Stuff is good!

Being materialistic is not a nice way to be, I agree. But having stuff is getting a bad rap. I love stuff, not only for the beauty of the stuff but mostly for the memories. I have stuff I've collected over the years, through all the different times of my life, from all the fascinating places I've visited. Some of the stuff is really insignificant in terms of the value or aesthetics. Usually that's the stuff that means the most to me, otherwise why would I keep it?

I love stuff and I'm proud of it!

This little Pinocchio was purchased on our first trip to Italy with Nina. He's only a two inches tall but is quite charming.

Nina has four small shelves of stuff, most of which we collected before she came home to us. It made the months of waiting for her easier to cope with. I hope they become meaningful to her as she matures.

These Kosta Boda glass animals are part of her "stuff" shelves. We bought them for her the week we found out that she was waiting for us to bring her home.

Kosta Boda glassware has always been a favorite of mine.

These masks captured my heart years ago.

When Shiri went off to college at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor became a fun place for us to visit. This piece is from one of the many lovely galleries in this university town.

This enamel work was done by a lovely lady on a Kibbutz in Israel. For years we would go back to her studio to buy gifts for our friends.

Reid collects boxes, small treasure boxes. He puts coins in the boxes, each box with the coins of the country the particular box has come from.

For Hannukah I bring out my Menorah collection as well as my small ceramic dreidels.

These "finjans" are used to make strong Turkish coffee, the kind that you cook over a fire. After you pour the coffee into small cups, you wait until all the coffee grains sink to the bottom of the cup. It's usually a very sweet cup of coffee, black and syrupy. If you dare, when you're done drinking, turn the cup upside down onto a saucer and let the coffee grains slide down the sides of the cup. Turn your cup over again and find your future in the pattern of the coffee grains...








and when I want tea, these little kettles have been collecting on my shelves since I first came to the United States.