuff. I'll say it again; he has a mental illness and someone needs to take charge for his sake. I am working at this with him, but if he doesn't get on board some day, I will move out, leave my plants and greenhouse behind. I need to escape the nightmare.

Does anyone remember George Carlin's routine on "Stuff'? Funny and so much truth to it.

[jezzie]

Gladys: I wish someone could bottle your humor. I'd pay for it.

All manner of things in the past.
porcelain dolls, crystal figurines, miniature carousel replicas, Fenton art glass,
creamers, - and "O" magazines, rings (about 50), Birkenstocks (15), Altoid tins
purses and eye makeup.


Now, if I had the money I'd still collect the carousels.
The magazines were chucked. - Some Fenton glass passed on to my offspring.
And I have enough sandals to last for two lifetimes.

[Loretta V]

Gladys you are just what the doctor ordered.

I used to collect plates from the Bradford exchange, Rockwells, and some other great events. Sold most of them off except for the birds of the 4 seasons that I have hung on my kitchen wall.

Not collecting any more "stuff".

[vessel of prayer]

fenton glass..love it. I had one ,gave to my sister. I do have two old bowls from the late 1890s to 1910? One is carnival glass. not sure the other one. Daisy buttons? the bowl is very heavy, amber color.

Gladys, DUST. lol I have lots of that too. I use to collect coffee mugs, now I just collect books. I love books. I have a small library. I wish I had the room to put them. I sometimes almost want to take them and donate to the real library... but havent yet.

I use to have Crystal bells .. got lost in the move a few yrs ago... no more thats why I went to the coffee mugs. I had some from many states. Lost those too.
I also collect santas, snowmen, and angels. I gave a lot of my santas away a couple yrs ago. I wish I had kept them. No room in this house.

Verleen, I swear our hubbies are related. I cant keep a table clear.

[Kenwyn]

Cookbooks! I just love them. I have over 300 and used to browse thru them quite a bit when looking for a good recipe. But where do I go now for recipes?
Allrecipes.com. Love that site. Now I collect recipes but I buy cookbooks.

Oh yeah...I have quite a collection of caps from places I've been and all the vendors that used to come to my workplace. I kept asking for caps from them and before I knew it I had a small collection. They're all put away in a box on a shelf for now.

[mykneesareback]

Oh Gladys, that is the answer my husband would give for me too,

So many ideas, so little time...............

My MIL has dozens of those Christmas plates from Hummel all over her house, and several china cabinets full of German stuff, when my DIL and I were over there, she said, "just think, someday this will all be yours", and we chuckled over it then...............

The cookbook and recipe thing, I can't get over why I stil collect recipes, except now they are for diabetic meals instead of regular. I threw out the recipes for fatty crappola, but I notice I do have new ones that I get from people here and web sites too. Except now they are for healthy foods, that we won't eat probably anyway.

Verleen, the clutter from your hubby will drive you nuts one day, mental sickness that he has or not. I have no clue what you can do to stop it really either. It's a good thing you don't collect guns though. We don't have any either.

My hubby also has lots of baseball caps, when he worked he got them from companies that came by with heavy eqipment, oil and gas companies, whatever. His latest cap says "BIMBO", it is from the company where my future DIL works, BIMBO bakeries in Fort Worth.

I need to get with my dish washing, be back tonight if anyone is on, lol.


Doris

[SuSUN]

Yes, Gladys, your humour is terrific!

The only thing I was going to say I collect, is money...whenever I can. LOL! Well, I keep tryin!

I've never been much of a collector... now hoarder of tons of old papers and stuff now that's my dis-ease!

Susan

[Chris 232]

I collect vintage glass knives. There are only 3 of the 15 that I do not have. and they are being sold on ebay for about $200 each--WAY out of my $10 price range. I usually find one under $15 total, and have my adult sons buy it for me as a birthday/christmas gift. I bought a small table at a resale shop, and made 2 glass topped display boxes to show them off (one for the knives, and one for spoons/ladle).
I also have several sets of fork/spoon salad sets from the 50's. I only have room on the glass cabinet shelf for one spoon that I need--the handle is a fiddleback shape and plain. The hunt is the fun. EBAy has allot of different ones from Australia, but the shipping is very high.

One glass cabinet also has several Cambridge epergnes (they are candle holders with glass vases as a unit). I still like looking at them, but the cabinet is full, so no more.

all of you are encouraging me to clean out my closet this week. How many gardening clothes do I eally need--and those stain on that favorite shirt will never come out, so just get rid of it. I have a cabinet in the kitchen with candles in it and zip lock bags of old receipts. Out with the receipts. And the candles I don't burn anymore, after I saw the soot mess on the walls when I wanted to move a picture.

Thanks for your encouragement. I am working on a counted cross stitch picture of an angel, it keeps me busy and I can't eat while listening to TV, because me dirty fingers would get the fabric soiled.

[weezie]

love the dust collection! I have plenty to add, with a garnish of dog hair!

I collect cookbooks also - have over 200 now. I just love reading them, though they do get used.

I also collect teapots, though I rarely drink tea. Inherited a collection of brass candlesticks, most of which sit in a cupboard.

Then, sporadically, I collect 1/12 scale miniature items (1" to 1' scale dollhouse), as well as interesting knitting yarn, sewing fabric, art supplies...

I think I need to declutter!

[Verleen]

Louise, I love those miniatures. I have a few miniature flower arrangements and some other items. I went to a miniature show years ago and really wanted to make some room boxes. If you took a picture of some, you can't tell that it isn't a real room in a house. We're not talking about the typical dollhouse furniture and stuff. These rooms wired with electricity and chandeliers that work. I don't have much because I realized quickly that I had no place to display the room boxes.

I use to collect cookbooks too, but have gotten rid of all except a couple basic ones.

[birdlady]

Add bird feather and dander.lol

[weezie]

Hi Verleen-

I assembled a 1/12 scale dollhouse from a kit and wired it. It's a 2+ bedroom colonial with an attic and a porch, has light fixtures and a "working" fireplace. Unfortunately, I haven't finished the interior painting and wall papering, never mind the stair case and roof shingles. I installed baseboard molding and dentil molding in the ceiling of one room, made furniture from scratch as well as kits, etc. And, believe it or not, I have 2 more house kits and a Christmas village, plus sundry furniture kits yet to go. Oh, and then there is the room box which I'm trying to design like a Greek summer house in San Torini, with foam core board on the outside coated with gesso to resemble white stucco. Aaaargh!

While I love working with miniatures, I have to take it in small doses or it becomes all consuming. You know, the toothpaste tube cap becomes a glass, the little plastic supports from pizzas become tables, and so on. Eeek!

It can also become a VERY expensive hobby, for those who have the money to really collect. Keep an eye out for the IGMA shows (International Guild of Miniature Artisans). There are some craftspeople who have taken it to a high art - 1/12 scale silver tea services and what have you. I am in awe of the talent and go sometimes just for inspiration.

And Gladys, I'm thinking a small bird feather could become a quill pen...

Now, what to use for an ink well?

cheers!

-Louise

[Verleen]

Louise, can you take a picture up close of what you have done so far? I would love to see it. Complete with a bird feather quill and ink well.....lol.

[KrisA]

The only thing I really collect is cook books, even though I get most of the recipes I use online. I'm also trying not to buy them anymore but I also can't stand to get rid of any of them yet.

I also love kitchen gadgets, but I'm not sure I can call that a collection.

k

[mykneesareback]

I have alot of old Kitchen utensils and tins, bought back when they were not very expensive at all. E-Bay ruined collecting for me. Took all the fun out of going estate looking or yardsale looking.




D

[ladyinlove56]

Wow we all seem to have alot of cookbooks collected with our dust...lol...Me too..but I collect Boyds Bears ....I love ones with hats....I think I have been collecting alot of old lottery tickets lately....gosh just didnt pay off....lol..Still waiting....

[mykneesareback]

Yes Lady, it seems "collecting" is just as addicting as over eating!!!! Another obsessive/compulsive thing. I even have a drawer with my mother's old recipes, that I will never make in this or any other lifetime.......but they are still there!!!

Please join us on our daily "Roll Call" and menu and exercise threads sometime. We won't bite you!!! You arn't edible, so you are safe.



Doris