What's Your Oldest Posession?
I think at some stage, all us think of recycling and reusing ... its only natural I guess, as most of us were bought up to only take what we needed. Well I was and I have a long string of friends all with odd little contraptions and things that just cannot be thrown away. One of my favourites is my friends egg whisker, which(I believe) was a salvaged artifact from when they found Noahs Ark on Mt Arrarat and which she found in a market street bazaar in downtown Cairo.
I'm talking my old rusty watering can. My old blue denim skirt with the frayed edges and my old bomb car that I just keep getting repaired. I could replace these things, with nice shiney new things, but I don't....
There's the toaster, which although I could replace it, I won't. There's the old metal lawn sprinkler that Grandad Olga left behind, which I can't use anymore because of water restrictions, but just incase one day it pours and pours, I cannot throw it away. In my mind it cannot be replaced with any new fangled thang-o-matic, no matter how much it costs - and even it makes Tea too...
I'm not talking books either, because they should never be sold, full stop!
You'd be thinking by now, this woman's house must be soooo cluttered of old thengs she can't throw away. Wrong, I'm actually quite a minimalist (well not in the austere sense), but in a way that doesn't give me headaches. I guess I just don't need much to get by. Anyway, I began to wonder whilst out and about today, what other people might have stored away that is old and irreplacebale. So, speak up folks, [I will respond in verse] what is it that mass marketing cannot tempt you to replace in your household?
I'm talking my old rusty watering can. My old blue denim skirt with the frayed edges and my old bomb car that I just keep getting repaired. I could replace these things, with nice shiney new things, but I don't....
There's the toaster, which although I could replace it, I won't. There's the old metal lawn sprinkler that Grandad Olga left behind, which I can't use anymore because of water restrictions, but just incase one day it pours and pours, I cannot throw it away. In my mind it cannot be replaced with any new fangled thang-o-matic, no matter how much it costs - and even it makes Tea too...
I'm not talking books either, because they should never be sold, full stop!
You'd be thinking by now, this woman's house must be soooo cluttered of old thengs she can't throw away. Wrong, I'm actually quite a minimalist (well not in the austere sense), but in a way that doesn't give me headaches. I guess I just don't need much to get by. Anyway, I began to wonder whilst out and about today, what other people might have stored away that is old and irreplacebale. So, speak up folks, [I will respond in verse] what is it that mass marketing cannot tempt you to replace in your household?
Falling Haiku Leaf
Inner West Life
I have a wooden spatular from my grandmother, and her Royal Doulton.
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A plate from grandma, or two,
A cup and a saucer,
I have a few, too...
A wooden spoon,
not used since June,
But part with them I cannot,
for all their valueless worth
... they are the true treasures....
of my heart.
A legacy of love
from hearth to hearth.
Lilla...
I believe it all started when I was 25 and battling cancer. My step-mom, who had never had kids of her own, sent me a quilt her mother had made before she died. She sent me the quilt as a gift when I went into the hospital for a hysterectomy. My dad has long since divorced her and I haven't spoken with her in years, but you can bet your bippy that my "blanky" goes with me everywhere - on road trips, when I watch movies, of course, when I sleep, etc. Sometimes I'm ashamed because I've toted it around so much it now has rips and tears I can't repair, yet I can't bring myself to store it away for safe keeping. I must have my blanky, always. It's not uncommon to find me working at my desk with my blanky wrapped around me for comfort.
From that time forward, I've had an extremely powerful draw to antiques. I began collecting antique books, then found an old Royal antique typewriter. I've got quills, ink wells, and even an antique faerie!
Now I'd have not much problem parting with some of my newer books, I'd easily pick up a new blender, coffee pot, or washer and dryer, but if anyone tried to take my antiques, I think I'd have a complete fit. The collection is small, but it means the world to me and I delight each time I'm able to add something "new" to my "old" collection. I've also been able to add a few family heirlooms to my collection, starting with Mamma's original wedding ring, and Great Grandma Brailey's ceramic doves.
For the most part, I try not to attach to material objects. I've learned to disconnect from "things". But there are those few timeless treasures that mean the world to me. To sit and touch, smell, or stare at my antiques is to time travel to another era. I don't have anything cast iron yet, but I'm hoping to decorate my kitchen walls with antique cast iron skillets, muffin pans, and molds.
One additional item that has never been put in the yard sale pile is a stuffed lion I have named Judah. He was a present from my mother for my sixteenth birthday, when I was 8 months pregnant with my first son. That stuffed lion went into labor and delivery with me as my "focal point". The dog chewed its eye out, it's tattered and torn from more than 15 years of being toted around the country, but my one-eyed Judah sits on the bookshelf behind me, watching over my office area, and that first-born son I mentioned turns 18 on this Halloween.
Oops... now that I think of it, there's one more "multi-collection" that moves with me everywhere, never with which to be parted, and that's a collection of Egyptian items, ashes from various fires (labeled with date and "memory"), rocks from all over the place that I've picked up on my own or that my kids brought to me for their "special look", and a small collection of lion knick-knacks accumulated over the years for the Leo in me.
I almost listed my faerie collection as well - there are more than 200 faeries and gnomes gracing my home and property. But, I've been known to part with those when "they" tell me to, giving certain faeries to friends or family members when I think a bit of faerie-healing or magick is needed.
In short, I keep my antiques and I keep anything that is sentimental to me for family or metaphysical purposes (the clothes my kids wore home from the hospital, etc). Anything else can go.
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I loved your story, but unwittingly you have issued me with a real challange...
It was/is my intention to return every item listed on this post with a poem incorporating the items listed. I'm doing so in order to keep my poetry writing skills sharpened, whilst I try and raise the awareness of the need for people to become interested in the environment around them ... and perhaps the relisation that we are not voiceless massess...
Anyway, stand by... yours is going to take a moment to organise....
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I love antiques from ink wells to typewriters,
From special books to faeries…
There’s mama’s original wedding ring,
And Grandma Brailey’s ceramic love doves,
I’m not attached, but things are things,
Not always, but sometimes, must have’s…
Like cast iron kitchen things…
Skillets, moulds and muffin pans.
I’ll find them soon, a wall to fill…
Upon them cast the words of timeless age,
…with echoes of eons….
I rarely buy new
But reinvention I like
Toss out the old pots and pans
A new persona to build and re-find…
My special blanky comes with me wherever I go,
It has sheltered me from life’s hard blows,
And Judah, the stuffed lion sits and smiles,
His eye is gone, but his roar lives on,
... since I was sixteen...
He stands in good company,
Amidst a host of Leonine history….
In the inner sanctum lie my ancient Egyptians,
Silent and timeless like the sphinx,
A muddle, in a huddle…
… like a riddle… in the sand.
Whilst outside the faeries and elves leap about dancing,
Their numbers increasing…
Faerie magick sprinkled everywhere,
Like sunshine and moonbeams on silver hair…
Their cheery wake leaving impressions -
On my memory…
beautiful and rare.
Lilla...
*bows*
W
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Thank you for the compliment, always appreciated.
I relate and enjoy your place very much,
the pleasure is really mine.
You are most welcome.
Lilla...
Ars Poetica
(i am so enjoying your blogs and all the comments)
to the best of my memory, my oldest possesion is a silver beautifully engraved face powder compact. it even still has some loose powder inside (a rosey beige) it belonged to my Oma. My mama gave it to me, and at the same time, gave me my first tooth embedded into a clasp, on a chain.. how original! .. now where would i wear that? lol
i'm not sure i can come up with a favourite; but i'll be back with a few unreplacables...
~Lily
ps. i also have a toaster i could replace (one sides element is weak) .. but won't....
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It belonged to Oma,
And for many years
Its contents brushed her cheeks…
The ones, so soft,
I loved to touch,
Alas, I hardly knew her...
But through the little silver compact,
I can open a spiral in time …
And by seeing the rosey-beige powder within,
I can see her face,
And hear her voice
Echoing still,
…in my mind
Mama ever sweet,
On nostalgic bent,
Passed it on to me,
An heirloom…
.. a keepsake,
In a special place is kept.
And with it a tooth
That the fairy will never possess,
The one with magick,
The one that went missing …
My first…
… in a clasp, now embedded.
Together with my toaster,
Whose days have been brighter,
I butter my pied bread and wonder…
I continue my stock take,
…another thing, to remember ….
I will return…
Lilla...
Ars Poetica
You've done a wonderful job with my memory; thank you for opening a little spiral in time; to quote a friend, you've smiled me inside out..
'In a special place is kept.'
actually, it's still in a box 'somewhere'.. still unpacked -- i only just moved in, in June (only?) ummm yeah ok, so i've been neglecting the poor not-needed-what's-inside, boxes.. although i forgot that some hold precious keepsakes..
her pretty little face blusher will find it's way to my memory box eventually...
as for teeth, i used to believe in the tooth fairy until she stopped coming.. *sniff
thanks again Lilla
~Lily
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Who could outdo Luenig when it comes to simplicity, he has captured it all.
Thank you for sharing this with 'me.'
Lilla...
Ps Do you know why it has pushed the right hand margin off the screen?
Ars Poetica
Shite, I have no idea why, i can't even slide my screen over
to the right to get to [Modify], or find out what you said he
has captured.. sorry about that :/
~Lily
my pleasure..
Falling Haiku Leaf
Inner West Life
my apologies for not reading your poetic responses earlier. Love them!
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Sorry sweetie, Lily's picture has erased my right margin, can you repeat... from...
Loved the ........?
Keep it to the left until tech support has a chance to have a fiddle with it???
Lilla....
Ars Poetica
or dumbass me didn't see it (i do need glasses, soon i swear)
~Lily
Fun Facts
We have used it as a wheel barrow for a number of years now, even though it is not user friendly in any sense of the word. However I was loathe to part with it, so instead I bought a brand new wheelbarrow as a birthday present for my husband, and turned the old wheelbarrow into a herb garden.
Not only does it now look nice and rustic, but i can move it around in and out of the sun, the snails can't get to it, and the dog now leaves them alone too.
A big win-win all round. : )
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I don't know if you fixed it or not, but it's back to normal... thank you if'n it t'was thee...
But you see my point... now you have the [Delete] button in front of your comment, but the mod-toggle is gone again... it is w-i-e-r-d- but then truth usually is, isn't it?
Lovely to see you again, btw...
Lilla...
Ars Poetica
(that could read naaaughty couldn't it lol)
good to see you too...
~Lily
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Ours did and comes still.....
L
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I'm off to write something (hopefully) wonderful....
I've got a fair bit on today, be back in a tic...
Lilla...
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One of the oldest things I have,
…is not so small…
But, it is the oddest,
…oldest thing of all...
It squeaks a bit,
On rusted hinge…
It’s metal wheel a legacy…
It has had many days in sun and rain,
Carried sand and cement,
…and plants to pot,
My trusty wheelbarrow,
Has seen the lot.
There in the garden,
In pride of place,
Like a Babylonian masterpiece
My trusty wheelbarrow does now grace,
…a herbal, jungle garden…
Playing host to a new bequest…
It holds those flavours…
Of culinary majesty,
That grace my table…
With no more travesty…
…aromatic and nurturing…
Without bitter pee, from the dog… withering…
Moved to capture moon and sunlight
Ground and cooked crisply,
Zesty and shimmering….
My trusted wheelbarrow, ...offering…
…not only herbs…
but a situation that’s win-win,
For, from the past to the heart
From the garden to the table…
The tastes we love best,
Within my kitchen…
My trusty wheelbarrow,
Has also become a snail’s hardest test!
Lilla...
Fun Facts
You certainly were a busy little bee thinking that one up!
Now I feel even more sentimental about my old wheelbarrow. : )
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Thank you, the pleasure is all mine.
Keep them coming folks...
Ars Poetica
favourite things and things i can't live without:
alcohol mild drugs sex men dancing singing writing sex lol.. (there's some material for you Lilla)...who said that?)
* oxygen, trees, understanding
* all my darlings
* my bedroom and everything in it lol
* my computer, my books
* all things nature; shells, stones, seaweed, flowers, dirt ..
* all things beauty dotted around my house; much of it still in boxes...
and last but not least;
* my shredded self-esteem, it reminds me i need to grow and keeps me searching for rain, and oxygen, trees.....
~Lily
Falling Haiku Leaf
Inner West Life
Love it!
Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. And I love your "Rusty Old Wheelbarrow"!
"so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow"
William Carlos Williams
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but you test and tease....
and with the greatest of ease,
but it will be my pleasure
to see if I can,
please you...
with this other list
...perhaps, ...
without the sex, mild drugs, *lol,*
and man...
No, not without the *lol*
I'll be back....
Ars Poetica
~Lily
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Thank you so much for returning and leaving your praise.
I am honoured by both.
As you have probably already guessed I knew nothing of this Williams fellow and went and Wiki-ed him, immediately. He sounds interesting. I will particularly go out of my way to read the work that got him into all that trouble - 'The Pink Church.' It must have been insightful to have caused such a ruckus, ehy?
Thank you so much for passing on this gem to me...Do you know which poem he recites those words about the wheelbarrow, I wouldn't mind looking that one up either....
Lilla...