Day 18, What I collect

There are things I have collections of, and then there are things I actively collect, if you see the subtle difference. I decided I guess about in my 30s that I needed to collect something, and I liked paperweights, so I decided on collecting those. I probably have about twenty. My first paperweight was when I was still at primary school, it had flowers inside it and my dad got it for me from an antique shop. One of my favourites has a whole dandelion seed head inside it. Amongst the others, I like the pound shop and Ebay cheapies as much as the expensive Caithness one that was give to me as a gift. I like the fact that some of the rarest and most sought after paperweights are made from the sweepings of waste glass from the floor. I had a near miss on one of these from Ebay. I will keep looking.

Other things that I have collections of but I am not ‘a collector’ of:

Shoes, more than I need but you have to keep your options open.

Recipe books. Essential item in my opinion! also many still remain from my student days when I could afford the recipe books but not necessarily the ingredients. Most used are probably Leith’s cookery bible and a huge Madhur Jaffrey book that is really two just put together.

Music. I have hundreds of CDs still, I like to have them physically there. I still have my cassette tapes and vinyl too, can’t get rid of those!

Venetian paperweight made from offcuts of millefiori glass. Not mine, but one day!

What is the difference between ‘being a collector’ and ‘having a collection’? I think it is that if you are a collector of something it is an end in itself, the other things acquired that have turned into collections have been essential items.