A Collection of Collections

Today's Wonder of the World is...Collections!

Flickr photo by *Kevegan*
I'm all for living the simple life, paring down my possessions to only the things I really need and love, but sometimes a girl just needs to cuddle up with 500 Pez dispensers!
Ha ha.
I don't collect those, but I've always wanted to. I don't know about you, but just looking at them makes me happy.

During my recent achy cold induced stupor (thanks so much for your get well wishes, by the way,) I sat at the kitchen table for a whole hour coughing into Kleenex (don't worry, I Lysol-ed everything afterward,) staring at the two collections on display in there and pondering this question: If someone coughed up both her lungs, would she die or just want to?

Now that I'm feeling better (I recommend Tussycaps!) I thought I'd blog about collections. Do you collect anything? I'd love to hear about it.

My friend Susie collects globes. I think they're lovely.

Flickr photo by turnsoleluna
I had three of my own until Tanner the Slobber Dog ate one.

If I searched between all our couch cushions, I could probably come up with a few guitar picks, but not nearly a nice a collection as this.

Flickr photo by mrclean
You may remember that I used to collect papers from French sugar cubes, that is, until my husband looked in my drawer of sugar laced paper and reminded me that mice like sugar too.

Flickr photo by Carrie Can
End of collection. I still appreciate them though.

And as you might have noticed in my galette post, I have an embarrassingly large collection of feves.

While I was collecting those, I also collected calories! Woo hoo!

Would you like to see the collections I focused on during my coughing misery?
Here's my collection of clocks.

Whenever I'd go to the flea market in France, I'd make a game out of finding another old clock to add to the group. My only rule was that I wouldn't spend over three dollars, though I did stretch it to five a couple times.
Sadly, I had to quit with the ones you see here. My sneaky children discovered how fun it was to make all the alarms go off, and Todd started asking annoying questions about them, like Why don't any of these darn things work? Plus, they took up a good bit of room, so I switched to something thinner but just as cheap.

May I present collection #2?
My porte serviettes!

A porte serviette is a fabric envelope, usually embroidered for each member of a family. Can you guess what they're used for? Don't feel bad--I had to ask too when I first saw them. Apparently, years ago, at the end of a meal each person would take their napkin and place it inside their porte serviette, (napkin holder) so they could use it again at the next meal.
No, this isn't gross, people!
Have you ever seen how neatly French folks eat? I once watched a four year old child spend an entire minute at a restaurant folding a large lettuce leaf with a knife and fork into a tiny square shaped package, so she could pop it into her mouth without a single drip of vinaigrette! It was astounding! And particularly humiliating, considering I had a child at the time who considered food as a means of facial decoration.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed rescuing those from the tables at the flea market.
Here's a few of my favorites.
This one cracks me up.

It's labeled only "me." For a smart aleck, no doubt.
I also like this one with the butcher and the dog.

For a meat lover?

Look, it's the race of the turtle and the hare.

(But means goal or finish line in French.)

Racing animals makes me think about sports, and sports makes me think about my Sam. (I'm trying to segue here.) Collecting seems to run in the family. Sam collects football cards, and one card in his collection recently made it into Sports Illustrated for Kids! They have a column in which kids can send in a football card with a made up caption. We were all so excited for him.


So, I'd love to hear about your collections! Please share!
Have a wonder-full Friday, y'all, and a super weekend!
Love, Becky

PS. Since I'm still in hibernation mode a bit, I picked out this collection of sleepy babies, cats and dogs for you. Enjoy!