More of my bits and pieces

Dinner on Thursdays is often either leftovers, jacket potatoes, or Sarah cooks (I have a yoga class on Thursdays and Olivia has diving, so it's one of those nights). This week, Sarah is away on a residential geography trip (which is no doubt why it's raining so much), so there's nothing interesting to show from dinner.  So, I thought I'd bore you with some more photos of my stuff. As you can see, the bottom two shelves of the bookcases are largely taken up with large kids' books (the regular sized ones are mostly in their rooms, except for a bookcase in the computer room) and some baskets, which have traditionally held toys, though I think some of them are empty these days - though not for long, I'm sure.

But of the actual stuff, there are some piecs I really like. In the left hand box, there's a funky shaped green vase which was a housewarming gift from Geoff's boss of the time, from our first flat together. The other green vase, I'm not sure where I got, and the third pottery piece is a raku piece I got last time I was in the US - it was a birthday present from my mother, I think (a little early, but when you live an ocean away from your family, you make allowances). The green soapstone rhino is actually Alex's, from a class trip to the British museum, but he really suited the space, so he's living in the living room for a while. And the glass egg was acquired somewhere - perhaps from my friend Barbara, who has excellent taste in stuff.

In the second square is a tall vase given to us by Geoff aunt & uncle who live in Australia - I think it came from Australia, but I can't swear to that. The salt glaze pitcher came from a craft show a long time ago, and I'm not sure where the black piece with the basket weaving top came from.

In the central square, there is a small cross-stitched blackbird which I made a few years ago, a stunning piece of black and white pottery which was a gift from either Barbara or my mother, a bright red dish (no idea where that came from), a kaleidoscope my friend Lana brought me from her recent trip to Argentina (I have a small collection of kaleidoscopes, though none of them are out this year except this one - perhaps I will get them out next year. I think there are 5 of them - as I said, a small collection). And a tiny dish from a market up in Yorkshire, which I picked up when visiting a friend.

Two fish in the next square, one pottery and one wooden, both of indeterminate origin (a lot of my things I've had for 15-20 years - or more - so it can be hard to remember where they came from) and finally, a basket woven of sticks which again, came from the days when I went to lots of craft shows (mostly in the US) and had money to spare.