By Eilene Lyon
Some people are collectors. I used to be, but 18 years of being an Army brat cured me, with one exception: books. I will always have books. Other people have things, part of a collection or not, that never get used.
Maybe it’s a formal living room no one ever visits (think: plastic slip covers on the sofa). Perhaps fine china or silver that gathers dust. The bottle of wine or whiskey that never gets opened (horrors!).
My philosophy, in the interest of reducing clutter, has become “use it or lose it,” i.e. trash, sell, donate, or gift it to someone.
About two decades ago, I bought a lovely little vase in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I can’t say it wasn’t used, exactly. It has sat on my bathroom countertop since then. But it held some dried, dyed grasses that faded and grew cobwebby over the years.
Two years ago, I said to myself: “Self, this is a VASE and it should be holding FLOWERS.” It still has a dried arrangement over the winter (fresher), but from May through November, I regularly stock it with blooms and greenery from the yard and roadside – mostly wildflowers.
It’s such a delight having those perky blossoms brighten my morning rituals each day. Here’s a selection of bouquets from last year. (Clearly blanket-flowers make a regular appearance.)
Spring has definitely sprung around here. I saw some chokecherries blooming today that I gotta have. I picked some lovely lupines on my dog walk this morning. Now I have another mini vase that I got in Delft, the Netherlands, last year.Uh oh. Could this be the start of a…collection?!
Beautiful! That’s the way to use your acquisitions. You must have a nice variety of flowers growing in your garden!
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I do, but a lot of it is growing wild. My gardening efforts are pretty minimal!
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Survival of the fittest! 😃 I think wildflowers are just as lovely as the cultivated ones. I’ve been a minimal gardener at our current house. Too overwhelming. But my new place has a tiny yard and I’d like to make the most of it!
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So the house deal went through? Enjoy the new “digs”!😉
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There are a few things to finalize, but it’s nothing big. So yes!
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In the words of some interior designer guy who used to be on TV but I can’t remember his name: two objects is stuff, three objects is a collection. Therefore, you’re not quite there yet…
Beautiful vase from Yellow Springs.
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Artsy-fartsy town! Always loved that place.
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Me too! We were just talking about it over the weekend. Haven’t been there in years, so maybe this summer a road trip will be in order.
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Whatever happened with the Antioch campus?
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I don’t know. That’d be part of our exploration. And Young’s Jersey Dairy, of course! We’d have to go there for a Moo Shake.
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Yummy!
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First off…beautiful. Second off, I’m sort of with you…I always get rid of stuff. Though, I do have a few cat statues that I found on travels and loved and will probably never get rid of, so we all have something
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Just so long as we keep it manageable!😊 Now what should I get rid of today…?
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Right?!!
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I guess everyone collects something, especially of “our” generation. My mother collected Wedgwood pottery, my wife collects old tobacco tins and ….. I collect wine! It’s a gripping serious hobby as I suffer visiting so many vineyards in Europe ….. lots of nice people to meet though and other benefits too!
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Oh, that does sound like a dreadful hobby🤣. Someday I’ll collect dogs, but for now I’m sticking with two.
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I think you might be hooked! Perhaps one for each room??? After all the growing season is short and you need to spread the colour!
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😊😊. It could happen!
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I used to have three globes, but I gave one to a Bosnian family. I decided I need three to be able to call them a collection, but haven’t replaced that one yet. Just have the one my sister and I had as children in the 1950s and my son’s from the 1980s. So far.
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A collection of globes could start hogging a lot of space! Do you ever compare the two for changes in borders and names?
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I like what you did with that vase … and Yellow Springs is a hoot is many ways. BTW – Antioch College reopened 7-10 years ago – so I guess all is well there.
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Lovely gallery of flowers.
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Thanks, Anabel! I must have a latent desire to be a floral designer. 😉
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I’ll take one of each! Very nice.
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They are cheery, aren’t they?
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Neat! 🙂 Check out some of E.E.Cummings’ art involving vases and flowers at eecummingsart.com Look under the Subject of Still Lifes. 🙂
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It seems he collected vases and wildflowers, too. Thanks!
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Very Artsy. I really enjoyed this post and flowers
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Thanks, Luda. Glad you stopped by to “smell” the flowers. 💐
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There’s nothing wrong with being a collector (says the person with a house full of knickknacks), and a vase is a fine start, since at least it has a practical use! Beautiful flowers – I’ve been on a tulip kick lately myself; I’ve got orange and yellow ones at the moment (and they’re not even in a vase, since mine broke – just a Tom Collins glass)!
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When you gotta have your tulip fix, you make do!
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Haha! Not sure two qualifies as a collection but you may want to restrain yourself just in case!
Lovely vases though.
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I’ve been duly informed that a collection begins at three! I’d better watch myself – getting close to the danger zone.😮
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Perfect use for the vase! 🙂 (And I agree about books!)
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Fresh flowers today – complete with pollen and lots of teeny insects! Isn’t nature grand? (Thanks for supporting my book addiction🤗)
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We book addicts must unite!
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As far as collections go, you can do worse than vases. Personally, I love them.
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Glad you approve, Marc. If you add my larger vases (mostly of the art variety), it does count as a collection. I would drive myself nuts if I tried to keep fresh flowers in them all, though!
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And I meant to say, lovely bouquet selections across the board too. 🙂
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I totally get the book thing. The last time I moved, I had 44 cartons of books– and that was after I culled them.
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Yikes!
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So far, I think your vase collection is in check. In the past two years, I’ve purchased dozens of mugs, and I don’t even know why. Don’t be me–keep it at the two. (I’m the same with books as you, and I don’t regret that collection!)
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I love a variety of coffee mugs, but I’ve weeded out a number of them. My friend in California I visited last month loves to collect mugs, too. Good thing I had brought her one as a hostess gift!
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Very pretty 🙂 Alas, no flowers here – our cats eat anything plant like … like you, other than books, I have few knickknacks, but keep a few on display (out of the reach of our crazy younger cat!)
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Just how many cats do you have, Teresa?
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