Tuesday's Treasure

I haven't posted a Tuesday Treasure for a while, but last Friday, I did a clean out of my wardrobe, and when I came across this, memories came flooding back.



This manicure case belonged to my Mother, and I remember it lived in the top drawer of her dressing table, from the time we moved house when I was 12.
It was shabby even then, with only a little bit of polishing powder left in the tins, and the seude buffer already had a tear in one end. However, Mum still used it, and I remember feeling very priviledged to be allowed to use it when I was 15.
It still has the suede/velvet/powder smell I remember it having when I first saw it. Don't you love the memories aromas/fragrances can summon up?
I never thought to ask Mum how old she was when she got it, or if it had been a present. :(

The doily it is sitting on in this photo was embroidered by my Grandmother (Mum's Mum). She did the most beautiful embroidery...her padded satin stitch was/is the best I have ever seen, and her stem stitch was the tiniest of tiny stitching! I have lots of doilies and dressing table sets that she embroidered. All of them treasures, too.

For more Tuesday Treasures, head over to Melody's Blog and follow the links to what others are treasuring.

Tuesday's Treasures

Today, I am sharing 2 of my favourite ornaments.

The first one is a Lladro figurine I inherited from my Mum. She had it for many many years, and it always reminded us of my daughter when she was a girl- the same delicate features and sweet little face.


Lladro figurine that belonged to my Mum

  The second one is a fairy doll I bought last year when shopping for silk flowers for my Son's and Daughter-in-Law's wedding, which we had in our backyard.
She is so sweet and angelic in all her white, with little crystals sparkling on her garments. I couldn't resist her!

Ice Fairy Doll

For more Tuesday Treasures, visit Melody for the links. :)

Tuesday's Treasures

These little books are my treasures, this week. They are the 6 books that form the 1st edition of the Epaminondas series, written by Constance Egan and illustrated by A E Kennedy (Pub: Collins, London) (late 50s early 60s)

I have had these books since I was about 4 or 5 and they were my favourite books at the time. I read them so often, the spines eventually wore and had to be re-taped. I can remember sitting in my Grandmother's bed while she read the stories to me. Epaminondas did so many funny things because he misunderstood his Mother (Mammy), or because he reasoned something out that would end in him making a silly decision that always caused problems for his Mother to resolve.

At one stage, there was an attempt to have Epaminondas books banned, and many were burnt in rallies (along with Little Black Sambo books), as they were considered racist.

As a child, I knew nothing about racism, and as I was not brought up in a racist family, all I saw was a funny little boy who always got it wrong. The spoken language of Mammy is very stylised Southern Black (at least, as I have seen them portrayed in old movies), so for them to be published as new books today, they would be rather offensive. But considering when they were published, and the fact that they sprang from folk stories dating back to 1907 or maybe earlier, and aren't about racism, but about the misunderstanding of instructions between adults and children, I don't think they are offensive at all, unless used as a weapon to promote racism.

Recently, I was browsing through Amazon, and came across ONE book from the 1st edition series, that was listed at $176! That set me off to see what else was out there, and so far, I have found one book in England for 49 English Pounds and another 1st edition title for $107 US. I had no idea they were worth that much! lol

I won't be selling mine, though. The memories I have attached to them are worth more than that to me. I will leave it up to my children to sell them if they wish, after I am gone.



                   Pop on over to Melody's blog for more Tuesday Treasures. :)