Interesting question. I struggle NOT to accumulate...er, collect, but I have packrat tendencies, and my husband has a casual attitude about bringing stuff home that doesn't help. I do have a fair amount of possessions, but, as others here have said, try not to keep things I don't use; and I try to cull fairly frequently. It's a struggle to let go of things. Mainly I have a fair library--which I read--and probably too many other items, though I do think about the burden of possession.
Plants are different from lifeless objects, not least because they can be propagated and shared. Mainly I collect roses, which are relatively inexpensive and easy to get hold of. But I like variety in my plants and try to get many kinds of many other groups, within the limits of my resources.
Rescuing and taking care of animals that need a home doesn't count as collecting. That's kind-heartedness and generosity, and occupies a whole different part of the spirit.
Melissa
P.S. Josh, I'm a student of languages too. What do languages do you know or are you learning?

This post was edited by melissa_thefarm on Thu, Aug 22, 13 at 2:14

crazy people and offspring cast-offs.

Some days, there are unending visitations of people with 'issues' (we have a sympathy problem.....I wish it could just be limited to feral cats but nope, we seem to collect feral people too).

I frequently get quite attached to partners of my children - who are able to renounce these partners on a whim - daughter ended a promising relationship with a lovely chap because he was a 'terrible dancer'........yet, years later, these out of favour mates turn up at ours for tea and sympathy on a regular basis.

There have been days when I have stuck a note on the door - 'do not disturb (we are disturbed enough already)'

Books don't count - that's like saying I collect dinners.

Leaving me with hair ribbons - shamefully, hundreds of these because I am addicted to colour, they are cheap and I even thought I might start a trend....which I did....for 6 year old girls.

I wound up with a lot of antique roses not so much because I'm a collector by nature, but because I wanted to see the roses for myself. If I had been lucky enough to live near a public collection of these roses, I suspect I wouldn't have bought so many. Why antique and not modern? We live in a nineteenth-century house and so I initially thought I wanted only roses from that era in our garden.
Apart from the roses, I've a collection of vintage postcards and luggage labels from my wife's hometown, Nervi, Italy, a slightly faded turn of the century seaside resort. I've also accumulated a bunch of old garden magazines, catalogues and such printed ephemera.

This post was edited by rinaldo on Thu, Aug 22, 13 at 11:14

I used to collect mineral specimens and a few ordinary rocks. For example my neighbor gave me one rock that looks just like a potato. I have a nice Christmas ornament collection containing some very old ones from my childhood. I have a small seashell collection. I like china. I tend to accumulate books but like to pass them on more than hang on to them, except for those I reread. I use the library. I have a small collection of old sheet music from the early 1900's to about 1946. I like owning some antiques but not all one type. Husband collects lots and lots of old vinyl records, and plastered beer labels on our fridge until we bought a new fridge.

Old cookbooks and vintage wool yarn could be silk or cotton also.

I had a collection of old history books, mostly Texas, but some from the area of New York that my husband is from. They went up in a housefire, and honestly I haven't had the heart to replace them. We lost 90% of our possessions, but it's sort of weird because the MOST important things managed to survive. A lot of our family pictures and such were packed in a plastic container already in case of hurricane, and just a few weeks before the fire, I had been digging in it and moved the box into my husband's closet instead of mine. His closet partially survived, while mine had turned into a fireball and completely disappeared. We joked with the insurance people that we had the Mona Lisa in there. haha.

Also, my journal managed to survive because it had my husband's leather jacket thrown over it. The jacket melted, but my journal was safe! Crazy! All of my jewelry melted, except for the most special pieces (not the most expensive), that I had put into my husband's safe. It had rings from both of our grandmothers and stuff like that.

Also, (thanks to plastic containers!) a lot of my Christmas stuff made it through. They had been packed in my youngest daughter's closet, and hadn't been relocated yet. She was only a few months old at the time, so it's not like she was digging through stuff yet. One thing I didn't save was my ornament collection. It was in a cardboard box, rather than plastic, so smoke damage was pretty bad. Included were ornaments that my brother and I had made as children, with the date and everything. I probably could have kept those, but I didn't and really regret that.

I think I've subconsciously avoided collecting 'things' since. I don't have a zillion roses (about 120 ish), but my obsession with daylilies is heating up. I can see adding to that pretty easy. And while my yarn stash in the old house did go up in flames, that is something that I've replaced because I like to crochet. An entire wall in my closet is dedicated to that one.

Erm, yeah... I rambled a ton. I'm not usually so talkative. :)

I think perhaps there is a collecting gene. Roses are my biggest interest. I do have a small collection of Beatrix Potter figurines. I'm always buying books. I have a number of Viburnams and Hydrangeas but not enough room or water for a real collection.

Rose books, shoes, and music.

My mom collects elephant figures, and she used to collect deviled egg plates. I used to collect cookbooks, but now that you can get just about any recipe online, I don't anymore (unless it is very vintage).

Books, books, books, books....oh, and books. In my early twenties, before I started my bachelors degree, I spent nearly all my extra money on books. Then I went to uni and had no money for fun books :( only pricey textbooks. I'm making up for now, though. Only 4 months out from my bachelors and I've already filled a shelf :) yay books. (Unlike pp, I will NOT lend out books. Ppl always hurt them and I can't bear folded pages or broken spines.)
If I didn't have an urban evil squirrel problems (or cute, furry, little, adorable, I-can't-hurt-them baby bunnies) I could envision myself the proud/crazy collector of tulips. Sigh, I love tulips.
For awhile there, I had a thing with throw pillows. Not even really special ones (handmade, or whatever), just regular ole' throw pillows. I'm sitting on a settee that is more throw pillow than chair.

I also collect old linen postcards, cookbooks and vinyl records...and movie magazines from the 20's-30's, and British stately home prints, and vintage Agatha Christie hardbacks. I've been on the edge about collecting deviled egg plates for a while.

Amelie, that cat!!! I love when my cats arrange themselves in a situation that is obviously meant to be photographed.

Judith, your username, Alameda, and Arabians just clicked. Did you own and show a gelding named Eskabor? I might have met you at an Arabian nationals in Albuquerque or Louisville years ago (say like in the 1970s).

I collect books, particularly about Arabian horses. Raised them for years, but I'm currently horseless. My last mare died in 2010 at the age of 36, just a few months short of her 37th birthday. My last stallion died 4 months after the mare. He passed away in his sleep. I think he missed his friend, the last other horse on the property, and just decided then was the time to go. He was 29. I bred them both, so it was an end of an era.

Still have plenty of friends with horses, mostly Arabians, but I know many horse owners from around the world. Have travelled to various Arabian horse events in many different countries. Of course while there I sometimes pay attention to the roses in gardens that are invariably at some of these farms.

I'm an Arabian horse historian (now retired!) and have had a wonderful time meeting people from all sorts of cultures. We all share the same love of the breed, regardless of the country in which we live. So I've been to Russia (when it was part of the Soviet Union), Morocco, England, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Poland, etc.

I'm also a dog and cat lover. When someone dumped a pregnant mother cat plus her last litter of kittens at the university where I used to work, I topped out at 17 cats at once! Got a quantity spay/neuter discount from my vet, and many of my friends would run away when they saw me coming and say "no, I don't want a cat!!!!!".;) Currently I have 1 Siamese who is an alumnus from the local high kill shelter. He's approximately 17 or 18 years old. And that is another theme for me, that of having geriatric pets. Many, but not all, live to a ripe old age.

In dogs, well I've had multiple Jack Russells (and I need to get another as tree rats have decided the yard is much to their liking), a Siberian Husky, Cocker Spaniels, and multiple mixes. But my favorite breed of all is the Kuvasz, which is a wavy-coated white Hungarian livestock guardian breed. Looks kind of like a canine version of an Arabian horse! I got my first one in 1978. Right now I have 3. The youngest is a 5 month old puppy that a friend and I imported from Hungary this spring. Hopefully, she will have a nice show and obedience career as both I think are lots of fun.

All my Kuvasz have worked, and that entails dealing with rural and/or urban coyotes, fox, bobcats, bears, and mountain lions. My Kuvasz are my companions when I'm up in the hills bordering the national forest where my horses have been kept (a nice place to grow BIG and wild roses!). They are my eyes and ears against those things that go bump in the night (and make sure what lurks in the shadows stays there), and have protected the horses over the years, including the foals when they are small and the most vulnerable. My house, which is in town, is in a neighborhood that has a problem with urban coyotes being habituated to people (these coyotes regard people as prey along with family pets that were already on their menus), so my Kuvasz convince them to avoid my street.

Melissa

Amelie, I'm with you on not lending my books. If I lend them and they don't come back, that pretty much ruins the friendship for me. I treasure my friends, so I don't lend them my books. And I prefer not to borrow books, either. Though I do have one exception, a very trustworthy fellow booklover who actually gets it just how serious the act of borrowing a book is.

On the other hand, I do give books away frequently. The two things are not the same.

Brittie, I'm so sorry to hear about your fire. What a shattering experience that must have been. It is something I have considered. If a house fire ever happened to us, and assuming we escaped unharmed, what would I choose to replace? What would I pause on the way out to grab? Recently I have been scanning old family photos and loading them online to make photobooks for family members. It pleases me that these pictures are now distributed, and that if I need to I can re-create these photobooks at will. Books, though; now that is a different story. It would be difficult to recreate my collection. Very few of my books are technically "collectible", so it is not the money. It is more that I would never be able to find half of them again.

Rosefolly

I don't collect much anymore. I used to collect fabrics and things patterned with garden tools, anything with a watering can, a rake or a fork, but after a while I got too particular about the design and couldn't find good enough patterns so I stopped. Like another poster I collected cookery books, preferable exotic ones but with all recipes available on the internet I stopped. I still cherish my Somali cookbook printed on very bad paper and worse printing and the cookbook I bought in New Delhi in 1967 and still use quite often.

For a couple of years I collected some of the still extant but now rare roses planted in a rosarium in Stockholm in 1836. I found that these roses are rare for a reason, they are not always particularly good roses.

I don't collect books, I just buy the books I want and try to get rid of an equal number of old books. I have even stopped collecting rose books after the 60+ books I already have. There is little new in newer books.

Melissa,

So far I've manged to pack Spanish, French, American Sign Language, Mandarin, a dabbling of Russian, a bit of Portuguese, and Tolkien's Elvish language of Sindarin into my head. I'm currently working on Irish, and it is the most fun language I have tackled so far.

How about yourself?

Josh

There are many partially used containers of plant elixirs, potions, stimulants around here. I think it may be a collection.

Each of these exotic formulations is said to have truly transformative (if not magical) properties if used regularly. Perhaps they do, I don't know. I'm not very good with the regularity part. I shall keep the collection intact, tho, because I'm planning to get my act together some time soon. When that happens, my garden will be AMAZING.

@Jaxondel: loved it!

Cats.. I'm now down to just 7, I lost 2, the eldest age 18 due to kidney failure, she was indoor....the other old lady was an outdoor kitty, she never wanted to be inside, was attacked by something that tore her up..the Vet did what he could but she had to be euthanized eventually, she was age 19.... I also collect roses, now over 150...also orchids, now over 100.... Genealogy records, I have birth, marriage, death, military,, immigration, property-land , church records going back before 1600, I have numerous Quaker ancestors that came to America in 1682 with William Penn and they keep excellent records..my Maternal Grandmother came from Neubrandenburg Germany 1881 and I have her ancestry records back before 1600, some are in German and not translated yet...... my hubby goes back to England 1200, his ancestors came to America in 1632, to Mass., what a fascinating story, I have records from King Phillips War also the Revolutionary War they fought in.... I am on Ancestry.com.......after we retired, I used to paint, oil and acrylic, also make stoneware pottery, and still have 'stuff' that didn't sell, we used to exhibit and travel with fine-art shows all over Florida, we did 30-40 shows a year, what's left is all over the place and stored in boxes....guess my son and heir will have lots of detritus to sort thru' eventually....!! LOL, sally

Josh what made you choose Sindarin and not Quenya? I ask because I was going to start learning some Quenya because I love the way it sounds and the rarity of it. I heard two people talking together and never forgot it.

I started collecting a mad hatters silver set. Every place setting is different. It's fun and costs less than a matching set. I can use a different pattern every day and it's fun to look them over. I have some really fancy ones like Francis I but I prefer using the French Regency. The pieces feel smooth and have a nice balance in your hands as you hold them. I never planned to have silver flatware but after having used it every day, I think it's so much fun. When you use it all the time, you don't have to polish it like when you keep it stored away and just use it once or twice a year. It's nice to have something pretty that you use every day.

I collect regular old rocks from wherever I go and put them in the garden. The latest few were from the Colorado river in Colorado. I sat there for a time watching the river flow and thinking about how it eventually makes its way to the Grand Canyon and beyond. I am saving them from becoming beach sand before their time.

I also like Victorian whitework. I restore the pieces with small flaws before they can be cut up into craft projects. If any of you have never slept on a vintage linen sheet, you need to try this. They are so soft and cool in the summer and they last forever because the fibers are long and fine and do not lint like cotton so they don't wear out. The Vatican and the White House buy linen sheets and so I thought I would try it out for myself. I have bought the new ones but you have to wash them and wash them before they get silky soft. Linen as it turns out absorbs more water and releases it (dries out) much faster than cotton. It also has anti bacterial properties. Don't buy the 50/50 linen-cotton sheets, get the 100%linen. If you just want to try a test feel on the cheap, buy an old damask linen tablecloth with some discolorations ( under $10) and use it as a top sheet or make pillow cases. The new sheet sets seem expensive but they will out last you and your kids will get them in super soft condition.

I also have a large Camellia collection. I need a small wood for these plants, they are becoming trees now. Camellias are nice because they are showy like roses and bloom when the roses are cut back for the year. They are far less work than roses but they grow at a snails pace. There are even fragrant and yellow camellias now.

Antique Chinese porcelain, preferably from the 1700's, although I have a Tang horse ca. 619-906 A.D. and a vase from around 1930 and various ages in between, probably around a hundred pieces. I've had to stop since rich mainland Chinese buyers have sent prices through the roof and I'm also out of room. There are fakes everywhere and it's been very challenging to learn to tell the difference. It's a vast field, stretching over thousands of years, and the educational aspect has been as satisfying as the aesthetic one. I never grow tired of looking at my pieces and feeling the mysterious draw of something that is old and strangely foreign, although many pieces look almost European since they were meant for the "foreign devils", and the Chinese learned to paint European flowers and people, sometimes with comical results. The beauty of many of the pieces seen in museums is almost overwhelming, but the more homely beauty of my little collection still brings me great joy and satisfaction.

Ingrid

My old garden was a rose collection; this new one I am aiming to create a garden with roses and the collection can go hang. Been there, done that. I have a lot of rose books - but I've stopped buying them because as Marianese said, there is little new, and also because I found that I don't go back and read most of them so they're simply collecting dust. Books in general, I do collect. If I like an author, I search out all their books new or used. I have all of "The Cat Who..." mysteries for example (all 30 of them.) I collect African violets and now have started a small collection of Streptocarpus as well. Between the two Gesneriad types, I have well over 100 indoor plants. Outdoors along with my many roses I have quite a few day-lilies, iris (tall bearded and Siberian) and Heuchera and all of them have a spread sheet just like I track my roses. Oh, and a small grouping of hostas over in the shade, too. As to nick-nacs, I have a sizable collection of apples (no, not edible) that I can mostly attribute to my sister's obsession with collections. Her own collections are not enough; she is obsessed with other people's and never visits but that she has along with her some new item she saw at a yard sale and just could not resist buying for me. I used to have a collection of woven baskets that filled all the space between the tops of my kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. It looked quite nice for a while...but when I moved I realized just what dust catchers they all had become and most got trashed. In the garden, I have fairy statues - lots of them. Thank goodness they are not very common anymore. (Makes it harder for my sister to buy more for me!) Earrings: I have so many I could wear a different pair every day of the year. And then there are the collections I put out for display just at Christmas time - oh, my! There are boxes and boxes out in the garage that only see the light of day for one month of the year: the Saint Nicholas/Father Christmas dolls, the CharmingTails collection, the ornaments that are boxed as collections: apples (of course,) snowflakes, birds and snow covered houses. And then my brother recently gave me a large collection of the older (original) Dept.56 village pieces. December has become a real chore! (Yes, but I love it.)
OK, I'll admit I'm a sick puppy. And my sons are going to hate me some day when they have to go through all of this cr*p and decide what to do with it!

This post was edited by annececilia on Mon, Aug 26, 13 at 19:01

Not clothes, that's for sure. I have to be careful standing out in front of the coffee place with a cup lest someone drop a quarter in it.

Kitty,

I chose Sindarin mainly due to movie influence, but I found that I prefer the way Sindarin sounds to Quenya. It also seems to me to be a bit more complete as a language due to its fame from the movies (people threw themselves into analyzing it after the movies came out). I also understand that the producers of the movies hired linguists to further complete Tolkien's Sindarin so that it could be a usable, workable language for the scripts.

It also uses a lenition system borrowed from Celtic languages like Gaelige, so it worked nicely as an accompaniment to my Irish studies.

Josh

Got married to the LOVE of my life and since my rose garden has been planted for 15 years for the most part I am not moving those roses to the new garden at her house. The new garden is going to be PLANNED and platted out so that everything is easier to work on and the large roses won't be crushing their neighbor's. I have recently begun collecting hardy fuchsias and they are being interspersed with the roses and sages in the flower beds.

I also have a penchant for keeping tropical fish which are uncommon enough to not have a common name and so are only known by a scientific name.

Tessiess, I am indeed the Alameda Arabian Farm you remembered and I showed my beloved Eskabor for many years. He died in February 1994 just short of his 30th birthday. Having him was one of the great joys of my life. You might also recall AAF Kaset and his son AAF Kadet. I think both are still alive - Kaset is in Brazil, think Kadet went from Brazil to Europe. I have Miniature horses now - still love the Arabians. Thank you for remembering Eskabor!

Brittie, I sympathize with your about your house burning. Ours burned in Feb. 1994 [right after losing my beautiful Arabian gelding Eskabor] - lost everything but a few things. Have mourned a complete, older set of Francis I silver, china and so many cherished things - found quite a bit of jewelry, but as they years have passed, I find that the true treasure I lost were the family photographs. Have a few of my son and some other things - many of my horse photos from my years of showing Arabians were in my office - but so many many photos were gone that I would so love to look at now and recall my now 30 year old son as a baby and all the things we did, and dog and horse photos. Memories that those photos would envoke will never return. 19 years later, I have refinished family furniture that was stored and have a lovely home filled with things I love - but the photos are irreplacable. Such is life - I am still here, in good health, and my precious son has given me 2 adorable grandchildren. And just tonight, he told me his next Navy assignment will be back in Texas in the Dallas area as a recruiter - after being in California for 7 years. He will be 3 hours away and I am overjoyed!! Life is good!

I have enjoyed reading about everyone's collections and forgot about another one I have - holiday decorations. Come Sept. 1, I will bring down my Christmas tree and deck it with gold and orange lights and wrap it in fall leaf garlands. I keep 2 tall skinny lit trees in my dining room that I decorate with the seasons - fall, Christmas, Valentines, Easter, patriotic. Fall is my favorite - have collected so many fun decorations that are a delight to unpack every year. Like Annececelia, my son is going to have an attack when he has to go through all these boxes of decorations - but my daughter in law seems to love it and now my 2 yr. old granddaughter who lives down the road is old enough to help me decorate. Only another week and 2 days - let the decorating begin!
Judith

Josh, thanks for replying. Wow, that's quite a range. I majored in German and used to know it fairly well, but haven't used it for years; I can still read it but badly need some time in a German-speaking country (which I don't anticipate getting) to update my vocabulary and get back to speaking it easily. I had a burst of reading in German this summer after we visited Vienna.
My Italian is pretty good all around, and I can read French but not speak, write, or understand it when spoken. Aside from these, some bits and pieces of other languages, and enough memory of the Latin I learned thirty years ago to have been able to help my daughter last year when she began taking it in high school.
I was just reading 'The Lord of the Rings' for the zillionth time. The languages are wonderful. As I've gotten older I've particularly admired Tolkien's very specific and detailed descriptions of landscape, terrain, and plants.
Melissa

This is a great thread! It has been very satisfying to see so many rose people are also book people. I never think of books as collectibles. One could collect specifics, like 1st editions or rose books, but acquiring books is rather like acquiring groceries: one must do so to live. The positive and negative thing about books, is that after you've read it, it doesn't disappear, but it does mean one can re-read it, unlike a good dinner. I have solved some of my space problem with e-books. Now I'm more selective about what I keep in hard copy. For instance, I put most of my philosophy books on my Kindle. They are easy to replace in hard copy should I ever want to and I still have instance access to them. Ditto for a lot of fiction. I keep literature in hard copy, but most of my book club books, sci fi, and easy reading go on Kindle. I cleared two bookcases by putting them on Kindle. One of them has since refilled. The other waits. It's a rather delicious feeling, knowing one has so much room for new books. It's like being handed a clear garden patch all ready to plant.

You`all are amazing!! So interesting. I`m afraid I am a complete dud...but you`all are in to some fabulous hobbies. Thanks for sharing. Lesley

Books, books, books! Among my other million books, I have an affinity for 1930's authors, love their simple understandable creative writing that brings back a simpler life. Each year I order 2 books from Persephone Books in London, have built up a small collection. Also have a few Dept. 56 originals, love those!

The books and the arts and crafts pottery are my most treasured collections (Door and Foxlo being my current favorites), but I must admit that I also have a weakness for souvenir linen tea towels collected when traveling. I have a decided preference for real linen. Cotton/linen blends will do in a pinch, though they are a disappointment. All cotton? Well, I can't say I never buy all cotton souvenir tea towels, but most of the time I turn away and buy nothing at all. Maybe some nice soap instead.

Ahem, I also have a weakness for fine soaps.

Rosefolly

Books do not count!

After all they are reference materials

Right? Should be noted that my bookcase is full, I have two rows in sections (easy to move id guides) and then there is that stack on the other night side of the bed night stand (all gardening books)

And Christmas Decorations can't possibly count

Or Vintage linens

Or

Books of course. I'm fortunate to have some wonderful antique garden and rose books that I treasure.

Arts and Crafts pottery, copper, linen, jewelry and furniture years ago when it was more affordable.

I also love Native American and world vintage Tribal silver jewelry.

Currently collecting folk art and Outsider art. Here are some examples.

{{gwi:306231}}

Running out of room in our small cottage.

Diane

What do I collect besides roses? Scratches, permadirt, and back problems, but don't we all!

I totally relate to the necessity of books and am glad my kids are getting to the ages I can start sharing some favorites with them. We still read every night, even for big 11-year-olds, so lately we've made it through several of the perfectly delightful Edith Nesbit classics. The kids love them, and A Book of Dragons is so danged witty we all just cracked up. I think we'd all agree with the quote, I think from Victor Hugo, that goes something like "When I have some money, I buy books. With whatever is left, I buy food and drink". In our cases, we'd probably say "books and roses".

And BTW, when I say books, I mean BOOKS, not electronic gizmos. Computers are wonderful creatures and I wouldn't be without them, but you'll have to pry paper books out of my cold dead hands. There's something essentially satisfying about the scent and feel and character of a book, and you simply can't curl up on a couch with a cat and a cup of tea and a "Nook" with the same level of comfort and connection with the material. Just my humble opinion, of course, and I freely admit to being a tech dinosaur. Being lovers of antiques, even if books become obsolete we'll still love them here, won't we?

Cynthia

This is a fun thread!

I used it to make this totally non-scientific representation of the Interests of Rose Enthusiasts:

What a fun thread. After Ingrid's wonderful thread where we got to put faces to names, this is rather like the proverbial icing on the cake! There seems to be a lot similarities books, animals, china(In some form or another) and I guess I'm no different. Currently I have a lovely set of china and collect mismatched tea cups, lots of books mainly childrens books and history books. I love researching genealogy and I seem to be collecting chickens and ducks. I see some unusual breed and I just have to have it. I have had to put a curtail on that though as I already have more than I need and I can't bare to part with any of my girls.

Grace e

Here is a picture of two of my combined "collections", ducks and roses :-)
Grace e

Hoov and Jax, you two are so funny.

Books, books - how can you ever have enough books? I can't. Especially old cookbooks. I also collect vintage porcelain/china animal figurines but I'm very picky. They have to be extremely lifelike. Vintage teacups and pots are sitting all over my house - most of them 'glued' down with museum putty to keep my 2 orphan cattins from knocking them tip over teakettle. And our local monthly fleamarket makes it really easy to feed my costume jewelry addiction. (Do you know how much fun you can have in the Everything's A Dollar tent? Wee-Hee!!!!)

I have somehow accumulated a ridiculous number of books. My room is just stuffed with them. When I get interested in a subject or author I get obsessive. I like real, hold-in-your-hands books. Something I can highlight, make notes in or turn a page down.

Also have an immense natural fiber fabric/quilting/sewing stuff stash & 4 sewing machine, several sergers. Tons of threads, buttons, ribbons, other stuff--used to be in the business.

Annnnd, I tend to accumulate pets, especially special-needs pets & cast-offs. Folks really know what house to dump the unwanted dogs, bunnies & birds at. Since I've moved, attrition has thinned the ranks to just a few birds & one dog now. Let's just say I'm (well) over a dozen doves right now--and each is SPECIAL ;)

I was a Classics major and have taken to picking up any and all older books pertaining to Ancient Rome, Greece, Latin, Ancient Greek, and the Mediterranean/Near East/Egypt on the whole. I have a small, but growing collection of old textbooks, commentaries, dictionaries, grammars, histories, collections of scholarship, encyclopediae, numismatic guides, architecture and art books, and of course anything on Ancient Gardens.

On a rather different note I also collect cymbals and snare drums. I use those quite a bit when I can. I used to play in jazz combos fairly regularly.

As far as other plants, I have started a minor collection of Hellebore in addition to my very small collection of roses. I quite like the look of the short Hellebore hedges in my shade garden. I dont necessarily have collections of (or the space for) Elephant Ears and Arbutus varieties, but I have a a few of the former and three of the latter. The Latin name for the common variety is Arbutus Unedo -Unedo being shorthand Latin for 'I eat one'-, but I could eat a whole tree's worth. I love those berries and the varying differences between the different cultivars and species. I wish I had the room and confidence I could grow an Arbutus Menziesii here. Such a graceful, elegant tree in my opinion.

Quite an eclectic bunch. Perhaps the polyglots and book lovers should be bridged together. It's been at least fifteen and two years respectively, but I dearly loved my last dog and cat as well.

Jay

Oh, oh! *raises hand* I went through an ancient Rome/Greece phase--still in it to a degree. Wanna compare book collections?

My latest purchase was "A war like no other", an overview of the Peloponnesean wars. One of my favorites is an old textbook, very ragged, but with great maps. The author makes the witty observation that: "history remembers them as 'Aristides the Just' & 'Themistocles the slippery rascal'" haha!

I want to see Pompeii & Herculaneum soooo bad--but I'll never get there. A friend went & I drove her crazy asking about every detail of the gardens. Maybe I'll get to see the Getty museum someday--I thought that was the neatest thing how he tried to replicate the House of the Papyrii.

I love that cover of "The Quest for the Rose" that features a photo of that wonderful garden (House of the Vettii?) with the little wren perched on a stake & a boisterous rose.

Oh and I didn't mention them before because I don't consider them a 'collectable', but currently 3 dogs, 16 Nigerian Dwarf goats but I've had up to 62, and an ever-changing number of semi-feral cats. Currently there are 14 tails showing up for breakfast but sometimes in the winter I'll find myself feeding 15-20. (What I DON'T have is mice, rats, voles, moles or gophers!)

Bluegirl-

If you can find a copy and don't expect to make it out to Malibu soon, "The Gardens and Plants of the Getty Villa" is quite wonderful. It was made after the renovations, so it accounts for some newer designs that my parents, for instance, don't recall having seen in person. I too would love to make it to any number of the sites in Italy. The Isle of Capri has always called to me.

Jay

This post was edited by ArbutusOmnedo on Sun, Aug 25, 13 at 13:43

I used to collect fine soaps, too, but when I realized I wouldn't be able to use them all in my lifetime I started giving them away as the scent doesn't keep forever.

I also forgot that I used to collect designer silk scarves from charity shops but after I retired I have little use for them. Most don't go well with sweat pants. I think I may have started a small collection of sweat pants. I've only four so far but I'm planning to get more. My collection of teapots and odd tea cups and mugs is closed.

Our house is very small and as my husband collects everything by Robert Crumb, a prolific cartoonist, and tin coffee boxes preferably shaped as houses there isn't room enough in our house for more collections.

I don't think of them as collections really but I suppose I have collected things for the table and bed, that is vintage tablecloths, napkins, pillow cases, silver salt shakers, a few 18th or early 19th century teaspoons, 2 cut glass carafes, that sort of thing. It was mostly to fill needs and the linens and silver were cheap when bought in part because most people do not want to bother with the ironing and polishing. Gardening books of course but only a few shelves worth. And a few small antiques, again to fill needs. I am trying to make this sound virtuous.

Do you think that these collections we have listed tend to be tactile? Just a thought that crossed my mind.

Cath

I also collect what I think of as rose regalia - scarves, earrings, apparel with roses - must be the RIGHT sort of roses, no HTs for me. I gave a talk in New Orleans and about the only question that I got at the end of it was, WHERE did you get that dress?

Most gardeners that I know are connected with books somehow - lots of librarians among my gardening friends, and English teachers and voracious readers. I think the old rose people are even greater bibliophiles because we are attracted to the history of the roses and it all is so much fun to read in a book.

Anita

Ogrose,

I love Persephone Books! What are some of your favorites? I have just been re-reading The Making of a Marchioness. I lend Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day to friends when they are going through rough times; it's a story that always seems to help cheer a person up for a little while. They have some vintage gardening collections too. I'm thinking of A Gardener's Nightcap.

This is a great small company based on a unique idea and it's fun to expect a delivery of very pretty books from overseas.

It's neat to come across someone else who is a fan.

Ah, another Persephone's aficionado! Most recent is The Shuttle, one of those that started off slow, then I couldn't put it down. I also received The Making of a Marchioness, that will be the next one I read. My next order will include Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day for sure!

And I thought I was the only odd one! (:

Animals aren't collections, even if you do have several, okay 6 cats and four dogs.

China isn't a collection...you use it. Besides, some of it was my grandmother's and some mothers, and I really liked the soft pink abstract rose on that set and you need Christmas china, and of course, you need different china for the grandkids at Christmas. I suppose having 350 different daylilies means I must admit to collecting them. But all the Christmas decorations are just decorations, not a collection...except maybe the Dickens Villiage is a collection.

And Josh, I am really impressed with all of your languages. In addition to English, I speak only Spanish and German, and, like Melissa, I can read French, but I do not speak nor understand the spoken French.

And like Susie, Books are not a collection any more than food is.

kay

Rodent skulls.

at last - another weirdo - I also 'collect' skulls - have various small rodents, cats, sheep, horse, goat, birds, a couple of human ones..........on the lookout for deer.
My eldest son, somewhat in the middle of the autistic spectrum, was an insanely avid collector of 'stuff' ranging from keyrings to yo-yos - I was cured of any hoarding instincts I might have had after dealing with a childhood of various items of rubbish (as far as I could see, but obviously not for him).

He is a gardener now - his latest collections are shrubby salvias and epimediums.