My Memory Cupboard

I have never been a big collector of ornaments or "knick knacks" as Mum used to call them.   Probably something to do with dust and clutter - I prefer a much more minimalist look.   My Mum however LOVED her "knick knacks" and her house was filled with all manner of ceramic cats and dogs, glass swans, pottery geese and porcelain figurines.    Most of them were purchased from the local $2 store or found on throw out tables at school Fetes.  Certainly nothing of any great value.   Over the years  her collection started to dwindle - a bit of a legacy of moving house a number of times and a couple of destructive cats!  I remember how she would gently gather up the shattered fragments of a beloved ornament and then spend hours gluing it back together again.  She used to buy tubes of Super Glue by the six pack!    One day Adam, Matthew and Kendall decided they were going to do something about Nanny's dwindling knick knack collection.  The local Show was being held and they decided to pool their pocket money and play the "laughing clowns" (those mechanical clown heads that move from side to side).  Every time they "lost" they got the chance to pick a "loser's prize" from the shelf - which just happened to be a cheap ornament of some description.   So every year around Show time they would proudly present Nanny with a whole new collection of ornaments and knick knacks.  How she loved each and every one of those "Made in China" treasures.   She used to say they were the best presents she ever received!   Years later she could still recall who gave her what.  They were her memories.

 

So this is my Memory cupboard.  I guess in some way it is a bit like my Mum's.   It is a collection of special photos and bits and pieces I have either collected (or been given) over the years.  Each item has a story and holds a special place in my heart.

Here is the cute Christmas bear Kendall painted for me when she was just 17.     The "I Love Picnics" pot was a gift from my friend Kelley Jean - such a talented folk artist.   The 2 little raffia candle holders with their delicate mother of pearl hearts were purchased in Paris at a huge Department store (for the life of me I can't remember the name of?) and the two glass candle stick holders are part of my glass candle stick collection.

Here's the teapot Alan bought me back from Japan when he performed with his Bush Band in Tokyo back in the late 90's (during my teapot collecting stage!).   I purchased "Nessy" in Inverness, Scotland in 2008 when Alan and I went there to see Matthew play cricket.  The pewter candle holder is from Ireland (I remember buying this on a freezing May morning  at a little souvenir shop while Kendall and I were waiting for the car ferry to cross the Shannon River in County Clare).

Oh look!  Matthew and Kendall in the "I LOVE Cows" frame.  Where have the years gone?  Oh, and here's the kookaburra Kendall gave me in memory of Mum - how I miss her still......

A couple more of my vintage cut glass candle stick holders.  Three crazy sheep from Ireland - not as sensible as my Scottish sheep!   A birds nest which has been constructed by some very clever sunbirds using clippings from Alan's hair (long story...) and one of my hand painted birdhouses (I LOVE my birdhouses).

Another fabulous Kendall painted pot - love those sunflowers!  A couple more vintage glass candle stick holders.  Adam and his guitar.  My beautiful country lady tea pot - thank you Mum!  Two gorgeous ceramic chickens (Kelley Jean knows me so well....) and Alan's bodrum drum stick - memories of Snake Gully Bush band come flooding back....

Dust collectors.......... maybe?

Wonderful memories ...... definitely!

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."