Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Antiquing for treasures

One of the pleasures our family loves, that by our family I mean the extended lot of us, loves is hunting for treasures. We all collect various goodies, hoarders in a sense of the word. I make no secret that I love anything medieval, whereas my husband loves dive-related treasures (pun meant).



Moving is a bitch, I think most of you will agree. Who enjoys packing boxes, going through closets to decide which items will make that journey to the new home and which ones will not? It's surprising how much junk can accumulate over the years, Why did I hang on to some much stuff?

Sure, at one time in my life I did collect certain thing, for example remember when beenies were the hottest items on the market? To my shame, I have two packing boxes full of those silly stuffed creatures. Now, I didn't didn't get the Ty beenies, well okay I did grab a few of them. No, I specialized in the Disney beenies, mostly Eeyore. I can't even begin to count how many Eeyores I have. I've dragged those chests of Eeyores around with me during two moves. Same story with unicorn figures and Chinese Shar-Pei figures.

Damn, I guess I am a hoarder.

My tastes have changed. Now I collect San Jose Hockey memorabilia. I have signed SJ players hockey pucks, photographs, bobble-heads, magazines, action-figures, pom-poms, towels, wine, books, flags, and the list goes on. A couple of my favorite items are a San Jose hockey mask with a dozen SJ player signatures, a signed McFarlane Nabokov (sadly out of the package), SJ player sports cards dating back to the first year, and a signed Sharks team photo.

I still love looking for other fun pieces. I do love books, and spotting old first editions sets off the little girl inside me. I've always loved the story "Watership Downs" so when I came across a first American edition in a small store, where the seller had no idea what they had, I couldn't put the eight dollars cash on the counter fast enough. Talk about a bargain. One can't describe the joy in finding that final piece that completes a collection. Talk about wanting to dance around the isles, laughing aloud!

My husband and I are always on the look-out for unusual pieces to be used for costumes. We may not attend as many Renaissance Fairs right now due to our spare time being tied up between work and fixing up the 'pit', but that will change. Still, with our love for the Fairs and eclectic decorating, it never hurts to keep a close watch.

We've bought most of our main garments from on-line medieval specialty catalogs. We've then added our own extras, either by modifying the garments, home-made leatherwork, or with accessories. Most of our pins, buckles, knives, swords, undergarments, shoes, and jewelry have been found at garage sales or antique shoes.

I have to watch out for any pieces in my silver service. The same goes for my china pattern. Any time I see vintage scuba equipment I have to point the object out to my husband, Sam. The list goes on. There may only be the two of us, plus the cat and the dog, but we need a bigger house just to display all of our accumulatde stuff and the photographs taken over the span of our lives.

Even now, there are a couple of items I have my eye on in town. After I pay my bills, I have my play money left in my budget. I have to decide which nugget of delight to add to my collection. Shall I rush out and get that Breyer jumping horse? How about the signed Sergei Federov puck, or the Dumas' "Twenty Years After" book that has been sitting on a shelf? It's a tough choice.

All this decision making has given my a headache!

Happy hunting amd be safe out there!

No comments:

Post a Comment