Collections - A cautionary tale...

In 1980 JR and I moved from Auckland to Gisborne with all our possessions in two Morris Minors. We rented a house out in the sticks wop-wops country ($18 a week) and immersed ourselves in countryside pursuits - big garden, dog, cat, hens, goat. Some with more success than others...

In the big old house that we rented was a built-in china cabinet, the length of the dining room wall. In a cupboard, we found lots of china that had belonged to the old lady who used to live there. We asked if we could put it on display. And of course we had to fill in the gaps. And thus started the china collecting bug.

Lots of china was lost through various earthquakes, about half of what was left was sold, the best bits shipped over to the UK. We have added to it while here, of course. But now it has to go. There is no room for all of it any more. Collections can take over your house!

I have been busying myself today packing them away into boxes stuffed with newspapers (yes, I was to be seen yesterday at the recycling bins pulling newspapers out of the bins!) I am going to take them to an auction house and they can sell them for us.

I washed my favourite best felt hat, which I cannot go out without in the cooler weather. It was getting too big and slipping down over my eyes at inopportune moments. I usually just immerse it in warm water for a while, but it doesn’t work too well. I washed it in the washing machine...

Now it is looking rather, er, small. I have it stretched out drying on my phrenology head. Which isn’t quite as big as my head…

Fingers crossed.

Only one more sleep till the new TV arrives!