This is a great thread. We all love what we collect and isn't it wonderful that most of us collect something different? I collect blue and white Staffordshire Transferware from England, early to mid 1800's. I have over 100 Cup Plates, a little more or less than 4" diameter. They were used as a coaster with the handless cups with bowl shape saucer of 6" from the 1820-1850 period. Often confused with a child's plate from a toy tea set. I also have many patterns of dinner ware pieces of a specific potter E. & G Phillips, Longport England. American butter stamps, butter churns and English cream pots with dairy names stamped or transfered on the pot and numerous other things too many to list. I am just addicted to antiques and collectibles. I also clean and repair and resale and upgrade my English china. So my life is a constant buy, clean, repair, resale, collect more upgrade..etc. I tell my husband I am recycling and being green! I love,love, love what I do. I cannot imagine not ever being able to buy and also resale to share my knowlegde. I also have an extensive library of reference books and love researching everything.

A little late, but this is our last tree from our favorite tree farm before the cornfields take it over completely. The tree skirt is, quite literally, a skirt! My quilted maxi-wrap skirt from that fashion in the 1970s (think Emily on the old Bob Newhart show). I simplified the mantle in keeping with this year's color scheme of green and gold and natural. The handsome deer are from a bottom shelf at Walgreens! The bells on the right are from the renaissance fair last summer. The little trees have battery-operated lights, carrying the light over from the tree. (Oops the cords are visible today, someone must have been fiddling with them) The Tom Thomson above it all is there all year, but the snow field is especially fitting this time of year! Where are the stockings, you wonder? They hang on the kids' bedroom doors so Santa can fill them and slip them onto the beds, keeps them busy for a few more minutes on Christmas morning!

Make no mistake....we are the lucky ones in all of this. These two little girls have jumped into our lives fearlessly, assuming that we were going to love them. They have not had an easy early childhood and how they turned out to be so funny, irrepressibly joyous, and loving is a miracle to me. We are grateful that our dear neighbor, their g'pa, doesn't hoard them all to himself, but lets us be an extended family of sorts. He made it official several months ago when he bought us our own booster seat for little sprite! :-) I still get teary when I think about that. The sprites are 6 and nearly 8.

How very sweet of you to ask about my sprites and my husband! Never fear, all is well. Satine remembers correctly and I appreciate her mentioning the fact that I felt like I had overshared and maybe invaded some privacy. Please know that the girls are busy and happy and very much in our lives. For some reason, Little Sprite has entered a stage where she may change her clothes four or five times a day over the weekend, including things in her hair, different shoes and socks, etc. What's that all about? Oh my, you should have seen what she slipped into her backpack to decorate herself for school picture day! I may need to take her to some thrift stores to see if we can find some extra cool accoutrements. The older sprite is usually a blur of streaming hair as she zooms by on her bike or skates or scooter or sneakers. I've seen her jump rope past our house, down the street and around the corner! She has learned how to swim, mastered her fear of drowning just in time for the pool season. She is still very much into the cooking shows and likes preparing things for her friends and family. My own repertoire has broadened because of her desire to make things that she has seen Bobby (Flay) or Giada whip out! Robert's recovery from his hip replacement went very well for the most part. He followed the orders of his surgeon and therapists and was very happy with his progress. He's been able to do things outside that he's neglected for a couple of years; it's great to see him so active again. Thanks for caring....I'll pop in with sprite stories from time to time, I promise. Today is their last day of school!