Object Number 11

Object Name: Star Trek Cuff links
Accessioned: October 2009
Donor: gift
Notes: Given to me by my other half.

Comments: These were proudly presented to me last year. They were a triumph of a gift as not only am I huge Star Trek fan but I had recently succeeded in finding a ladies shirt for using cuff links. Sourcing a reasonably priced ladies shirt for wearing cuff links was a saga of almost epic proportions spanning most of a year. Successful in the end I am now the proud owner of two pairs but I think these are my favourite. Not only that they came in this very snazzy box. Although I wonder if this vignette tells you more about my reading patterns than my need to accessorise outside my gender...
This year for Halloween I think I may have to go Original Series full female science officer.

Object Number 10

Object Name: Flower Press
Accessioned: unknown
Donor: inherited
Notes: Screw shut press for preserving flowers.

Comments: This flower press was in my house for as long as I can remember, I honestly don't know who exactly whom it belonged to. I have always loved gardening and flowers. I seem to have inherited this love from my mother, who in turn was introduced to gardening by her grandfather as a little girl. My mother used to do a lot of flower arranging with both fresh and dried flowers when I was growing up. So I grew up around flowers as a little cottage industry. It has all of those associations for me and the design of the Dog Rose on the front is beautiful in of itself. I can't remember the last time I actually pressed flowers in it, or what I would do them if I did! Do people press flowers any more? Or is it just fairies?

Object Number 9

Object Name: Woolly Mammoth Worry Doll
Accessioned: 2010
Donor: gift
Notes: Sent from Chicago in a box of wonders from a good friend.

Comments: For awhile I worked with a truly amazing group of people. The five of us all got along so well, and worked together very well. It was one of those work dynamics that you might only be lucky enough to have once or twice in your life. Last year one of our troupe headed off to the distant shores in the U.S.A. to live in Chicago. Early this year she sent us a 'box of wonders', mostly from the Field Museum in Chicago. We all got a little gift and mine was our little pipe-cleaner friend you see here. Seeing as I have been studying part time she sent me this little fellow to help me through the more stressful times.
The little blurb on the back says it all:
"Let the Field Museum's exclusive Woolly Mammoth Worry Doll trample your troubles away! ... With animals this big, your worries don't stand a chance!"

Object Number 8

Object Name: Handmade Fabric Frog
Accessioned: December 2007
Donor: gift
Notes: Handmade for me by a very good friend as a Christmas present. I received this and some delicious homemade fudge.

Comments: This little frog has lived on my bookshelf, usually in the company of the choice few stuffed animals I still own. My friend of many years made it for me and he is made of toweling material. His cheerful smile and almost diving stance make him look both peaceful and busy at the same time. In Ireland there is only one type of frog, Rana temporaria. I think the only time I saw a live frog up close was when my cat caught one and proudly deposited it in our kitchen.
This little guy might one day get a little crown and then he can be a little frog prince.

Object Number 7

Object Name: Carved Wooden Elephants
Accessioned: 2010
Donor: gifts
Notes: Larger darker elephant is from Africa and my parents have owned it for years. The smaller one is from India and was bought for me during a trip to India in January 2010.

Comments: As far back as I can remember the larger elephant has been in the house. It came from Kenya, bought by a great uncle who worked there in the 1970s. I think I played with it a lot as a child, it has been drawn on, and has some chips missing from its feet. He also has a large part of one ear broken off. You can tell it's an African elephant as it has bigger ears. The little Indian elephant was bought for me while my brother was on a working trip to India. Looking as these two always makes me think of the book Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (Harvest Original), and adds to my bemusement of the human condition...

Object Number 6

Object Name: Agfa ISO-Rapid IF
Accessioned: 2010
Donor: from parent's house
Notes: Camera that may have been bought at a jumble sale. Takes a propietary film called ISO-PAN film, that was an early auto load camera from the 1960s.

Comments: My mother gave me this camera after cleaning out some cupboards during a spring clean. We don't know who this camera belonged to. She thinks maybe one of my siblings may have bought it at a charity shop or jumble sale as she doesn't remember anyone ever using it. It dates from the 1960s, and thus is a little old for my family to have used it when the specific film was available. It was a rival camera to the Kodak Instamatic. Unfortunately the mechanism for the flash bulb doesn't work anymore.  I have a love for old cameras that has led me to collect them, especially ones that had a specific film made for them. These cameras will be featured in the posts to follow. So although this camera will probably never take another photograph it is a treasured object.

Object Number 5

Object Name: Attenti ai Gatti Plaque
Accessioned: 2009
Donor: gift
Notes: An Italian ceramic plaque "Beware of the Cats"

Comments: While holidaying in Italy my father bought me this very adapt plaque. As the proud owner of two black and white cats this serves an important role. A lot of effort went into making sure it stated the plural. I hope that I will always have the honour of sharing my life with cats. Somewhat reminiscent of Hugh Leonard, Rover and Other Cats.