Collecting moments

These are part of our "Frog collection " ... the one on the left and the one in the middle were the first , a friend found one in an antique shop in NYC , he bought the set and we bought one ( the tall one ) from him.

We found the second one in the same shop, then the little guy holding the crystal ball came later ... I have lost count now of all the frog items that we have and where they all came from.

It is a bit demented in a happy collector sort of way.

We always enjoy looking for particular things when we travel, it does help keep us focused when faced with a huge flea market full of treasures waiting to be found.

Frogs and mirrors were our obsessions .. well, obsession might be a strong word , but it works here.

I also like to collect paperweights, candlesticks and Asian art .

Blue and white pottery is also on my list.

Did I mention antique posters from various countries ?

So going shopping with us can be an experience, frogs, blue and white pottery, mirrors !

But when you stop and look around you, you see moments from our lives.

The painting my husband brought back from his first trip to Paris.

The poster we bought on my first trip to London.

Picture frames from our daughter. The ginger jar that our son gave us from Japan .. everything has a story behind it, everything has meaning and worth ... sometimes only to us but that is all that is necessary.

I also collect memories .

Sometimes I worry that mine will fail and they will all be lost.

So I am considering writing everything down, not for anyone else to read but for me to sit down one day and lose myself in sweet memories of far away places and remember the love and joy I have been so lucky to have enjoyed in my life.

I think I might have to start collecting pretty notebooks, to keep my collection of memories in. The notebooks can go into a pretty chest, or I can collect pretty boxes to put the notebooks in .. you see where this is going, don't you ?

My grandmother would call me a packrat .. but she collected memories too.

So you see, I am following a family tradition, being a collector ..