An obscure thing I can't live without? My flute. I've had it since I was 8, played until I was 18. When I gave it to my child, so they could play it in middle and high school, they lost it on the bus twice. I mean the city bus, poor people ride it, and hawk things they find, bus. I was in dire panic both times. We were super poor, and I still came up with money to buy them their own flute. I'm not attached to things at all. I use the good china, crystal, silverware... whenever I want to. I read books that are super old at my father or my grandmother read. I'm just sure to enjoy them as much as I possibly can, along the way. But I can't live without that flute. Shrug!

You cook eggs in the microwave?

But to answer your question, a leather bookweight, like this: https://www.levenger.com/leather-book-weight-17488.aspx

Incandescent lighting. Overly bright or "noisy" lighting is a huge trigger for my Meniere's symptoms. In the same vein, I miss darkness. The problem with living in or near cities is the light pollution we are all subjected to, With so called energy efficient lighting it has gotten worse. People leave lights on all night everywhere in the strange belief it keeps them safe. I miss the days when people turned lights off for the night.

I used to love their catalog, especially that bookweight. need to order one.

i use my raclette whenever I chop anything. My mom gave me my first one that had a wooden handle about 50 years ago. I've since replaced it with a stainless steel one because I like to put it in the dishwasher.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Scraper-Chopper-Griddle-Spatula/dp/B01ISF0XGY/ref=asc_df_B01ISF0XGY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=194812759407&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5621365833322681975&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060351&hvtargid=pla-379120337197&psc=1

My drying racks. I air dry everything except sheets and towels on them. They fold up and can be set up anywhere. Pictured below is a similar concept:

My Shun Japanese knives. I have a Shun chef's knife and a Shun vegetable cleaver, and I have these in both houses. I use them several times a day.

My good sunglasses. Funny story: I left them in my gym locker. Tried running on the weekends with my husband wearing cheap sunglasses and was physically ill. Stomach flu every time. ☺ Apparently cheap sunglasses fragment the light waves making me ill.

@Bookwoman....love that book weight. I should try making one! ♥

A little known green called Senposai. I grow it every year; it replaces chard for me.

Some interesting responses - and laceyvail and I must be on the same schedule today!

Never heard of Senposai but curious now to investigate and try it.

nicole___ I know exactly what you are talking about...look up something called "Abbe value". I too hate looking through cheap lenses, even if they are "plano". This is the main reason I hate the rush to replace CR39 with polycarbonate as the standard corrective lens material. PC is fine for glasses to wear while playing sports, etc. But it has a lower Abbe value and I don't like looking through poly lenses. It's possible that your preferred pair are PC, but just use a better grade of it.

Lars funny timing because Amazon's "recommended for you" was recently hawking a super cheap set of knives that look like a ripoff of Shun knives. I had them in my cart but was debating about whether to buy them. TBH I don't do a lot of "hardcore cheffy chefing"* as I call serious at-home exercise of the culinary arts, so I can't really justify the expense of the real thing but I'm glad they bring you pleasure, which brings me to...

Bookwoman, you are not the first to act as though cooking eggs in the microwave is some kind of culinary transgression. Well, tradition be damned! https://www.saudereggs.com/blog/can-you-cook-eggs-in-the-microwave/

* hardcore GARDENING on the other hand...

My pet hair remover...in fact I need to order a new one as the old one is starting to lose its nap. Mine is so old, I don't think they sell it any longer, but it's sort of like this one. https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Furlifter-Remover-Clothing/dp/B01DF316EC/ref=zg_bs_15342961_27?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0V0YZGJ6A1B4V46DPNAJ

smile today episodes

My Ottlite. Wouldn’t be able to do hand stitching without it. https://products.ottlite.com/p-36-24w-craft-plus-floor-lamp.aspx

Burt's Bees lip balm. I have tubes of it everywhere.

My beloved Wusthof santoku knife, engraved with my name on the blade and initialed on the hilt. Wickedly sharp.

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread. I never knew about bookweights and I think they are so cool and would make great gifts. I am an avid reader but have a very clear preference for reading on my kindle.

Marilyn- your water lilies are amazing as are you.

Learning so much about the contributors on this forum; a very outstanding group.

I can't think of anything at the moment that I can share, but if something comes to me I will be happy to share.

Right now it is my leaf blower. My house is built in the middle of a forest and the leaves are starting to drop at a ridiculous pace. I blew off my deck yesterday morning and it is completely covered again already.

My Omega masticating juicer, similar to this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Omega-J8006HDS-Dual-Stage-Masticating-Revolutions/dp/B07GWNHDXH

I started juicing vegetables in the 1970s and continued on and off with centrifugal juicers, but when I bought a masticating juicer and became faithful about juicing I experienced the full benefits of juicing. It's easy to be faithful because juicing has done more for my chronic fatigue than anything else I can think of. It was dramatic.

This type of juicer doesn't heat the vegetables, destroying enzymes (as centrifugal juicers do), so I can make a large amount at once and keep it in the fridge for several days.

PS: Jupidupi, thank you! I lost mine during the kitchen ceiling replacement (I have no idea how it got lost), but didn't know what they were called. I just ordered a new one.

My $10 Kiwi Brand Stainless Steel 8 inch Thai Chef's Knife No. 21. I got it at an Asian food store in Yuma and then found it at the jungle store and sent one to my son in TX. Wicked sharp from the factory and really holds an edge, too. Along with the vintage carbon steel Chinese cleaver that I got at a rummage sale about 15 years ago.

I don't know how obscure this is but it's my running gear. As some of you know we lost our house to a fire in August 2020 and I have spent the past year putting all of my running clothing combinations back together. I love(d) my running gear and I run almost everyday.

If it's 10C and raining it's one combination and if it's 20C or 5C and raining it's different combinations. If it's 10C and sunny vrs 20C or 5C and sunny it's different combinations. And if it's around 0C (32F) and starting to freeze it's different combinations.

The first thing I did buy were new micro-spikes - can't run without those if the trails are icy.

The water lilies are so pretty.

Bookweights look like a great idea and I'll have to see if I can find them

My 8 year old iPod touch. I use it for my alarm clock or to check the time at night, I use the lit face of it for when I walk around the house in the dark so I don't trip on the dog. I use it to listen to podcasts in bed when I can't sleep, listen to music, only device I play Words With Friends on and use it for text messaging to others in my family who have Apple devices. Every night it goes into my bedroom with me. I always used it to take pictures but since my brother gave me his old iPhone without a sim card I use that instead for pictures.

Chapstick. I keep tubes of it in our home (family room, living room. bedroom, kitchen), three in our RV, in my car and my purse. Yeah, I kind of like the stuff (LOL)!

My stash of vintage horseradish mustard jars. For literally decades, my dad took a sandwich to work every day and he put horseradish mustard on each sandwich. My sister (for a sort of joke) once bought him a case of 12 jars for Christmas. He loved it so much, she repeated the gift several times over the years. My mom washed and kept each jar, recognizing them as good, high quality, extremely reusable, sanitary glass jars. Two cups, straight sides (so easy to get all the product out and easy to thoroughly clean), and long lasting plastic twist on cap with enough material in it to hold securely and not leak. Products simply aren't packaged in that high quality of glass and lid any more.

So I treasure my dozen or so jars. I use them to make and drink my two cups of milk kefir every day. Perfect. Utterly perfect. No I do not share them.

My Cross pen, classic twist to open, I dislike writing with anything else.

I lost my Cross pen years ago. It was a gift and I treasured it.

I have three fountain pens - my favorite is Platinum #3776 - Black/Gold, and it has a 14k gold nib, which I especially like. I use iroshizuku ink in all my fountain pens (asa-gao is my favorite color, followed by ku-jaku). I recently bought a converter for my less expensive Waterman pen so that I will not have to use cartridges and can have the color of inks that I want.

I used to have a Cross ballpoint pen, but that was a long time ago.

I like to have multiple pens because the nibs are all different - two are medium, and one has a fine point. I have to be careful not to let the ink dry up in them when I take them to the desert, but this does not happen in the Platinum pen, since the cap screws on tightly. The fine point is the worst for getting clogged, which is why I do not have more fine point nibs.

This is the first time I read through this thread. I think if I had to pick something it would be either my German potato peeler that I bought 30 something years ago. I have an American one too from way back then but I never use it. I hate it. My German peeler doesn't jiggle and is still sharp.

Then there is my little snippers for the garden. I use them to deadhead flowers and cut vegetables off the plants they're growing on. They're very sharp as I found out a couple weeks ago when I cut myself while cutting off a little pepper. I still don't know how I did that. I like that they are tiny but can still cut a big winter squash off the vine.

Lars, that is a beautiful pen, very Mont Blanc like. I have a MB from when I was 20 and it is still lovely to write with. My favorite ink is a version of Peacock Blue, can't remember the brand though. I also like Aurora, Lamy and old Shaeffers, and a Pelikan from the year dot. Nice paper, like Clairefontaine and Rhodia, is great with fountain pens.

So I guess my obscure things I can't live without, are fountain pens and nice paper, plus my trusty Filofax. Writing is crucial to how I understand what I am thinking, and nothing beats the feel of a fountain pen on paper.

The Mont Blanc pen is quite a bit more expensive than what I wanted to pay. I bought my Platinum pen from Amazon, and it was only about $130, I think. I've had the Waterman pen for a very long time, and so I don't remember what I paid for it decades ago, but it has held up over time very well. I do like the Platinum pen better than the Waterman, but I think the prices are somewhat similar now.

I use pens for writing my diary, and I used to do calligraphy, but that was with quill type pens.

The ku-jaku color ink (dark turquoise) is similar to peacock blue, I think, and the asa-gao color is a purplish blue.

I should invest in some nice paper.

A fur coat. It's so cold over here in the snow country. Winter hugs this land 6 months in a year, and blows high wind day and night.

Not so obscure, but my Felco pruners.

Funny so many of us have lip balm. My favorite is the little jar of Vaseline Rosy Lip Balm. Just been using it about 3 years but it is more essential to my day than anything else other than my contacts. Not reaaly obscure though. Will have to think longer on that.

Lars, looking at your pen, hearing your review, including the 14k gold part, makes me wonder if it's not the same manufaturer as the MB, just one has a fancy label put on it. For me the defining good thing about my MB, aside from he plasticity of the nib, is the weighting, quite substantial and perfect,y balanced.

Spear-head spade. Digging a hole with a bad knee is really easy!

I love Spear-head spade too. I have 4 of them, 2 regular, 2 mini. Each garden has a set.

Interesting thread - hope more items are posted.

I have 2 MB pens that I enjoy - one is a fountain pen and the other is a rollerball. They were gifts to my DH but he prefers the heftier Meisterstück so he gave them to me.

I really like my handy, adjustable garden rake. I bought it from Smith and Hawkin a long time ago. It's perfect for raking leaves and debris from between shrubs. The handle telescopes and the rake itself has an adjustable fan head.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/garden/lawn-care/rakes/62054-adjustable-fan-rakes?item=PH203&utm_source=free_google_shopping&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7mN-T26Y7JSv_oDgIB8SF9alLa-Dyg6JwM6tTJoMslfP6t5iMGAnhUaAh4JEALw_wcB

This item isn't obscure but it certainly isn't as common as it once was - I'm referring to an old fashioned file box. I have a few vintage ones, they must be about 50 years old. I use one that holds 3 x 5 index cards to keep track of telephone numbers. Important numbers are in my cell phone but I don't need to clutter that with less used numbers. I have a larger one that holds 5x8 cards and that's my recipe box. I love the feel of the oak and the mellow honey color - the boxes are about 10 inches long and hold hundreds of cards - and it's easy to update, just add a new card.

I always love seeing your card catalogue box, maire_cate.

Oh thank you Zalco - DH once suggested I use a Rolodex but I told it him lacked warmth and character.

Maire_cate, your box looks very much like one I bought from an antiques shop as a gift for my daughter-in-law. It was filled with vintage recipes, most handwritten. So charming.

Another thing I apparently can't live without is my 1992 Chevy Caprice. I've been driving it for 25 years. I planned to sell it last year, and then again this year, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I love cars, but I've never been as attached to another as I am to my Caprice. It's a joy to drive, and I think it's beautiful. My son, who likes it almost as much as I do, drives it to work occasionally. My daughter thinks we're both crazy. :-)

A step stool in each room. I am always just a little too short for the top shelf in bookcases and cupboards and closets. Very frustrating when I don't have a step stool close at hand.

The obscure item I cannot live without is a little bitty tube of Campho-Phenique. I use it NOT for cold sore treatment, but to dip the ends of my earrings in before inserting them through the pierced holes in my ears. I originally chose it for its tiny little opening - so conveniently sized for earring posts and hangers. This medicated clear gel serves a two-fold purpose: it makes the earrings slide into place very smoothly, and it keeps my earlobes from becoming infected by cheap earrings.