Treasures

(Lots of pictures to come)

When I was at my parents' place, they had a box of trinkets and baubles they no longer needed, and did I want to take anything?

Some of it was stuff I had seen around the house all my childhood, and some was not. Some was lovely and some was okay and some will end up in the thrift store, to a stranger's delight.

This is what I brought home:

A glass fish float. They are Japanese and were used to hold up fishing nets. They tended to drift across the Pacific Ocean, like so much stuff we hear of lately, and turned up on BC beaches, where lucky beachcombers found them. I'm sure some are still found. This one was wrapped in a paper from a shop on Salt Spring Island, and may be a replica. But it is pretty.

It has a little bump inside from the manufacture

A little dolphin my dad carved of wood. It has a hole in its fin; perfect for dangling on a Christmas tree.

And who is this handsome gentleman? He is beautifully carved of nice wood, and has a dashing moustache.

Ceci n'est pas un gentleman, ceci est une pipe.

I did not take the pipe which was in my dad's breast pocket and broke a couple of his ribs when he fell on it as he was crossing the Rockies in 1958. His friend was editing a book about David Thompson, and the two of them hiked across the mountains retracing his steps. It was just a plain old pipe, and this is lovely!

Some little wooden shoes, Dutch souvenirs. Elaine chose these.

Some beautiful little ceramic pots. We got them in 1972 in Chipping Campden, at the Campden pottery. I love the brownness of them!

I, who was Elaine's present age in 1972, chose the one below on the left, and have always had it on a shelf or windowsill. And now I have three. I would love to make a sock or two in this colourway!

Then there is a brass ashtray, from Mitchells and Butlers Ales and Stouts, which I have hung on my wall. I asked my dad if there was a story behind it and he said yes, but it is not a very good story: he stole it.

He was stationed in England in the Second World War, and he once went to Glasgow on a furlough. An evening in the pub, and he nicked this!

The most intriguing find was these little baskets. My grandparents bought them in Stewart, BC, in the late 1920s when they were living in Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands. They are now rather dull and faded on the outside.

This is the lid of one.

This is the inside of the lid. See the green and red, all beautifully woven.

The inside of the basket is also so full of colour.

Look at that! Such fine work!

The second has a little knob on the top, and is equally dull and faded on the outside.

The bottom, protected, I guess, from the sunlight, is still colourful.

A smudge of darkness on the outside.

The inside of the lid is coloured and quite elaborate. 

The inside of the basket is amazing! That smudge on the outside turns into a whale, pursued by a canoe-full of intrepid hunters. This is not a traditional motif, but clearly made for the tourists!

All in all, quite the haul...