My collection at My Place and Yours ....

I've been playing along in spirit with Pip's fun meme, My Place and Yours but today the stars aligned and here I am! Kate has chosen a super theme - My Collection. Naturally, the first thing I thought of was my little owl collection - little both in size ... and in size ....... hmmm, what I mean to say is I have a tiny collection of itsy bitsy owls.

That's my thing, they have to be small, wee little owls. I have the odd one that stands above the usual 20 to 30 cms. My smallest is 23 cm and the largest is 95cm (I just got out my tape measure to check this!) The 95cm owl (the tall glass one) is really a bit too big for my collection but mum bought this for me a long time ago and so it has been given honourary membership to the clan.

Other rules, extremely loose, include that I try to buy an owl each time I go on holiday. Of course, that does not always work out, hence the still smallish extent of my collection. Related to this rule is the rule that they have to be as handmade as possible. I do sometimes find tiny owls in far flung holiday spots but more often than not they are mass produced, moulded creations painted in garish colours. I find that I just can't bear to bring these creatures home to join the rest of the gang! I live in hope of finding weeny owls that look like individuals, bearing the stamp of their talented creators.

Highlights of this collection include:
My Prague owl, bought on our honeymoon, the carved wooden owl at the back of these three.

These closeup shots are pretty ordinary - sorry about that. The flash seems to flare once I try getting closer - more homework required.


My very first owl was bought in the 70s on a school excursion that took us to the (then still newly renovated) Argyle Stores.

It's the blue painted owl in the centre.
(Old Stripey Scarface (cat) is guarding the little troupe - Dad bought him for me from South Australia)

The tall glass owl oversees the band. The smaller crystal owl was another present from Dad one Christmas - he often used to find little things like this for me. Mum was always very impressed with his shopping skills!

The tiny owl on the chair (an Ikea find) is the smallest of my collection.

Sadly, I don't recall where each owl came from. Not to worry, they all live happily with me now. They up sticks and try out different spots from time to time. I do like them here on my bookshelves with some of my favourite reads. You can see that I'm a bit of a fantasy fan - but I also read other good books too:













This has turned into a longer post than I anticipated ... there was one other collection I wanted to show you ....

In this ordinary(ish) looking old shoebox was revealed ...

My mum's vintage lace collection. She had rolled each skein (is that what a length of lace is called?) so carefully, packing them tightly together in this little box, chosen I'm sure because of it's lacey design. Some of this lace is very old and handmade, made by my grandmother, great grandmother and probably various other great or great great ancestors ... sadly there is no one left of the older generation to tell the stories. Safe to say I love every last inch of this collection and even though I think it probably deserves a box lined with silk and velvet, I like that it has been kept safe and secure for so long in this little old shoe box.

Hope you enjoy all the other lovely collections over at Pip's