Two Peas Blog Challenge

Today's Two Peas Blog Challenge: List 10 things you own that are beautiful and that you just love. Hmmm....this is an interesting question. There are numerous objects around my house that have special meaning to me. If I were gone, they wouldn't mean much, if anything, to anyone else. I've always liked to pick up things when I travel, and I also like objects with a history or story. I could go on and on, but here are 10 of these objects, in no particular order:

1) My cuckoo clock from the Black Forest in Germany. I picked out a particularly beautiful one when I was living in France during college and visited Germany one week. I had it shipped back to the US, but to save on mailing costs, I decided that I'd carry the three VERY heavy weights back to France in my back pack. As you can imagine, that turned out to be a bad decision!

2) A blue/gray piece of pottery that I purchased at a craft fair in the suburbs of Paris one rainy afternoon.

3) The stately peach-colored lupins in my perennial garden. Lupins typically don't grow well where we live, so I've always been very happy that this plant has done so well. We'll see how it winters over, since I divided it last summer when I was putting in a new bed.

4) Our two kitties (although they probably own ME). I think all kitties are living works of art.

5) My piano. I have a black, satin-finish baby grand piano which was a gift from my parents. It's beautiful to look at, but even more beautiful to play.

6) Many, many antique dishes which belonged to my grandmother and her mother. I have dinner plates, a pitcher , a pink glass tray , a tiered dessert plate, goblets...you name it. As an only child, an only grandchild, and an only niece, I'm the lucky keeper of these treasures (with many more to come).

7) My Dickens Village. I have numerous buildings and accessories, most of which have been gifts from family members. The village is still on display and will stay up until next month, when I'll spend many hours packing it all away until next winter.

8) My scrapbooks. No, they're not all beautiful, but they are treasures to me. Real keepsakes that I hope someday my family will really appreciate. Not that they don't appreciate them now (they do)...but I hope they will grow more meaningful to them over time.

9) Numerous pieces of petit point needlepoint stitched by my aunt. Monuments of Paris, postage stamps, and other painstakingly-created pieces grace the walls of our house. Her work is absolutely amazing.

10) Lithophanes made by our former neighbor, Ruth Christian, who is no longer living. She was actually somewhat famous in her day for her incredibly detailed porcelain creations. I also have an unglazed porcelain raccoon, a holly-covered tea set, and an ornately decorated set of dessert plates and cups, all made from unglazed porcelain. If you've never seen a lithophane, click here to learn about them (choose "See the Magic"): What is a lithophane?

Each one of these treasures deserves a scrapbook page. It would be really good to make a mini-album with a photo and the story behind each one. Hmmm...that sounds like another project for the ever-growing list.