Treasures

Now that we're settling in to our new home, I am finally sorting through a lot of things that have been stored for a very long time.  As I do so, I find things that I have forgotten about, but also things that are precious to me - things I've had to put away for a time until I had a place to call home that would allow me to enjoy them again.

This weekend, some of those things finally found their place.  My father made me this wonderful curio display unit many, many years ago.  I'm not sure exactly when it was, but I think it was in the early 1980s.  I had, at that stage, acquired quite a collection of tiny animal figurines - some that I'd bought myself and some that were given as gifts.  In order to give me a place to display them, my Dad made me this hanging unit for my bedroom wall.  It has travelled with me over time to all my many apartments and homes, but it hasn't been displayed for many years.  At last, it's back on the wall - this time, just outside the entrance to my sewing room.

I haven't yet unpacked all the items that will be displayed, but for now, I have a great assortment of little creatures that I've collected over the years.  I thought I'd share some of them with blog readers who might be interested.  Some of the items are also made by my father, including some wonderful turned wooden mushrooms and some turned hedgehogs, all of which he made on his wood lathe.

Some of the small ceramic animals and birds are from the former Tremar pottery studio in Cornwall, England.  My grandfather used to send me the animal figurines when I was young, since they were easy to send overseas, and since he knew how much I loved animals.  These days, you can find some of the figurines on eBay, and I've acquired a few that way as well.  The Tremar studio was closed by the early 1980s, but their pottery is quite collectible and I also have a cheese platter from the studio. There are even some dogs in my Tremar collection, and a lovely hen.

Of course, there are sheep on display, although not all my sheep figurines have been unpacked yet. The little white one in the pictures above is a clay figurine made by a friend in Iowa.  It has a gold cord so it can be hung on the Christmas tree as a decoration.  Here's a Tremar ram!

There is an assortment of mice and rabbits - felt ones, fabric ones hiding under wooden mushrooms, wooden mice, and ceramic ones.  I've always loved mice.  The wooden one in the picture below is quite old - I think she might be from Germany, but I'm not sure.

There are also several hedgehogs.  I've collected hedgehogs since I was a small child - my first teddy bear was actually a stuffed hedgehog made for me by my grandparents.

There is also a little figurine of a man with oxen (or cows?) pulling a cart full of pineapples.  This is a gift that my father brought me from Costa Rica.  He used to have to travel quite often for his work, and he would bring me special gifts from his travels.

I'm so pleased to have these little treasures on my wall again so I can look at them and remember where they came from and enjoy seeing them each time I pass. It's also extra special to have them in the unit made by my Dad.  He's made me many things over the years, and each one of them is a treasure to me.