What are 5 of your favourite small things?

MissAdventure

I was just reading about blue john.
Its only ever found in Derbyshire, apparently.
It was used as a surround for open fires, years ago, so wiki tells me.

It's really distinctive.

I’ve been down the Blue John mine, fascinating.

That's where they believe the name may have come from; the miners, or there is another theory, which I've forgotten.

Petra your items are beautiful, all in different ways.
Which do you like best of your three you've shown here?

MissA Thank you.
I love the lady but if there’s one thing a would save above anything it would be this lamp.
42 years ago I’d just started seeing my partner I saw this in an antique shop: I was ooohing how lovely she is. He said do you want it of course 🤷‍♀️ He went in and bought it for me.

Cooooo!
I'd never have you thought you were that posh!

Your home looks beautiful.
I like the lady best, too.

MissAdventure

Cooooo!
I'd never have you thought you were that posh!

Your home looks beautiful.
I like the lady best, too.

Posh, me 😂 Sarf London girl from a council estate.

I can't think of many. I'm not much of a 'things' person. I do love my framed, blown up photo of myself with The Beatles though. Also a table cloth we bought in Venice.

I could have guessed, Kate. Not at all jealous. I bet the tablecloth is quite nice too.

Yes it is kitty although too big for the table. We hadn't measured, we just bought it because we liked it and guessed the size!

A glass stitchmarker, a ladybird, a tiny Peruvian worry doll which goes everywhere with me as I feel my Mum is with me, a snowdrop and my Mum’s wedding ring.

I think I had a little drawstring bag with tiny worry dolls in it, at some point.

My Grandad's Book of Common Prayer that he always carried in his pocket, apparently, even though he wasn't a regular churchgoer. It's very small and the pages are tissue-paper thin but only one is slightly torn.

A corkscrew made of ebony in the shape of a Scottie dog. It only has one ivory eye, and the tail is the corkscrew. It also belonged to my maternal grandfather. He died well before I was born, and I treasure both these things and love looking at them.

A chinthe that my Dad brought home from what was then Burma when the war against Japan ended. It is very heavy, solid brass probably although black with age. I often played with it as a young child and it is one of the few objects I have to remind me of him. I'd love to know its history before it came into my Dad's possession. I understand that their export has been banned for many years now.

The locket that my parents bought me when I passed my 'O' Levels. It's in the shape of a heart, very flat but it opens and has their photos inside. I haven't worn it for a while as it needs a new jump ring and I'm worried that I will lose it, but I wore it constantly for years until recently.

My print of "The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil" by Monet. It just makes me feel happy every time I look at it - so sunny and verdant.

The last one is not in my home, but in my garden for some months of the year. My tortoise! I've been fascinated by tortoises since I was about 3 years old, and I got her when I was 5. I still love watching her ambling about in the summer. Tortoises are remarkably good at climbing so it is a battle of wits every year to prevent her scaling my raised beds, potted plants and any other vertical object that takes her fancy! They are also not always slow - when the weather warms up she can build up quite a speed

MissA my mums little cup is not part of a set, and no, I don't use it. It lives in a display case with little boxes and other porcelain treasures that DH and I have collected upon our way.

It's a delicate little treasure.
It would be a shame to use it, now.

Kate1949

I can't think of many. I'm not much of a 'things' person. I do love my framed, blown up photo of myself with The Beatles though. Also a table cloth we bought in Venice.

Ah, the Beatles.

I'm not a things person either, really.
I'm just a nosy old baggage!

MissA. It's interesting to hear about other people's treasures.

Do you remember when people posted their wedding pics?
That was lovely, seeing all those bright young couples, just starting out together.

It’s very hard to choose isn’t it, I’m the opposite of you Kate49 because I have lots of things I love, particularly pictures.
I’ve got a beautiful old watercolour of children with their teacher on the beach at Concarneau which is the first thing I see in the morning.
I’ve also got a pastel of a male family friend of my grandparents who was a bounder, he’s in his forties and has such a twinkle in his eye, it always makes me smile.
I’m not a jewellery lover, but my Grandma gave me an Art Nouveau butterfly wing pendant which I wear a lot and people always comment on.
I’ve got a very kitsch early 1960s cocktail cabinet, with a pale green formica and mirrored inside, a lift up front and a light inside which I absolutely love, it’s still got the original lemon squeezer, cocktail sticks and bottle holder.
My son found me a stone shaped like a heart on the beach when he was small, I still treasure that too.

Oh, just thought!
I have a drawing my daughter did of herself wearing her favourite play school outfit.

It's been put on a piece of wood, with string around the edge, and had a coat of varnish.
Its hanging in my hall.

Ceramic cat from my GD (love cats)
First paperback book of poems I bought when I was 15 (Keats)
My sketches of the family
Pebble from the beach where we scattered DHs ashes into the sea
Letter from the writer H.E.Bates replying to my teenage fan letter.

A parting shot regarding blue John. It’s a corruption of the French “Bleu Jaune” referring to the blue-yellow veining in the stone.
I’ll get me coat!

Thats what I was reading about blue john.
Its very vaguely familiar, but I didn't know anything about it at all.

MissA
This is the Blue John bowl at Chatsworth.
It’s 20” in diameter.

My treasured photo of my three sons all together. A statue of a man and woman brought of my son. My mums vase.

A funny little puppety thing my son made when he was 6. The eyes are all wonky.

My copy of Grapes of Wrath.

A large M on a chain my son gave me, like a rapper would have. Not used it much.

A plant a friend gave me following loss.

A small cafetiere.

petra

MissA
This is the Blue John bowl at Chatsworth.
It’s 20” in diameter.

That's a lovely looking piece of Blue John.

I'm widely read on it I spent less than two minutes reading wikipedia